This is another UKPK which has been sitting on my bench for a while and finally got finished this weekend. This blade came to me as part of a trade and was a user with a few miles on it. I bought a nice block of heavily figured Afzelia Lay at the Blade Show and decided to try it out. Afzelia is a moderately hard and dense wood and this piece isn't stabilized - to be honest, I wasn't sure if the wood was strong enough to act as a structural part of the unlined UKPK. During finishing, I actually broke one of the scales. It turns out that the wood, while hard and dense, is relatively brittle. I went ahead and cut a replacement scale and finished the project because I really like the look of the figure in the wood. Once the knife is assembled, the scales are strong enough to stand up to EDC use. Afzelia also has a reputation for chipping and tear out because of its open interlocking grain. Fortunately, it didn't present any problems during shaping, drilling, or finishing.
The scales are sanded out to 1200 grit. Four coats of a wood sealer/filler was applied, followed by two thin coats of TruOil and a topping of Ren Wax. I wanted to keep some of the grain exposed because I like the character of the wood - otherwise, I would have wet sanded the first coat of the wood sealer.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:12-13
Wow, I've been away for a few days and missed a lot. I love the grooved carbon fiber, especially the Pingo. Ted's newest wood mod is beautiful, of course. The micarta Delica is awesome! Nice job, Dept 13, and welcome to the forum.
So I was really disappointed in the way my Caly 3 was taking a patina, it was developing some very unattractive tones...very dull grey with large dark spots. I decided to go shiny! :)
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:12-13
Ned wrote:So I was really disappointed in the way my Caly 3 was taking a patina, it was developing some very unattractive tones...very dull grey with large dark spots. I decided to go shiny! :)
Beautiful. How did you get what you printed on your blade to reflect off the paper. :) Some of the print on the blade is clearer than what is on the paper. :D
Ned wrote:So I was really disappointed in the way my Caly 3 was taking a patina, it was developing some very unattractive tones...very dull grey with large dark spots. I decided to go shiny! :)
This can happen. Have no fear. Mine went from shiny to patina to shiny to patina to shiny and finally I got a patina I loved. The higher the polish on the blade, the slower the patina will develop the second time.
sal wrote: .... even today, we design a knife from the edge out!
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:12-13
Liquid Cobra wrote:How do you guys get this shiny result?????
Ned wrote:600 grit silicon carbide paper, then 1500 grit paper, then grey buffing compound, then green buffing compound...lots of elbow grease..then shiny!
I pay Ned to work on any knife I mod then I claim I did it. :) Just don't tell anyone. :D
One thing I've noticed when polishing a blade to get a mirror finish on either the edge bevel or the entire blade is that I wouldn't have really considered it "polishing". Not "polishing" as I've always understood it anyway. All I ever do really is smooth the steel by using finer and finer grit abrasives. One thing I normally do on a blade that I don't do on the bevel is I use a Dremel with a stropping compound or spray on a felt wheel. I've never used a metal polish like Flitz. For those of you who have used Flitz or any product that is advertised and sold as a polish, is it really an abrasive like the really fine grit stropping diamond sprays or something like that? Or is a metal polish a different type of product?
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:12-13
