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Rifletuner

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Everything posted by Rifletuner

  1. Thanks. That is definitely what I was going for. I like wood handles a lot, but its hard to beat the practicality of a brightly coloured synthetic handle.
  2. So after making my last attempt at a night visible knife, I was asked by someone to make the same knife for them. I wasn't entirely happy with the last handle material, so did some some more searching online and found what seemed like a good alternative and ordered a set to try. This new handle material has decent luminosity - the best I have found so far. I would rate it similar to good luminosity on a watch. The material is a little softer than I would like. Its fine for use on a knife, but I have to watch it when I grind the shape on the handle as the belt rips material off quicker than I am used to. The blade is 3mm NitroV with a tapered tang and a distal taper to a pretty sharp point. The handle is luminous Chinesium with an orange G10 liner and Loveless bolts. I was also asked to make a Kydex belt sheath, so did it in orange in keeping with the high viz theme. It was only at the last minute while I was taking photos that I realised I got a bit ahead of myself at glue-up of the handles and forgot to engrave my logo on the blade. I will get a friend to laser etch my mark because I dont like to electro etch the blade once the handles are on.
  3. Most high carbon Damascus is etched in a ferric chloride mixture, then often given a finish etch in coffee. The first time I tried making a knife with stainless Damascus, I tried Ferric, but it didnt touch it. Despite trying for increasingly longer periods, Ferric brought out virtually no pattern at all. The last two knives I have actually successfully made from this stainless Damascus, I have used hydrochloric acid for the etch. It does much better, with some pattern emerging within the first minute. Now I am just trying to work out how long to leave it in the etch, so thats still an ongoing process.
  4. Another variation on a knife I have made a few times now. I am going to have to come up with a name because I think I will be making a few more soon. Second time working with Chinesium VG10 Damascus steel. This was a 3mm billet, and the layers are slightly off centre which is a bit of a pain. Guess I cant really expect quality control from Chinese production. Luckily it has enough core steel to sharpen up with a good edge. Last time I etched Damascus, I left it a bit too long and it etched pretty deep. This time I etched it for much shorter periods. Its probably a little under done this time. I will maybe split the difference next time. The blade is a full flat grind with a tapered tang. Handle is African ebony with thin red G10 liners, mosaic pins and a hand rubbed oil finish.
  5. Its Chinesium and I dont really know what its supposed to do. I just bought it off the photo which made it look pretty bright in the dark, but it didnt turn out that way. For all I know its radioactive waste from a Chinese nuclear submarine encased in resin - but probably not since I expect that would glow better. 🤣🤣🤣
  6. Hey, thats it. Exactly the sort of thing I had in mind when I went looking for luminous handles 👍
  7. Thanks guys. Appreciate all the comments 👍
  8. So this is another version of the knife I made last year. I wanted to see what I could do with the profile. I bought a set of Chinesium handle scale material that is supposed to glow in the dark, so thought it might make a a handy knife for breaking down animals if you are taking a shot on twilight, or spotlighting, thermalling, whatever. It turned out okay, but its not nearly as visible in the dark as I had expected. The photo below is deceiving as it makes the handles look very visible, but to the naked eye it doesnt look anywhere near as visible.. Anyhow, the blade is NitroV with a full flat grind and tapered tang. The handles have a .5mm black G10 liner and Loveless bolts.
  9. Thanks mate. Yes, SF100 is similar to AEBL. I haven't used that particular knife, but other knives Ive made from SF100 have performed pretty well.
  10. Thanks mate 👍 Thanks mate 👍 Its definitely an interesting story. I wonder how many people today would fight back with a knife under those circumstances?
  11. If you dont know the story of Harry Wolhuter and his "lion killer" knife, its definitely worth a read: https://southafrica.co.za/legend-of-harry-wolhuter.html The knife itself was made by Thomas Williams Butchers Cutler in London and was from a pattern commonly used for slaughtering sheep in the 1800s. I used the template produced by Pops Knife Supply: https://popsknife.supplies/pages/lion-killer to make my knife. The blade is 3mm SF100 stainless, with a full flat grind and a tapered tang. The handle is gidgee scales with thin red G10 liners, brass pins & a brass mosaic lanyard tube. Handle finish is hand rubbed Aussie oil.
  12. Thanks guys. My brothers were pretty happy with them, so all went well.
  13. Thanks mate. If you google "stabilised wood" you will see more of the process, but essentially the wood is in a vacuum chamber submerged in the resin mixture. This process pushes air out of the wood and forces the resin in. It can take over a month under vacuum for the wood to fully absorb the resin.
  14. They are almost entirely identical, but getting a good photo without any reflection on the blades is difficult with my bodged up light box, especially with the two knives in frame. So I think what you are seeing is just angles rather than actual differences. In some photos they dont look the same size for the same reason, but in real life they are the same.
  15. Late last year I made my first chefs knife & gave it to my step mother for Christmas. This year I decided to make chefs knives for my two brothers and sisters in law. I asked each of them for their favourite colours, so ended up with blue and pink for one couple, and orange and green for the other couple. I like making these knives, but phuk is there some grinding to get them done. I start by getting the the profiled blade in 4mm AEB-L heat treated. To get a nice lively & functional blade, I start off grinding a full flat bevel which also gives the blade a distal taper, then grind in a hollow for the "S" grind which lightens up the blade some more and helps with food release, then taper the tang to balance out the blade. I probably grind away 50% of the steel, though I keep forgetting to weigh one before and after grinding. Then with their colour preferences I had to work out the best way to incorporate the colours into the handles. I had a piece of stabilised maple with blue and pink die through it that I used for one, though unfortunately a lot of the pink in the wood ended up getting ground out of it during the shaping of the handle. I added pink liners, and really wanted to use pink pins as well, but no one in Australia sells them. I could have got them overseas, but left my run too late form them to arrive in time. For the other handle, I made a segmented handle by cutting & joining orange and green G10 on a fine black liner, then glued them up with contrasting orange & green G10 pins. The whole process took me a lot longer than I expected and I was a bit worried I wouldnt get them done in time. But I finished them yesterday, and will give them out at a family dinner tonight.
  16. Just to give some idea of grinding knife bevels, this is a time lapse of me grinding another knife on the weekend.
  17. No I havent. I will try to put it on a scale & see what it weighs
  18. Steel is 5.5 mm, so that is the thickest part on the spine. Overall length is 10.5". Handle is 4.75". Blade is 5.75" long and 1.5" deep at the bevel. The edge is ground to 0.3mm which is where I try to take most user knives to as its a good balance between keeping the edge fairly strong and keeping the edge slicy. If its a bushcrafter knife that might be doing chopping work, I will grind to around 0.4mm or even .5mm, and for a kitchen knife I go for close to a "zero grind" on the edge, so around 0.1mm.
  19. No, I mostly dont use jigs. This one is all freehand. Grinding well and consistently is the biggest learning curve. It has taken me years to get to the point where I feel like I am turning out okay work. I am still a beginner though.
  20. Rifletuner

    Bowie knife

    This is a bowie made from 5.5mm S35VN steel with a saber grind bevel and a harpoon grind on the swage. The handle is olive wood given to me by aushunt member Gryphon, with black G10 liners brass pins & lanyard tube, and with a hand rubbed Aussie Oil finish.
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