Show your mods!

[Agent_Ohm]

took this pic of my RIT dyed leafstorm today


click for more

i love the comments you post on your tumblr, hilarious stuff

[GRIFFIN HAWKS]

This post is dedicated to my finishing of a fully custom collaborated FishWolf Knife that I call the FishWolf 'TanDashi' .
'Tan' for Tanto and 'Dashi' for the angle the end of the blade resembling a traditional Japanese Kiridashi .

Jimmie at FishWolf Custom Knives and I, have had a 'Craft for Craft' trade thing going on for a while and after some thought I sent him a rough amateurish drawing of my idea for an EDC knife that would best suit my needs ,)

Within a day he sent me his rendering of the design in a more pratical form and we agreed for the Crafting to commence !
My original design was inspired by a small 'Dashi' that he sent me earlyer that was 'Hand Sanded' that I later finished the edges on (slight burs) and applied a forced mustard petina, a leather wrap, and lanyard .


So, useing the same 1" x 1/8" [?] 01 Tool Steel, he made this for me .. [8" full length - 2 7/8" blade from Heel to Point]


Here's a closeup of the business end ..


And a folded but not finished Kydex sheath [by my request]


Also, the knife as it stands, passed the proverbial 'Paper Test' :P
This really makes no sense because you can sharpen a credit card and do this, but it is cool ,)


To finish I used various micro-files [to smooth the holes],
150-600 sandpaper[to remove edges and make a rough polish],
and good old French's Golden Mustard ,)


Here's a few quick shots with no tripod ..


Then I added some KnotWork ..


Now it's time to work on the sheath ..

Here's his website >>FishWolf Custom Knives

And last but not least, some gratuitous outdoor knife porn ,)

[Evil D]

That thing is sweet but it's begging for a katana-ish paracord wrapped handle...just my $.02

[GRIFFIN HAWKS]

That thing is sweet but it's begging for a katana-ish paracord wrapped handle...just my $.02

Thank you ,) I was contemplating a cord wrap at first, but after finishing the edges I found to prefer the Feel of Steel

[Evil D]

Yeah i know what you mean...there is something to appreciate about the simple rawness of it and i'm sure it's a lot lower profile for carrying.

Are you going "neck knife" with it?

[GRIFFIN HAWKS]

Yeah i know what you mean...there is something to appreciate about the simple rawness of it and i'm sure it's a lot lower profile for carrying.

Are you going "neck knife" with it?

Do you mean low profile as in "that looks dangerous" or physically ?
I don't care what anyone thinks, including the law, It's legal (^;
Necker ? I don't plan on it, 8" is a bit big for that type of carry ..
I'm thinking this will be mostly a bag rider and have a good sturdy belt sheath to boot ,)

[Evil D]

I mean low profile like thin..if you wrapped the handle it would get thicker.

[GRIFFIN HAWKS]

I mean low profile like thin..if you wrapped the handle it would get thicker.

Right ,) The next one will have a 'Scale Handle' .
I'm thinking pimped/gouged G10 with a cool Cericoat pattern throughout the knife and sheath ,)

[Evil D]

I'd really like to get a half inch thick slab of a good knife steel and mill the blade out and then shape the rest into a handle to give the handle some thickness and grip but have it all one piece instead of adding scales. I just lack the tools to do all that.

[GRIFFIN HAWKS]

I'd really like to get a half inch thick slab of a good knife steel and mill the blade out and then shape the rest into a handle to give the handle some thickness and grip but have it all one piece instead of adding scales. I just lack the tools to do all that.

Me too ,0 !
That's why I have Jimmie do it for me

[Jazz]

Nice knives, and that mustard is pretty cool stuff, I must say, GH.

- best wishes, Jazz.

[Frapiscide]

@Griffin:

Did you just leave it on for a day and wipe it off from butt to tip? Do you think this'll work for 154Cm steel? I'm very curious, as that's a pretty cool way to patina the blade.

[Nonprophet]

I'm also interested in that mustard thing. Does it work on all steels? How long do you leave it on? I guess I could experiment, but why if someone already knows?

[onecentweasel]

I haven't tried it myself but from what I understand the more 'stainless' a blade is the less well it will patina. For example Mustard will have no effect on 440 series stainless but it will have some effect on semi-stainless steels like D2 or 01.

[Nonprophet]

I see. What is it that causes it to do that? Would assume acidity in the mustard?

[Creepo]

I see. What is it that causes it to do that? Would assume acidity in the mustard?

Yes it's the acidity that causes patina, patina is oxidization, but not in the same respect as your typical red rust.
There are a variety of chemicals and substances you can use for forcing a patina.
- acidic liquids, vinegar, acidic juice soda
- some fruits and veggies, stick it in an apple for a period of time, potatoes work too
- stronger non-organic acids
With liquids it's easy to form a rather uniform patina, with more solid substances it is possible to create patterns. The pattern can also be altered by changing the way the substance is applied. (sunk in liquid, wrapped in soaked cloth, soaked twine etc) YouTube has some videos on forcing a patina.

The more stain resistant a steel is the more powerfull acid you're going to need to get a visible effect.
- carbon steels are the easiest
- tool steels: M4, D2, O1 (O1 is the easiest as the chromium content is very low, it's closer to a carbon steel but technically it's still a tool steel)
- some stainless steels, for example ZDP-189 is known to create a patina but it will probably take longer exposure and stronger acids to actually force one.
- stainless steels

The point on forcing a patina on O1 and carbon steels is to protect the blade. A uniform layer of oxidization slows down the oxidization process significantly and helps to prevent pitting and oxidization that reaches deep into the steel. But by no means does it stop oxidization, only slows it, you still need to care for the steel and oil it to prevent further corrosion, you just don't have to necessarily do it as often.

[GRIFFIN HAWKS]

Thank you Creepo ,)
The steel is 01 and I planed a pattern, then put it on with a cutup piece of sponge leaving areas of the steel exposed and waited a few hours till it started to oxidize around the edge (turning black) where the mustard had dried then waited a bit more till there was a good thick skin on the mustard that remained yellow .
Having done this before I kinda knew when it reached the desired effect, then I rinsed the blade with warm water while scrubbing it with my fingers till it was clean of all mustard and dried it throughly .
En Volare ( the song, not the car ,)

[Mr. Dull Edge]

I had to grind on my kiwi a lil to make it mine.

[Evil D]

So far the only mod i've felt was necessary on my newest is rounding off this edge on the spine of the blade and take the edge off the jimping behind the hole. I'm tempted to round off the tip of the blade a teeny bit, ala Delica 4 style but i'm not sure it'll be necessary just yet.




That's a tiny hair on the blade, not a scratch. So far i'm really falling in love with this knife...i'm even growing on tip down carry but it's more like "it has its place" rather than being my preferred carry.

[Jazz]

I had to grind on my kiwi a lil to make it mine.

Looks nice and grippy now - nice job.

- best wishes, Jazz.