First Scandi grind

[SDS]

Okay, some events forced me offtrack a bit but I think I'm starting to get things going again. The knife is now assembled and the epoxy is curing. I usually give it about 48 hrs. to cure well before I start shaping the handle so that I can make sure everything has set up well.

As you can see from the pictures, it has a ways to go before all of the "hotspots" in the handle are gone.

SDS

 

[DWK2]

Cool work-in-progress photo! Looks kind of like a hardwood shish kebab!

Thanks,

DancesWithKnives

 

[Sharp_newbie]

great stuff Shawn, really excited to see the knife coming together. definitely should do something about those hot spots though

 

[SDS]

Although slow I had to get on here and post this to prove I haven't dropped off the face of the earth.

Obviously it still has quite a bit of shaping left to do but you can at least get an idea of what the handle will look like.

SDS

 

[Sharp_newbie]

Its really coming along great. i am liking your choice in wood more and more. can't wait to hold it.
Gilles.

 

[SDS]

Here are some pictures of the knife with the handle nearly finished. I'm not completely satisfied with the handle though. I'm having some difficulty making the lines look right with the added activity of the different pieces of wood. I'm also having some construction concerns.

Richard, I'll email you to more fully explain my concerns and decide how to proceed.

Here are the pictures..........

SDS

 

[argel55]

Looks good from here Shawn

 

[SDS]

Thanks Mike. This is one of those knives that is frustrating me to no end. I have already emailed Richard to discuss some issues that came up with this knife.

I'm going to explain them briefly here. After bringing the knife in from the shop I was inspecting it under the bright light from a desk lamp when I noticed that if I put a good amount of pressure on the handle from one side (imagine trying to bend the handle sideways) I could see a separation between the wood layers.

I was very frustrated when I found this and put the knife away until today when I could get to the shop. I got out a magnifier and found the separation. It turns out that it wasn't between multiple layers as I'd assumed, but only between the layer of blak and white ebony and the layer next to that.

I was able to warm up the handle and clean it very well with acetone and then leech some CA glue down into the opening. After doing this a couple of times and cleaning everything up I could no longer see the separation that had caused me so much grief.

After that I took one last hard look at the whole thing. I noticed a small occlusion in the brass pommel. I decided to grind that out and just narrow the pommel slightly. Well.........

The small occlusion began to grow. Before I knew what had happened the problem became larger. I decided that I didn't want the pommel any narrower so I would file a small groove to do away with the pesky flaw in the cast brass I had used.

Well things just got worse. That small flaw grew into a cavity.

SDS

 

[SDS]

Here are some pictures of where the knife is as of right now.............

SDS

 

[SDS]

And here are some close ups of the flaw in the pommel...........

SDS

 

[BarberFobic1992]

Did you, perhaps, grind down to the tang of the knife? If have done that before. Several times actually, it is really frusterating.

 

[SDS]

Barberfobic, that was my first thought but the socket in the pommel has the threaded tang bottomed out and filled with epoxy as well so there should not be a void there. Also, the void is offcenter enough that I don't think it's the threaded socket area. Of course that's just a guess and without cutting it completely off and starting over I won't know.

I have to say that the thought of cutting this thing apart and starting over has crossed my mind. I'm still not sure I won't build another one but with thicker spacers so there are fewer joints.

It's just become one of those really vexing projects. I like the concept but it's just causing me some technical issues.

SDS

 

[SDS]

Okay folks, here is an update to this whole project. I contacted Sharp Newbie and explained all of my concerns and he said that he would still like the knife as he ordered it. I was not comfortable with the knife as it was built. Just too many little things wrong with it for me to feel good about it going out like this.

I decided to start over from scratch on the whole thing. The first problem with that was that I didn't have any more of the steel that was requested on this knife. No problem. I just ordered some more. Usually takes 3-4 days to get that in. Well, 3-4 days turned into 2 weeks. I do this as a hobby so I don't always have as much time to devote to making knives as I'd like.

I did finally find some time to get into the shop a few times and managed to get the knife ground and heat treated. I found materials for the handle. I like the new handle but I wasn't able to find a piece of black and white ebony like I had in the first one. I think the handle works better as far as the feel.

I also changed the way the tang was constructed. The first one was threaded into the tang. On this one I make the tang a bit thicker and pinned it into the tang.

After everything was epoxied together I was much happier with the way the parts fit together.

The first knife is still fully functional but not good enough to send out. I have been using it to do some carving and general use. I will admit that I'm not sold on the scandi grind but it does bite into wood very well. It has held up well to the light use I've given it.

Here is the second edition of the knife. There are minor changes but I like this one better.

SDS

 

[Sharp_newbie]

Great work Shawn, i am very impressed with how it turned out. i will email you today about the sheath.

what wood was used on the new handle? and out of curiosity what is the RC of the blade.
Thanks for not giving up on the project, there where alot of small annoyances that i am sure gave you grief. i am sure that this knife will serve me for years to come. can't wait to have it in my hands.

Thanks again friend.
Gilles.

 

[SDS]

SN, I am not positive on a couple of the woods but starting from the top I'll list the materials as best I can.

Guard=brass
caribou antler
black vulcanized spacer
whitetail antler
black vulcanized spacer
lignum vitae
bois d'arc (osage orange)
? possibly black walnut
ebony
? possibly another piece of black walnut
orange G10
black vulcanized spacer
orange G10
brass pommel

I have not had this particular knife tested but it should RC at about 58-59.

I'm glad you are happy with it and I'll get started on the sheath as soon as I hear from you about what kind you want.

SDS

 

[SDS]

Well the saga nears it's end! Here is the finished product ready to ship. The sheath can be worn as an ordinary belt sheath or with the optional drop loop.

SDS

 

[SDS]

I have been using and beating on the first knife with the flaws. I will admit that the scandi grind isn't my first choice for my own knives but I do see the appeal. I have been using it around our backyard campfire and for doing light to moderate food prep.

For carving I've been really impressed. I guess there is something to all of those knives carried over in those cold countries. For food prep the knife seems to work fine on meats and softer foods. On veggies I prefer my thinner profiled blades.

I hope this knife gets to see lots of bush time and spends a lot of hours around quiet campfires.

SDS

 

[Sharp_newbie]

WOOHOO!!! can't wait to get the knife. looks great.

 

[SDS]

Well a scandi grind isn't too shabby at cleaning fish! Here are a few that the kids caught tonight. The test knife did really well scaling and cleaning these lil guys.

I would have taken some after pics but I didn't want to get fish slime all over my....umm, my wife's camera.

SDS

 

[Sharp_newbie]

Shawn, the knife arrived this morning. i shot you an email about it. Looks great thanks again.