this is by no means the best way or the only way to make one , IT'S JUST MY WAY!!! it is also my hope that some of the more experienced builders will jump in and give tips and advice to help make the job easier for us all. here we go..... i start by making a cardboard cut out then trace it to my blade material [IMG]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/catfishon/DSCN2156.jpg[/IMG] next i cut it out with my angle grinder [IMG]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/catfishon/DSCN2157.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/catfishon/DSCN2158.jpg[/IMG] after that i finish shaping it on a belt sander. then i place the blade on cardboard and draw a handle that looks good with the blade design i have. [IMG]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/catfishon/DSCN2164.jpg[/IMG] then trace it to wood of your choice ,cut it out and sand to a rough shape of what your wanting [IMG]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/catfishon/DSCN2168.jpg[/IMG] then draw a center line on front of handle where the tang of blade will be incerted.drill a series of holes about the same size as the thickness of your blade. [IMG]http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/catfishon/DSCN2173.jpg[/IMG] well that is it for today . got to get ready for work, but i will finish sanding the handle to shape by hand tonight at work. if any of you find this helpfull please post a reply and i will finish the build along , if not i'll just post a pic of the knife when i finish it. build along is more work than i thought it would be and don't want to waste my time if it's not helping anyone....catfish

sorry it didn't work ...lol

Hey, don't give up CFO. Can you just post photos on here?

I was ready to get revved up and follow along.

this is by no means the best way or the only way to make one , IT'S JUST MY WAY!!! it is also my hope that some of the more experienced builders will jump in and give tips and advice to help make the job easier for us all. here we go..... i start by making a cardboard cut out then trace it to my blade material

next i cut it out with my angle grinder

after that i finish shaping it on a belt sander. then i place the blade on cardboard and draw a handle that looks good with the blade design i have.

then trace it to wood of your choice ,cut it out and sand to a rough shape of what your wanting

then draw a center line on front of handle where the tang of blade will be incerted.drill a series of holes about the same size as the thickness of your blade

well that is it for today . got to get ready for work, but i will finish sanding the handle to shape by hand tonight at work. if any of you find this helpfull please post a reply and i will finish the build along , if not i'll just post a pic of the knife when i finish it. build along is more work than i thought it would be and don't want to waste my time if it's not helping anyone....catfish

Please don't stop.

Helpful and interesting. Keep up the good work CFO!

Thanks for taking the trouble to bring us along.

Please continue the build along. I just purchased a belt sander to start my own knife build, so the more pics and help, the better.

Thanks, Casey

Please continue, I want to make a knife myself. Jim

Please continue, Just getting started building knives. find it all very intresting

blade is cut I'm waiting for instructions on the handle don't stop now

patiently waiting sir

Great thread, thanks, and keep it going.

ok just a little more befor i turn in tonight. as you drill your slot check it from time to time with your blade untill it goes in. also make sure the blade looks straight in relation to the handle , if its not it's no big deal. just make the slot a little wider so you can twist the blade untill it looks straight. it just makes it a little harder to keep lined up when you glue the blade in. i had to widen my slot

i finished sanding and shaping my handle tonight at work. i shaped it with 180 grit,then i used 220, and then i use 400. the 400 really lets you see if you missed any 180 grit scratches. and i also sand with the grain. we'll do more to it later.

i also got the blade looking pretty good tonight . lets see, i think i made about $150 tonight getting these sanded,but it's ok if you do it for free. when you sand the blade it's important you always sand from handle to point . never sand from top to bottom, or bottom to top. it's almost imposible to get scratches out that run across the blade. i start with 220 , then 400 ,and then 600 or 800.

well i'm going to bed. maybe we can get a finger guard cut and this glued up later today

Looks sharp,(pun intended) thanks for the update Sir.

Looks great, cant wait too see more.

Casey

Just fyi. I always grind deep notches in my hidden tangs. It gives the epoxy something to get a mechanical hold on.

thanks highpockets , i do to. just haven't got that far yet. i started doing that last after i drilled holes to pin a handle and my bit found my notch and broke....lol

trace around handle on a piece of brass, bronze or copper. or anything you like.then add to the bottom of it how ever long you want finger guard to be.

next mark the center and also mark how long the slot needs to be

now drill a slot in the finger guard like we did for the handle . the straighter this on is the better.

now i cut it out close to my marks with a hacksaw.

now use your sander to bring it closer to the line. i keep a cup of water close by to cool it as i sand . heats up real fast so be carefull.

check your fit ,if you see any really high spots use the sander . i like it to be just a small bit oversize at this point.

now use the corner of the file to put some small groves on the back side of finger guard(the side that meets the wood)

use some super glue on it and glue it in place. make sure you slide it on the blade and then glue it to the handle to make sure its lined up right.

now it's glued on and you can see it's a bit over size.

with a fine file bring it to size . i file it down untill i start taking wood off where the brass meets the wood.

now we go back to 400 grit sandpaper it will polish up the brass and show any file marks in the wood that need removed.

just a note , you can buy finger guards for about a doller and would save alot of work and would probly look alot nicer. but i guess you couldn't call your knife homemade then? sorry i didn't get more done today ,some thing came up this morning and i didn't get to sleep much. i think i can finish it up tomarrow if nothing else happens.....hope you enjoy...............catfish

good job bro!

thanks HP , but we all know your the one should be doing this....lol

I will be tuned in tomorrow!

nice work!

NOT! I love your knives and I agree that the more you buy the less hand made it gets! If I could make the glue I would! Keep these up! How do you think I started!

I'm making one for a LWer that's becoming my biggest challenge yet. Lots of details but it's gonna be pretty!

can't wait to see it.

Do you wait to grind the blade after your handle is mounted or is the blade stock thin enough that you just put a bevel on the bottom edge?

Or, maybe I should just sit back and wait. ;^)

be glad to answer any questions when i finish this. just email or PM me @ highpockets.com....... "just kidding" my email is [email protected]

Looks awesome, thanks

That was funny CF. Lots of good information and quite enjoyable to watch it take shape.

You know what I know bro!! ;-)

ok to bevel the blade i start out on my belt sander. just hold the blade at the angle you want and pull it across the belt. keep a cup of water close by and keep dipping blade so it dosn't get hot.

once i have a good start on my bevel i move it to my knife sharpener.most of you will just continue on the belt sander. but if you have one of these you can keep the bevel more even

now i wrap the blade and clamp it so i can cut notches in the tang. this will make it hold in handle much better.

next we want to tape everything up real good

i like to insert the blade in handle so i know how far down the blade to tape.

now with some of this wipe the tang down so glue will be sure to stick good.

now we need some glue. the 2 part epoxy is all i use. whatever is the cheapest.(i allways give the knife away anyhow)just make sure its not the real fast drying kind, it is alot thicker and hard to fill the handle with.

as i fill the slot i try to keep filling the bottom half so air can get out the top better.

keep filling untill it's full to the top

now all to do is slowly insert blade and wipe excess glue off , check alignment and clamp. i just clamp it to the side of my bench with the blade pointing up. i like to leave it for a day befor doing any more to it just to be safe.

it won't take long to finish it tomarrow. see ya then.............catfish!

Thank you so much for the pictorial. I got a Helle blade for Christmas last year and still need to make a handle for it. Your pics are all I need . Thanks Again Dave

just glad it's helping someone. i'm new at this myself . i've only made about 10 or 11 knives. this site is full of help if you ask for it. don't matter what you want to make, someone on here can tell you how...

Wow I hate hand sanding. Did I mention that I hate hand sanding! I swear it takes me 45 minutes to make a knife and 3 hours to make it pretty!

**sigh** can you tell i've been hand sanding all night!

Hats off to ya catfish, great pictorial and tips!! Now, stop teasing and post the rest of the pics dadgummit!

Cat you're helping more than you know!

crap !!!! took my tape of tonite and look what happend .

maybe i grabed the wrong one ? will will try agin later today....lol but heres another pic for ya.

Must have been some kind of powerful epoxy you used!!!

Bladesmith equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, huh?

Good thread CF!

Hey catfish did you knapp those heads yourself? I have a chunk of mahagony obsidian I would love to make a knife out of but.....HIGH, MY NAME IS DON AND I CANT KNAPP. Ok there I said it ! [IMG]http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p115/shepu812/mini-bowpics051.jpg[/IMG]

Looks like water into wine! What kind of epoxy was that?

So if you use a saw blade you do not have to worry about all that heat tempering??

Now I could try that......all that heating the metal to just the right temp was scaring me off.....maybe I can try this?????

no you don't need to heat treat this stuff. but it is real hard on all your tools and sandpaper. i had to use 2 sanding belts to put the bevel on this blade. but not every blade is the same. one out of your skill saw won't be very good. these are industrial blades used to cut steel. maybe highpockets can give a list of good blade materiales. away to check a piece of steel you can cut a thin strip , put it in a vise and try to bend it . if it breaks it's probly ok.

You can get away with making knives out of certain materials like the stuff catfish is using you just have to INSURE that you don't overheat it in the process. If you ever make the steel turn blue or even brownish you have killed the temper!

I really like this thread CFO. I can see a new habit cutting in on bow building. I love this website, keep it up guys.

lets get this thing done !!! after untaping the knife i put some duct tape over sharp edge of blade.

then i coat handle real good with regular car wax and start buffing

once i get the handle looking good i untape the blade and polish the bevel. this alsogets it even sharper

well that's about all i will do to this one. heres a few pics of it.

CFO is the car wax your final finish? By the way the knife is really purty.

i like how the car wax and buffer puts a deep shine to the wood, and no waiting for it to dry just buff ,wipe off and your done .

well i hope you enjoyed. not the best build along but maybe good enough that you can make your own. and share some pics with with us when you do..... thanks for looking catfish

very nice job, john!!!

Definitely enjoyed it; as the applause sounds!

You darned skilled artisans make it look so easy!!

Could you do that again, a little slower this time...;^)

So when you cut the blade from a circular saw blade what do you do to keep the temper. Do you have to periodically cool it when you cut it out with the abrasive wheel? And what idi you use to polish the steel? Basic questions from a newbie. Thanks for your time. It's very much appreciatted. Dave

cut off wheel goes right through. it gets hot but not so hot as to loose temper. i polished it with sand paper then polishing compound and buffer.

Beautiful.

as many knives as you build you must be using stunt doubles to show the hair it removes.............................

Nice Work

Catfish, I made one today myself. I have had the blade for a few months just waiting for a rainy day. Today was steady rain and winds so I spent the day on the knife. I will have the hand rubbed finish done tommorrow and will try to post a picture. Thanks for taking the time to show us your work. Bullet

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