Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 11, 2013 at 14:36

I suspect it's up to me to add some stuff here then. Well I've been fairly happy with my recent finished projects so here's a couple of them. First off and not for sale (it's already sold)

A Coffin handled Hunter from a reground old farriers rasp with Mun Ebony scales:

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 11, 2013 at 14:40

Then there's the iKC committee knife, featured in the 2014 iKC calendar:

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 11, 2013 at 14:46

Here's a couple of little fixed blades. These are meant for in the pocket or on the desk. Perfect as an office friendly little EDC or a letter opener.

Both in Niolox steel (a european premium steel) hardened to rockwell 61 with cryo treatment.

If you're interested, contact me $60 shipped from my door to yours each

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 11, 2013 at 14:48

Let's try another little pocket blade. This time a little larger (but not much)

OW3 tool steel (US name O7) with nice simple maple scales and brass pins. $75 shipped

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 11, 2013 at 14:55

Let's try one more just for kicks and giggles:

A hunting sized knife in premium Niolox stainless at rockwell 61 with cryo treatment.

Full flat ground 3mm thick blade,

Mammoth ivory bolster, Copper spacers, 3500 year old (give or take a few years) Bog Oak handle and Vegetable ivory pommel. This thing will slice and slice and slice with them best of them.

Comes with diagonal carry sheath. And just because this is iKC I'll include the mammoth ivory pendant for free, it's from the same piece of ivory as the bolster.

$225 shipped to your door.

ps, all of these knives and a couple more can also be seen in this youtube video:

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on November 12, 2013 at 20:31

Alexander, I like those little ones!

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 13, 2013 at 4:15

I really enjoy making those little ones. You can sell a nice little custom knife to someone who doesn't have a huge amount of money to spend.

Plus they're a great alternative to folding knives. For most people just something with a sharp edge is enough during the day, no matter if that edge is only 2" long. And since they're nice and flat they go in the pocket really well. I've carried them  (or similar pieces) into the office plenty of times.

Even people that gasp at seeing my #72 GEC don't blink twice at those little cutters.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 15, 2013 at 5:24

Here's something Jan said I should post.

I usually two either one of three types of finish on a knife.

1: Belt finish. in which I either take the knife all the way through my grits up to 1000 grit or I select a lower grit type if it's a heavy duty working knife which is supposed to be rough looking. (For an example check that committee knife with ebony and olivewood, second post I think.

Like this one on a very fine belt finish:

Or this one for a very rough finish:

2: A satin finish, where I'll take the blade up to around grit 220 or 320 or so and then finish off with scotchbrite belts. The Coffin handled knife and in fact most of the knives I've shown here have that finish.

Like this one:

Or this one if I etch it with Ferric Chloride afterwards:

3: Polished blade

And every now and then when I'm feeling brave...and not attatched to my time I do a polished finish. Now that sounds like something many people do....but there's one big distinction....I don't have access to a buffer. So I have to do everything by hand.

So first thing I do when done grinding is flatten the blade. I do this with a DMT diamond plate grit 180. And it usually takes me around 1-2 hours to flatten both sides of the blade.

Once that's done I alternate in sanding direction as I move up the grits.

I start at 120 grit (that's right,LOWER than the DMT plate because the DMT makes fairly deep scratches sometimes.) and sand the length of the blade.

180 grit diagonally

220 the length

320 diagonally

400 the length

600 diagonally

800 the length

1000 diagonally

1200 the length

After that I go to Micromesh MX sheets and I do the length of the blade for all of them, constantly lubricating with WD-40 spray

up to 12.000 grit of Micromesh normal.

Finished off by a steel polishing compound.

The end result is something like this

Or for an older one along with hammer marks on the blade:

Or if it's etched and then polished with steel polishing compound if gives a very smooth light grey finish to the steel:

And my most recent one that I just polished up yesterday and is just about ready to get a handle on it now:

which looks completely different when viewed from a different angle offcourse.

So now you understand a little about my finishing process and why different types of finish I charge a little more for than others.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by Robert Burris on November 21, 2013 at 13:57

Very nice Alex, I think you are a young knife maker that's found his calling. One day your knives might be highly sought after. I hope those that want a custom fixed blade give you a try.  If they can dream it up, I think you could make it. The people that have never had a custom made for them, should give you a call. They won't be sorry.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 22, 2013 at 1:47

Thanks Rob. I really enjoy the tinkering I do with knives. And yes, I do love working to make people's vision come to life. It gives me a certain drive to know that someone's waiting for a knife I'm making for them that I don't get from making something that I just felt like doing. Although that has it's own merits offcourse.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on November 26, 2013 at 3:03

Just for thanksgiving/black friday!

10% off for iKC members.

Offer lasts untill friday 12 PM your time.

And this is 10% off anything. Whether I have it in stock NOW or whether I still have to build it. I recently worked out my price structure (soon to be on my website) and will show you exactly how much you're saving if you want to order something special.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on December 19, 2013 at 8:27

Just finished this one. It's now ready to go out to it's new owner.

52100 steel triple quenched and tempered. Polished to a near mirror shine.

Stag, buffalo horn, copper and bronze handle.

Snakeskin and catfish inlaid sheath.

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