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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 02-02-2015, 06:49 PM
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ricky_arthur ricky_arthur is offline
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Ray, about the handle trick.

So I got to the part about the handle trick in the video. It has been excellent(I want to buy the first one too now) Adding a spacer after drilling the hole. Brilliant! So I grab the knife I have been saving and do it all like normal. Then add in the spacer. I don't have a carbide bit for my dremel so I tried a file. When I go to file out the tang hole to make the pin fit, I find the tang is too hard to file. I could tell it was very hard when I drilled it. I basically ruined a 1/8 inch round file before thinking, "why am I filing the hard metal when I can just take a little off the top of the wood block and achieve the same thing". Worked like a charm, It left my tang hole 1/8" so the epoxy doesn't need to fill any gap and gave me a perfect snug fit. The pin drives in with a few light taps with a mallet, and the fit is better than I've achieved before that's for sure.

So my question is, Is there any down side to taking the extra off the wood instead of the tang? Seems to me It actually might be stronger that way. Or am I missing something?
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  #2  
Old 02-02-2015, 08:09 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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On occasion I've done it that way too. The biggest downside I've found doing it that way is that you might mess up the fit between the wood and the guard because the angle of the face might change a little (unless you grind perfectly).

Remember also, the method in the video uses a Dremel and a carbide burr to open one side of the hole. That's a lot better than a file and the carbide burrs can be found at most hardware stores. But, if a file is what you have then consider softening the tang - most guys prefer a softer tang anyway. I don't usually soften mine because most of my knives are stainless and torching the tang just screws up the crystalline structure but you're using 1084 so its easy and safe to do. Then a file should work fine ...


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Old 02-04-2015, 07:17 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Actually in most cases you can buy a multi bit assortment pack of diamond burrs with 1/8" shafts cheaper than one carbide bit by/for a Dremel (at HF of course). Not the best quality but with a little care you can get the hole elongated enough with one bit and have several left over for other stuff.

Agree with Ray on softening the tang when using forgable steels such as 1084. No magic to it, just clamp the blade at the ricasso area in a vise with "safe" jaws of aluminum angle and torch the tang around the hole area. Let it cools where it is....done deal.


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Old 02-04-2015, 08:35 AM
jdale jdale is offline
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The handle trick has been a godsend. I've started using it more than just to snug up the knife. I put a temporary pin in and was able to shape the three piece guard to its final shape then coin the middle spacer for a perfect final fit. Not to mention being able to shape the handle to assure no bark inclusions in my burl.

The only thing that would have made the video better would have been to re-record the buffing section, as I was very curious to how other makers buff their knives.
And more detail about how you were able to eliminate the kitchen knives plunge lines
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Old 02-04-2015, 09:19 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I still don't know what happened to the buffing files but losing them really ticked me off. I started to try to recreate that section but it quickly became a huge problem. However, I'll be doing a hollow ground knife on the next volume and will have the buffing on that one. Since its supposed to be a two volume set that should cover it pretty well.

Since all my handles are stabilized or Micarta buffing is very simple. Shape the handle to 400 grit, buff with a sewn buff using White Diamond then look for scratches you missed. Sand out the scratches and buff again. When no more scratches can be found do a final buff with a loose buff and No Scratch Pink. That' s it. I never buff metal parts any more even though I have two additional buffers set up just for that...


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Old 02-04-2015, 09:39 AM
jdale jdale is offline
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I don't have a large wheel for the grinder yet, but i have been thinking about one. if anything, it would enable me to do the "coke bottle" handle shape.

That's been the one thing about buffing that has been so confusing, too many dam colored compounds.

Last edited by jdale; 02-04-2015 at 09:53 AM.
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Old 02-04-2015, 10:33 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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There are a lot of colored compounds because there are a lot of different types of material that can be polished, i.e., ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, wood, plastic, etc. After trying all that stuff and deciding that polishing the metal parts on a knife was a losing game if the knife was intended to actually be used I finally settled on simply polishing the handle (most of the time). Micarta, G-10, the various celluloid materials,Dymondwood, and of course my personal favorite, stabilized woods need only two compounds to produce a glass like finish. White Diamond and No Scratch Pink - I get mine from K&G - are all you need. These same dry (not oil based) compounds are available under other names from other sources........


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Old 02-04-2015, 06:58 PM
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ericbrinkerhoff ericbrinkerhoff is offline
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When I read Rays handle trick I was transformed.
I used to swear by full tangs and then by stick tangs .
But ,now my favorite style ,BY FAR,is the stub tang.
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1084, angle, bee, blade, block, diamond, easy, epoxy, file, files, grind, guard, handle, hardware, knife, knives, make, metal, spacer, stainless, tang, video, wood


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