I bought this knife (among others) with a project in mind. I was a little disappointed because I thought it was woven on the handle, not this:



Anyway I went ahead with the project and see what I can get out of it. I found a site that had sets of wood for knife handles and I got a 3 pair set (Hard Maple-Walnut-African Mahogany). Then I went to Harbor Freight to get some tools and glue.



Now I have one handle in place and being cured for 24 hours:



I do one side at a time because that way I can use my dremel to cut along the metal riding the smooth part of the bit on the metal while the flutes cut the wood.

I'll post more as it progresses.

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_It was love at first shot_

So far so good!
Keep us informed.
Was that an eBay buy?

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

No, I bought the knives at PA Knives. It's a wholesaler. Pretty good knives for the money.

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_It was love at first shot_

Looks good so far, please post additional pics as you progress.

I dabble in knife making myself, I've built 2 or 3 in the last couple of months and I have 2 on the workbench right now waiting for the scales (handles) to be attached. Just haven't had the time lately to finish them, other projects in the way.

Knife making is a fun hobby, I find myself enjoying it more and more lately.

TRE

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Fine guns and fine smokes.

Will do. It's the first time I tried this.

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_It was love at first shot_

Looks good. So you are just gluing, but not pinning the handle? I have a few custom knives. Lucky for me, I'm friends with Mike Vellekamp.

https://www.facebook.com/Mike-Vellek...0945572282365/

If you want some exotic pieces of wood, I can hook you up, all I ask is that you cover postage. I have a little bit of everything right now.

If you haven't discovered them yet, these two places are my "go to" sources for knife making supplies:

Texas Knifemaker's Supply

Jantz Supply

North Coast Knives has a bunch of useful tutorials for people starting out, that's where I got much of my basic "how to" information.

North Coast Knives

I've been doing this for almost 10 years, once you get started, it's like eating buttered popcorn, you'll want to do another, and another...

This is my Buck 110 that I bought back in 1969... a few years ago I decided it needed to be refurbished after decades of reliable use. I got the Damascus blade blank from seller Snake River Damascus on eBay, the wood is African Padauk.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Say guys, is that Mahogany really hard wood?

I have the dremel on low speed and the bits take forever to cut it. It even smoked. I broke out a jig saw to cut faster.

Not coming out the way I hoped, seems I am ill equipped (no wood shop).

Here it is, one side done. Used the sanding drum to smooth things out. I did everything free hand sitting on a folding chair on the porch.

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_It was love at first shot_

Genuine Mahogany shouldn't be that tough. I say "genuine" because there are a lot of woods sold as "Mahogany", that are not of the same species and harder to work with.

Furniture makers have long used genuine Mahogany for it's ease of working.

I mainly use sanding drums on a dremel, the HSS (high speed steel) router bits don't seem to be up to the task for anything but the softest of material.

If you think you might be "getting into it" and doing more knives... one of the bench top combo 1"x30" belt/disc sanders is useful. Prices and quality varies depending on the brand, but when I did a search on goggle to shop for one, it looks like except for the brand names and paint colors, they are all look alike... maybe made by the same Chinese factory???

Harbor freight has this one for $99... it looks decent.

I have a Rikon that I bought from a Woodcraft woodworking supply store... and when I really got into it, I splurged for a Kalamazoo knife belt sander, but the small bench top combo still gets a lot of use and it great for other stuff too.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Did I say I need a shop?

I can't do it on my desk in my bedroom thus why I'm sitting on a folding chair outside doing things free hand. I don't even have a shed.

Anyway I went back to the site I bought the wood from and the title says Mahogany but the specs says Sapele.

So what I have wasn't really mahogany?

Maybe I should've chose the Walnut.

At least it's a learning experience and now this:

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_It was love at first shot_

Sapele.. that explains it, that is one of the mahogany look-alikes sold as "mahogany". It has a finer interlocked grain that makes it a bit more difficult to work with.

With your current "workshop" situation... nothing wrong at all with using a Dremel tool (aka the devils paint brush) and sanding drums of various grits, and hand tools. Rough shape using wood rasp/files, then go to the sanding drums and plain old sand paper. Been there, done that.. 'ya go with what you've got... try to have fun with it, but when you feel yourself getting impatient or frustrated, walk away... give it a rest. I've ruined more "projects" trying to "force the issue" when tired or PO'ed about some aspect of it.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Right. Nothing is rushed. I spent most of the day on this taking breaks letting the tools cool down.

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_It was love at first shot_

You need a belt sander and a variety of belts. A $100 unit from Home Depot which handles a 1" X 30" belt would do quite a bit, but if you start doing a couple a month you would probably want to invest in a better unit. If you haven't seen it "Forged in Fire" is an History Channel reality show where various smiths have to make a knife on the show. Now this if forging and beating out a shape. It is an interesting show, and makes you appreciate custom knives.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I don't think I'm going to get into knife making as I said before I don't have a shop.

However I ordered a Work Sharp belt sharpener but to sharpen my knives. I have an EdgePro clone and I wore the stones down.

And my elbows too so heck with it, it's gonna be motorized!

By the way, I want to do another but this time it'll be the D2 steel blank knife and use the Walnut handles.

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_It was love at first shot_

This morning I thought about what H Richard said and remembered the disc sander for my drill. I dove into the closet and dug them out.

Tada!



I have a folding table so I grabbed the C clamp and the drill/disc and did it outside. The sander went through the wood like butter and I was done in minutes.

Damn, why didn't I think of that yesterday. I actually thought the dremel will get things done in minutes. Boy it sucked but I went through it.

I went ahead and finish it with the dremel/drum sander and poly wiped it. I guess I could have done it better but I'm tired of it and not being equipped with proper tools and shop.

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_It was love at first shot_

Well, here it is.

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_It was love at first shot_

As an aside...if doing a lot of sanding / shaping with any wood, use a mask of some type , preferably a better one of you have one. Wood dust is not so great to get into your lungs , and some of the more exotic hardwoods can be serious lung irritants to some people.

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1st smiles,lies.Last,gunfire.

If you were going to spend $100 with the avialable space you presently have, you are much better off buying a set of files and wood rasps, and a vice that you can secure to the folding table than any power tool. You can remove a lot of material in a very short amount of time with a coarse rasp. To the point where you might learn about how it is easier to take off than put back on . If you want to do anything with wood then get some files and learn how to use them. Don't underestimate the usefulness of even a small vice when working on knives (or pretty much anything for that matter). You definitely want something secure holding it - even better if you have a railing or banister you can clamp it to on the porch.

I have my shirt over my nose.

I'm not gonna get into knife making.

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_It was love at first shot_