Knifemaking

This will be a bit of a rerun for anyone who saw my pictures on Facebook. I've been wanting to make a knife for a long time, and I started one maybe five years ago out of a lawnmower blade; most of the blade turned out fine, but a mistake towards the end made it not worth finishing. Then about two years ago, while living in Moshi, I tried again. I rushed it and the disk ate it up.

Then, maybe a year ago, I tried again. This time I tried not to rush it. The blade blank I used was from a thickness planer machine. Many knife makers who grind their blades use belt sanders. Since we don't have one, I used a sanding disk on our right angle grinder. The difficulty with that is it is very hard to get a consistent grind along the length of the blade. Recently, I finally finished the blade. Finishing it was also hard because of our lack of proper tools. Since this steel is very hard that also means it is very hard to finish (sand with decreasing grit size). I spent nearly a week scrubbing away with about as much progress as if I had been trying to outplay Paganini. So on to the handle (who I named George Frederick haha)

I made the handle out of what is apparently African Blackwood ("ebony", but even harder). I carved and sanded on it until it was nearly the right shape and size. Then, I reworked the brass guard from my first knife project to fit the current needs (the brass came from a paperweight which was the shape of Oklahoma). To put everything together I mixed up some JB Weld and clamped everything in their places. After a guitar filled wait I sanded the handle and guard so they would be even and smooth. Tada! Nearly finished....

Instead of staining the wood, I decided to coat it with coconut oil. Although it doesn't have the same sheen as stain, I like the simplicity of just oiling it. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.