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Posted: 8/3/2022 1:48:28 AM EDT
Anyone ever mess around with turning one of the Old Hickory 7-10" butcher knives into anything else?
I went down a Youtube rabbit hole and I really like the look of some of the Kephart style knives people reprofile them into, I prefer the ones with more of a guard at the top, but can't find a decent picture at the moment. Yes I know Ontario makes an "Old Hickory Fish and Game" that is almost identical, but I need a fall/wintertime project and I want to replace the factory Old Hickory scales anyways.  |
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Posted: 8/3/2022 2:19:04 AM EDT
[#1]
I was a Boy Scout back in the 50's, and when I made First Class, my next door neighbor (a former lumberjack from Minnesota) gave me a knife he had ground from an Old Hickory butcher that had a deeper belly and more up swept blade than your picture, he ground a clip point on it....he called it a Nessmuk, of course at the time, I didn't know who Nessmuk or Kephart was...it was envied by the rest of the troop.... unfortunately the blade is lost in time
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Posted: 8/3/2022 2:58:18 AM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I was a Boy Scout back in the 50's, and when I made First Class, my next door neighbor (a former lumberjack from Minnesota) gave me a knife he had ground from an Old Hickory butcher that had a deeper belly and more up swept blade than your picture, he ground a clip point on it....he called it a Nessmuk, of course at the time, I didn't know who Nessmuk or Kephart was...it was envied by the rest of the troop.... unfortunately the blade is lost in time  . My grandfather usually carried a Case pocket knife, but he had an old Nessmuk knife that he used for processing animals, it's an interesting blade shape for sure with the swooped back.
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Posted: 8/3/2022 9:50:06 AM EDT
[#3]
Vap... I've got a better story... a few years younger, I'd received an olive drab sateen jacket with army insignia on it for Christmas... he came over one day and commented about the jacket, and had something in his hand and asked if I'd ever seen one of these ribbons? .... it was a Torpedoed Seaman's Ribbon with at least one star on it (and possibly two)... he had been on at least two merchant vessels that had been shot or torpedoed from under him in the North Atlantic....
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Posted: 8/3/2022 11:19:13 AM EDT
[#4]
Ontario actually makes one now. I have one. Nice light functional blade for the price.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0853C6SPT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Ontario Outdoor Fish n Game Fixed 4 in Blade Wood Handle |
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Posted: 8/3/2022 2:12:56 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Vap... I've got a better story... a few years younger, I'd received an olive drab sateen jacket with army insignia on it for Christmas... he came over one day and commented about the jacket, and had something in his hand and asked if I'd ever seen one of these ribbons? .... it was a Torpedoed Seaman's Ribbon with at least one star on it (and possibly two)... he had been on at least two merchant vessels that had been shot or torpedoed from under him in the North Atlantic.... |
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Posted: 8/3/2022 2:21:47 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Ontario actually makes one now. I have one. Nice light functional blade for the price. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0853C6SPT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Ontario Outdoor Fish n Game Fixed 4 in Blade Wood Handle I'm mostly looking for a winter timesink project, and also I want to replace the scales, so I'm less inclined to want to drop $30 on a knife that I'm going to break apart, and replace the scales on  .If the first one goes decently and I source the knives at a decent price I will probably make one for my dad and Brothers/BILs. Anyone have any real world experience with curly maple scales on knives? Do they hold up decently or are they mostly just for looks, and "safe queens?" I've seen some of Dave Canterbury's line dressed in curly maple and figured they must be somewhat ok, but he might just do it for people who like the aesthetics. |
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Posted: 8/3/2022 3:06:13 PM EDT
[#7]
Cool. I have three old hickory butcher knives I've started making into hunting knives but have gotten sidetracked. Thanks for putting them back on the radar.
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Posted: 8/3/2022 5:11:42 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yeah I saw they made one finally after years of people modding them @thederrick106, I'm mostly looking for a winter timesink project, and also I want to replace the scales, so I'm less inclined to want to drop $30 on a knife that I'm going to break apart, and replace the scales on .If the first one goes decently and I source the knives at a decent price I will probably make one for my dad and Brothers/BILs. Anyone have any real world experience with curly maple scales on knives? Do they hold up decently or are they mostly just for looks, and "safe queens?" I've seen some of Dave Canterbury's line dressed in curly maple and figured they must be somewhat ok, but he might just do it for people who like the aesthetics. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Ontario actually makes one now. I have one. Nice light functional blade for the price. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0853C6SPT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Ontario Outdoor Fish n Game Fixed 4 in Blade Wood Handle I'm mostly looking for a winter timesink project, and also I want to replace the scales, so I'm less inclined to want to drop $30 on a knife that I'm going to break apart, and replace the scales on .If the first one goes decently and I source the knives at a decent price I will probably make one for my dad and Brothers/BILs. Anyone have any real world experience with curly maple scales on knives? Do they hold up decently or are they mostly just for looks, and "safe queens?" I've seen some of Dave Canterbury's line dressed in curly maple and figured they must be somewhat ok, but he might just do it for people who like the aesthetics. I think a worked down full size will have more blade heft than the Ontario's version of the Kephart which would be a good thing for an all-around use bushcraft blade. The fish n game version has a thinner blade. I would only carry it when paired with an axe, hatchet, or saw, or if I am just out woods walking. |
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Posted: 8/3/2022 5:39:38 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I think a worked down full size will have more blade heft than the Ontario's version of the Kephart which would be a good thing for an all-around use bushcraft blade. The fish n game version has a thinner blade. I would only carry it when paired with an axe, hatchet, or saw, or if I am just out woods walking. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make, I'm not a metallurgist, but I also saw that they changed the blade Steel to 1075 instead of 1095 high carbon steel on their "hunting" lineup. I might also leave the blade closer to 5" instead of 4" It'll be a learning/flying by the seat of my pants exercise like I did with redoing axes . |
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Posted: 8/4/2022 8:44:15 PM EDT
[#10]
I’ve always wanted to rehandle a couple of the ones I have but I haven’t researched it, I’d like to put some textured g10 scales on a couple. Just to see the old school and new styles collide
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Posted: 8/5/2022 10:14:38 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I've always wanted to rehandle a couple of the ones I have but I haven't researched it, I'd like to put some textured g10 scales on a couple. Just to see the old school and new styles collide I've watched videos of making micarta and it looks like a PITA with no vacuum chamber. I am buying a drill press off my buddy's dad for $30. I'm gonna add a 1/4 brass tube for a lanyard hole. they have 3 existing 1/8" holes drilled in the tang under the factory scales but they use cutlery rivets and don't use the 3rd hole. I'm going to pin them with brass (probably) I'll have to research which pin material is easy to work but strong I know they have brass, copper, aluminum and steel rods in 1/8" pin sizes. Then it's on to trying to make a sheath, I'll decide if I go leather, or if I want to venture into the world of Kydex. My buddy has done a couple kydex axe masks and holsters for me. It seems like a bit of a pain, but doable. I'll post pics when I'm finished if I like the look of the knife. |
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Posted: 8/5/2022 10:18:01 AM EDT
[#12]
I like that. I definitely have one too many butcher knives.
Is this an excuse for me to buy a belt sander???? 
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Posted: 8/6/2022 1:17:46 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I like that. I definitely have one too many butcher knives. Is this an excuse for me to buy a belt sander???? I think it is, once you get it figured out I'll send one to you and pay you for your time. That would be cheaper than me buying a belt sander. I think that's a pretty neat idea and a cool knife. |
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Posted: 8/6/2022 4:50:37 PM EDT
[#14]
Suggest leaving antique knives in original configuration, aside from properly sharpening them.
You never know when a "collector" of unmolested knives (or any other object) will pay good money for it. Collectors be crazy; it's all about "condition". Your $1 knife, in good condition might be worth a LOT more to some crazy collector who wants that exact knife to complete his collection. ETA: My mistake in reading "Old" in Thread title as being "Antique". |
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Posted: 8/6/2022 8:11:19 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Suggest leaving antique knives in original configuration, aside from properly sharpening them. You never know when a "collector" of unmolested knives (or any other object) will pay good money for it. Collectors be crazy; it's all about "condition". Your $1 knife, in good condition might be worth a LOT more to some crazy collector who wants that exact knife to complete his collection. I've heard the green river knives are close and the same steel but are without the blade hollows/stamps, they sell blanks of the green river knives, but the blanks are more expensive than an entire new old hickory knife and I kind of like the stampings on the blade flats. ETA- Dexter-Russell/Green River knife blanks the #11 8" Butcher for $13 is the most comparable to the Old Hickory 7" butcher Green River Knife Blanks |
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Posted: 8/6/2022 8:18:38 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yeah I bought new production ones. I didn't want to take the time to try to hunt down OH vintage knives. I've heard the scales are much harder to get off the older ones too, with the new ones the rivets pop without as much effort. I've heard the green river knives are close and the same steel but are without the blade hollows/stamps, they sell blanks of the green river knives, but the blanks are more expensive than an entire new old hickory knife and I kind of like the stampings on the blade flats. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Suggest leaving antique knives in original configuration, aside from properly sharpening them. You never know when a "collector" of unmolested knives (or any other object) will pay good money for it. Collectors be crazy; it's all about "condition". Your $1 knife, in good condition might be worth a LOT more to some crazy collector who wants that exact knife to complete his collection. I've heard the green river knives are close and the same steel but are without the blade hollows/stamps, they sell blanks of the green river knives, but the blanks are more expensive than an entire new old hickory knife and I kind of like the stampings on the blade flats. |
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Posted: 8/11/2022 2:52:02 PM EDT
[#17]
Knives came from Midway yesterday, and I removed the scales today, the cutlery rivets weren't quite as chinsy as the internet would lead you to believe I had to drill them out and cut some with a mini hacksaw. I'm still deciding if I want to do full G10 or linen micarta with a G10 liner for the handle scales...
I may have purchased more than "a couple"  I drew up short of a rough sketch of what I'm looking for. The bottom hole in the tang is oblong so I'm probably going to drill it for a lanyard tube and flare the tubing to help hold the scales on in addition to using epoxy.  The blade could go to 5" and have a 5" handle I haven't decided yet the template I made came out to 4 5/8ths" blade length. I want to knock the cutting edge off the bottom in a small portion to form a quasi-ricasso, and I'll add a small amount of jimping to the spine right about where your thumb rests on the back of the blade, I don't want it too aggressive where is going to chew up your thumb. I'm going to take some out of the tang below the future ricasso to form a guard of sorts to prevent hands from slipping up the blade. I'll probably round the butt more and leave some more meat on the butt end of the scales to act as a natural handstop to keep the knife from sliding out of your hands. It's my first attempt at making a knife handle so it'll be a learning experience for sure and I'm sure there'll be a lot of touch and go to find what feels comfortable in my hand.  |
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Posted: 8/11/2022 4:19:12 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted: Anyone ever mess around with turning one of the Old Hickory 7-10" butcher knives into anything else? I went down a Youtube rabbit hole and I really like the look of some of the Kephart style knives people reprofile them into, I prefer the ones with more of a guard at the top, but can't find a decent picture at the moment. Yes I know Ontario makes an "Old Hickory Fish and Game" that is almost identical, but I need a fall/wintertime project and I want to replace the factory Old Hickory scales anyways. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/13/fb/62/13fb62db4afea0d294153db0f1cfbacf.jpg Good thread, O.P. .... I've got a couple of Old School candidate knives that I'm looking for someone to cut down and re-profile into a size with more field utility, like Kephart style blades. My question is: who does this sort of work? 
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Posted: 8/11/2022 5:44:08 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Good thread, O.P. .... I've got a couple of Old School candidate knives that I'm looking for someone to cut down and re-profile into a size with more field utility, like Kephart style blades. My question is: who does this sort of work? The problem I'm assuming that exists is, they (bladesmiths and knifemakers) don't want to "sign their name" to someone's knife that they didn't create and have it fail and have a PO'ed customer. They probably don't know what kind of steel it is, or how it's heat treated, and so on. I generally just mod my own stuff by watching YouTube videos and going "I could probably do that..." I have no real experience in doing what I'm about to attempt, but it gives me an excuse to buy more tools that I tell my wife are going to come in handy later on . |
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Posted: 8/12/2022 2:31:14 AM EDT
[#20]
If you guys are looking for good prices on Ontario kitchen knives and Old Hickory you can find seconds that are brand new on eBay for very reasonable prices.
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Posted: 8/12/2022 8:45:30 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: What kind of knives are they @Nick_Adams? I just did a quick google search and couldn't find any kind of custom knife modification service, most of the people who do custom mods you have to buy the knife from them, or it has to be a certain brand that they work on. Some YouTubers will do knife restorations, Kyle Noseworthy is one that comes to mind, but they're probably way backlogged and I have no idea what they charge (probably a ton), and that's more of a restoration than a modification. The problem I'm assuming that exists is, they (bladesmiths and knifemakers) don't want to "sign their name" to someone's knife that they didn't create and have it fail and have a PO'ed customer. They probably don't know what kind of steel it is, or how it's heat treated, and so on. I generally just mod my own stuff by watching YouTube videos and going "I could probably do that..." I have no real experience in doing what I'm about to attempt, but it gives me an excuse to buy more tools that I tell my wife are going to come in handy later on .Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Good thread, O.P. .... I've got a couple of Old School candidate knives that I'm looking for someone to cut down and re-profile into a size with more field utility, like Kephart style blades. My question is: who does this sort of work? The problem I'm assuming that exists is, they (bladesmiths and knifemakers) don't want to "sign their name" to someone's knife that they didn't create and have it fail and have a PO'ed customer. They probably don't know what kind of steel it is, or how it's heat treated, and so on. I generally just mod my own stuff by watching YouTube videos and going "I could probably do that..." I have no real experience in doing what I'm about to attempt, but it gives me an excuse to buy more tools that I tell my wife are going to come in handy later on .The one knife I had in mind is an old “EKCO Forge” with an 8.25” long blade, like a kitchen knife. Blade width is about 1.25”. It would make for a handy field knife if the blade was cut to 4.5” and reshaped. |
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Posted: 8/13/2022 8:54:44 AM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The one knife I had in mind is an old "EKCO Forge" with an 8.25" long blade, like a kitchen knife. Blade width is about 1.25". It would make for a handy field knife if the blade was cut to 4.5" and reshaped. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Good thread, O.P. .... I've got a couple of Old School candidate knives that I'm looking for someone to cut down and re-profile into a size with more field utility, like Kephart style blades. My question is: who does this sort of work? The problem I'm assuming that exists is, they (bladesmiths and knifemakers) don't want to "sign their name" to someone's knife that they didn't create and have it fail and have a PO'ed customer. They probably don't know what kind of steel it is, or how it's heat treated, and so on. I generally just mod my own stuff by watching YouTube videos and going "I could probably do that..." I have no real experience in doing what I'm about to attempt, but it gives me an excuse to buy more tools that I tell my wife are going to come in handy later on .The one knife I had in mind is an old "EKCO Forge" with an 8.25" long blade, like a kitchen knife. Blade width is about 1.25". It would make for a handy field knife if the blade was cut to 4.5" and reshaped. Yeah I had never heard of them but that's funny that they had a forge in Geneva, NY at one point, my sister teaches grade school there. Growing up Camillus were the knives/silverware people coveted in Central NY since it was local. I think it broke my grandfathers heart the first time he saw "made in China" on a Camillus knife, he almost exclusively carried either a Case, or Camillus 2 blade pocket knife his entire life. I still haven't found any kind of "knife modder" online, I'm guessing it's just one of those DIY projects. |
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Posted: 8/13/2022 9:59:21 AM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: @Nick_Adams . Yeah I had never heard of them but that's funny that they had a forge in Geneva, NY at one point, my sister teaches grade school there. Growing up Camillus were the knives/silverware people coveted in Central NY since it was local. I think it broke my grandfathers heart the first time he saw "made in China" on a Camillus knife, he almost exclusively carried either a Case, or Camillus 2 blade pocket knife his entire life. I still haven't found any kind of "knife modder" online, I'm guessing it's just one of those DIY projects. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Good thread, O.P. .... I've got a couple of Old School candidate knives that I'm looking for someone to cut down and re-profile into a size with more field utility, like Kephart style blades. My question is: who does this sort of work? The problem I'm assuming that exists is, they (bladesmiths and knifemakers) don't want to "sign their name" to someone's knife that they didn't create and have it fail and have a PO'ed customer. They probably don't know what kind of steel it is, or how it's heat treated, and so on. I generally just mod my own stuff by watching YouTube videos and going "I could probably do that..." I have no real experience in doing what I'm about to attempt, but it gives me an excuse to buy more tools that I tell my wife are going to come in handy later on .The one knife I had in mind is an old "EKCO Forge" with an 8.25" long blade, like a kitchen knife. Blade width is about 1.25". It would make for a handy field knife if the blade was cut to 4.5" and reshaped. Yeah I had never heard of them but that's funny that they had a forge in Geneva, NY at one point, my sister teaches grade school there. Growing up Camillus were the knives/silverware people coveted in Central NY since it was local. I think it broke my grandfathers heart the first time he saw "made in China" on a Camillus knife, he almost exclusively carried either a Case, or Camillus 2 blade pocket knife his entire life. I still haven't found any kind of "knife modder" online, I'm guessing it's just one of those DIY projects. Thanks, … yeah I’m going to look around for a knife-maker locally. See if they’ll help me with a “one-off” project for some quick cash. It doesn’t need to be a work of art, just some blade work to make a shorter Kepthart-pattern. This knife has cool, old school wood handles and the blade has a sorta “patina” to it. Don’t know how old it is or anything about EKCO Forge though. |
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Posted: 8/13/2022 5:58:33 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Thanks, yeah I'm going to look around for a knife-maker locally. See if they'll help me with a "one-off" project for some quick cash. It doesn't need to be a work of art, just some blade work to make a shorter Kepthart-pattern. This knife has cool, old school wood handles and the blade has a sorta "patina" to it. Don't know how old it is or anything about EKCO Forge though.  Good luck in your search hopefully one of the local guys helps you out. I looked at a few of them when they popped up on eBay when I did a search for an 8" knife like what you described they looked really similar to the Old Hickory/Dexter Russell knives. I'm guessing it's made of the same, or a very similar high carbon steel, either 1075 or 1095 which would explain the patina.Their handles appear to have changed over time, and probably between different models as well, I see some 2 pin/rivet models and some with 3 pins/rivets but I haven't found a good research website to help date anything. |
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Posted: 8/19/2022 8:57:19 PM EDT
[#25]
My absolute favorite bushcraft knives are old Forgecraft knives that look just like Old Hickory but slightly thicker that I modified. It will take me a bit to find them and upload to Imgur. They aren't much to look at but I really like them.
Convexing works extremely well with the steel they use. |
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Posted: 8/19/2022 9:15:02 PM EDT
[#26]
These are all my mods.
 My two favorites after a boiling vinegar bath.  I really love all of them but I think this is my favorite. Original handle sanded and scorched with blo. That point.... 
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Posted: 8/20/2022 6:54:23 AM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: These are all my mods. https://i.ibb.co/j3CQkhL/20190303-090307.jpg My two favorites after a boiling vinegar bath. https://i.ibb.co/mTBKyWV/20190304-184317.jpg I really love all of them but I think this is my favorite. Original handle sanded and scorched with blo. That point.... https://i.ibb.co/rH6qg1Q/20190303-193504.jpg Yeah I definitely like your favorite the most out of those knives too, it's pretty much exactly what I'm shooting for with the blade profile. How thick are those Knives compared to Old Hickory? I think the OH's have a 1/8" spine which is just about the absolute minimum I would feel comfortable doing anything with, I have a Mora 511 that's about the same blade thickness so I know it'll be fine for just about everything other than batoning. |
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Posted: 8/20/2022 7:53:13 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yeah those are sweet I'm going to do the boiling apple cider vinegar patina too, you got a nice deep black on those. Any tips for getting it that dark? I've done some Carbon Moras and my axe heads and wasn't happy with the color, the darkest I could get them seemed to be like a darker shade of "gun metal grey." Yeah I definitely like your favorite the most out of those knives too, it's pretty much exactly what I'm shooting for with the blade profile. How thick are those Knives compared to Old Hickory? I think the OH's have a 1/8" spine which is just about the absolute minimum I would feel comfortable doing anything with, I have a Mora 511 that's about the same blade thickness so I know it'll be fine for just about everything other than batoning. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: These are all my mods. https://i.ibb.co/j3CQkhL/20190303-090307.jpg My two favorites after a boiling vinegar bath. https://i.ibb.co/mTBKyWV/20190304-184317.jpg I really love all of them but I think this is my favorite. Original handle sanded and scorched with blo. That point.... https://i.ibb.co/rH6qg1Q/20190303-193504.jpg Yeah I definitely like your favorite the most out of those knives too, it's pretty much exactly what I'm shooting for with the blade profile. How thick are those Knives compared to Old Hickory? I think the OH's have a 1/8" spine which is just about the absolute minimum I would feel comfortable doing anything with, I have a Mora 511 that's about the same blade thickness so I know it'll be fine for just about everything other than batoning. Don't use apple cider vinegar. Use regular boiling vinegar. Degrease the blade really well with acetone and let it soak until it gets to what you're looking for. The Forgecraft are just a touch thicker. I haven't measured them. |
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Posted: 8/20/2022 3:41:16 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Don't use apple cider vinegar. Use regular boiling vinegar. Degrease the blade really well with acetone and let it soak until it gets to what you're looking for. The Forgecraft are just a touch thicker. I haven't measured them. I'll try white vinegar this time, that may be why my blades weren't getting dark. I bought a couple G10 liner sheets and a micarta sheet make scales from. I bought cherry red liners, the bulk canvas micarta I got ranges from tan to dog poop brown, I'm going to try my hand at making kydex taco style sheaths also. I need to run and grab some lumber to make a kydex press with. I've been watching a ton of videos on kydex while I've been on night shift. |
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Posted: 8/25/2022 7:56:34 AM EDT
[#30]
   G10 liners my G10 scales and micarta sheet came. I read online that a wet tile saw is the way to go when cutting micarta to avoid tear outs and avoid burning up the micarta. I marked all the blades out for cutting to length and shaping I extended the blade length to 5" so it'll be 5" of blade and 5" of handle. I need to grab some 1/8" brass pinstock and 1/4" brass tube for the handle hardware this weekend. The micarta isn't a bad color batch so I'm gonna leave it as is. |
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Posted: 8/27/2022 2:24:48 PM EDT
[#31]
This turned into a nice thread about modding easily available O-H knives into something more useful.
As far as knife grips/handles go, always preferred some sort of Micarta for field knives, but no Expert. Other items available. Suggest installing natural wooden knife handles on any sort of kitchen knives is a mistake, as such wooden handles/scales are resistant to being disinfected, and the natural wood is a possible source of food contamination. I expect that a proper and thorough dis-infection of wooden knife handles will cause significant wooden handle deterioration. IIRC, most Professional Chef's knives do NOT use wooden handles. I like the look of wood as much as anyone, but there is a time and place for it. |
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Posted: 8/29/2022 3:36:04 PM EDT
[#32]
I had a late doctors appointment this morning and got to my parents' house late (they have a lot more outside room for doing projects and running power tools) my dad came home from work early today right after I set up and started cutting
, so the surprise is gone, but the micarta kind of cut like crap on the tile saw, the thinner G10 liners cut fine, but my dad pulled his table saw out of the garage with a carbide tipped blade and said he'd risk his blade cutting it. It cut awesome on the table saw, I wouldn't recommend doing it indoors, we were outside and the wind was at our backs so the dust was getting blown away from us, I'm only slightly itchy from fiberglass particles, we wore dust masks and safety glasses anywaysI only had enough time to rough cut the tips I'll have to find center and shape and refine them more on the belt sander with a low grit belt. I dunked the knives every couple seconds in Cold water so I didn't destroy the temper on the blade when I was using my angle grinder with a cut off wheel. I also need to cut and shape the top of the tang a bit how I want it, to create a hand stop to prevent hands from slipping up the blade if you were to try to stab into something.     I'll have more time Thursday Friday and Saturday to get a lot of work done on them. No more cutting with the tile saw so that will save me some time in setup. My bench grinder is pretty light and compact comparatively. somewhere my math got off and I only wound up with 7 sets of scales instead of 8 so I'll just order a pre-cut set of 3/8" G10 or micarta scales online somewhere. I wound up with some baby scales with the run off I'll have to see what size they are they might be big enough for a small knife's scales. I also drilled the last hole in the tang out to 1/4" to accept a brass tube for a lanyard. While I'm working the next few nights when I wake up in the morning I'll probably sand and epoxy the liners into the scales over the next few days and then drill the pin holes here since that isn't too messy. |
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Posted: 8/29/2022 3:38:14 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This turned into a nice thread about modding easily available O-H knives into something more useful. As far as knife grips/handles go, always preferred some sort of Micarta for field knives, but no Expert. Other items available. Suggest installing natural wooden knife handles on any sort of kitchen knives is a mistake, as such wooden handles/scales are resistant to being disinfected, and the natural wood is a possible source of food contamination. I expect that a proper and thorough dis-infection of wooden knife handles will cause significant wooden handle deterioration. IIRC, most Professional Chef's knives do NOT use wooden handles. I like the look of wood as much as anyone, but there is a time and place for it. Most of the commercial chefs knives I've seen have nylon handles or some kind of plastic because it's easier to clean. |
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Posted: 8/29/2022 3:59:30 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I agree I like the look of woods but for maintenance and durability I like G10 and micarta. Most of the commercial chefs knives I've seen have nylon handles or some kind of plastic because it's easier to clean. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: This turned into a nice thread about modding easily available O-H knives into something more useful. As far as knife grips/handles go, always preferred some sort of Micarta for field knives, but no Expert. Other items available. Suggest installing natural wooden knife handles on any sort of kitchen knives is a mistake, as such wooden handles/scales are resistant to being disinfected, and the natural wood is a possible source of food contamination. I expect that a proper and thorough dis-infection of wooden knife handles will cause significant wooden handle deterioration. IIRC, most Professional Chef's knives do NOT use wooden handles. I like the look of wood as much as anyone, but there is a time and place for it. Most of the commercial chefs knives I've seen have nylon handles or some kind of plastic because it's easier to clean. |
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Posted: 8/29/2022 5:35:30 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Submit the synthetic handles on Professional Chef's Knives can be aggressively cleaned and disinfected far more easily than wooden handles. Some State Board of Health Depts might disqualify wooden handled knives from commercial use. |
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Posted: 8/29/2022 5:43:10 PM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This wouldn't surprise me, like with wooden cutting boards. |
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Posted: 8/29/2022 6:13:56 PM EDT
[#37]
I ordered some Ferric Chloride to darken/patina the knife blades after grinding, I'm going to get some river stones/rocks and do a stonewash finish on the blades in a jug with either some water and dawn dish soap, or the stones and WD40 when I'm done. I may have to hold the scales on with Corby bolts or Chicago screws or something for shaping so that I can get them off after shaping and not grind my stonewash finish off the spine and tang of the knife when shaping the handles.
I'm not really having much luck finding anything that size, I may have to temporarily pin the scales to the tang without using epoxy, sand them mostly to shape, remove the pins, then acid and stonewash the blades then use epoxy and permanently pin the scales in place. Or I'm just overthinking it and I use a q-tip and some Birchwood Casey super blue and make the tang and spine black after sanding the scales to shape... |
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Posted: 8/30/2022 2:59:35 PM EDT
[#38]
 Roughed up one side of my scales and liners with 80grit sandpaper today, I cleaned them with acetone and started the glue up with 5min epoxy. I might be able to get another set done Before I have to head to work, but more clamps would definitely make this faster. The quick cure time is 1hr, fully cure in 24hrs. I left the scales oversized, the liners are closer to the final length I'm looking for. I'll mark out the tang and trim them closer to length after I've ground the tang to my desired shape to save myself some sanding time.  I'm not sure these 2 little self dispensing tubes are going to be enough epoxy, I might have to go to Home Depot or Lowes and get the stuff you have to measure out and pour together before mixing.  my buddy had a decent idea for template marking, I used sharpie before but it rubbed off in between handling and dunking in water. I spray tacked copies of my template onto my blade using the tang holes to line it up I'm going to overspray with black spray paint let it dry, and then peel off the paper template and it should mark everywhere I need to remove material. |
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Posted: 9/1/2022 7:23:20 PM EDT
[#39]
 Spray paint worked awesome for making templates, go easy on the spray tack adhesive though.  I got 4 rough shaped today the longest part was grinding the spine flat. Do yourself a favor and get a 1x30 sander, the 4x32 had zero balls for removing metal, I dunked often to keep the steel cool. I rough shaped some new bevels to save myself time with a filing jig or sharpener. I'm fairly happy with how uniform they're coming out. I need to do some work with the hand files tomorrow after I get the other 5 ground to shape. I need to 90* the spine with a mill file, the sander rounded the edges a bit where I'm not sure it would throw a spark with a ferro rod.  |
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Posted: 9/1/2022 7:34:58 PM EDT
[#40]
Why do so many the same?
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Posted: 9/1/2022 7:56:17 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Why do so many the same? It's giving me the bug though, I want a heat treating setup, I'd love to be able to get my own flat stock cut out my own design and harden it and temper it... I've been watching Gough Customs YouTube channel and he had a video showing him making a knife with a bevel jig he built himself and his knives came out immaculate. I really like his mainstay knife design- the Resolute MKIII  |
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Posted: 9/1/2022 10:19:30 PM EDT
[#42]
OP, great thread. Thanks for posting the photos and information. I had just recently done a similar project, but with a short Tramontina machete. It is a very similar basic piece of steel with a wood handle, and I wanted to add more of a spear tip to it instead of the swept back machete point. I made something like an oversized and cruder version of what you are making, so thanks for giving me some ideas for my next project.
I have a portable metal band saw and a Swag table kit. (this is great, I now use my band saw a lot more to cut miscellaneous metal items) https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/swag-portaband-pro-table It's a great accessory and will even work with the inexpensive harbor freight portable band saws. Anyway, traced the profile I wanted onto the machete blade and sawed it down on the band saw. Took less than 3 or 4 minutes and the blade hardly got warm. The machete thickness is thin like the Old Hickory, so cutting through the steel is easy. Then took it to the 4x36 belt sander (another great tool that to me is a must-have) https://www.amazon.com/BUCKTOOL-36-Inch-8-Inch-Sander-Motor/dp/B07FPTS12C Less than 15 minutes later I had the new profile and grind I wanted, and turned my $13 machete into a new tool. The re-profiling took some weight off the end, but it still works as a machete well enough, but with a nice pointy tip. |
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Posted: 9/1/2022 10:34:02 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: OP, great thread. Thanks for posting the photos and information. I had just recently done a similar project, but with a short Tramontina machete. It is a very similar basic piece of steel with a wood handle, and I wanted to add more of a spear tip to it instead of the swept back machete point. I made something like an oversized and cruder version of what you are making, so thanks for giving me some ideas for my next project. I have a portable metal band saw and a Swag table kit. (this is great, I now use my band saw a lot more to cut miscellaneous metal items) https://www.swagoffroad.com/products/swag-portaband-pro-table It's a great accessory and will even work with the inexpensive harbor freight portable band saws. Anyway, traced the profile I wanted onto the machete blade and sawed it down on the band saw. Took less than 3 or 4 minutes and the blade hardly got warm. The machete thickness is thin like the Old Hickory, so cutting through the steel is easy. Then took it to the 4x36 belt sander (another great tool that to me is a must-have) https://www.amazon.com/BUCKTOOL-36-Inch-8-Inch-Sander-Motor/dp/B07FPTS12C Less than 15 minutes later I had the new profile and grind I wanted, and turned my $13 machete into a new tool. The re-profiling took some weight off the end, but it still works as a machete well enough, but with a nice pointy tip. The 4x36 worked well to shape but definitely wasn't the ideal tool to hog a lot material off with, I'm still building my tool collection much to my wife's chagrin .The little sanding disk attachment on the side worked really well for drawing the tip down into the angle for the spearpoint. That's cool about the machete I wouldn't have thought about trying to reprofile one of those, I saw the big GD machete thread a month or so ago and there were definitely some interesting shapes, some looked more useful than others. |
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Posted: 9/2/2022 10:00:57 PM EDT
[#44]
Finished filing today.
 filed the spine to sharp 90* to throw sparks from a ferro rod. Cleaned where I cut the tang inwards  I've read it's very important to radius this inside angle and not leave it a hard angle or you'll have a stress fracture where it meets.  then get to sanding. make yourself comfortable you're going to be doing it for a bit  I sanded from 120 up to 320 then wet sanded 320 to finish, wiped down with acetone to clean the blade then dunked in the ferric chloride cut 50/50 with water. I left them in for 5 minutes pulled out dunked in water hit it with #0000 steel wool to remove some of the dark spots and even the finish, then cleaned with acetone again and dunked back in the ferric for 5 more minutes, after that 5 minutes is up clean the blade with water and the steel wool again, then spray the blade with original formula Windex (with ammonia) the ammonia will neutralize any remaining acid from the ferric chloride. I'm still sanding as we speak while my wife and I watch Mortal Kombat.  I have finished a few of them need to stonewash next but need to hit the dollar store for River rocks tomorrow.  The ferric will only color as far as the temper/hardness line goes. I'm going to use gun blue on the parts of the spine that are going to show. The other parts of the tang will be under scales and epoxy so it's not going to oxidize/rust. |
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Posted: 9/3/2022 6:53:02 PM EDT
[#45]
 pretty happy with how the stonewash finish came out, for being human powered anyway.  Drilled the scales for pins today you need to bevel the parts that go towards the blade before you mount them if you aren't going to leave it as a 90* shoulder once the blade is epoxied and pinned in you're not going to be able to get close enough to shape it anymore. I think I'm gonna bevel it even more. If you stack the scales like this you'll drill holes through both scales at the same time so they'll line up, just make sure they're even, I used a drill vise to keep them in place while drilling.  I then dropped a pin (the nails I'm using for handle pins) into the hole to keep it aligned while I slid the scales clear to drill through the next hole and not drill my vise.  I had one scale shift while being drilled so the holes didn't line up so my dad drilled out the knife tang to make the hole line up, it's not great but it is what it is, epoxy will fill the void. The brake line solution for a lanyard loop isn't going to work, I haven't decided if I'm just going to fill that last hole with a bolt and have 2 small and 1 large pin or what.  I came home and my last set of scales and liners had arrived. I went with slate grey, I think I'm going to keep this one. next step is to trace the tang on the inside of the scales trim off some of the excess so I don't need to spend quite as time much sanding to reach metal. do yourself a favor and get one of those rubber eraser sander cleaners they work awesome for cleaning belts when they get clogged with material. ETA- I marked the excess on the inside and taped the scales together so they don't get swapped and this is what the spine and liners will look like when completed and epoxied, I like how the liners look. I need to work on symmetry but they're not glued yet so I can even them up.  |
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Posted: 9/9/2022 7:13:14 PM EDT
[#46]
Two knives down.
I tried a coke bottle for the first knife handle, I wasn't crazy about it. It's alright but leaving them beefier feels better in the hand.   2nd handle design without the coke bottle cut at the bottom of the grip.   keeping the handles symmetrical on both sides is a lot harder than it sounds on paper
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Posted: 9/12/2022 8:44:34 PM EDT
[#47]
Scales and liners are looking great, looks like I need to get to work on mine!
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Posted: 9/12/2022 10:11:15 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Scales and liners are looking great, looks like I need to get to work on mine! the hardest part with doing the scales was finding pins. If you can find larger pinstock drill the holes in the tang out to match the size of the pinstock you find. I had to try to swage the nails I used I think they were ~5/32nds which was just a hair too loose with the existing holes in the tang. It worked out in the end but it's hard to try to keep the scales square while you're hurrying up trying to peen pins before the epoxy sets. I slightly countersunk the holes by hand to give the pin some room to expand and mushroom. I would also suggest drilling some thru holes in the tang for epoxy to squeeze through. Make sure you use enough epoxy that you get a decent squeeze out, it will help seal the liners and tang so that moisture and crud can't get down in between the scales and blade and cause a rust spot to form. You'll sand away any gross globs when you start shaping the scales and only leave the deep stuff that is sealing the gaps. |
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Posted: 10/7/2022 10:25:55 PM EDT
[#49]
To keep the sides even, you can kind of read the layers in the micarta like a topographic map.
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Posted: 10/8/2022 5:35:37 PM EDT
[#50]
Quote HistoryQuoted: To keep the sides even, you can kind of read the layers in the micarta like a topographic map. |
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