AWCC 1st place prizes Build Thread

[DwaneO]

Rodney over at Axial asked if I would do a little build thread on these knives and I thought the rest of you might like to see what goes into making a knife. So....Here we go

I get this particular knife cut out at a waterjet place back east. It saves me about 1.5 hrs. This is the only one I do this with. The rest of my knives I cut from barstock. When I get them I aneal them , put them in the oven at about 1400 deg F , let em get up to temp and then just shut the oven off and let them cool real slow. This makes them dead soft.


Then I flatten the edge so I can mark it with a sharpie and mark the grinds. This is the tool I use for that.



Then I get my sander set up to do a flad grind. I built this sander from scratch , it's built just like the ones you can buy , but mine has a 2hp DC variable speed motor, and I built a vertical 5/8" shaft on the other end. I can put several different tools on it.


I built a small work rest to do flat grinds on , it helps to hold the blade still.

The belt direction is down , I always grind into the edge , never away.


Here is one that has been ground next to one that hasn't.

I start on a 60 grit belt then go to a 120 grit and then 220 grit before heat treat.

Here they are , ready for the oven to be heat treated.


My digitally controlled oven , it will go up to 2200 deg I think.
1095 High Carbon steel heat treats at 1550 , I take them to 1600.


They are in there , wow thats hot.


When I take them out of the oven I dunk them in the quenching oil , that cools them off very fast. As long as your grinds are even you dont hear a pop when you drop them in. If you do ......its cracked and now scrap iron. lol , its has happened to me before, not in about 5 years though


After they cool off to about 200 deg , I put them in the toaster oven at about 325 deg for 2 hours.



Here they are after the heat treatment , thats the oil burned on the blade.


I then go back to the grinder on a 120 belt , 220 , 320 , 400 then a burishing 3M wierd belt. Makes a great brushed finish. Here they are after that.....I had some others at the same stage and just shot them all.


While the blades were in the oven I made the handle material. I buy the G10 ( fiberglass composite ) in different thickness and colors and then laminate them together. Not all of the choices , just custom ones like this.
I sand each side with a 30 grit block and then use Devcon 5 min epoxy to hold em together. I put it in my 20 ton press and squeeze the chit outa it.


Cut up and ready to put on the blades.


Here they are again , with handles on them , epoxy drying , it dont take long before I can start shaping them. I also put 4 brass pins all the way through the handle. this helps with latteral strains.




Sanding and shaping is done on the belt grinder , I have a .500" wheel that works great for the finger groove. I use a Hook-it II system( 6" disks with velcro on them , real fast to change grits ) mounted on the vertical shaft to finish sand handles on. Missed a pic of that.
Now its time to make the Kydex sheaths. Kydex is a heat moldable ABS based plastic , its super tough stuff , and really cool to work with. If you mess up a mold , you just put it back in the oven and try again.
Here is my home made Press , it just has 2" of a real dense foam on the bottom and then 1" on the top.


Here is the first one ready for pressing. I tape the chit outa the blade to give it some room inside the sheath , the square on the handle is for the loop to attach to. The Kydex I decided to use has a silver carbon fiber look to it , i think it looks cool. It goes in the oven at 325 deg F hard as hell , and comes out soft as dough.


Its pretty simple , put a piece of sheet down , the knife on that and another sheet on top and press.....2 min later and take it out and here it is.



I have a system of holes for these sheaths that will accept 2 different kinds of attachment , there is a rhyme and reason for the layout. It can be worn righ or left handed , cross draw or upside down. Pretty cool I think. The rivets closest to the handle are critical in placement. They are the ones that dictate how tight the knife fits the sheath.
Drill a 1/4" hole and put a rivet in it and press it in the arbor press .


I make my own stencels for marking my name on my blades too. I use this light sensetive material , its like a silkscreen. You put the negative on the glass and then put the stencel material on top. Close the lid , turn on the light , wait 2.5 min and turn the light off. Take it out , peel a clear film off each side and put it in the developer for about a min.....done.




Then I just tape the stencel on the blade and etch it on there , comes out cool most of the time. These came out pretty good.

AND here they are. As Parker would say...Those drivers that Do Work , will reap the rewards. The winner of each class will get a hand made knife.
Here are the two for the 2.2 pro and Sportsman classes.



And a special one for the winner of the G6 scale competition.
It has Moon Glow in the center of the handle , man its some bright stuff and glows for hours. The lanyard has glow string in it as well. It is also equiped with a whistle and a Black Crater cord light flashlight. Of course all of the knives have a ferroCerrium fire steel in the handel as well.








Well I hope you enjoyed my little how to here.
I wish I was going to AWCC , but it just ain't meant to be I guess. There will be a little bit of my sweat there though , these were fun to make.
They will be Cali bound by 8 AM .

[transambill]

Pretty Cool, thanks for shareing.
Back in the mid 80's we had a project in metal shop in high school where we made knives.(6" blade limit)
We made them out of a little bit of everything. The most popular and easiest for students to get were lawn mower blades.
I made mine out of an old woodworking file but saw a couple made out of a leaf spring.
Been into knives ever since but collect mostly automatics and some fixed blade designs.

[JeremyH]

Very cool Dwane!

[C*H*U*D]

Easily one of the best how-to articles I've seen here! My girlfriend does jewelry and has a kiln capable of those temperatures...I'd love to try something like this some day.

Very cool to see it done by someone who knows what they are doing

[krawlfreak]

WOW!

[Speedracer19]

Nice work, you made it look easy & quick!

[Skeeno]

You can go ahead and etch my name on there since I am going to win the AWCC5 G6. You can give it to me Friday afternoon when I show up.

[DwaneO]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Very cool Dwane!

Thanks Jeremy , tell your dad to get ahold of me with his order...

Originally Posted by C*H*U*D

Easily one of the best how-to articles I've seen here! My girlfriend does jewelry and has a kiln capable of those temperatures...I'd love to try something like this some day.

Very cool to see it done by someone who knows what they are doing

Glad you like it , thanks

Originally Posted by Speedracer19

Nice work, you made it look easy & quick!

It took me about 14 hours to get all that done , it goes faster when your doing multiples.
If it was easy everyone would be doing it , lol

Originally Posted by Skeeno

You can go ahead and etch my name on there since I am going to win the AWCC5 G6. You can give it to me Friday afternoon when I show up.

Good luck with that

[Brandon]

Thanks for sharing! Cant wait to see them in person

[Skeeno]

Originally Posted by DwaneO

Good luck with that

Thanks, if you have ever done a Parker G6, you know I'll need it.

[Rig Rocker]

Awesome!

[GCRad1]

I jumped this thread over to the Oliver / AWCC Announcement:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/showt...25#post3142825

THANK YOU OLIVER KNIVES!!!!

[rob_b]

Very nice Dwane

[gdhknives]

Great build thread Dwane! I definitely like your belt grinder, they make life easier.

[Del Monte]

wow indeed!

If that's not a little extra motivation to get out and practice, I don't know what is

[ecoli]

Super cool how-to thread. I never knew so much went into making custom knives.

[crawl-o-matic]

Dang, you are TALENTED!