Knife 15 and Display Box

I'm back to tell the story of my latest creation - Knife 15, which is a gift for Richard, my friend of many years.

The basic shape of the knife is similar to one I have done before, which I know was one of Richard's favourites, but with some adjustments.

The blade is my old reliable O1 Tool Steel, full tang design.  The bolsters are aluminium with aluminium pins.  The scales are English Oak with brass pins.  The decorative wavy design continues all the way around the tang between the scales, created by using black epoxy.

Dimensions are:

Blade

Length = 140 mm ( 5.51" )

Height = 45 mm ( 1.77" )

Thickness = 4 mm ( 0.16" )

Handle

Length = 125 mm ( 4.92" )

Height = 37 mm ( 1.46" ) at its maximum

Thickness = 20 mm ( 0.79" )

The blade flat surfaces have been polished to a mirror finish.  The bevels have been polished, but the grinding marks have been left for visual effect.  The Oak has been treated with Lemon oil polish to enhance the rich natural beauty of the wood.  The bolsters have also been polished to a shiny finish.

This time, instead of a leather sheath, I decided to make a wooden box to store and protect the knife, as well as being a display feature in itself.  The box is made of Beech wood, sanded smooth with a slight chamfer around the top surface of the lid.  It has been polished to an extremely smooth glossy finish using beeswax.  The overall effect makes it feel a bit like glass to the touch.  Inside there is an insert of grey foam with a recess cut out for the the thickness of the handle.  The inside surface of the lid is lined with green felt.  Tucked inside the edges of the lid and base in matching positions are a few small but very strong magnets which help to keep the lid closed, minimising the chances of it flipping open unintentionally.

Box external dimensions

Length = 292 mm ( 11.50" )

Width = 84 mm ( 3.31" )

Height = 48 mm ( 1.89" )

This afternoon it was handed over to its new owner who seems very pleased with the result.

Enjoy the photos and videos!

Blade template glued onto the steel, ready for cutting

Cutting out the rough shape with an angle grinder

Rough blade shape

Grinding the blade to its correct shape

More cleaning up of the blade

Blade cleaned up and smoothed off

First stage of marking and shaping for the wavy decoration around the tang

Arcs filed in all the way around

Rough shape of the aluminuim bolsters - I cut and shaped them together as if one piece to ensure they were identical in size and shape.

Bolsters in place to check for initial size and fit

Parallel score marks down the edge of the blade to show the centre, ready for grinding the bevels

Blade on the bevel grinding jig with the first few passes of the bevel ground in

Bevel grinding jig in position for shaping in front of the grinding belt

Items ready for heat treatment

The forge ready for heat treatment

Video - Heat treatment.  Note how I check for the correct temperature by checking the magnetic transition before quenching in the oil.

Video - Checking the hardness.

The file skates over the surface of the steel without biting in.

Heat treatment complete and initial cleanup done

Wavy design cleaned up ready for fitting the scales

Blade cleaned up and polished

Bolsters shaped and ready for fitting

Bolsters fitted in place, clamped while the epoxy cures

Scales glued and pinned in place, clamped tightly while the black epoxy cures

Scales smoothed off to their approximate shape

Assembly complete, scales shaped and smoothed.  Bolsters and blade polished.

Top of the handle showing the wavy design along the spine

Bottom of the handle showing how the wavy design extends all the way around the tang

Scales drying after being polished with Lemon Oil polish

Putting the final sharp edge on the blade

Beech wood before I started the box construction.

At this stage it was so rough I did not even know that it was Beech!

Same piece of Beech, planed all round using my new planer/thicknesser

(see my previous blog post)

Same piece of Beech, cut into pieces for the box and lid

Box construction - inserts for the hinges

Box construction - Base sections glued together

Box construction - Base and lid assembled and sanded smooth

Box fully assembled and polished.  Note the chamfer around the edges of the top.

Box internals - foam insert and green felt

Box with the knife in place

Close up of the box corner showing one of the small magnets