My best friend got married on Friday and I got the crazy idea that I should make him a knife as my gift to him. Put some ideas down on paper, drawing extensively from my Yarborough, John Horrigan's Fighter (
www.eliteknives.com), and the sheath that Aaron Gough makes for his knives (
www.goughcustom.com).
After some consideration, I decided to go with O-1 tool steel. I sketched my idea out on paper, then traced it to 1/8" plexiglass and cut it out to get a feel for form and fit. I made some changes to the handle then transferred the pattern to the steel. I started with 3/16"x2"x36" bar stock.
Using a hacksaw, I rough cut the profile from the bar, then cleaned it up with a bench grinder.
I then built a little jig to bevel the blade, by hand, with a file
After getting the bevels cut, I took the blade down to 220grit.
I then cut the thumb grip with a dremel.
Using West Systems 105 epoxy, I coated alternating black and green strips of canvas, then compressed them and let them dry.