WBH knife

[Ron Kulas]

I'm making a custom knife and sheath as a donation to the WBH to be used at the annual convention in March. I hope this and the other great prizes will be an extra incentive to attend the convention.

I thought I would share the steps that go into the making of this custom knife.

The blade is a drop point hunter and is forged Damascus Steel made from 1095 and 15N20 steels. I did not make the blank but rather purchased it as I do not have the tools or capabilities to make Damascus. I could have made the blank myself from O1 steel like I have in the past but I wanted this knife to unique and special so I went with a Damascus blade with a lot of character. Every every Damascus blade is a one-of-a-kind. I have a friend who makes a lot of custom knives and he told me of his source in Idaho Falls called two fingers knives Llc. and that I was sure to get a good quality blade. He was right.

The blank is a hefty 1/8 inch thick with a 3 1/2 inch blade and a 4 1/2 inch handle. The blank is mar-quenched and tempered to a Rockwell hardness of 57. This knife is sure to have great edge holding ability.







For the scales of the knife (sides of the handle) I wanted to keep the whole idea of the swirling pattern in the blade and in keeping with the one-of-a-kind idea so I am using hard rock maple burl died green (WBH color) and then stabilized with wood hardener to prevent the normal swelling and shrinking that happens to wood.



Normally, swelling and shrinking is not a problem with this sort of handle but I want to make extra sure the wood is stabilized because I am going to be inlaying metal and enamel WBH logos into the handle and I don't want the future owner to feel a line where the medallions and the wood meet and I want to make sure the medallions stay put for the life of the knife.



In keeping with uniqueness, I want all the little things to have detail. Rather than using a single material pin such as brass or copper or silver nickle or even aluminum I am making custom pins for the joint between the scales and the blade blank. I am making mosaic pins with an aluminum outer sleeve followed by a brass sleeve and then 3 aluminum pins inside the brass tube. All the parts of the mosaic pins will be held in place with J.B. Weld because I want the black background to contrast with the shiny aluminum just like the black and sliver lines in the blade.





Here they are after the epoxy is set and I ground the end flat on a belt sander.



And a close up.

[Ron Kulas]

I rough shaped the maple scales to fit the blank. I held the sides in place with two scrap pins.



Next, I roughed up the handle portion of the blank as well as the glue sides of the scales. Epoxy does much better with a rough surface than a smooth one.



I then drilled a shallow pocket in each scale for the WBH medallion.





To prevent scratching the blade, I pre-shaped the front end of the scales before attaching them to the blank.





The final prep work for the scales was to epoxy the medallions in place.



Once the epoxy that holds the medallions in place was cured, I attached both knife scales to the handle of the blade blank. I masked off all the areas of both the blank and the handle that I did not want to get epoxy on. This epoxy has a 3,500 pound holding strength and the wood scales and the knife blank are now forever joined.



After 24 hours, the clamps are removed and the tedious task of getting the epoxy covered tape off begins.





The joint is a good one with no gaps, just a nice thin line of epoxy between the blank and the scales.



The next step is to shape and smooth the handle. This is done with belt and palm sanders with various grits and then hand sanding and finally steel wool. I am pleased with how well the WBH logo shows through the epoxy.









The final step to finishing the handle is to apply several coats of tung oil finish. I rub each coat in with my finger tip and let it dry for 24 hours. I then buff it with fine steel wool and apply another coat. 4 coats should be enough. This wood has already been stabilized, It is already water proofed but this will further seal and water proof the wood and act as more of a protective coating that will take the abuse of every day use and if scratched, can be repaired with another rubbing with Tung oil and a little buffing.

[Ron Kulas]

In between coats 3 and 4, I used the knife to make the pattern for the sheath. I always make a pattern out of my favorite leather substitute.............. Cereal box paper board. This sheath will hold the knife by friction with a deep pocket that goes part way up the handle. It is a one piece with a folded belt loop.





Seems like a good fit.



I then transfer the pattern to some creamy 8 Oz. Veg. tanned leather and cut it out with a razor knife.



The first step is tapering the end of the belt loop so I have less bulk down in the pocket of the sheath.



Then I crease and wet the leather to make the fold.



I hold everything in place for stitching with rubber cement.



Then punch the stitching holes with a forked punch.



I want to see the stitching so I am using a waxed white cord. I put a needle at each end of the cord and stitch back and forth around the hole pattern.



Before I fold the sheath in half, I add a welt made from 4 Oz. leather. It protects the stitching and adds a layer of leather thickness so the blade has room in the sheath.



Once cemented, I wet the leather with a small paint brush and stamp in a pattern along the edge of where the stitching will go.



And then punch the stitching holes.



Using the same white cord and double needle method, I join the two sides and the welt.



It's hard on the hands and a pliers is needed to pull the needle through but the end result looks pretty good.



With the stitching complete, I trim off the excess leather.



8 Oz. leather is pretty stiff but once wetted, It can be formed and molded like clay to the shape of the knife.



A little time at the end of a blow dryer, locks the shape into the leather.







The next step is to give it a bit of color. I mixed, brown and Ox Blood and a little alcohol to get the reddish brown I was looking for.



Once all the alcohol is evaporated, I need to replace all the oils lost during the forming and dyeing process. I use warm neatsfoot oil and a cotton daubber. The oil also darkens the leather a bit more.



After sitting for a few hours wrapped in a paper towel, I warm the sheath with a blow dryer and apply a rub down of mink oil to further condition and water proof the leather. It turned out pretty good considering it's humble beginnings and will hopefully protect the knife better than it protected the cow that once wore it.





On the off chance that the future owner of this knife does not want to take her into the field and put her to work, I will design and build a display stand so it can sit all pretty like. The Damascus blade should not be stored in the sheath for long periods of time not to mention what a shame it would be to hide that blade from view.

[Ron Kulas]

With all the coats of tung oil dry on the handle and the finish on the base dry, I took a few snapshots of the finished knife.



I'm pleased with the look of the pins.











I hope the future owner enjoys it.