This is my first attempt at knife making with a blank..(previous attempt i tried to make the full thing but managed to grind to fine of a edge on it an wrecked the steel ...learned a hard lesson there !)
The blade blank i used was a "Condor Bushlore" only cost £22 ..after one attempt at usng green corian scales failing i decided to make my own out of some old floor oak boards i ripped out of Bedford town council offices 2 years back and could'nt bear to see skipped.
I learned quite alot from the process..youtube makes things look alot easier than they actually are being one of them !.
I reckon all in once i got over making stupid mistakes like not mixing up the epoxy correctly an settling on a scale material i understood it took me around 5 hrs not including leaving the epoxy to go off over night.
I reckon as long as you have paitience and are prepared for some silly mistakes holding you back a competent DIY'er could make a nice handle. I work with my hands so i spose that helped me somewhat but i really think it would be in most of our abilities..specially the folk frequenting this forum.
I couldnt quite get the finnish on the oak i wanted so i decided to experiement and took a blow torch to it then sanded with 2400 grit wet an dry..did the job a treat .
Going to practice on a few more blanks then im going to re-attempt making a knife from scratch
I'm ok with electrics and basic mechanics, but woodworking I have a problem with, I'd be able to make the handle/grips but neat it wouldn't be. Crap is a better word for my woodworking. Ok it stays together but looks rough as hell.
Mine would NEVER look half as good as that one mate.
Cheers mate..well its like my old man always told me ...less speed more haste.
Theres a really good youtube video from ukpreppersguide on making your own handle from scratch very concise and well explained.
All ive got to do now is to learn how to sharpen the bloody thing correctly..ive butchered a few blades in my time so im a bit reticent to jump straight in.
Going to attempt the ferro rod next..use my cordless drill as a improvised lathe and try turning a handle up.
Its actually just a bit of old oak floor board i had from a job i done at Bedford council offices...i just took a blow torch to it and rubbed some old teabags over it to make it look like olive wood..worked out quite well i think .
Think ill do a couple more from blanks until i attempt one from a piece of billet..last attempt took forever until i wrecked it just before hardening..doh
Well done, I have some scales to go onto a machete, its taken a while to get the scales right and as Ive recently acquired a carving tool that needs a ne handle I'm gong to play with this first, are you making a scabbard for it?
Im just hoping for the best and preparing for the worse.
