Crap I'm Making.

PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
edited November 2011 in Life
So I don't derail my own survival thread in Great Outdoors by spamming with kukri updates and other DIY junk I've been doing I figured I'd make a topic over here to dump project updates into. In depth construction information available upon request.

My current main project I've been working on is the kukri, slowly just plugging along on that at an embarrassingly slow rate. I've got from this to this and currently sitting at this. Construction is from 1/4" carbon steel gauge plate with steel collar and pommel. The handle is hardwood, I believe walnut. This is still a WIP, I need to refine the edge just a little more, polish, get a perfect fit for the handle so it grips smoothly, harden the steel, temper, final polish, then final assembly. Not much work but at my rate it'll take awhile.

Today I didn't feel like working on the kukri again so I made a proof of concept pipe from apple wood to test a manufacturing method. Pictures here and here. The whole thing is pretty crude but I didn't want to get too in depth with something I wasn't personally invested in. The "real thing" will be using darker, richer grain wood with several of the pipes having antler tip mouth pieces and copper trim. This one here was disappointing when I skinned the bark off the piece I used to cut this as the wood was really light and lacked the beauty apple can have. By comparison, another apple pipe I made earlier in the year along with a container. The date says 2007 because the camera setting reset, this was taken around May. Also, for those wondering, the runes on the pipe say "Mouth, Fire, Joy, Earth, Wealth" (supposedly) - I don't know if that's how you'd convey the idea but the explanation is that you light up the Earth's bounty in your mouth and enjoy, so to speak.

Other crap on the back burner include a spear and longsword, copper dreamcatchers, and a slew of antique restorations.

I've got a lot of other clutter hanging around as well that's already completed, but I'll post about that shit some other time.

Comments

  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited October 2011
    I really like this pipe.

    R8U45.jpg

    Can you tell me a bit about you went about making it? Also are those markings from the Futhark?
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited October 2011
    Can you tell me a bit about you went about making it? Also are those markings from the Futhark?

    Basically I grabbed an apple branch that had been laying around for awhile and wasn't cracked then used a handsaw to cut out the basic area to use for a pipe where a smaller branch came off a larger one at a good angle. The larger branch just needs to be large enough for a bowl and the smaller one suitable for a stem. The mouthpiece was physically located where it's at now, I cut it off later to make a proper detaching system.

    After that I carved it pretty much entirely by hand using a field knife. I cut the bark off as cleanly as possible and shaped the whole thing to look as close to a pipe as I could. I hit it up with a file afterward to eliminate some hard angles and touched up with sandpaper although only a little for this one.

    Then I brought it into my little shop area with my saws and drill press, and I realized I didn't have a bit long enough to bore through the whole stem so I realized I'd have to cut it in half. I carved it to the shape you see and cut it off so that it still had some stem-diameter meat left on the end. My original plan was to mill the outside of the bowl piece where the stem goes on and bore out the stem similarly so that it would fit on using a direct wood-to-wood connection. Then I got the idea to use old aluminum arrow shaft material that could be shoved into the stem and connect to the bowl that way like a proper pipe. The metallic divide you see there is just a steel washer I happened to have laying around that fit perfectly over the aluminum and matched the stem diameter.

    Other than that, lots of swapping bits on the drill press and boring holes into the stem and bowl. I increased the bowl bit's size repeatedly until I had a suitable diameter (which might actually be too large, it's a larger than average bowl) then ran a stone grinding bit down into it to smooth everything and sort of "friction treat" the inner wood so it would be more heat resistant. I'd say the drill press session took the longest because I was just winging it as I went and I wasn't sure how everything was going to work. I had to clear my holes repeatedly from clogging because of the dust and shreds that kept building up inside and precision was key so none of my holes came out through a side, ruining the entire pipe.

    The runes were then burned on with a wood burner and yes, they're from the Elder Futhark. I gave it a test run with a giant mullein leaf shoved down into there and it burned smoothly.

    The whole thing took me about 3 hours because this was the first time I've made one of these and I wasn't following any kind of plan, but could easily be reduced to just over one with a well prepared set-up. I know my next one will certainly go much smoother and faster.

    The sort of bong-shaped pipe I listed was done without the luxury of a drill press. I just got that this month. It can be done by hand but you have to find a way to secure the pipe so it doesn't move and it can be nerve wracking to squeeze it in a vice because of the risk of crushing. There are of course also primitive ways to accomplish all of this but it's really tedious and time consuming. As big of a nature fanatic as I am, even I wouldn't want to fuck with it unless I was already stranded and for whatever reason desperate for a smoke.

    Hope this helps.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited October 2011
    Very nice explanation thank you for the time it took for your response and the time it took to craft it. I think the Futhark is what attracts me to it somehow.
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited October 2011
    It's all good, like I said any inquiries about construction are cool with me. It helps burn shit into my memory when I have to recite it anyways.

    Apart from the bird traps I mentioned in my survival topic, I also started a companion knife for my kukri as I would like to carry a second knife with it but feel something larger would be too much.

    Picture here. It's still very rough but it's also WAY easier to work on than the kukri and if I get around to it tomorrow I'll probably be mostly finished aside from tempering and making all nice and pretty.

    Edit:
    http://i.imgur.com/EQiR3.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/3S5lc.jpg
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited November 2011
    Today I started work on a knife I'm going to gift away to a good friend of mine. The blade is already almost finished and I found a good piece of elk antler for the handle. I mocked up the blade behind the handle with some leather to give an idea of what it will look like when completed. Pictures here and here. Steel is the same stock that the above knives were made from.

    It's going to be nice, I'm half tempted to keep it hah. But I'd probably never use it, it might end up a little "too nice". To those wondering, the part in the blade is going to be filed out some more into a gut hook of sorts. The piece I made this from had a cut going into it and I didn't want to narrow the blade to eliminate it. I used the scraps left over from the same gauge plate that I used for the kukri and companion knife.

    I also sawed off a nice curving antler tip to use for a "show" pipe I'm going to make soon. More to come.

    Edit - Ok so I've figured out how I'm going to do the knife handle. I'm going to make a couple shallow bores into the sides of the handle and epoxy buffalo head nickels into them. On the end I'm going to burn in a bear paw print and finally I'll make a hole near the end for a leather lanyard finished with turquoise beads. I may also burn some art into the sides of the handle then polish it back up so it's not blackened like the paw will be. This should keep it clean and artistic but still very outdoorsy. More importantly, none of this will compromise functionality.
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited November 2011
    Another day, another knife. After getting back home a bit early today I quickly started work on a Finnish lapinleuku aka Sami knife. Example shown here:

    lapin%20leuku02.jpg

    Here are pictures of the work in progress:
    http://i.imgur.com/SLbGl.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/0kQhq.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/DlVls.jpg

    You can see it's quite thick. My companion knife is just a tad bit thicker than the Camillus USMC fighting knife but then the leuku's profile just dwarfs them both on thickness. The leuku is also being made from much harder steel than the kukri and companion knife were. "Well why didn't you make the kukri from the harder steel stock?" you ask, well, I would have if I had more of the stuff. As it stands, I only have a couple narrow pieces of this harder steel. It's gotta be in the 1095 realm. I'll be seeing about making a matching puukko knife when I'm finished with this and making it a set.
    These will be a little more nice looking than my kukri and companion combo when finished hopefully, but will be designed "function first" all the same.
  • SpinsterSpinster Regular
    edited November 2011
    How did you get such a clean edge on the knife in the pic shown?
  • imoscardotcomimoscardotcom Acolyte
    edited November 2011
    Psychlonic wrote: »
    You can see it's quite thick. My companion knife is just a tad bit thicker than the Camillus USMC fighting knife but then the leuku's profile just dwarfs them both on thickness. The leuku is also being made from much harder steel than the kukri and companion knife were. "Well why didn't you make the kukri from the harder steel stock?" you ask, well, I would have if I had more of the stuff. As it stands, I only have a couple narrow pieces of this harder steel. It's gotta be in the 1095 realm. I'll be seeing about making a matching puukko knife when I'm finished with this and making it a set.
    These will be a little more nice looking than my kukri and companion combo when finished hopefully, but will be designed "function first" all the same.

    I think a softer steel may actually be better suited for a kukri anyway, since the chopping work it's often used for would be more likely to chip or even break a harder steel blade.

    They all look excellent though. :)
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited November 2011
    Spinster wrote: »
    How did you get such a clean edge on the knife in the pic shown?

    If you're talking about the one that actually displays on the forum, that one isn't mine. Just inspiration for what I'm making.

    My edges go through several stages. The first stage is to grind the edge with an angle grinder as best as I can. Then I take a flat file and refine the edge so that it's functional at that point, albeit soft and rough. The thin "wire" that forms at the very end of the edge is filed away and this helps to clean some of the rough marks from the grinder. The next step from here should be to hit the whole thing with a belt sander but I don't have access to one. So what I do is use a dremel with a very fine stone bit and hit the edge with that. Then I follow I with sandpaper. Finally, I hone the edge with a fine grit whetstone.

    After hardening and tempering, I resand the entire blade and then run emery cloth over the edge so it turns out much like you see in the visible example picture above.
  • ThirdRockFromTheSunThirdRockFromTheSun <b style="color:blue;">Third<em style="color:pink;">Cock</em>FromThe<em style="color:brown;">Bum</em
    edited November 2011
    I'm throwing money at the screen but nothing is happening!
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited November 2011
    I wouldn't say any of this is good enough to sell just yet, but I'm improving fast, I think.

    These shorter days are killing me. I started work on a bolo bowie... thing... and ran out of daylight before I could get it past the grinding stage completely, but I brought it in, cleaned it up, and cord wrapped it to see how it would feel in the hands. So far I'm happy.

    http://i.imgur.com/mAHs3.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/ncnvB.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/VyB3H.jpg (Because EVERYONE loves America! :D:D)

    Tomorrow I'll try not to fuck around so much and get this and the leuku ready to harden and temper.
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited November 2011
    vEC8Q.jpg

    Ok, time for a belt sander. I'm not going to get a knife looking any better than this without one unless I spend tons of time sanding by hand. It's sort of the steel's fault, as it was exposed to the elements so it's rusty with some shallow pits here and there, but it's strong, hard steel and I want to continue using it.

    Anyways, the bolo is pretty much finished, just needs to be tempered. Ditto with the leuku, I set aside a large antler base for the handle.
  • PsychlonicPsychlonic Regular
    edited November 2011
    I haven't, that's actually pretty clever. There is an open disc grinder I own that I could probably attach conventional sandpaper discs to. Eventually I'll figure something out.
  • dr rockerdr rocker Regular
    edited November 2011
    Spinster wrote: »

    All of the ones of those I have or have seen have been solid - each strip of paper is glued to the one behind it, so as it wears away, their is more sandpaper below it. I use mine mostly for cleaning up welds. The one I have at the moment must be 60-80 grit and it gets rid of metal faster than a grining disk in my 5" angle grinder.

    Really useful - I like to put too much weld on and then grind back so the weld is almost invisable.

    I have some pretty nice bits of hawthorn and rose curing at the moment. I will probably cut the hawthorn 5mm thick and use it for laminating onto wood surfaces I want to be hard - draw runners and fittings on power tools like table saw fence parts. The rose wood I will probably make pipe bowls from.
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