HammarBear - Knife Making update (4/21/20)

I mentioned in my last post that I picked up a couple of pallets when I got the barrel. I cut the pallet apart into shorter planks, and stacked them in the garage. Today, I took one of those planks and cut about 5 inches off of one end. I cut that in half, and took one of my knives I made. This one was made out of a piece of random 7/8" steel I found. Not sure of the alloy, but it didn't harden well, and is still super soft.

I drilled three 3/16" holes in the handle with my drill press. I placed the knife onto the wood pieces and traced the holes onto them. I drilled the wood pieces and marked the front. I then cut three lengths of brass rod to about an inch and a half in length, which was just longer than the two wood pieces and the knife thickness. I drove the pins into the handle, and centered them as well as I could. I applied 2-part 5-minute epoxy to the wood blank and pressed it onto the blade using a bench vise. I repeated the process on the other side and put a clamp on to hold them in place.

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Using my cheap Harbor Freight belt sander as well as a sanding drum in my drill press, I began to shape the handle.

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I finally got the handle down to match the shape of the steel blade.

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I drew the profile I thought I wanted in Sharpie, and began profiling the handle.

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As I worked the handle, I inadvertently sanded off the original lines, so I redrew them in green.

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I finally got it to the shape I wanted. I found out that sanding on the brass pins transfers heat into the metal, and it got pretty hot.

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After looking at it, I decided to change a few things, so I thinned out the handle a bit more, so it's gone down from almost an inch and a half wide to barely 5/8 of an inch. It's still not done yet. I've got to do some final sanding, and then treat the wood with something. I'm thinking Boiled Linseed Oil, which I have to pick up tomorrow.

More to come.

-HammarBear