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Box cutter replacement

This knife is intended to be a “shop knife” .. replacing an obscenely mundane “box cutter”. The young man for whom this is being made prefers a tanto grind. He's also the front man for a local heavy metal band. From there .. I believe .. comes the preference for the natural bone. The laminated blade steel is my idea. A high carbon center layer laminated between 16 layers either side of 420 series stainless.

I originally intended a solid one piece bolster of mahogany. What's pictured is a 5/8” thick slab of mahogany with a slot machined for the blade blank.

There were issues with this approach. The tang was as small as I was going to get it. i.e. it nested into a slot machined into the interior of the bone on the spine side of the blade while being sandwiched within a machined slot in the bone on the cutting edge side of the blade .. and was already ground to match those surfaces of the bone. When the slot in the mahogany was wide enough to slide over the tang .. it was also loose when placed in it's desired final resting spot.

I decided to make the bolster out of 2 individual mated pieces of mahogany. I'll both epoxy & pin the pieces in place for the final result.

I machined a mating slot in the individual pieces .. to a depth of half the thickness of the blade blank.

I carved the rest of the required cavity .. it was just easier .. to get an exact fit. The resulting tang of the blade blank had a curved narrow portion right at this point .. a leftover from a finger groove present in the original blade blank. This is what made it difficult .. for the “one piece” approach.

Once epoxied in place .. it formed a rather cumbersome > 1” thick cube.

I machined a choil in place.

And the beginning of a finger guard.

I machined away some of the excess mahogany .. it's easier than sanding & far less dusty.

It's beginning to take shape.

…............................................................

I'll try to document with some further “work in progress” pics.

I'll most certainly snap a pic of the finished project before it leaves the house & post that.

Dale

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ron Cooper on December 27, 2015 at 18:43

That is SOOOOO COOL that you shared this step by step process with everyone! When completed I will venture to say that it will be a HUGE step up from the "box cutter" you had been using. I can hardly wait to see the end result of all this work!

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on December 27, 2015 at 18:46

This is the best replacement for a box cutter I think I have seen! The step by step is great Dale! Thanks for sharing

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on December 27, 2015 at 18:48

Very nice! That would make anyone proud to own.

Permalink Reply by Bryan OShaughnessy on December 27, 2015 at 22:28

The handle looks to be some kind of unique bone, but the "hinge" is suspiciously "hand-made". What is the material? Can you give us some info about how you got it? Thanks, Bryan O

Permalink Reply by James Cole on December 28, 2015 at 1:34

It's a shin bone from a cow/steer or ox. The joint is the lower part of the knee.

Permalink Reply by AlecsKnives on December 28, 2015 at 2:11

Very cool! Thanks for sharing it.

I have been watching how the employees at Trader Joes use the box cutters they have.

The store gives them a sheath and a mat knife type retractable box cutter.

Will you make a sheath for it?

Have you used it and felt how it is in your hand?

I would love to know what your experience with it is.

Marry Christmas and Happy new year too !!!

Thanks again for sharing your process.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on December 28, 2015 at 5:53

Thanks for asking , Bryan !! The bone .. in it's entirety .. came from Moscow Hide & Fur .. and is the lower leg bone of a whitetail deer. Their cleaning process involves boiling .. and this one was boiled more than some others. The "joint" & the "tube" of the same bone are made of different material ..and.. this dissimilarity became obvious in the cleaning process. i.e. some discontinuities resulted .. which I filled with super glue. It will be all but invisible in the final result.

Good eye !!!
I've sourced many bones & related material from Moscow Hide & Fur.. Zero negative issues .. I like them & highly recommend !!!

Bryan OShaughnessy said:

The handle looks to be some kind of unique bone, but the "hinge" is suspiciously "hand-made". What is the material? Can you give us some info about how you got it? Thanks, Bryan O

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on December 28, 2015 at 5:57

Exactly .. Thanks , James.
Moscow Hide & Fur is the source I use ..&.. have for years.

Good folks to deal with !!!

James Cole said:

It's a shin bone from a cow/steer or ox. The joint is the lower part of the knee.

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on January 2, 2016 at 10:18

Alec .. leather work is not my forte ..nor.. do I posses the required tools ..or.. experience.

For that reason .. I'll probably machine a matching (tight) mahogany sleeve for the blade .. inside of which I will place small but strong (N50) neodymium magnets. I've successfully implemented this approach in the past. They'll be invisible from the outside ..while adding to the blade/sleeve retention. The result is pretty cool ... the way the blade & sleeve get pulled together.

AlecsKnives said: .... Will you make a sheath for it?

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on January 17, 2016 at 17:31

Managed a bit of progress .. epoxied everything together.

It is now one single piece.