DIY Knifemaking: Droppoint with Blueing and Hamon

[astronomy.domaine]

Hi All,
Here is a drop point I just finished. Its my first experiment with gun bluing compound to get a hamon pattern on the blade. All else is the usual. Tool grade steel blade, wood grip with brass insets and soft steel bolster & guard.
Please have a look. Comments and suggestions are most welcome...!

[AnandNair]

well made.
what do use for the bolster?

[astronomy.domaine]

well made.
what do use for the bolster?

Tnx...the bolster is soft steel.

[aadhaulya]

As usual very well made. How to you use the rivets on the handle?? Is it just a pin made of brass with the hammered head or are these regular rivets??

Regards

Atul

[brihacharan]

As usual very well made. How to you use the rivets on the handle?? Is it just a pin made of brass with the hammered head or are these regular rivets??
Regards
Atul

Yes Atul...the rivets are brass rods, the same OD as the holes in the handle....
Initially while fixing the handle it is advisable to use wooden pegs to anchor the handle to the blade....
When all done....drill the wooden pegs off & applying epoxy to the brass rivets & hammer them in....finally sand off to give a smooth finish....Sounds simple but some skill is required!!!
Briha

[aadhaulya]

Thanks Briha ji, so the ends are not hammered to form a head of the rivet, the epoxy holds it together?? Also what epoxy compound is used. Is Areldite good enough??

Regards

Atul

[astronomy.domaine]

Thanks Briha ji, so the ends are not hammered to form a head of the rivet, the epoxy holds it together?? Also what epoxy compound is used. Is Areldite good enough??

Regards
Atul

Atul ji, that depends on the function of the pins. If the brass pins are truly load bearing i.e- solely responsible for holding the knife(blade+scales+bolster etc.) together, then a rivet like treatment reinforced with an epoxy is in order. If they are only holding external scales/bolsters or are just used as embellishments then an adhesive(araldite) or even cyanoacrylate (super glue) would suffice. You can use a metal epoxy (tough to find but supposed to provide strength equivalent to a weld) or even the lowly m-seal for the purpose.

[astronomy.domaine]

....Sounds simple but some skill is required!!!
Briha

...not at all a simple task..! you can see how I messed up the diameters resulting in the unsightly epoxy residue around the pins... . need to be more careful next time around..

[sa_ali]

very well made for self construction. keep it up

[pratik_mahale]

Nice work AD
How you make the holes in tools steel & what is the thickness of it

[astronomy.domaine]

Nice work AD
How you make the holes in tools steel & what is the thickness of it

Tnx Pratik!...the steel used is 5mm thick.., and its indeed a pain to drill through. I use cobalt and HSS drill bits with my hand drill.
Idea is to start with the smallest diameter bit to make the initial hole and then enlarge it using progressively thicker bits to get the desired diameter.

[pratik_mahale]

Thanks for the info AD
What will be a 4 or 6 mm cobalt drill bit cost

[astronomy.domaine]

[quote="pratik_mahale"]Thanks for the info AD
What will be a 4 or 6 mm cobalt drill bit cost[/quoquote

Well, the bits are a 'bit' costlier than HSS. 4/6 mm may cost anywhere between INR 80 to130. Based on the company. Also smaller cobalt bits are difficult to find, u may have to browse a few shops to find the thinner ones.

[aadhaulya]

Atul ji, that depends on the function of the pins. If the brass pins are truly load bearing i.e- solely responsible for holding the knife(blade+scales+bolster etc.) together, then a rivet like treatment reinforced with an epoxy is in order. If they are only holding external scales/bolsters or are just used as embellishments then an adhesive(araldite) or even cyanoacrylate (super glue) would suffice. You can use a metal epoxy (tough to find but supposed to provide strength equivalent to a weld) or even the lowly m-seal for the purpose.

Thanks AD, but what would be 'load bearing' the knife I am working on has the metal of the blade extending the entire length of the handle. The handles made of wood or maybe micarta, will that be called load bearing or would simple pins do the job.
My only doubt is that over a period of time the handles may just come off??

Atul

[astronomy.domaine]

Atul ji, that depends on the function of the pins. If the brass pins are truly load bearing i.e- solely responsible for holding the knife(blade+scales+bolster etc.) together, then a rivet like treatment reinforced with an epoxy is in order. If they are only holding external scales/bolsters or are just used as embellishments then an adhesive(araldite) or even cyanoacrylate (super glue) would suffice. You can use a metal epoxy (tough to find but supposed to provide strength equivalent to a weld) or even the lowly m-seal for the purpose.

Thanks AD, but what would be 'load bearing' the knife I am working on has the metal of the blade extending the entire length of the handle. The handles made of wood or maybe micarta, will that be called load bearing or would simple pins do the job.
My only doubt is that over a period of time the handles may just come off??

Atul

For a full tang blade, as u have mentioned, i reckon riveting the brass pins would give the desired strength.
Nothing complicated, just a couple of whacks on the pin heads on either side would fix it.
If i may suggest a stepwise process:
1. Insert the pins extending abt 1 mm on either side of the grip.
2. Check if the pin rotates freely or there is any gap between the pin and other components. If yes then you can insert a bit of epoxy to fix it.
3. Lightly hammer the pin extending on either side so that the protrusion expands and binds everything together. Sand the grip till u get a smooth surface.

I guess this would be pretty robust and u wont have the pin getting loose or sliding out anytime soon.

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