Making a knife for a 7 yr old .. @ the request of his father.

My bug exterminator guy knew I was into knives .. he's seen a few I've made. I can't imagine he missed the iKC calendar above my desk ..or.. the multitude of knives .. all over. And this is my work environment .. big smile !!

The only knives he'd previously seen that I've made were all folding knives. Now that auto's are legal carry in MO .. I'm not so shy about showing them off. And .. a friction folder here & there. He asked if I ever made straight knives. It was an honest question. One thing I don't have @ wk is hunting knives.

I assured him I had. Reason he was asking .. his soon to be 7 yr old son has been wanting one. So wisely .. no folder. We'd both gotten hurried @ some point & used a slipjoint like we knew we shouldn't & had a blade fold on us .. a finger .. to be exact. At the same time .. he'll only be 7. So .. a short blade was desirable.

Turned out .. I had a Buck Smidgen clone in my desk drawer. I've used those as blanks for sooo many projects .. decent steel .. cost effective .. proven !!! We agreed .. about the right size.

Now .. this was Thur .. this Thur. The party is Sat. OUCH !!

I honestly had to decline .. just couldn't promise for sure guaranteed I'd get it done in time. He understood ..&.. inquired about Christmas time. That .. I comfortably & unreservedly agreed to.

So what was going on in the back of my mind all day today. I know .. I got enough "parts" laying around .. if I take those scales I pulled off of .... drill some tang holes to match .. shoot .. that just might work. I'm building this thing in my head @ wk all day today. Now .. not to the point where I wasn't doing my job ..but.. subconsciously .. I was building this all day long today.

Sooooo .. came home .. warmed up a huge slice of apple pie .. added the ice cream on top .. and hit it !!!

Figured the sugar buzz wouldn't hurt !!

Got this far & contacted the gentleman .. let him know that .. if something else hadn't already been implemented .. I could have the knife ready by noon..ish tomorrow. Turns out .. his son was sitting right next to him when I called. After a short delay .. we made the necessary arrangements.  He'll be picking it up early to mid afternoon tomorrow.

After millling off the unwanted existing end shapes of the scales .. I managed to fit them to the blank with only drilling one hole. Cool .. saves time!! Note: I used a carbide drill for glass & ceramic. They're relatively inexpensive & carbide .. i.e. will drill through hardened steel. Their issue is .. they're not highly precise relative to their diameter. A 3/8" is NOT 0.375" in dia. But, for this application .. it was close enough.

Bolted everything together before mixing any epoxy. All was a go. Nice tight fit .. no slop in the scales once the pins were inserted. Certainly won't be once they're tightened. Then .. epoxied.

Used a new (for me) type of epoxy this time. Loctite Epoxy Weld .. a 2-part epoxy. Component IDH # 1850312 (resin) & component IDH # 1850311 ((hardener). I wanted the grey color.

As is .. the blade blank extended beyond the scales @ one point .. which was simply ground smooth to the horn's edge. The blade blank also lies within the scales @ 2 points. My intent is to use the epoxy to fill the gaps. It'll all be ground smooth in the end. Figured the grey would match the steel a little better. Especially .. once a patina forms.

The sugar buzz had the desired effect .. the epoxy is curing as I pen this.

I responsibly sharpened it. It'll spread peanut butter w/ the best of 'em. As seen in the first 2 pics .. I made it nice & pointed too. When the father pics it up tomorrow .. I'll offer to sharpen it .. at ANY later date. I will also highly recommend we start where it's @.

Thinking back .. I got my first pocket knife for my 6th birthday. Perhaps .. I shouldn't be so conservative. Realistically .. that will be "Dad's" call tomorrow .. any sharpening. The point stays "as is".

There's the final sanding of the handle & polishing of the blade to do yet. I'll snap some pics of the finished unit before it leaves the house tomorrow. Turns out .. the gentleman just lives across town. I'll post some finished pics once the Father approves & picks up.

Dale