Knife 13

Back again with another knife after what seems like forever, caused by the arrival of our 2 little Cockapoo puppies last May and the project of building my new workshop drawer units.  For this knife I took inspiration from YouTube once again, specifically "Creator Qi" who has made a few knives in this style that really appeal to me.

This design is definitely a big step away from any signature style that I may have (or not), so it posed a few new challenges, but with that came more learning and more opportunities to practice new techniques.  It has a full tang with multi-component scales forming the handle.  The inner layers, directly against the tang are black Perspex (acrylic).  The outer layers are the same O1 tool steel as the blade at the front and back, with inserts of Cedar wood in the middle.  All the scale parts are attached with brass pins just 3.2mm in diameter (1/8").

For further decorative effect I added 2 dipped details on the top of the handle at the front and rear ends.  In each of these zones there is a row of transverse grooves across the tang.  Why?  Because it looks nice!  This detail at the front also provides a comfortable place to rest your thumb if you choose to grip it like that.  All the way along the spine of the blade I angled the sides with a bevel but not enough to take the spine to a sharp edge.  The edges of the handle are bevelled at 45°all the way around except the front edge where it meets the blade, which is bevelled at 60°.

Dimensions are:
Overall length 303mm (11.9")
Blade is 188mm long (7.4"), 47mm (1.8") at its widest point, 4mm thick (0.16")
Handle is 115mm long (4.5"), 35mm (1.4") high at its widest point, 18mm thick (0.7")
Perspex is 3mm (0.12") thick

All the steel has been polished to a mirror finish, except the cutting bevel which, although polished, is not a mirror finish because I deliberately left the score marks from the grinding belt.  It took seemingly forever to sand all these surfaces smooth enough for polishing.  I used wet-and-dry Emery paper in increasing fine grits - 80, 120, 240, 320, 400, 600, 800 and 1000, all done by hand.

After final assembly I polished the steel with a mop cloth polishing wheel.  The wood is treated with lemon oil polish to bring out its natural beauty.

Enjoy the photos!