Shooting Sports > Archery
Wisconsin Bowhunters Custom knife
Rancid Crabtree:
I have not posted a new knife project here for some time so I thought I would share this work in progress. I'm making a custom knife and sheath as a donation to the Wisconsin Bowhunters (WBH) to be used at the annual convention in March.
I thought I would share the steps that go into the making of this custom knife as sort of a build along.
The blade is a drop point hunter and is forged Damascus Steel made from 1095 and 15N20 steels. I did not make the blank but rather purchased it as I do not have the tools or capabilities to make Damascus. I could have made the blank myself from O1 steel like I have in the past but I wanted this knife to unique and special so I went with a Damascus blade with a lot of character. Every Damascus blade is a one-of-a-kind.
The blank is a hefty 1/8 inch thick with a 3 1/2 inch blade and a 4 1/2 inch handle. The blank is mar-quenched and tempered to a Rockwell hardness of 57. This knife is sure to have great edge holding ability.
For the scales of the knife (sides of the handle) I wanted to keep the whole idea of the swirling pattern in the blade and in keeping with the one-of-a-kind idea so I am using hard rock maple burl died green (WBH color) and stabilized which will prevent the normal swelling and shrinking that happens to wood.
Normally, swelling and shrinking is not a problem with this sort of handle but I want to make extra sure the wood is stabilized because I am going to be inlaying metal and enamel WBH logos into the handle and I don't want the future owner to feel a line where the medallions and the wood meet and I want to make sure the medallions stay put for the life of the knife.
In keeping with uniqueness, I want all the little things to have detail. Rather than using a single material pin such as brass or copper or silver nickle or even aluminum I am making custom pins for the joint between the scales and the blade blank. I am making mosaic pins with an aluminum outer sleeve followed by a brass sleeve and then 3 aluminum pins inside the brass tube. All the parts of the mosaic pins will be held in place with J.B. Weld because I want the black background to contrast with the shiny aluminum just like the black and sliver lines in the blade.
Here they are after the epoxy is set and I ground the end flat on a belt sander.
And a close up.
Next up is fitting and attaching the scales..................
Rancid Crabtree:
I rough shaped the maple scales to fit the blank. I held the sides in place with two scrap pins.
Next, I roughed up the handle portion of the blank as well as the glue sides of the scales. Epoxy does much better with a rough surface than a smooth one.
I then drilled a shallow pocket in each scale for the WBH medallion.
To prevent scratching the blade, I pre-shaped the front end of the scales before attaching them to the blank.
The final prep work for the scales was to epoxy the medallions in place.
Once the epoxy that holds the medallions in place was cured, I attached both knife scales to the handle of the blade blank. I masked off all the areas of both the blank and the handle that I did not want to get epoxy on. This epoxy has a 3,500 pound holding strength and the wood scales and the knife blank are now forever joined.
Next up, shaping the handle.............
Rancid Crabtree:
After 24 hours, the clamps are removed and thus begins the tedious task of getting off the epoxy covered tape.
The joint is a good one with no gaps, just a nice thin line of epoxy between the blank and the scales.
The next step is to shape and smooth the handle. This is done with belt and palm sanders with various grits and then hand sanding and finally steel wool. I am pleased with how well the WBH logo shows through the epoxy.
The final step to finishing the handle is to apply several coats of tung oil finish. I rub each coat in with my finger tip and let it dry for 24 hours. I then buff it with fine steel wool and apply another coat. 4 coats should be enough. This wood has already been stabilized, It is already water proofed but this will further seal and water proof the wood and act as more of a protective coating that will take the abuse of every day use and if scratched, can be repaired with another rubbing with Tung oil and a little buffing.
While the four coats are applied and drying, It's time to make a sheath................
NamVet66:
I know you're not looking for comments on this project, but I have to tell you how impressed I am with you skill. I really enjoyed following the project and wish I had the ability to tackle such a detailed endeavor. Great job!
Rancid Crabtree:
Hell, I always invite comment. That is what these forums are about.
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