The Ultimate Irish Hunting Knife

wicklow newbie

Yes, Sun 23rd only

Yeah Davy, round works for me as opposed to pointy. Also have yet to see one of those brass buttons that didnt fall off..

lordarpad

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Hibrion wrote: »

How about a more Scandinavian style sheath?
Probable what you had in mind at the beginning anyway Davy.
Will the finger guard of the knife be straight across the blade or at an angle??

please not. I am not a fan.

Hibrion

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Just wanted to put this forward for consideration. It has all the things I would need and keeps some design aspects of Davy's.
Open to suggestions and improvements??




Try this link for better quality, don't know how to make the picture bigger.

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Some great ideas coming through here lads thanks and a nice design there hibrion.

Does anyone know of an alternative to the common "SNAPS" if so let me know. VELCRO ???

As for the Firesteel loop and Sharpener pocket this wouldnt be much of a problem and could be added on request. The only problem I see here would be that it will make the sheath more cumbersome and as pointed out not everyone will need a firesteel.

These could be added as options though no problem.

For the first Sheath however the lottery sheath.

Would you like ?

1. Plain Sheath
2. Sheath with Sharpening Stone only
3. Sheath with Firesteel only
4. Sheath with Firesteel and Sharpening Stone

Davy

Grizzly 45

The Puma Waidnicker range has a traditional fastening that lasts years.Simply a Brass stud,that pushes into very small hole with a slit running a short distance down one of the tounges[picture a sperm cell with a shorter tail].With use they somhow mould themselves to a very secure fastening system.

The other is a hole in one tounge that you can thread a small button of wood,antler,etc thru that is on a piece of cord,leather thong ,etc and then you can pull tight to secure the two tounges over the knife handle.It can be knotted as well for extra security..

A rawhide string/thong threaded thru the belt Frog,[Bit that you thread your belt thru] with a fancy Macreme sliding knot that you snub up on the knife handle.

They are bout the best alt traditional fastnings I've seen and used.

Sheath with just a sharpening /fire steel holder for me please .The sharpening stones i've had have been just plain useless.

lordarpad

Maybe, I don't know yet.

I know the brass stud one Grizzly is talking about and I find it hard to beat. It doesn't have to go over the quillon either, it can wrap around the top of the handle, thus ecuring the handle to the sheath and making sure it doesn't stick out from weird movements (not much of a concern I know).

otherwise I am neutral about a sharpening stone and see no point in a firesteel.

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

I think I remember that stud setup now.

Damn now I have to buy studs

As for the firesteel loop and sharpening stone I think they should be optional. But what to do on this knife. Is it worth a vote ?


Davy

Hibrion

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Thanks Davy.

How about the deer antler button withe the leather loop like I have in my picture. Simple and effective; its similar to a native American design. It would also be a nice way of putting in some antler, seen as it is a hunting knife??

Double Barrel

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Davy,



How about just a piece of leather with a worked slit that can slip over the top of the handle. Simple and functional. Kinda like what was used to hold a six gun in its holster.




J Nielson always has some interesting ideas.

http://www.mountainhollow.net/images/frontier%20trailing-point%20stag-burl-WI.jpg

http://www.mountainhollow.net/images/scandi-bushcraft%20curly-celtic%20wire.jpg

Mellor

Maybe, I don't know yet.

I think it should come with a pouch for either a firesteel or a sharpener, but not both.
Ideally, a pouch that can take either (purchased separately by the owner)

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Well finally it arrived back from the heat treater.

#46 of the heat treating batch is ours .... The suminagashi blade.

You can see the lovely STRAW colour indicating a job well done and a quick check tells me that we have no warps, no cracks and everything is just as it should be.




To be honest ... I'm excited and bloody well nervous at this particular point in time.

Everything is assembled in the workshop ready for the build. Steel, Brass Rod, Wych Elm, Fresh Grinding belts, oils etc.

There's no going back now.

Over the next couple of days this piece of brownish steel has to somehow become "The Ultimate Irish Hunting Knife"

I said that I would post and document the build and that's what I intend to do. I'm pretty sure it won't be all plain sailing but none the less it's time to p*ss or get off the pot.

Davy

Mellor

Maybe, I don't know yet.

almost there davey

foxshooter243

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Ive been following this thread with great interest, i cant wait to see the end result..great work Davy;)

riflehunter77

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Good man you can almost see the finish line now, flair play to you davy..

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Yesterday was a day of two halves

The morning was spent cleaning up the blade.



Firstly on the buffer ...



There was a fair bit of Scale to be removed and it was tough going getting through the straw colouring left by the heat treater.



But eventually the brightness of the steel started to come through.



Then with sand paper oing through finer and finer grits





I have to say I think it turned out well

Davy

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

The afternoon was dedicated to making the finger guard

First thing to be done was to clean up the blade ready to accept the brass guard



Then a piece of brass was selected and marked out for shaping



The slot was roughly milled out.



And the pin hole was drilled..



Now comes the job of filing the slots. Have to be very carefull here
One file stroke too much at this point and it's a case of start all over again.



Finally the dry fit and everything looks nice and tidy



Closer shot

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Happy with the dry fit of the finger guard it's time to grind in the edge.

I prefer to do this on my one inch grinder with an old, well worn, 240 grit belt. It takes a little longer but theres less of a chance of over cooking it.



After a rub on the leather strop she's shaving sharp.





Note: I have to say that at this point the design element of letting the edge run all the way to the rear of the blade really paid off.
Sharpening the knife was very straight forward and it will be very easy to maintain.

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

With the blade now almost complete it's time to finish the finger guard.

The pin hole is countersunk so that the the head of the pin can be peened in place later.





The guard is marked out for rough shaping



And is roughly ground in wth a fresh, 60 grit belt



Using the wheel on the grinder the guard is rounded for a comfortable finger slot



The sides of the guard are now shaped to appear less square and more appealing to the eye.



They will become even rounder as the knife takes shape

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

It's time to put the guard on the blade.

A 3mm brass pin is cut to length



and is tapped into the pin hole



The ends of the pin are now peened over with a ball pein hammer ensuring a good tight fit that should last a lifetime.



Finally the whole thing is cleaned up on the grinder with a 400 grit belt



That's it for today folks

Tomorrow it's on to the handle

Regards

Davy

dwighet

Yes, Sat 22nd only

"CLASS" IS ALL I CAN SAY

darrenon

a real inspiration. makes you want to give it a go for yourself. precision work is great for focusing. looks like your realing enjoying it, fair play

J.R.

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Brilliant - really interesting.

It's unbelieveable the number of man - hours that must go into making a custom knife..........one can now see why they are expensive to purchase.

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

J.R. wrote: »

It's unbelieveable the number of man - hours that must go into making a custom knife..........one can now see why they are expensive to purchase.

Labour accounts for approx 2/3rds of the cost of a custom knife.

Figure 25-30 hours to build a knife and sheath from scratch.

@ let's say a fairly modest hourly rate of €8.50 per hour (Minimum Wage)

Add in steel, timber, brass, belts, abrasives, leather, dye, thread, heat treating, postage and anything else you can think of and you can see where the cost comes from.

Some materials are way up the cost scale also such as ivory handles, Suminagashi Steel and in such cases the labour might not even ammount to half the cost of the knife.

J.R.

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Anybody with such skills certainly shouldn't be earning, or pitching themselves at, the minimum wage - such skill and dedication deserves to be reimbursed accordingly.

Hibrion

Maybe, I don't know yet.

Thats the biz Davy! The layering in the steel looks amazing all polished up.
Well done.:cool:

wicklow newbie

Yes, Sun 23rd only

The graining in the steel is amazing Davy. I hope I can afford one of these when its finished.

Deerspotter

Not a hunter, and not into knives, but I am so impressed, I think I want one.
Any idea what price these will end up being?
Are you customising the handle for each person?

Mellor

Maybe, I don't know yet.

I think i'll be giving this a go at some point in the future, didn't know there was so much work by hand (which makes it easier for me) but it's gonna be about 2 years before i'm home , so no tools for me till then.
I can always hope to win the blade above though :D:D:D

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

Thanks for the kind comments so far guys.

The handle build went pretty smooth

You will remember that Wych Elm was the chosen, because it's a native timber and can be very highly figured and attractive to look at.
I managed to track down a lovely block of Burl and had I cut it into a nice pair of scales.



Next thing was to cut out the micarta liners. These will help keep moisture off the blade and will enhance the lines of the handle itself.




Both the micarta and timber are scored to give the epoxy something to key to.



Using a slow cure epoxy the micarta was attached to the scales.
The scales were then clamped in the vice until it had cured.



Once the epoxy had cured I used the handle of the blade as a template to draw out the shape on the scales.
Then the scales are cut to shape. I use a coping saw for this job, I suppose you could use a band saw or jig saw but I find this works best for me.



Well wouldn't you know it I forgot to take a photo of the next step So I'll have to describe it.

One of the scales was lined up on the handle, It was then epoxied in place and the holes for the pins were drilled out.

Similar to the pic below




Once the holes were drilled the second scale is attached to the handle and the whole thing was clamped up tight and left to cure again.



Once cured the pinholes were then drilled through from the other side.

davymoore

Yes, Sat 22nd only

The handle design calls for 5 brass pins so next thing to do was to cut these pins out from a 4mm bar and shape to make fitting a little easier.




The pins were keyed up, given a small drop of epoxy and then hammered into place.



With the pins set and the heads cleaned up it was time to drill out the larger Lanyard Hole



Last things to do this morning was to set the lanyard tube in place then tidy up the scales on the grinder and move the job to the vice for the afternoons work of sanding and shaping.



The first real shapes started to appear



More sanding and It's starting to look like a proper handle



Several hours and reams of sand paper later we have it down to 12,000 grit.



It looks sweet as a nut







I hope it's up to expectations

Davy