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A JOINERY/MARKING KNIFE Well, I'm going to make a little different style of marking knife this time. Here is the original design sketch....
The blank piece of steel that I'm going to use is an edger blade that I picked up at the flea market, I got several at $0.50 apiece. I've made other little tools from these and the steel while of indeterminate pedigree is pretty good and after heat treating and relieving seems to hold an edge very well.
I don't think the hole in the blade will affect the knife as it won't really have a lot of stress put on it. After rough shaping with a grinder the blade begins to take it shape...
The scales for this knife are an unknown (to me) wood which I received from a friend. Looks like Walnut to me, maybe claro, but those are just guesses.
This piece is large enough at 5/8" thick x 1 5/8" wide x 7 1/2" long to make a pair of handles and still have enough left for another small project.
Re-sawn with a tenon saw, I now have a couple of slabs about 9/32" thick...
These are the parts minus the brass pins.... Now I will drill the blade for the pins, Because I have not annealed this piece I will use a "centering bit". Saves my twist bits, which 01 tool steel seem to eat for lunch.
Got holes!!!
With the scales drilled to match and the basic shape established....For this work I just used files to rapidly bring the oversized scales down to the steel of the blade. The bolts and wing nuts are just a convenient way to hold the scales on to work on them.
Now I need to heat treat the blade, but that will have to await another day... And today is the day...
I know that this isn't the best way to do this but it's what I've got to work with right now. Heat the entire blade till it's cherry red and keep it there for a little bit and then...
Dunk it in a coffee can with 30 weight motor oil (Hey, I'm an old gear head and I love the smell of burning Quaker State). Yes it's hard to see anything but you get the picture...HeHeHeHe
This is what it looks like before tempering and cleaning it up. I won't show you a picture of it sitting in the oven at 450 degrees for an hour (or of the baking taters it's in with). I then let it cool down in the oven till it's comfortable to touch (while we eat the taters). And the wife says "Thank You for cooking supper"! I don't think she even noticed, and after I did the dishes she wouldn't say a word. Okay, back to it...after cleaning up the blade it's time to attach the scales. I will now use a 5-minute epoxy to attach the scales to the blade, it helps to scratch-up the area on the blade where the scales will attach in order to improve the epoxy's grip.
First I'll clean the backside of the scales with Acetone to remove any oils that might hinder adhesion.
With the scales glued to the blade, I will set it aside to let it cure overnight. After gluing the scales I used a rag soaked in acetone to clean the excess epoxy off . The clamp just keeps it up off the bench.
I have the brass pins driven in now, this is 3/16" brass in a 3/16" hole and it goes in tight. I file them down to flush with the scales now. Oh! the tape, well you see I was sittin' there working on filing the pins down and knocked it off the bench. It fell point down and probably would have bent the point, but luckily the top of my thigh just happened to be in the path...
So I taped up the blade....and point!
Because the scales are about the proper thickness and I am only going to round the edges of this one, I will now peen the pins. Notice it is a very small ballpein hammer. I work from side to side, gently working one end of the pin and the the other end. Careful is the word I don't want to split the scales.
Here it is after shaping and with a coat of BLO...
Well here it is waxed and buffed and in my hand...blade still needs some smoothing and polishing but essentially done... Hope you enjoyed...
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