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Main Boards => Hunting Knives and Crafters => Topic started by: Jeremy on January 16, 2010, 03:28:00 PM
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It's no secret I had zzzero shop time last year for knives. In fact, I managed to start and complete exactly one knife in '09 (Curt's son first knife). A few other blades are finished and in need of handles. Three knives that I had hoped to have finished in Jan '09 are a bit ambitious. One that I'll post a pic of below is for Kevin, another that's (hopefully) getting some fancy wood inlays for John and a folder for Bob. The other two blades I did in '09 are the St Jude knives. I'm managing to get a little time in the shop while my son is at daycare and the new baby (one week old) is sleeping. I'm taking a 6 week parental leave from work! :D
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A teaser for Kevin. It's coming my friend!
side one:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/fliksr/Knives%203/dscn2824.jpg)
side two (quick stain to see where I'm at):
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/fliksr/Knives%203/dscn2826.jpg)
The original plan was to have both sides identical. I thought I'd change that and sanded off my marks, then thought better of it. I still need to sand out a few more of the hangers-on and true up some of the silver, but the knot work looks good to me.
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looking good Jeremy :thumbsup: :clapper:
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That knot work looks great Jeremy.Good to see ya finally getting some shop time in. Nice work!
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Man theyre nice.Congrads on your baby, 6 weeks off from work helping with your daughter will get you a lot of "Sure Honey,You Can Go Hunting This Weekend"s from the wifey.
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Jeremy,
Very nice. I really like the fancy pig tails.
Don't worry about shop time...there will be plenty of that down the road. Even though it is hectic, family time is most important...Doc
PS: I got the Jeremy Challenge box today. I had forgotten about that so I'll send out my mailing costs.
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Jeremy, that is exquisite! I like your style! Very cool wire inlay too!
Steve
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Potomac Forge
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IN GOD WE TRUST
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Very nice Jeremy, good to see you getting back in the saddle. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Very cool Jeremy!!Congradulations on the new family member .Whats Evan's sisters name?
Also did the edges hold up pretty good on those knives??
Later Kevin
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Doug, not quite back in the saddle yet. I think the first few times the forge gets fired up is going to be spent doing exercises to remember how this stuff works! It's been awhile.
Kevin, glad you like the looks of it! Your knives have been holding up well to steady use. The edge on the smaller one needs touching up a bit more often than the larger knife, but nothing too far from ordinary edge maintenance. They've seen some heavy use!
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Almost forgot: Cora Jade was born on Jan 7th. We made it to the hospital with a whole 8 minutes to spare! :scared:
Evan is a proud big brother and Cora already has her dad wrapped around her tiny finger! :D
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The first one is my favorite. Very creative and very cool looking. I hope one day i have enough skills to attempt something like that of my own. Good Work
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wow!
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Jeremy, cant wait to see some of your work in person. Again congrats on the family addition.
What kind of wood is that on the handle? It looks sweet.
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I'm sure ya ment Jan.7th! eh Jeremy.
Congrats and Happy birthin day to Cora Jade :clapper: :clapper:
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uh, I know I thought "Jan 7th" LOL! Might be the auto-spell check kicking in (or the lack of sleep) :)
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LoL, I'm sure it was just the lack of sleep. I've been there. You don't get a whole heck of a lot of sleep with a one week old new born. :thumbsup:
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Sure is a pretty one Jeremy!
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The handle wood is supposed to be "exhibition grade" tiger maple. And it would be IF if was sawn correctly! It's the first - and last - time I buy scales. It'll look good when I get done with it, but no where near where it would be if it was sawn correctly.
If you really want to make curly maple pop, there's a 5-6 step finishing cycle. Something similar was described in 'Finewoodworking' a year or two ago (love that magazine)
1. Dye it with a DARK dye - black or dark brown. When dry, sand most of it off, leaving just the stripes dark.
2. Dye it with a mid-tone dye. I like a colonial maple concentrated dye used straight. Then sand some of that out. Ends up giving all the curls more depth and character and a reddish hue.
3. Finish the dye steps with a light dye. An amber or honey color looks good. It tones the maple down and lets the darker shades you put in play first fiddle.
4. Oil the snot out of it with Watco Danish oil to make it all shimmer
5. Seal everything in with a washcoat of dewaxed shellac
6. Finish off with a few topcoats of your favorite hard finish. Poly, or my current favorite, hand-rubbed epoxy.
The process takes forever, but looks fantastic and is durable.
I should get some shop time tomorrow. If it's warm enough I'll do some more inlay (doing that cold is tough on the fingers) but more than likely I'll fit a guard or two and the tension spring on the folder.
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A bit of thread necro here, but it's my thread so I'm allowed.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/fliksr/Knives%203/100_0310.jpg)
Fast forward 15 months. Shop time with two small children didn't materialize. Oh, a half hour here and there, but nothing significant. That's slowly starting to change again and I'm cautiously optimistic.
I managed to finish the inlay work on this knife last summer/fall in between tearing down and rebuilding another deck, and the finish work was done if it was warm enough after that. It's waiting for its beaded sheath to complete the package.
If I were to make another one in this style I'd do the pig's tails more like Frank is doing now (hammering them to be round and thicker than the blade) rather than drawing them out to be the thickness of the blade.
This is the only knife I started way back when that's actually been completed, though with recent shop time the St Jude's knives (up in this year's auction again in Memory of Chris Surtees) John's and Bob's should all be finished this month. Same with the swap knife (the knife started for the '09 swap).
My snail's pace has been dictated by the available free shop time, which is mostly limited by me not being able to tear myself away from my kids.
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I learned a bunch doing the inlay on this one. In the past I'd done the inlay so that it was nearly flush, then filed and sanded it flushed. That was mu intention here as well, but some of the wood fibers were a little crushed with the complex knot work weaving in and out, so I had to sand a little deeper. What the knot work looks like on the surface isn't necessarily what it looks like 1mm or so down! Some of it went from something I was really proud of to some corners not aligning completely or the curves not being as true.
I'll get better pics up
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That is outstanding!
Steve
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Potomac Forge
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Coming along nicely Jeremy. I'm sure Kevin will be as happy as all get out with that beauty on it's way soon. Good to hear and see your getting a little shop time now and then again.I'm rather dissapointed that I wasn't able to do anything for the swap this year. First time I've missed it.
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Jeremy, that is a beautiful knife. Never regret time not spent in the shop because of the kids. I have spent most of the last 13 years as a stay home dad (along with an infinite list of part time jobs) and love the time spent in the best job ever. Still trying to get more shop time but that is now more my fault than the kids lol. Looking forward to the end of the swap to see whose knife I get and to share mine with someone.
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Sweet!!
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(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/fliksr/Knives%203/beadedsheath.jpg)
Fast forward a very busy summer (and a broken finger) and this is how the package looks right now :) Beads over braintanned mule deer that's been dyed in traditional colors. I may still add some brass or tin cones in the next day or so... it still needs a little something more.