Unfortunately, I did not manage to sharpen the knives this week, other duties got in the way. However, I have decided to describe the process even so.
This week I have essentially finished the manufacture for all sets except one. The juniper set either fell or something fell on it and one knife and the block had unseemly deep scratches that I had to sand out, and now it will take several days to re-apply the resin.
This week I could not do much on this project, thus it will be short.
Stabilizing the wood with epoxy is one of the final stages and it cannot be rushed because the resin needs to be applied several times and it takes two days for it to cure. And even though the curing time can be reduced to just two hours by heating it up to 60°C, that can only be used by extremely...
Assembly and shaping of the handles are works that I tend to procrastinate the most. Probably because at this stage there is a lot of effort sunk into the project already but it is still possible to do an irreparable screw-up that would toss all that work out of the window.
With the project being more than half-finished, metalworking shifts to woodworking – making the blocks and handles. And this started by squaring off the wood on the table saw.
As far as design goes, I like simple looks, even though that does not always mean simple construction. Designs where nothing is visible but the wood of the handle and the steel of the blade do have a certain "something", in my opinion. However, these knives do require bolsters between the blade and the handle.
After the blades are taken out of the tumbler it is finally possible to finish them, ie to grind out the final outline and etch logos and numbers.
While the blades were merrily rumbling in the tumbler I have done other things, although I did not stop working on these knives completely – I took some time to choose pieces of wood for the handles and the stands. To pick eight proper pieces was not so easy. Not that I do not have enough material to choose from...
Polishing is a knife-maker's bane.
