Morland's KITH WIP

[Dennis Morland]

The bolsters should fit on the knife blank. These are really tight. I think the dummy pins need to be sanded down a bit. I also touch marked L into the inside of the left bolster in the last picture.

 

[Dennis Morland]

What thickness is your brass stock?

.250. I was gifted two pieces of brass when I first started making knives. .250x2x48. Yep, 8 feet of brass. Pretty awesome. That was about 5 years ago. I cut an inch off of the second piece today for these bolsters. I should be good for about 5 years if I keep the same pace.

 

[Chris Railey]

Nice

 

[Dennis Morland]

I am headed to the grinder with a small wheel attachment to rough shape the spine and finger guard. Be careful. Do your best not to grind the knife blank.

 

[Daniel Macina]

This is great! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dennis Morland]

After roughing in the bolster it should pretty much look like this.

 

[Dennis Morland]

The good part about building bolsters this way is that the back remains square to each other. If you want square backs then stop here. I prefer dove tailed bolsters so I’m headed to the disc grinder set at 30 degrees.

 

[Dennis Morland]

I will grind the dove tail at 30 degrees. You can use whatever angle you wish. This machine hardly ever moves from 30 degrees. If you use your disc grinder and change the settings then grind your scales also. You will not have to guess on the setting later.

 

[Dennis Morland]

Cut the dove tails and they match fairly well top and bottom. When I get ready to attach them I may need to tweak them ever so slightly. We’ll see.

 

[Dennis Morland]

I forgot the mention but the inside of the bolster goes down on the disc grinder. For me that is the R and the L. I have screwed this up before and it forces you to start over. Another reason I use the R and L.

 

[Dennis Morland]

Back to the drill press. I chucked in a tapered reamer. I want to taper each hole to better hold the pin when it get smashed. If done correctly your bolster will never ever ever come off or move.

 

[Dennis Morland]

Now R and L go down. Taper the outside of the bolster. I screwed this up before also.

 

[Dennis Morland]

Only taper about halfway down the hole. Do not go all the way through or your bolster will move when you attach them to the knife blank.

 

[Dennis Morland]

This is what happens when you are not focused and paying attention. I broke this about 2-3 years ago. Reamers are about $25-$30. Expensive mistake. I keep it to remind me not to do that again.

 

[Dennis Morland]

You can see the space that the reamer made outside the dummy pin. This space will be filled with the brass pin that is used to attach the bolsters. This is why they will not ever fall off or move. It is a good thing.

 

[Dennis Morland]

Up next is shaping and finishing the front of the bolsters. I am getting tired and losing focus so I will stop here. It takes about 4-5 times more time to stop and take pictures. Then post them. I usually can get bolsters finished and on the knife in a couple of hours. I am about half done and it feels like I have been working on them all day. Whew!!

 

[Dennis Morland]

I tried another feather. I think it is a tad better. I like the feather fibers a bit more. I keep refining the tooling and technique. Still needs improvement before I try it on a sheath.

 

[John Wilson]

GREAT WIP!!

 

[Johan Nel]

GREAT WIP!!

I concur. Will watch this one closely.

 

[Dennis Morland]

I did not stay at a Holiday Inn but I did sleep like a baby. Well rested and ready to go. I headed to the disc grinder to work on the front of the bolster. I also do the top of the bolster. Again still at 30 degrees. Never moves.