W2 Bowie in the works (finished photo added)

oldpaths · January 18, 2012, 10:34:00 PM

Awesome blade!!!love it!

Lin Rhea · January 21, 2012, 01:07:00 PM

Thank you guys. I got started back on it this morning. The next thing is to cut out and glue up the ferrule pieces. I glue it together with super glue so I can drill them and put in a couple of temporary guid pins. In the vise.

Here is the ferrule. A more accurate name would be spacer, but that's another story. Here is is drilled and two soft pins are lightly peined to hold it all in line while I shape it and mill the slot.

Here it's shaped and the slot is opened up to fit exactly the tang behind the guard.

Now what?
I am wanting to filework the middle piece of the spacer with some vine-ish looking filework. So, I have to punch out the pins to get it apart. I can use the holes later to re assemble it and permanently hold it together.

I'll check back.

DANA HOLMAN · January 21, 2012, 01:31:00 PM

Lin, it's the little things that helps ( like you showing that you pinned the spacer to mill it) thanks for all your tips
Dana

Lin Rhea · January 21, 2012, 06:46:00 PM

kbaknife · January 21, 2012, 07:00:00 PM

That vine file work is really slick!

Steve Nuckels · January 21, 2012, 07:42:00 PM

Lin, I like the file work too! Do you do any engraving?

Steve
-------
Potomac Forge
ABS Apprentice

Ric O'Shay · January 21, 2012, 07:56:00 PM

Oh my goodness....that last pic just took my breath away. Can't wait to see the finished knife.

Lin Rhea · January 21, 2012, 07:56:00 PM

Soon Steve, soon.

DANA HOLMAN · January 21, 2012, 08:23:00 PM

Lin
what are you doing to blacken the back ground of your file work?

2treks · January 21, 2012, 08:31:00 PM

I am with Danny,

Great work Lin,

Lin Rhea · January 21, 2012, 09:00:00 PM

Thank you very much guys.

Dana, I use Birchwood Casey Brass Black. I should have the buttcap on tomorrow and have it professionally photographed soon.

4est trekker · January 21, 2012, 10:30:00 PM

Excuse me while I clean the drool from my keyboard :eek: Thanks for sharing your processes and knowledge with us all. You make an incredible knife to say the least. I can't wait to see this one finished.

gables · January 22, 2012, 04:22:00 PM

Thanks Lin. The light peening of the spacer pins was a tip I needed. My superglued spacer stacks always come apart on me. Do you peen from one side only and then punch out the pins from the flush side?

Where do you get your bronze?

Lin Rhea · January 22, 2012, 05:55:00 PM

Gabriel, I pein both sides with nickle silver pins stock. It's soft enough to punch out with a stainless punch of the same size.

Making progress now. I thought you'd like to see the way I scribe the butt cap for the contoured shaping with the stag. This can be an exact thing or a loose interpretation. I start exact and let the stag tell me what to do. This knife has a woods theme, with vine, leaf, antler, and an acorn. So, I got it reasonably close. This piece of stag is pretty "busy" with so many ins and outs that I just give a close impression of following the stag. On the other hand, if the stag had mainly smooth and regular ins and outs, I would stick to it exactly. Each knife is different.

First I drill a hole for the tang screw to pass through since this will be the stationary point to give it reference. I blacken the back side of the butt cap material and screw it in place so it wont move around. Then I scribe the contour of the stag with an awl leaving the bright scratch showing against the black background. You can use layout fluid, I used a sharpie.

I cut it out using the very edge of my flat platten with the belt running right on the edge. You can get most of the contouring done pretty quick like this. It dont take very long at all. I change belt a few times always allowing material to remove right up to the line and just a hair past it.

Now it was time to make the finial. I dont have any making pics but I can describe it. I soldered a small block of SS on a machine screw to fit the coupling nut attached to the tang inside the handle. This block of SS is about 3/8 inch square and has a shallow hole to stick the machine screw into for soldering. I get it soldered and shaped and now it's in the handle. It looks like this.

Lin Rhea · January 23, 2012, 09:39:00 AM

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7005/6749051153_ef6947c6f4_z.jpg

I should have a pro photo soon.

Doug Campbell · January 23, 2012, 10:07:00 AM

Very nice Lin, thanks for posting.

Ric O'Shay · January 23, 2012, 12:57:00 PM

Lin -
That is simply awesome.

Danny

TheBigRedArcher · January 23, 2012, 04:20:00 PM

Wow. That is beutiful.

TBRA

Lin Rhea · January 23, 2012, 04:31:00 PM

Thanks.

One side not about the butt cap that you might find interesting.

I have some 1 1/8 round 416 stainless so I sawed off about 1/2 inch from the end and heated it up and ovaled it on the anvil and then wedge shaped it. I flattened the part that goes against the stag and milled out a hollow under there around the hole. I did that to lighten it up so the shift of weight would not go too far to the back. It's actually a stylized "S" contour on the outside of the "wedge" to counter the "S" guard. It also added about 1/4 inch to the handle length, which I felt it needed.

January 23, 2012, 06:40:00 PM

Awesome!!

Lin, your craftsmanship is indeed breathtaking - truly beautiful.