Takedown Damascus Bowie WIP

[Ken H>]

The wa handle I made came out to be 5 3/4”. I made it irregular octagonal (cross section wise) with the side flats being the longest the top and bottom next and the corners the shortest. It is also tapered towards the blade.

I said octagonal in previous post, but that's not true. I did just like 357 said, sides longer than the corners. Length of handle from 5" to 6" depending on size of hand and size of blade.

 

[Hubert S.]

Although it may not be the most traditional or attractive; that was by design... just playing around. It's not a single curve, rather 3 sections separated by two curves

Oops, I did not mean to criticize your design. It's pretty subtle, so I thought you meant to smooth the clip from when it was a Bowie but left a flat spot, that's why I pointed it out. I look forward to seeing the completed knife!

 

[Natlek]

Although it may not be the most traditional or attractive; that was by design... just playing around. It's not a single curve, rather 3 sections separated by two curves

Just playing around ..................... well , it is ugly to me , especially when there is no effect on knife performance .
This look much pleasant to me

 

[FredyCro]

I say do a straight clip and call it a bowie chef as homage to the build

 

[J. Keeton]

Drilled a hole in the dowel to avoid it acting like a piston:

Glue Up layout:

Got all the epoxy in there along with the blade and used my modified clamps to hold together the handle. I'm using some Roge epoxy from Combat abrasives so it started to set up in about 15-20 min:

It was pretty hard to get out! (I did put a little wax on the tang...):

Brought it down on the grinder with a 60 grit:

heated the tang and burned the epoxy out of the way:

Got a nice fit here:

Marked some targets:

 

[J. Keeton]

Getting everything parallel to the blade:

Trying out the front scallops:

After the grinder cleaning up the chamfers on the surface plate:

This wood had some voids.... I filled with super glue and sanded down:

After a light buff:

 

[J. Keeton]

notching the tang to help lock it in with the epoxy:

Built this etching tank out of 3'' PVC... 1 part Ferric Chloride and 2 parts water... I may leave the top off so the water evaporates some and beef this mixture up with more acid... etching took forever:

Cleaned blade with soap and water:

Started etching:

Took the blade out at 5 min increments then 20 min increments when I found out how weak the mix was:

Steel wool between cycles:

Baking soda to neutralize at the end:

I rubbed this in:

 

[J. Keeton]

Time for final glue up:

G-flex this time around... also got a new 24'' clamp for this project!

Tomorrow I finish the back end of the handle and sharpen!

 

[Jrmysell]

Looks great!

 

[3fifty7]

Looks like you did some real nice work on that handle.

Built this etching tank out of 3'' PVC... 1 part Ferric Chloride and 2 parts water... I may leave the top off so the water evaporates some and beef this mixture up with more acid... etching took forever:

Most will mix 1 part Ferric Chloride to 4 parts distilled water. “Stronger” won’t necessarily etch faster or better.
I wouldn’t leave the top open period, especially near anything any metal as it will begin to rust very quickly.

 

[J. Keeton]

Most will mix 1 part Ferric Chloride to 4 parts distilled water. “Stronger” won’t necessarily etch faster or better.
I wouldn’t leave the top open period, especially near anything any metal as it will begin to rust very quickly.

Maybe the acid is just weaker than the last stuff I purchased.... Just working way slower than my 3 year old 50/50 mix

 

[Ken H>]

That knife turned out really nice - good job.... and a GREAT WIP.

Have you tried a coffee etch? I've done a couple and at this time I like coffee

 

[weo]

Looking great, J.
Nice job!

 

[J. Keeton]

That knife turned out really nice - good job.... and a GREAT WIP.

Have you tried a coffee etch? I've done a couple and at this time I like coffee

Thanks! I haven't... I heard the
coffee etch isn't durable?

 

[J. Keeton]

Cleaning up the back end:

Used the WEN water cooled sharpener to set my angle to 17.5:

Refined with an 800 grit norax on the "house/work system"

Stopped with leather wheel on WEN:

Prelim-Final-Shots.... I'm going to take my time with some good ones later:

I really like how the fit turned out here:

Not bad for almost being scrap steel!! lol

 

[3fifty7]

Very well done, that’s a great save.

I’d suggest a small chamfer on the butt just to break that square transition.

 

[weo]

Yeah, what he said!

Soooo......are you addicted?

 

[J. Keeton]

Very well done, that’s a great save.
I’d suggest a small chamfer on the butt just to break that square transition.

Thanks! I did round over that corner by hand with sand paper. Very small radius. maybe a 1/32'' radius.

Yeah, what he said!
Soooo......are you addicted?

To WA handle kitchen knives? Yeah... I like the process on these. Pretty fun.

To damascus?! YUP

 

[J. Keeton]

Are yall concerned about the strength of my handle? That tang felt a little short. If I remember right it only went into the box elder about 2.75''

I guess no one will be battoning with this guy... but I'm just not used to kitchen knives.

 

[Ken H>]

I think the blade and Wa handle will be plenty strong. If anybody breaks that, they are not using a kitchen knife correctly.