knife with leather handle

[Mulesaw]

Our quartermaster onboard asked me if I would help her make a knife.

I told her that I'd be happy to help her, and I suggested that instead of the wooden handles that people have made so far, we could try to make a leather handle.
The blade is a store bought kind of discount blade. No name but a decent size for an everyday knife. 

I had brought some veg tan and some black leather with me (don't know much about it save for that it can be polished on its edges), and I instructed her to first cut out a bunch of small rectangles. We soaked those in water for about an hour or so then put them in a plastic bag and put them in the refrigerator over the night.
The next day we cut some holes in the small pieces so that they would fit on the tang of the knife. The tang is kind of wedge shaped, so the upper pieces got 4 holes and the lower pieces got 2 holes.

All the pieces were put in order on a jig to prevent them from sliding around while being pressed. Once mounted on the jig, it was compressed using the machinist vise in the engine room. We managed to compress the handle with almost 25 % in length.

After roughly 20 hours in the vise the raw handle was removed and mounted on the tang. Anna (the quartermaster) started shaping the handle using a chisel, (we have to make do with what we have got out here).

When she was satisfied with the overall contours and look of the handle she switched to some sandpaper, and finally after polishing and installing the guard and the pommel - the handle was polished using water and some canvas. 

For sake of clarity, I didn't do all the hard work, I just supervised and helped with stuff like silversoldering the pommel and turning the retention nut on the lathe. So Anna did the bulk of the work herself. But since she is not on LWN, I thought that I'd show off the knife for her.

Tomorrow she wants to make a sheath for the knife.

 

 

 

[Gezzer]

Tell miss Anna that she did a very good job !!!  Shows that determination more than the latest / greatest  tools can get the job done and done well .

[Mulesaw]

9 minutes ago, Gezzer said:

Tell miss Anna that she did a very good job !!!  Shows that determination more than the latest / greatest  tools can get the job done and done well .

Thanks :-)

By the way, the handle isn't as large as it seems on the pictures. It is a combination of my inadequate camera skills and a relatively small blade 

[DwightT]

That's really beautiful.  I just may have to add something like this to my list of future projects.

    /dwight

[Hags]

Very nice, looks like a Mora.

[MikeRock]

Mora was my first thought too.  I bought three of them in the last few months.  Never had a sharper knife.. 

She did well!  Good coach too.

You put in to PR yet?

God bless

[Mulesaw]

1 hour ago, DwightT said:

That's really beautiful.  I just may have to add something like this to my list of future projects.

    /dwight

Thanks, it was a bit more time consuming compared to making a wooden handle since the leather needed to be cased before pressing it, and then it needed to dry again, but all in all I think it was worth it, and Anna couldn't be happier with the knife and that's the most important thing.

Brgds Jonas

[Mulesaw]

@Hags I think it is a Mora copy. There isn't a name on the blade, and though we bought them in Norway doesn't mean that the wholesale dealer didn't get them from China. 

Norway have some really nice blades too from Brusletto. they look very similar to Mora. 

Brgds

Jonas

[Mulesaw]

20 minutes ago, MikeRock said:

Mora was my first thought too.  I bought three of them in the last few months.  Never had a sharper knife.. 

She did well!  Good coach too.

You put in to PR yet?

God bless

Mora knives are great! I like the old model with a simple red wooden handle. It is so simple and yet incredibly comfortable, and the old models out of carbon steel could get wicked sharp.

I think I am just as proud as her :-) She really wants to learn all the traditional techniques from splicing and using the sail makers sewing machine. I helped her repairing a hammock today using the old Adler sailmakers sewing machine we have on board. It is nice when people are interested in learning all those things.

We are still underway though we have sailed faster than we had anticipated, so we'll arrive at Ponce Roads on the 10th and go alongside on the 12th. The going alongside is the same days as it was planned, but we will get an extra day at anchor before going in which is nice because it will give us a day more to shine all the brass before entering port.

Brgds

Jonas

[Bert03241]

very nice work indeed

[chuck123wapati]

excellent work and a beautiful result. Cant wait to see the sheath that you come up with.

[PastorBob]

Beautiful...no end to the use of leather.

[Tugadude]

Outstanding result.  Would have loved to see photos of the project start to finish.  That retainage nut is unreal.  Wouldn't mind more info on how that was made and how it works.

Among the things I never expected to read here:  "Our quartermaster onboard asked me if I would help her make a knife."  LOL 

[tsunkasapa]

On 3/5/2023 at 6:09 PM, Mulesaw said:

Mora knives are great! I like the old model with a simple red wooden handle. It is so simple and yet incredibly comfortable, and the old models out of carbon steel could get wicked sharp.

I think I am just as proud as her :-) She really wants to learn all the traditional techniques from splicing and using the sail makers sewing machine. I helped her repairing a hammock today using the old Adler sailmakers sewing machine we have on board. It is nice when people are interested in learning all those things.

We are still underway though we have sailed faster than we had anticipated, so we'll arrive at Ponce Roads on the 10th and go alongside on the 12th. The going alongside is the same days as it was planned, but we will get an extra day at anchor before going in which is nice because it will give us a day more to shine all the brass before entering port.

Brgds

Jonas

Very nice indeed! And kudos to her for wanting to learn these things. Much of this knowledge will be lost if we have no one wanting to learn it.

[Mulesaw]

On 3/6/2023 at 8:44 AM, Bert03241 said:

very nice work indeed

Thanks Bert03241, I already showed her all the nice comments in here, and she was really happy :-)

On 3/6/2023 at 2:00 PM, chuck123wapati said:

excellent work and a beautiful result. Cant wait to see the sheath that you come up with.

Hi Chuck, She started on designing a sheath yesterday, and I gave her a few ideas. The guard is fairly large, so she can't make a sheath the covers part of the handle.
I pointed her in the direction of a sheath for a Buck 119. And she got as far as to make a template for it. So hopefully later today we'll see a sheath emerging :-)

On 3/6/2023 at 2:12 PM, PastorBob said:

Beautiful...no end to the use of leather.

Thanks PastorBob

I am amazed at how dense and hard it feels when it is compressed like this. Almost like wood, but still a different feel though. 

On 3/6/2023 at 3:17 PM, Tugadude said:

Outstanding result.  Would have loved to see photos of the project start to finish.  That retainage nut is unreal.  Wouldn't mind more info on how that was made and how it works.

Among the things I never expected to read here:  "Our quartermaster onboard asked me if I would help her make a knife."  LOL 

Thanks Tugadude

I got her to send me the pictures she had from start, so I'll make a post about the construction, hopefully today. I might have to take a few more pictures of the setup for compressing the leather, but it should make a good post,

The retaining nut is actually just a turned brass cylinder approx 3/8" in outer diameter and 1/4" high. There is a M3 thread inside (~ 1/8") and the slit in the top was made using a hacksaw.
The pommel was made out of 2 pieces of brass that were first drilled, one with a 3/8" drill, one with a 1/8" drill. Next they were silver soldered together, and it was shaped using a file.

The retaining nut and the thread on the tang projected a bit over the pommel, so the final shaping with a file and some sandpaper caused it all to be flush. 

I agree that there are things you don't expect to read/hear, and that particular phrase is a prime example 

 

[Mulesaw]

10 hours ago, tsunkasapa said:

Very nice indeed! And kudos to her for wanting to learn these things. Much of this knowledge will be lost if we have no one wanting to learn it.

Thanks 

I always tell my kids that there are two things that I can't say no to: A newfoundland dog and a young person asking me to teach them how to do something. So That's why I very often end up helping our young volunteers making a marlinspike or making a handle for a knife etc. 

Like you say, a lot of the knowledge will be lost if no one wants to learn it - and likewise if we don't teach it to those who would like to learn.