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awp101
01-02-2011, 09:30 PM
As the year drew to an end, I had several projects staring at me. OK, I had (and still have) a BUNCH of projects staring at me... :lool: I decided a good way to start the new year off would be to finish up some of them so I spent the first day of the new year as a busy little beaver.

I installed a replacement light fixture over the sink to replace the 40 year old one that was almost out, I hung a clock in the kitchen and finished up a book I've been plowing through off and on for about two years; Wellington and Napoleon - Clash of Arms 1807-1815.

But none of that is terribly interesting, now is it? :bigsmilebounce:





During our family round robin Christmas exchange (aka Chinese Christmas), I wound up with a $20 gift card to Harbor Freight. It was the gift I brought and since I had my eye on a 1"x30" belt sander it worked out quite nicely. I love it when a plan comes together.... :bigsmilebounce:

After the light and clock were hung I set up the belt sander and went to work on a project that's been waiting for this belt sander:
http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/images/cc4-4.jpg
http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?products_id=2214

I picked up one of these kits with the already assembled sheath from Texas Knifemaker's Supply in 2007 and it sat until last year when the urge to put something together hit again. Once I got it assembled I found my 4" belt sander was too wide to fit between the butt and guard on the underside, I didn't have enough control to keep it from sanding the the tops of the butt and guard, a Dremel with a sanding drum wasn't any better (which I promised myself I wouldn't do :dammit: ), and I didn't have the patience to "shoeshine" it.

I still need LOTS of practice with the 1X30 but this was the end result:
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu306/awp101_2009/4ae839bf.jpg
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu306/awp101_2009/5863dc24.jpg

I left all the leather natural. For something like this, I really like the way it looks once it ages and wears. I also left the grip pretty fat in a couple of places to fit my hand better.

I made beaucoup mistakes on this kit. I didn't remove the mold lines left on the guard and butt from when they were cast prior to assembly, I didn't trim the leather washers or fiber spacers prior to cranking it all down which would have cut down on the shaping time and effort and my various ideas to get around buying the 1x30 resulted in gouges in the butt and guard. There were no instructions with the kit covering how to properly install the snap on the restraining strap and luckily I had a snap setting tool in my leather working tools. Unfortunately they've never seen much use and the snap setting tool had no instructions either. :pissed: After damaging the outside of the snap (which is the visible part on the outside) I figured out I was using the tools backwards (I've always maintained I only needed to be 10% smarter than the tools I use, this one snuck up on me. DOH! :dammit: ). Once I figured it out, it was a breeze but I still managed to get the snap off center.

I'm not going to call this one totally finished yet. I'm going to use it as a practice piece for sharpening (I need to sit down and really learn that little bit of black magic) and also to try different polishing techniques on the cast metal.

In the end, it was more fun than frustrating. The belt sander makes it easier but I still need lots and lots of practice in all areas before moving on to the next step. I have visions of a puukko with a birch bark handle http://imageevent.com/paleoaleo/makingabirchbarkknifehandle .... :firedevil:

arcangel
01-03-2011, 01:59 AM
Hey man nice knife! Thanks for posting this, I've been trying to design a short sword/machete style blade Im going to take a similar approach to. Still doing the homework on what type of steel I want to use. Got the idea from the Book of Eli's sword.

awp101
01-03-2011, 07:30 PM
Thanks! I haven't seen it yet, I suppose I should.

The urge to design my own hasn't hit. I'm a fan of 3"-5" fixed blades, skinners, caping knives, patch knives, puukkos, Scandis, stuff like that. Pretty much anything I'd really like can be had as a pre-shaped blade and I just have to add the scales or handle.

Fewer things to think about help me avoid "paralysis by analysis"...:think:

:lool:

aliceinchains
01-03-2011, 07:48 PM
Damn glad you plowed through that book in a record 2 years. :bigsmilebounce:

awp101
01-04-2011, 10:32 PM
Damn glad you plowed through that book in a record 2 years. :bigsmilebounce:
:why-this::countdown::tongue0002:

:lool:

I prefer first hand accounts but every so often it's a good idea to cover some of the strategic overviews. The book is good and covers areas I wasn't real familiar with (Napoleon's Russian Campaign for example) but wow is it a dry read...:smiley08: