# 5 Knives



## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*5 Knives part 1*

Part 1

The knives arrived.. this is my first blog and i thought it should be a useful one.
I am making 5 knives I have a photo of the materials i will use in the first few. I will try and take a lot of pictures to explain what i am doing,

so first picture is gathering equipment

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As you can see it is chaos.. I have epoxy, tap and die (spelling) set files 3.5mm drill shiny bolsters. 2 carbon 3 stainles steal blanks. a few thin slices of curly birch some apple wood and elk horn.

1 x Bolster R 24 (3571 B) = 1,40 EUR
1 x Karesuando SS 80 (5330) = 10,10 EUR
2 x Lauri Carbon 95 (5105) = 17,00 EUR
4 x Bolster V 24 (3570 N) = 5,60 EUR
2 x Lauri 95 SS (5133) = 20,20 EUR
elk horn = 5,00 EUR (flee market)
Black leather = ,50c (fleemarket pair of leather boots)

some of the bits are left over from the first kit i bought on Brisa,fi
This morning i cut some apple wood to spacer and grip size i gave it a light sand on the sander so you can see the colours as we go along. the elk horn was cut to about 7mm spacers and a few 15mm spacers.

I will also put out a small plea for help now. Brisa charge alot of money for a little bit of walnut and oak or other exotic woods.. if possible and if any one wants to send me 4cm x 3cm x 2cm cube shaped pieces of"exotic" wood. That i could use on these projects it would be greatly appreciated.










A photo of each type of blank i am using.


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## ratchet (Jan 12, 2008)

AJM said:


> *5 Knives part 1*
> 
> Part 1
> 
> ...


Very much looking forward to seeing your knives progress!
Thanks for taking the time to document the process.


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## flintbone (Oct 4, 2009)

AJM said:


> *5 Knives part 1*
> 
> Part 1
> 
> ...


I am watching with interest also. I have a kit but haven't put it together yet.
I have some walnut and I will share. Send me a message.
Keep up the good work.
flint


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## Arnies (Jul 14, 2011)

AJM said:


> *5 Knives part 1*
> 
> Part 1
> 
> ...


Also have a knife kit and looking for the right wood for the stiles.
Thanks letting us follow you progress.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Planning planning planning.*

I am starting with the 8cm stainless steal blade. I have a few pictures so you can see how the different spacer sizes look.
Last week I was given a Hägg branch. (Prunus Padus - Bird Cherry)










I was plesantly surprised on the colour and its nice and strong, you can see my trade mark bands saw burn marks..










Bolster. 22m wide I am showing you the colour here again so you can visualise the knife before it drilled, filed and glued.









apple wood spacer








wider spacer








thin elk spacer

As you can see it can change easily by adding bigger and smaller spacers or adding apple wood.

being as i am having a night of tv and onion rings and habernero's with molten cheese.. I decided to do pack it away in the icecream tub.. this is a must.. the bits of wood are smallish and easily misplaced. keeps every thing safe for when i get back.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Preparing the blanks*

Here are a few photo's of how i prepared 2 of the blanks although the stainless steal blank broke the m6 die.
hopefully i have a solution to this and it will no longer be an issue on the other 2 ss blanks.








With the carbon blade i die'd the end first to fit an m6 nut. i use this to help keep the knife clamped together.










I have heard stories of the epoxy lasting a few years and the knife then simply putting it . fall apart. i feel the nut at the end is a good way of helping this not to happen.
Roughed the surface on my grinder this can most certainly be done with a file. but the grinding stone is alot faster method. roughing and notching the surface again gives something for the wood and epoxy to adhere to again helping the life of the handle.





































while rumaging through the work shop i found a piece of birch i used earlier in the fishing season. I have cut these in to varying lenghs and took the bark off of a couple of pieces so i can get a hint of the colour of the wood.








My solution for the stainless steel did not work. can any one recommend a die for stainless steal i could use?


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Preparing the blanks*
> 
> Here are a few photo's of how i prepared 2 of the blanks although the stainless steal blank broke the m6 die.
> hopefully i have a solution to this and it will no longer be an issue on the other 2 ss blanks.
> ...


Went to the local hardware shop. He does not think i can tap/die the stainless.. I blought a new DIe lets see if i can put some thread on it….
Had another try. no luck teeth just go bang with an orange flash. i guess i will google how to do it. or finish it a different way. (series of "v" shapes and hope the epoxy holds.)


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## IsaacH (Aug 29, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Preparing the blanks*
> 
> Here are a few photo's of how i prepared 2 of the blanks although the stainless steal blank broke the m6 die.
> hopefully i have a solution to this and it will no longer be an issue on the other 2 ss blanks.
> ...


Stainless really needs to be threaded on a lathe. Depending on the type of stainless you are using you might try to use a propane or mapp gas torch to remove the temper from the end of the tang. If you hold the rest of the tang and the blade in a metal vise, it will act as a heat sink and you should be able to keep from losing the temper in the rest of the knife. once its been softened (after cooling of course) you might be able to thread it, provided you use plenty of cutting oil.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Preparing the blanks*
> 
> Here are a few photo's of how i prepared 2 of the blanks although the stainless steal blank broke the m6 die.
> hopefully i have a solution to this and it will no longer be an issue on the other 2 ss blanks.
> ...


thanks isaacH

I think due to lack of knowledge. I will do the carbons with a nut and a more traditonal handle on the stainless with copious amounts of epoxy


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*handle and colouring*

Hopefully by this time tomorrow i will have a series of pictures of materials for the handle.

Tomorrow i will be asking for votes or opinions on the materials for making the first knife.
I will try and limit the choices but i thought it would be fun to share the project.

(only got 20 mins in the workshop today)


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Your Decision... Pick a handle..*

I would like a simple comment please. Pick A Pic. I did not take a photo of bird cherry 2 but you can pick this as well.

Each layer will have a strip of black leather between it like the first picture.

Pictures did not come out to well but i hope you get the idea on how they would look.










A large piece of bird cherry has been selected for the butt. 
All fellow members of Lumberjocks have to do is decide over the next day or so what design they would like to see incorporated in to the knife handle.










Bird Cherry Butt










(not curly) Birch 2










Curly Birch 1










Bird Cherry 1










Apple 2










Apple 1

Looking forward to seeing what is decided. (remember you can do a bird cherry 2).

Anthony


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

AJM said:


> *Your Decision... Pick a handle..*
> 
> I would like a simple comment please. Pick A Pic. I did not take a photo of bird cherry 2 but you can pick this as well.
> 
> ...


Maybe that it is because it is more finished. Prefer the subtlty of the colors? Stopped cause I was curious. LOL


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Your Decision... Pick a handle..*
> 
> I would like a simple comment please. Pick A Pic. I did not take a photo of bird cherry 2 but you can pick this as well.
> 
> ...


Yes the finish on the first is tung oil…. just getting you to decide on how my next knife will look…..


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Your Decision... Pick a handle..*
> 
> I would like a simple comment please. Pick A Pic. I did not take a photo of bird cherry 2 but you can pick this as well.
> 
> ...


Ok Not so many replies through the night…. i will be setting up for glueing and shaping 2 bird cherry slices. between 3 slices of elk antler.
unless there is a surge of votes I have woodwork classes tonight so I wll photo final shaping of the tang of the blade and filing needed for part 1 of epoxy glueing.


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

AJM said:


> *Your Decision... Pick a handle..*
> 
> I would like a simple comment please. Pick A Pic. I did not take a photo of bird cherry 2 but you can pick this as well.
> 
> ...


Good luck!


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Winter is leaving Finland*

After .. light flooding a shoulder injury.. glasses .. -32..3 foot of snow.. I finally have a workshop sort of warm enough to work in.. so i went to woodwork i town and started on the handles. Did some shaping in my home workshop. Some one kindly posted me some sections of wood.. I used the purple heart and the colour is great!!

Here is the start of the first knife which will be all mine!!

so the materials involved are Bird Cherry - Curly Birch - Purple Heart - Elk horn.

The brown plate looking things that the knife is resting on was wooden pizza plates 1€ each from the flea market (think they might make good bands). will post some pics of them for an ident..


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## JR45 (Jan 26, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Winter is leaving Finland*
> 
> After .. light flooding a shoulder injury.. glasses .. -32..3 foot of snow.. I finally have a workshop sort of warm enough to work in.. so i went to woodwork i town and started on the handles. Did some shaping in my home workshop. Some one kindly posted me some sections of wood.. I used the purple heart and the colour is great!!
> 
> ...


Looks good! Pleased you survived the winter. Purpleheart makes a nice contrast.
Jim


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Winter is leaving Finland*
> 
> After .. light flooding a shoulder injury.. glasses .. -32..3 foot of snow.. I finally have a workshop sort of warm enough to work in.. so i went to woodwork i town and started on the handles. Did some shaping in my home workshop. Some one kindly posted me some sections of wood.. I used the purple heart and the colour is great!!
> 
> ...


Thanks Jim.

Looks like i will buy the veneer… and keep it in storage.. 
keep your eyes here..
i have some long 4mm drills on order for one of the knives and some contrasting colours.

regards

AJM


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Winter is leaving Finland*
> 
> After .. light flooding a shoulder injury.. glasses .. -32..3 foot of snow.. I finally have a workshop sort of warm enough to work in.. so i went to woodwork i town and started on the handles. Did some shaping in my home workshop. Some one kindly posted me some sections of wood.. I used the purple heart and the colour is great!!
> 
> ...












A picture of clamping.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*I went to the woods.*

Finland is famous for woods and my mother in law has a small one 13.5 hectare and her brother has about 20 hectares.

















I was helping take some trees for fire wood and I noticed some brown dots in the birch. I know this does not make it the much fabled curly birch I would like to get for knife handles. But for free and saving it from the fire.
Well it makes me feel happy and in 8 months time it could quite well be used for some handles.
It is now split and off the floor and in the barn to allow it to dry slower.

Nice days work!


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## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

AJM said:


> *I went to the woods.*
> 
> Finland is famous for woods and my mother in law has a small one 13.5 hectare and her brother has about 20 hectares.
> 
> ...


Nice stash of wood. Did you paint the ends of the logs to help prevent splitting? Thank you for sharing the building process. I've got a couple of knife blanks from Norway that need handles. 
Stainless is very tough to thread. I wouldn't expect that end to be hardened but maybe if you heated it with a torch to soften it it might thread easier.
Jim


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *I went to the woods.*
> 
> Finland is famous for woods and my mother in law has a small one 13.5 hectare and her brother has about 20 hectares.
> 
> ...


I have 1 part way complete. 4 more to do on the knife blanks i am trying to read and translate some swedish books on knife handle making. so wait before you make your knives you might be surprised by some of the other designs. 
Curly Birch is expensive. this is not quite curly birch it has some markings but not a full on "masur" 
https://www.brisa.fi/portal/index.php?option=com_oscommerce&osMod=index&cPath=91_10
the web link has a standard.. and it should be a bit less then that.
Jim I wont paint the wood. this is my first lot of stored and self dried wood. (there are a quite a few more in the woods) (and i am trying to teach myself to chect the wood and dampen it if necessary.)
But if it does split badly i will do it next year for sure.
one of the features of my next knife is under some chipboard on top of the wood Birch Bark for segment spacers.
so please keep following the knife blog

AJM


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *I went to the woods.*
> 
> Finland is famous for woods and my mother in law has a small one 13.5 hectare and her brother has about 20 hectares.
> 
> ...


I have been advised by my wood work teacher to seal the wood with cheap wood glue on the ends.

I will do that rather than paint.


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## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

AJM said:


> *I went to the woods.*
> 
> Finland is famous for woods and my mother in law has a small one 13.5 hectare and her brother has about 20 hectares.
> 
> ...


I'm glad to hear you are going to seal the ends. I was worried some good wood might have gone to waste.
Jim


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*-9 Shaping Sanding.*

-9in the workshop so speed was the key today….



















Tweaked my belt sander and started to cut the shapes in to the knife handle this is for a right hander.

I was quite pleased with the shaping so i thought I would try a quick hand sander rub down to take some edges out. This went well. So out came the 120 grit and a frantic rub around. I was starting to be really happy.. 600 grit.. over enthusiasium.. dropped back to 400 grit now this really did work some wonders..


























So now it is time to start sealing the wood.. I use tung oil as this is nice and easy to use.. i have put a coat on.. and i am letting it dry in doors.
tomorrow i will wire wool the coating and apply a second coat..

Odd things that happened today.. got given a 2 year piece of seasoned juniper
even scarier then that some one gave me a well seasoned section of curly birch..

Thanks for reading!


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *-9 Shaping Sanding.*
> 
> -9in the workshop so speed was the key today….
> 
> ...


I think I will say this again. When you shape a knife its a feeling. you put it in your hand. it feels right. but you know when using this type of knife you need to apply pressure with a thumb in certain spots. If it is your knife do this. Over exagerate the notches/dents. when you hand sand the shapes soften.
I was so cold earlier I want to add this as a sub note.
thanks for looking

AJM


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Some times it's cold... Then it snows..*

So i unveiled my knife handle this morning.. The curly birch was glowing.. the purple heart lookes splendid.. i think i will leave the bird cherry to a picture. After all a picture is worth 1000 words.. (swear ones)










I guess the apple wood peg split it.. I knew i should have fitted it earlier..
-21 but sunny…. So like the weather this morning i take a negative and go for a positive.. I can do an article on rehandling/renewing a damaged knife. 
After a bad start to the day with the knife handle and then I went to college learning.. (check this out) swedish in the third person. I got home relaxed.. Then I went to I went to my "uncles" tonight. He has a nice little forrest and turned out he is a hoarder too.
I am now a proud owner of some fine pieces of wood. willow, maple aspen, rowan, alder and birch.. And the birch is something I will have to photo tomorrow ar wood work i am going to cut and plane a few hand sized pieces.. best thing is it has been seasoned as fire wood.. and indoors for the last.. 8 months.. (some of the willow and aspen are 10 years in the box of i can do something with this) So the bits iI have are ready for some wood shop love.
I got some birch bark spacers too.. I will photo what i can tomorrow.. A new knife !! For "Uncle Kaj" (kye)

Thanks for checking in..

Anthony


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## JR45 (Jan 26, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Some times it's cold... Then it snows..*
> 
> So i unveiled my knife handle this morning.. The curly birch was glowing.. the purple heart lookes splendid.. i think i will leave the bird cherry to a picture. After all a picture is worth 1000 words.. (swear ones)
> 
> ...


Anthony,
You could try to stabilise the crack with epoxy. It should soak in and prevent further splitting.
Jim


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Some times it's cold... Then it snows..*
> 
> So i unveiled my knife handle this morning.. The curly birch was glowing.. the purple heart lookes splendid.. i think i will leave the bird cherry to a picture. After all a picture is worth 1000 words.. (swear ones)
> 
> ...


I might try that as a temporary fix so i can use it this summer. I will show the handle to the word work teacher on night classes tonight.
I think trying to cut and rehandle the bad section would be a handy skill to have.
Thanks for the advice Jim


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*A knife for Kaj*





































Kaj has supplied with a lot of wood to help me with my knife making and turning.
This handle uses more traditional materials. He saw the knife with the Purple Heart and liked the colour.
Birch Bark spacers, Thin strips of elk horn. Masur Birch for the handle.

Measure, Mark, Drill, File to fit.
Each piece. The masur Birch handle are 2 angled bores like-> \ |
Before gluing with epoxy I layed the materials out in order of gluing. 
The whole process took about 2 hours.


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## Boatman53 (May 21, 2012)

AJM said:


> *A knife for Kaj*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like it AJM when you shape the handle do you intend to keep some of the bark on the birch piece?
Jim


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *A knife for Kaj*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I am not entirely sure. These piece of masur birch was prepared as fire wood. I will shape it to the profile that feels nice and if the bark is still there then so be it. The only thing i really think about is the band colours. I will take some pictures later I will do the first "Rough" shaping after college.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Shaping and more shaping..*





















































In varying stages of finish.. there are some rough shapes.. smooth shapes.. 
then I took it to Kaj. Marked where he wanted the thumb points. 
I have used the rough belt sander.. a runover with a hand sander.. 120 grit for 20 mins hand sanding..
Quick hits with the rough belt, quick buzz with hand sander. 120 for 10 mins on the thum notches. 400 grit on the knife for 15 mins.
I gave it a rub with tung oil.
I will wire wool it tomorrow and another coat.

Thanks for looking.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

AJM said:


> *Shaping and more shaping..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks good.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Shaping and more shaping..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks stefang. Not bad for finnish firewood..
I have found a part that needs some more shaping (Flattening). I will have a look again tomorrow after college.


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

*Pink wood... yup..*









now what wood is this….
syren.. in swedish? most of it is rotted but what colours !!

Busy day involving chainsaws, skidoos and -18 to -7

I have some lovely fresh birch wood.. A fall off a skidoo.. a camera that goes on strike after 3 hours of not doing anything in minus temperatures.. phone joined in too..
More pictures tomorrow..


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## KelvinGrove (Mar 1, 2013)

AJM said:


> *Pink wood... yup..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I need a small piece of that to use on a Scrabble board. What would it cost me?


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Pink wood... yup..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Need dimensions.. the main part if this is wrotten. Layer this year I take a good part of this shrub as thinning.. I guess postage or send me something for my knives *?


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## KelvinGrove (Mar 1, 2013)

AJM said:


> *Pink wood... yup..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't need much, a scrabble board has 17 pink squares. When I make them up they will be 25 mm by 32 mm. 1 inch by 1 1/4 inch. When each is done it will only be 6mm (1/4 inch) thick.

Knives as in planer or as in pocket knives?


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## AJM (Aug 6, 2012)

AJM said:


> *Pink wood... yup..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I make pocket Knives.. I think it will be best if I try and get some fresher bits of this wood. Most of it was rotten. My mother in law said I can chop the tree/shrub/bush and get some more. I will keep you updated.
Anthony


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## KelvinGrove (Mar 1, 2013)

AJM said:


> *Pink wood... yup..*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That sounds like a plan. I should be able to find a good piece of black walnut or possibly some osage orange (which in our area is called "horse apple" and in other parts of the country bodart). Let me look around a bit and I will keep you posted. I have taken the liberty of adding you to my buddies list.

My wife is a language teacher and Scrabble is her favorite game. My plan is to make a board for her with one 1 1/4 inch squares. This will take a number of exotic woods including purple heart, cedar, and mahogany. If I do a good job on this she might let me win once in a while!

Tim


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