- Joined
- Feb 1, 2011
- Messages
- 2,009
As some of you may know I have been working of my first custom knife. One night I was trying to decide what I would use for handle material. I had recently bought a Yuma from Todd and fell in love with the Maple scales. After searching the internet for something similar and not finding it I decided to PM Todd and ask him were he got his maple from.
It turns out that he gets his locally from a place that uses the Maple for muzzle loading rifles and he achieves the coloration and the play on light by the process he does afterwards.
After I read that reply I had some more questions, Too many for Todd to want to type so he asked me to call him. By the end of that phone call he passed on so much information about his craft that I had a hard time sleeping that night trying to process it all. Also by the end of that phone call Todd offered to help me with my first knife and be a reference for any questions along the way. He also hooked me up with a block of the maple he uses and tips on how not to screw it up. He also offered to heat treat the knife for me since I chose O1 tool steel and he has a lot of experience with that steel.
Also in that phone call Todd found out I had minimal tools and gave me a list of tools that would start me out and not break the bank. Each and every one of those tools proved to be priceless in short order. Most of these tools were hand tools. Files, a hacksaw, stuff like that. Todd told me that I was going to work my ass off and he was right.
Lets start out with the inspiration for me deciding on taking on such a project. In years past I used to be a lot more creative. Being able to be creative helps me relieve stress because my wandering mind is focused on ONE thing. I have not had an outlet like this in years and needed something to occupy my mind.
I have two knives in particular that in my hands and how I use the knives are damn near perfect. The only way I could think of improving them was to make them look and feel closer to each other. Basically have them meet in the middle.
Here are those two knives.
The first one is a heavily modded Becker BK-10, THE Big Becker Bushcrafter. This blade was gifted to me from Tradewater. This knife hasn't been far from me since I got it. I love the blade shape and the convex grind is scary sharp and easy to maintain.
The next knife is a 5/32 curly Maple handled Yuma. I have wanted a TM Hunt knife for a while and had a chance to buy one left over from Blade Show with no wait. I jumped on it. This knife feels great in the hand in a lot of different grips and is just plain beautiful.
I felt if I could combine these knives and keep the features I liked, I might have something I felt was worth keeping.
I sat down and drew what I wanted to make, kept changing the things that bugged me and kept it simple.
After collecting all the tools I needed I went to work. I made a file jig to help dial in and guide my file as I worked. This simple jig worked great.
Here are some pictures and videos of my work.
Cutting out the shape of the blade.
My file jig ready to go!
The end of the first day.
Looking really ugly. It is covered in black marker so I could tell were I was easier and the bevel has marker on it so I could make sure I was using the file evenly.
Some videos from start to current.
[video=youtube;_DrsiTgUDIc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DrsiTgUDIc&list=UUVs_4zTKTAf-wMKE_oqgOQg[/video]
[video=youtube;rU9jU9V6QSY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU9jU9V6QSY&list=UUVs_4zTKTAf-wMKE_oqgOQg&index=2[/video]
This last video was made to show Todd what I had done so far. Because of this video Todd was able to give me some much needed and welcome criticism. He opened my mind to ways of making this knife better. Two things. This knife is really forward heavy because of the lack of a distal taper and the grind was way too thick. He told me I could perform the changes or send it to him and he would grind it for me in about 10 minutes before heat treating. As much as it pains me to have someone else work on my project, I realized that I would not be able to pull off the distal taper he was talking about with the tools I have available. I also trust Todd's opinion, his skills, and experience.
[video=youtube;mkryMcRCttc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkryMcRCttc&list=UUVs_4zTKTAf-wMKE_oqgOQg&index=3[/video]
The knife is currently with Todd awaiting the tune up and heat treating. Here is how it left.
So far this has been the rewarding experience I had hoped for. Todd has been a huge help. I am looking forward to getting it back so I can work on the handles and eventually a leather sheath for it.
I will be posting more pictures and video as more progress is made.
Also, feel free to ask any questions about this project.
Thanks,
Jeremy
It turns out that he gets his locally from a place that uses the Maple for muzzle loading rifles and he achieves the coloration and the play on light by the process he does afterwards.
After I read that reply I had some more questions, Too many for Todd to want to type so he asked me to call him. By the end of that phone call he passed on so much information about his craft that I had a hard time sleeping that night trying to process it all. Also by the end of that phone call Todd offered to help me with my first knife and be a reference for any questions along the way. He also hooked me up with a block of the maple he uses and tips on how not to screw it up. He also offered to heat treat the knife for me since I chose O1 tool steel and he has a lot of experience with that steel.
Also in that phone call Todd found out I had minimal tools and gave me a list of tools that would start me out and not break the bank. Each and every one of those tools proved to be priceless in short order. Most of these tools were hand tools. Files, a hacksaw, stuff like that. Todd told me that I was going to work my ass off and he was right.
Lets start out with the inspiration for me deciding on taking on such a project. In years past I used to be a lot more creative. Being able to be creative helps me relieve stress because my wandering mind is focused on ONE thing. I have not had an outlet like this in years and needed something to occupy my mind.
I have two knives in particular that in my hands and how I use the knives are damn near perfect. The only way I could think of improving them was to make them look and feel closer to each other. Basically have them meet in the middle.
Here are those two knives.
The first one is a heavily modded Becker BK-10, THE Big Becker Bushcrafter. This blade was gifted to me from Tradewater. This knife hasn't been far from me since I got it. I love the blade shape and the convex grind is scary sharp and easy to maintain.
The next knife is a 5/32 curly Maple handled Yuma. I have wanted a TM Hunt knife for a while and had a chance to buy one left over from Blade Show with no wait. I jumped on it. This knife feels great in the hand in a lot of different grips and is just plain beautiful.
I felt if I could combine these knives and keep the features I liked, I might have something I felt was worth keeping.
I sat down and drew what I wanted to make, kept changing the things that bugged me and kept it simple.
After collecting all the tools I needed I went to work. I made a file jig to help dial in and guide my file as I worked. This simple jig worked great.
Here are some pictures and videos of my work.
Cutting out the shape of the blade.
My file jig ready to go!
The end of the first day.
Looking really ugly. It is covered in black marker so I could tell were I was easier and the bevel has marker on it so I could make sure I was using the file evenly.
Some videos from start to current.
[video=youtube;_DrsiTgUDIc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DrsiTgUDIc&list=UUVs_4zTKTAf-wMKE_oqgOQg[/video]
[video=youtube;rU9jU9V6QSY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU9jU9V6QSY&list=UUVs_4zTKTAf-wMKE_oqgOQg&index=2[/video]
This last video was made to show Todd what I had done so far. Because of this video Todd was able to give me some much needed and welcome criticism. He opened my mind to ways of making this knife better. Two things. This knife is really forward heavy because of the lack of a distal taper and the grind was way too thick. He told me I could perform the changes or send it to him and he would grind it for me in about 10 minutes before heat treating. As much as it pains me to have someone else work on my project, I realized that I would not be able to pull off the distal taper he was talking about with the tools I have available. I also trust Todd's opinion, his skills, and experience.
[video=youtube;mkryMcRCttc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkryMcRCttc&list=UUVs_4zTKTAf-wMKE_oqgOQg&index=3[/video]
The knife is currently with Todd awaiting the tune up and heat treating. Here is how it left.
So far this has been the rewarding experience I had hoped for. Todd has been a huge help. I am looking forward to getting it back so I can work on the handles and eventually a leather sheath for it.
I will be posting more pictures and video as more progress is made.
Also, feel free to ask any questions about this project.
Thanks,
Jeremy
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