New Hobby

[BRad704]

Nice work. I like how you split the leather and folded the belt loop over the sheath.

Thanks... i like the drop loop style too, and I was going to do a double, but ran out of material...

Brad you may want to stop poking holes in you deck before it falls apart.

That's an old flower stand chair thingy that came with the house... all the holes are in a barstool that I picked up on the side of the road.

 

[BRad704]

Here's what I finished up last night...

 

[havasu]

Looks great Brad. Does it hold the pistol in good and snug?

 

[BRad704]

Yeah, it is a great tight fit... If I were ever to carry it concealed, I would add a thumb/snap break to it... I don't have my HCP yet, so this was really just for practice and because I felt like trying it. It came out way better than I expected and fits GREAT! I soaked the leather in water, then put my .38 in a ziploc and crammed it in the holster, put my belt through it, an strapped it to a paint can with a fan blowing on it... that gave it a natural and locked in curve that is perfect for my hip!

OH, and it had a basket weave (police style) on the sides until I wet-formed it. when the leather swelled and then drew back up, the patter was basically gone. But it was becuase I did the pattern dry.

 

[Admin]

Dang Brad good work.

 

[BRad704]

I am going to be making a few sheaths per special requests (paid requests ) and use this idea on one of them. He said he likes my inlay, but the knife is not huge and I think the two tone gives a similar effect, without removing any good thick leather.

I also got this first new very very rough blank cut out... I still have to get in to the sharpie line on the handles, and yes, the flat edge will be the sharp edge... Its called a Wharncliffe blade...
10.5" OAL and 6" edge

 

[Admin]

I like the blade, my brother just gave me one similar to the one you are about to cut.

 

[havasu]

That knife looks sharper than most in my drawers!

 

[BRad704]

Thanks guys! update from last night...

 

[Admin]

Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[BRad704]

The blade "edge" is still about 3/16" thick, so I have a long way to go and the grind will actually go almost all the way to the back edge. I drilled out some holes in the tang to lighten it, and might try to taper the tang also. I'm really thinking about making a bolt together method for the scales and use that plus epoxy/glue. Whatever I do, the scales are going to have to be thin since the tang is just over 1/4" thick.

I am trading away 3 bars of this steel for some more wood handle material and will go get myself some more at lunch today. The knifemaker near me wants me to make some bowies out of this stuff, so that might be what I do for Christmas instead of the ACT's...

 

[Admin]

Are you balancing the knives? Will tang holes affect the overall strength of the knife?

 

[BRad704]

Not "so" worried about learning balance yet. I will end up removing about 50% or more of the material from the blade to get it thin enough for a good slicing edge, so that is gonna lighted up the front significantly. also not worried about tang strength... you have to think about small frame-lockknifes... they have some pretty narrow and thin sections to them, and are not really risking breakage.

I got some more blank bars today. So even after shipping 3 away in trade, I have 6 more to work with and the guy I got them from said he will still do teh heat treat/quench for basically free. I am definetly gonna owe him a knife once I get going!

 

[Admin]

I'd say so. Can't wait top see pics of the Bowies man, I always wanted one.; The closest I ever got was a 13" hunting knife I had when I was 10. It was a good knife.

 

[BRad704]

I am still slowly working on thinning/grinding that Wharncliffe, but cut this rough blank out Sunday morning. the first pic show the lines I want to work to, making a large bowie/fighter with hidden tang and probably an S-curved guard. The second pic shows the overall size. I haven't measured, but I based on how little I removed from the 16" bar, the OAL on this should be around 14"...

 

[Admin]

That's bigger than I expected. Are you using leather with the handle, or are you going to go bone or antler?

 

[BRad704]

That's what she said...

this one might get a tiger maple handle or a simple dark walnut... but it will be wood

 

[Admin]

That's what she said...

this one might get a tiger maple handle or a simple dark walnut... but it will be wood

I knew that was coming.

Are you capping off the butt?

 

[havasu]

Are you capping off the butt?

That's what he said!

 

[BRad704]

^^ HA!

^ NICE!

yeah, there will be a cap/pommel on the end of the handle... Here's how it is sitting on my desk right now. I went with cherry for the handle, and the zebra spacer will be replaced by something metal and roundish... for the cap, I am not 100% sure yet if I want a smooth round cap or to use a spiked pommel.