The making of...

[PB Knives]

...my latest scandi. A well known fella here at BCUK, Paganwolf/PW/JP, contacted me about making him a knife. I made him a knife and now he wants me to do this "tutorail" thing too....

Well, we started talking about materials, blades and so on. What kinda style he wanted and such things. After a while I made some quick sketches and we agreed on what direction to go.

http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp01.jpg

After these initial decisions, it was up to me to make it look and feel good.

Here´s a pic of my final drawing. I use the drawing to make the pieces get the right size when making them.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp02.jpg

I didn´t get any pics while making the pieces for this handle. But at BB I have pics of this procedure when making another knife.
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5699&page=2&pp=15
Anyway, I´ll be drilling the pieces with small drills, and using tiny files to get the holes up to the right fit against the tang.

Here´s all parts, except the butt piece, drilled and ready for glueing.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp4.jpg

I also file the tang like this for extra strength.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp2.jpg

Then I glue the parts is my home made press. First the bolster piece, and let it dry over night (using 24h glue), the the rest of the pieces, except the last one.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp5.jpg

Now I see where I need to cut the tang and how deep into the buttpiece to drill. I use a small miller bit to get this to a really snug fit. I prefer not to rivet to get fredom in forming the end the way I want.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp3.jpg

After all this is done, the fun really starts... shaping the handle!
I use a belt grinder to get it down to size. Then when the real shaping begins, rasps and files are my favourite tools to get it right. I often stop and look at my progress under strong light, to see how the shadows falls on it when turning the knife around. All this to get it as symmetrical as possible.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp10.jpg


More to come. Take care guys!
/Peter

[tomtom]

Great Thread Peter!!

[TheViking]

More, more, more! :hyper: :hyper: :o):
Great idea this. :biggthump

[Wayne]

Many thinaks for taking the time to post Peter. First rate and great workmanship.

When i saved some pennies i think i may have to make an order.

[alick]

You won't regret it !

[BIG-TARGET]

More, more, more! :hyper: :hyper: :o):
Great idea this. :biggthump


Steel porn addiction!!!!! :hyper: :wow1: :hyper: :wow1: :hyper: :wow1:

[Paganwolf]

Pete your a STAR ! well done fella :wink: we use knives every day and most have a scandi of one description or another, so its great to see how ones like this are constructed, most of us are knifaholics (some closet ones :rolmao: ) so this is a nice fix, ands its not every day you see a knife being born :shock: :lol: :biggthump (by the way Pete it arrived at my parents house as i did'nt want it turning up while im down under, ive not told my Pa what it is or ill get a "pre fondled" knife when i get home and I want a virgin :rolmao: )

[PB Knives]

When forming the handle I alternate files with strips of sandpaper. Files when I need to adjust the shape a bit, and then the sandpaper strips to smoothen out the transitions.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp13.jpg

When finished sanding, oiling makes it come alive!
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp16.jpg

Next I mark out the outline of the sheath on my piece of wood, using my original drawing.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp6.jpg

I clamp it to my work bench, and take it down closer to the lines with my saw.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp7.jpg

Then splitting it into two pieces. Important to make this careful and to get them as flat as possible at this stage. Its hard to sand them flat at a later stage. Well, you have to do this anyway to get rid of marks from the saw, and to get them as perfect as possible.
I tejp a large piece of sandpaper to my bench to get them really flat when sanding.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp8.jpg

Now I take out wood for the blade on both halves. I do this with a mill that I´ve put in my drillpress. Much easier and more accurate than my old method (knife). When this is done I shape one halfe to its final form. Then, with the blade in its place, drawing the outline of it to the other half. This is to be able to see that when glueing, the stay in the right place.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp20.jpg
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/bcuk/jp21.jpg

Stay tuned :wink:
/Peter

[tomtom]

Peter... what process do you use to get a nice finish on the horn?

[BIG-TARGET]

OK PB I'll bite, How much???? and do you take paypal???

[Steve1701D]

Great tutorial, beautiful knife!
What oil did you use on the handle?

:pack:

[ESpy]

When splitting blocks like that, I find that a Japanese saw makes a lovely job of the task. The resulting cut is fairly smooth, which means there is less wood needs to be sanded off to make the 2 parts flat - which in turn allows you to more-or-less align the grain to what it was, since the saws have a very, very small kerf.

Similarly, I have a Japanese saw rasp (Axminster!) that I use for roughing out woods - much cheaper in the long run than abrasive belts.

[PB Knives]

Peter... what process do you use to get a nice finish on the horn?

I sand it down to say 800 grit, then oil and buff it at the end. I dont know if oiling really is needed on horn, but i do the hole knife.

ESpy, i have a Japanese saw, one that you pull against you, and I cant handle it well enough. It makes some nice cuts but tends to wander off at the end, leaving lots of sanding... Now I´m back to old school sawing :wink:
Wish I had a bandsaw... :yumyum:


BIG-TARGET, I´m working on another custom right now but later on, I´m free... Send me an PM or e-mail if you got some questions. But I can say that I won´t take any orders with time limits so to say. PW´s been great and let me take my time on this one.

Steve1701D: I use a 50/50 mixture of boiled linseed oil and turpentine.

/Peter

[PB Knives]

After glueing it´s easy to take the bigger half down to the size of the smaller. Then carefully start rounding it off to a nice shape. (I´m working with files) When my basic shape is done I drill a small drainage hole at the bottom. Next I drill a hole for the mosaic pin, hammer it through, and file the ends off. Then I sand It down to 800 grit before making the 3 file traces at the top. (You don´t really need 3, I just thought it would look good on this)
http://www.kommunicera.umea.se/hemma/pberggren/bcuk/jp25.jpg

Next some treatment! Here you can see the hole at the bottom too.
http://www.kommunicera.umea.se/hemma/pberggren/bcuk/jp26.jpg

The leather is attached. Sadly I don´t have any pics of that part. When working with the leather theres no coffe breaks, and my wife weren´t at home to take some.
But this leather (rawhide) I wet for 1 hour and then cut out a large enough piece. Then measure out the height needed and cut it eaven. Then wrap it around the knife (which is protected by plastic) and wooden sheath, clamp it tight. Then take it off and where the clamps have left marks I mark my holes and punch them. Then I put the leather around the knife again and start sawing. Hmm might have skipped something... :roll: . well, ask away. After leaving to dry for two/three days I take out the knife and remove tha plastics and paper from the knife. Now theres a small gap, but another day or two of drying will fix that. Then leather treatment with a nice leather grease.
Then you end up with something like this.
http://194.165.231.32/hemma//pberggren/14-1.jpg
The hole drying period I work on the leather pushing it in the traces and forming it like I want it.

Thanks for having me! :wave:
Take care guys.
/Peter

PS, am I off the hook now JP... :rolmao:

[Burnt Ash]

That's a lovely looking knife PB. Who made the blade and what is the steel?

BTW, in the last bit about the leather, you wrote 'sawing', but I presume you mean't sewing?

Burnt Ash

[PB Knives]

That's a lovely looking knife PB. Who made the blade and what is the steel?
It´s by swede Maihkel Eklund, Stainless AEB-L.


BTW, in the last bit about the leather, you wrote 'sawing', but I presume you mean't sewing?

Oops.... sewing, sewing, sewing. Now I got it :wink:

[arctic hobo]

That's a lovely looking knife PB. Who made the blade and what is the steel?

BTW, in the last bit about the leather, you wrote 'sawing', but I presume you mean't sewing?

Burnt Ash

in that last bit, you wrote "mean't", but I presume you meant meant.
:nana: :nana: Sorry, couldn't resist

[PB Knives]

in that last bit, you wrote "mean't", but I presume you meant meant.
:nana: :nana: Sorry, couldn't resist
Don´t worry, I can take it.... :cry: :wink:

[arctic hobo]

Nono, it was aimed at Burnt Ash, not you. I was correcting him correcting you. :naughty:

[PB Knives]

Ahhh... a defender of the weak... like it a lot ;-)

(That´s why i didn´t recognize those words... :oops: )

[arctic hobo]

No, it's just that I fell in love with your knife :o): It's wonderful!
Would you do others to order? If so, about how much? :biggthump

[Tvividr]

Good thread Peter, and very nice work :biggthump

[Paganwolf]

You are DEFINATLY off the hook matey, nice one Pete :biggthump its great to see it in the making and im sure everyone has enjoyed seeing your work in progress to finished item! thanks again for your time in showing us your methods and i cant wait to get my mitts on it :wink: JP