Camp Bowie

[James Oertel]

   

[Bobby Urban]

"its pretty rare for me to make a full tang handle"  

Well you should start making more because it is obvious that you are great at it.  I love the look of a full tang and with tapers like that and the etch throughout - awesome!  How in the world did you get the perfect handle match without damage to the etch?  Knife artistry at it's finest!  Very good job.

Bob Urban

[Lin Rhea]

Bobby,
       That is a good question. I had to go about it like this:

- completely (actually about 99 percent)finish the blade with the exception of the etch

- fit the guard and drill the hole through the guard and blade. Temporarily pin the guard.

- fit and drill the handle scale to the predrilled holes in the tang. Use two temporary pins, one front, one rear of the handle.

- shape the handle to fit the tang and guard. This means completely shaped and contoured.

- punch out temporary pins and disassmeble the knife.

- finalize the finish on the blade and etch it.

- put the guard on and pien the new pin permanently and clean it up. Be VERY careful.

- put the scales on and pin them permanently.


- touch up and clean up the excess epoxy.

[Kevin Evans]

WOW Lin thats amazing.

I have been trying to figure out how you did that for days.(since you posted)I seem to do that alot nowdays.Best I could come up with was a soidierd guard from behind and covering everything up with fingernai polish before etching.LOL Guess now I'll try and figure out how and where the pins are and where.

By the way nice pattern and great job,I have trouble putting that distil taper in handle tang,and getting perfect fit on wood. LOL

[Lin Rhea]

One thing I did not mention is that there is a notch in the bottom of the handle tang for the guard to fit into. It only about 1/8 or so. Just to keep the bottom of the guard secure and allow only one pin in the upper 1/3 of the guard. This notch is tight with zero slack. That makes for a very strong connection between the guard and the blade.

[Bobby Urban]

I just stare at that knife in awe - Your patience is imeasurable.  Very cool Lin.  I know it is a Ford/Chevy thing as far as what is better/stronger - full tang vs. hidden. And I know the take downs are just really cool and very engineered but I just love the look of a full tang knife and this one is, well, awesome!  

I am inspired again to get back to the shop and start pounding some steel.  I hope we do the swap again this year because I took last year off for "just did not have enough time" reasons and have been looking forward to it all year.

Bob Urban

[Lamey]

Lin that thing is just too pretty,   great work as always.

[jomama]

Nice stuff.

[Lin Rhea]

Thanks guys. If I can do it you can do it.

I have  a friend who is learning to make knives. Actually he has made knives for a while and is older than me and accomplished at wood carving and other things. He and I use a term to describe the stubborn attitude you have to have to make knives and suffer critique to the point of significant improvement. We call it "boar hog tough".
        This stubborn attitude tempered with  the humility to accept criticism is a combination we have agreed to adopt. It has helped us both to learn and make improvements. This has to be a conscious decision otherwise human nature will get in the way and stop improvement.
       I know you did not ask for that, so ignor what you want. I'm just lettin you know that you can do it too, you just have to be boar hog tough.

[Rainorshine]

can't see myself using this knife for camp duties... this is a work of art!

[NJSwampstalker]

Your work is absolutely amazing!  

[Roughcountry]

Wow Lin. Thats one very nice blade.

Do you rent boar hog tough?

[Lin Rhea]

No Robin, everyone has it, some just dont realize it.

Thanks

[Roughcountry]

 Thats what I thought Lin.

Where did the balance point end up on your blade?
I sure like a tapered tang, it really sets the scales off.

[Lin Rhea]

On this knife the balance point is just in front of the guard. Right at the ricasso. The blade is tapered and the tang is tapered so the weight is centered in the middle of the knife. Thanks.

[Track]

Beautiful and original as always Lin.

[amar911]

Lin makes masterpieces, and this is definitely one of them!

Allan

[2treks]

I know I already said it once but,DANG! That thing is sweet.

[jomama]

Great as always.