1080 and Curly Maple

[huntforlife]

FINALLY! First knife made since the baby was born.

It only took me about 3 months of half hour to an hour sessions on the weekends to get it done.

3.9" blade
4.2" handle
Curly Maple scales
1080 steel (HT by Me)

[Ray Rogers]

Looks like a big 'un! Let us know how it performs ....

[huntforlife]

Will do Ray. Its only a shade over 8" long.

The last knife I made out of this batch of steel still shaved after 30 or 40 cuts thru 9oz leather scrap.

[Ray Rogers]

Ya, but leather is easy. Try cardboard and hemp rope if you have any. The clay in cardboard is very abrasive and will test the edge aggressively...

[huntforlife]

I will do that! Thanks for the advice Ray.

[Doug Lester]

Looks real nice. I would put some color into those scales to show off that nice grain a little better, but that's just what I'd do. Looks nice anyway. The file work looks good to, as well as it can be seen. Wouldn't mind a close up.

Doug

[huntforlife]

Thanks Doug. I've had those scale sitting around for about 2 year now and couldn't remember if they were stabilized or not.

They sure seem stabilized. I hit them with about 5 coats of chestnut stain, and that's how they turned out.

I was tempted....tempted, to hit them with dye, but I think I'll let the dog lie.

The filework is nothing special. Its a good 2' knife in regard to the filework.

Its funny because I remember the day I set out to do the filework. I just put the baby to sleep and got the spine all scribed. Got about a half hour into it and she woke up. So I left it where it is. LOL.

[Ray Rogers]

If they were professionally stabilized with acrylic then sanding to 400 grit and buffing will produce a glass like finish quickly and easily. More important, they probably wouldn't be able to absorb enough stain to bring out the pattern in the wood to the level you have. That's why they sell pre-stained blocks of stabilized wood ....

[Doug Lester]

Oh well, just an idea. It still came out looking nice.

Doug

[huntforlife]

Originally Posted by Doug Lester

Oh well, just an idea. It still came out looking nice.

Doug

Thanks Doug. I'll see if I can steal the wife's camera again tomorrow to snap a better picture.

Ray, I'm not sure if it was or not. You know as well as I do that the maple is darn near white as the driven snow. For it to take the stain it did really surprised me. I stained it at 220, then 400, then 600, then just wiped it with a cloth. For it to be that light, I would think that it might have been stabilized.

[huntforlife]

I would also like to say that I got one of the new Nicholson Magic-cut files before starting this knife. All I an say is WOW. This thing cuts super fast. I had the bevels on this knife filed down in about a half hour.

[john smith]

Zen
Great lookin knife.
I rehandled a knife for a friend last year for a friend.
I used a nice pc of tiger (curly) maple and used Birchwood Casey
gun stock finish kit with walnut stain and tru oil.
The color and the finish of the maple came out fantastic.
Congrats on your new baby!!!!!

[huntforlife]

Thanks John. I've heard a lot of good things about the Tru-Oil. Might have to give that a try on the next one.

[NJStricker]

Zen,

Congratulations on the baby! My boys are 4 and a year and a half, so I haven't made many knives lately either.

I like Tru-oil also for bare wood. You won't need it for the stabilized stuff.

If you do a search on here, Chuck Burroughs (Wild Rose Trading Co.) has some excellent threads on staining curly maple with ferric acetate, which can be made with steel wool and vinegar.

Nathan