Some general information in getting started:

The blanks are ground to 220 grit and heat treated.
The air hardening and stainless steels receive a deep cryo cycle, as do O-1 blades. The other carbon steels do not.
The blades are discolored from the heat treating process, with colors ranging from a dark gold to grey/brown. These colors come off readily as the blades are finished.

Q: Are the blades ready to put a handle on?
A: No, they must be finished first.

Q: How does one finish a blade?
A: The blade needs to be hand sanded to give it a polished appearance and remove the grind lines. I find it easiest to clamp a piece of wet/dry sandpaper to a flat plate or something similar. I use the table on my bandsaw, but a thick sheet of glass or metal works fine. I don’t recommend the wife’s dining room table unless you like dining alone with cold food. A piece of aluminum from a scrap yard works, too. Fold the paper in half, clamp it down, wet it and get started. WD40 or water with some baking soda mixed in work well to lube the paper.

When sanding, take long, even strokes, moving the blade back and forth on the paper. Apply additional pressure for the obstinate areas. Lap the edge of the paper over the edge of the table to get into the plunge cut on the blade.

Start with 320 grit wet/dry paper, and then go to 400, then 600 grit paper. Don’t use woodworking paper, use wet/dry paper. Don’t wipe the slurry that forms on the paper off. It helps with the abrasive action.

Make sure you do both the blade and ricasso (the part behind the blade and ahead of the handles) on the knife. You want the exposed areas of the blade to be polished, too.

Q: What if I don’t have a large flat space to sand on?
A: In that case, clamp the back of the blade down to a board and hand sand, as above, but with hard sanding blocks. This is much slower and the least preferred way to do it, bit it works. The board holding the blade can be clamped to anything that will hold it. Don’t use a padded sanding black. It won’t sand flat and the blades are flat ground.

NEVER LEAVE A BLADE CLAMPED TO ANY SURFACE WHERE THE POINT IS EXPOSED. IF YOU AREN’T WORKING ON IT, UNCLAMP IT AND PUT IT ASIDE.

Q: What if I get cut while I’m hand sanding?
A: If you get cut, immediately apply pressure to the cut. Wash it out. If it continues to bleed, apply a compress bandage and hold it tightly over the cut. If the cut is deep or it won’t stop bleeding, continue to apply pressure and seek medical attention. Cayenne pepper sprinkled in the cut will sometimes stop the bleeding and also introduce your family to modified yodeling and potentially bad words. It will burn like crazy but cause the small vessels to constrict.

Q: Is the blade already sharp?
A: No, the blade is not sharp. The blade has to be .020-.030” thick at the cutting edge before heat treating. If it is too thin the edge assumes a potato chip shape along the edge. At that point it becomes a very expensive paperweight. The blade may, however, become sharp as you hand finish it. Always be wary of the point, because sharp or not, it is still pointy. I stuck the point of a dagger 2” into my arm once. It was not sharp but it was pointed.

Q: How do I protect the finish when I have the blade polished?
A: I use electrical tape to wrap the blade to protect it. Harbor Freight and Wal Mart both carry it for about 50 cents a roll. A piece of split hose will work almost as well. Just wrap the blade in tape, past the point and back, then cut it off, fold the tab over and stick it down. The folded tab helps get it off.

Q: How do I put the handles on?
A: In preparing the handles, first make sure the part that goes onto the tang is flat. That sounds simple, but don’t assume the expensive wood you just bought is flat. Lay a piece of sandpaper, maybe 60 to 80 grit, on a flat surface and lightly move the wood in a figure 8 to get it flat.

Next, if you knife has no bolsters, clamp a piece of wood to the tang where you want it. I use vise grips. It helps to put some leather on the jaws of the vise grips to avoid damaging the wood. Drill holes all the way through using the tang’s holes as a template. Mark which side that piece goes on and repeat with your other handle scale. Mark that side. Try to use numbered, not fractional drills. A 1/8” pin will not fit a 1/8” hole. They are the same size. For 1/8” pins, use a #30 bit. It is slightly larger than 1/8”, and the pins will fit just fine. A drill press is the best way to drill straight holes.

Now that the holes are drilled, pin the two handle halves together, without the blade, and shape the front of the handles. Finish the front as much as you want it to be. Once it’s glued or pinned down, working on it any farther becomes a real sticky issue.

Once the front is shaped, tape up the blade almost to the place where the handle goes. This will keep epoxy off the blade. Clean the handle material, pins and tang with alcohol. Let them dry. Mix up your epoxy, and then apply it to both handle slabs. Put some on the end of a pin and push it through one handle scale. Fit that into the appropriate hole in the tang, push a little farther, and push it through the appropriate hole in the other scale. Repeat with the rest of your pins.

Once all the pins are in place, use spring or other clamps to clamp the scales to the tang. This will cause epoxy to squeeze out, probably out the front, too. Use q-tips and alcohol to clean excess epoxy from the front of the scales and blade. A note here: we all have a tendency, in the beginning, to use too much epoxy. It makes a mess and gets everywhere. Don’t use more than is needed. The knife doesn’t have to look like a thick peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Just put enough on to do the job and leave it at that. Set the knife aside to dry. Don’t mess with it, let the epoxy cook off.

Q: What type epoxy should I use?
A: Generally the rule has been that the longer the drying time, the stronger the epoxy. I personally use 15-20 minute epoxies. I haven’t had the scales come off a knife in 15 years. There was a recent thread on the Blade Forums http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=337504&highlight=adhesives and another, I believe, on Knife Netweorks.com www.knifenetwork.com about epoxies and it was really enlightening. And the epoxies I use still work fine. Make sure the surfaces are clean and free of grease. You can even roughen the tang with some 60 grit paper to get a better hold with the epoxy. If you are using horn, really clean it well because of the animal fats that may be on it.

Q: What do I do next?
A: Once the epoxy has cured, which is slower in cold weather, shape the handle with whatever tools are available. Take care not to hit files or saws against your finished blade. Keep the blade wrapped up until you are finished working. When you finish with your handles, remove the tape and finish the top and bottom of the tang and blade. Make sure your polishing matches.

Q: What do I do if I get epoxy on the blade?
A: If there is epoxy on the blade, especially near the front of the handles, use a piece of brass to scrape it off. Brass is softer than the blade so it won’t hurt your finish.

Q: How do I sharpen my knife?
A: This is a really great place to be, because it means you are almost finished. If the blade is still fairly thick at the cutting edge, you might consider having it professionally sharpened the first time. If it’s not, then it’s time for a whetstone. Whetstones work best when wet, so use a light oil, or even kerosene if you are very careful, and apply oil to the coarse surface of the stone.

Take a marking pen and make a line along the cutting edge. Holding the knife at what you think is an appropriate angle, take one pass, a long smooth pull, over the length of the stone, drawing the knife from ricasso to tip over the stone. Stop. Wipe off the blade. Do you still see your mark? If so, you didn’t touch the edge. Adjust your angle and try again. Take a few strokes, turn the knife over and repeat.

NEVER lay the flat of the knife on the stone and drag it across. You will miss the edge and mess up your polish.

After a few passes on each side, look at the edge. If it appears that the edge is now somewhat sharp, use a medium stone and repeat as above. Then move to a fine stone. For that really fine edge, glue some leather to a paint stirring stick. Lay some 600 grit paper on the leather and strop the edge a few times. Then remove the paper and strop with the leather.

It will take some practice, but eventually you can learn to make a knife scary sharp. When you do, refer back to the part about what to do if you get cut.

Finally, there is more information on these subjects at www.engnath.com. It’s a very informative site, geared toward the new maker. The author, Bob Engnath, died some years back, but his site lives on.

Good Luck ,

Gene