What else are you going to do, Part II
Posted by Guano & Associates | Posted in | Posted on 11:32 PM
Ignoring the dates on Kylie's camera, this is my winter project. Apparently it's a standard rite of passage for teenage boys in Sweden to make their own knife, kinda of like making a metal trunk handle in Mr. Cannon's metal shop class.
I've seen some really nice knives here. I found a couple of books and websites that have tutorials on how to build one ... and being an engineer, I just assumed that I could make one by following the tutorials.
I got some nice blades from the Wirtalas for my birthday and ordered some wood from Nordell Knives in Ljusdal (where Grandma Dee is from and Dad, Dan and I found the shop this summer).
The wood is alder root with ebony ends, a strip of black leather is on the front end. Because I don't have my drill press or other tools that are in storage in Houston, I used a Dremel to drill the space for the shank of the blade. Predictably, the hole deviated and as I carved the handle, I cut into the epoxy pocket. To cover the mistake, I added the piece of reindeer antler. This is from the antler I found while hunting Ripa with the Wirtalas this fall. I tried some rudimentary scrimshaw but that looks like it's going to need more practice.
It's not a bad try but will have to come up with something better for the next one.
I took a long lunch break today to go find some ultra fine sandpaper for the knife. I parked the car and walked some 200 yards from the parking lot to the shop. In less that 10 min, my ears were burning and aching from the -28°C air ... I think I got a bit of frostbite burn on one ear. It doesn't look bad now but when I got back to the office, it didn't look good.
I made the mistake of looking at the weather in Houston for next week, +15°C ... how sad. Even more sad, I was happy to see that it will be +1°C next week when Adam comes up here for a job interview; would hate for him to think it's always this cold!
You would have been head of the tribe had you been Cro-Magnon;) (Don't worry, you're still head of the tribe in my book) Seriously though, that is an awesome knife.