Bear "Fun", "Jungle" Tools, Ideas and Special / Member Projects

Very nice =) you know, for a bear... you make things look pretty easy; )

 

Nice,

I'll down load this for reference later
HK

 

Thanks @Hanzo ... you are too kind and generous with your words... but go ahead and keep it up

Thanks @ghrit was hoping some might appreciate the process... there's a method for my "madness" in each step that might not always seem obvious... happy to answer questions if anyone has any....

 

I just like watching a craftsman work.

 

Thanks @Ganado ... that's a pretty nice comment and one I always strive for... if I can make it look easy... then maybe some might be inspired to give it a try.... and I've done my job....

 

Thanks @HK_User nice that some of my work won't be lost to oblivion

 

LOL @kellory ... me too... used to love watching both of my Grandfathers work ... one was a master at wood working... the other was an amazing farmer, hunter and fisherman... oh and he broke horses for the Robinson family on Kauai way back when....

 

Well more time in the Bear shop...

A picture of the tiny little counterbored hole for the stainless corby bolt...

Find sanding down to the bolsters with 400 and 600 grit... phew... no mistaken over sanding
pull the scale down over the sand paper once... check fit.... pull scale down over the sand paper once... check fit... repeat till it fits...

Dry fit everything and check... yup fit up is "ok".... and palm swell feels good in the hand....

Get it all ready to epoxy... wipe everything down with acetone...

Mix up the Gflex epoxy... always mix more than you need and you will probably end up with just enough... nitrile gloves... coat both surfaces everywhere you want a good bond... ensure all the crevices are filled... make a mess with epoxy everywhere

Wait 30 minutes... clean it all up with more acetone before it hardens and makes life difficult... use a clean rag and lots of Qtips...

Wait 45 minutes for it to initially set up... check it one more time... now wait 24 hours for a full cure before final sanding

Hope you all are enjoying the WIP....

Have a great week!

Take care and God Bless,

Bear

 

I gotta say, waiting for each installment is like a kid waiting for Christmas.

I copy and paste each installment and email to a friend who thought I copied this off a knife forum!

Great work and detailed instructions to boot.

Companion sheath in the works? And how 'bout that, a matching Koa bearing block.

Nice to see the skill in process.

HK

 

Your post reminds me of a book we read to our kids... "Give a Pig a Pancake." [emoji6]

 

I learned from the Herd Bull. He's so spoiled he is retired in place, no trip to the auction house for him, he's just too good!

 

Tropical Slammi (@Bear made her, but who's your daddy now?)



Supplemented breakfast with fresh mangos and coconut.



Discovered micarta is really slippery covered in mango juice.



Coconut hole... This nut yielded a full three cups of delicious and nutritious coconut water. Nature's sport drink.

 

Aloha Monkeys,

Thanks for all the comments and the "likes"... hope this helps y'all with your projects...

Epoxy cured... always make a blade guard... cuts on your hands are pretty annoying

Grind down the stainless corby bolts then file them flush with a small file... gotta get out those deep grind marks...

More careful shaping with files and sand paper and dremel.... everything in progressive grits down to 180 at this point

Gotta check all the seams where the handle scales meet the full tang... any gaps or failures have to be fixed...

Darn bolsters are a pain in the neck... I knew fit up was going to be a problem and cause challenges...

Blew out the joints after sanding... and found tiny surface only gaps... thought about leaving them but decided to re-epoxy to fill them even though they were just a hair below the surface... I won't bore you with that process...
But split a bamboo teriyaki stick and then angled the tip with a razor blade... put on the magnifying glasses and carefully made sure the entire little trenches and all little gaps were filled... another 24 hours and I'll sand those down and re check the handle...

Looks nice so far... will leave the handle somewhat large so the owner can sand/file fit it to their own hands... yeah... easier to take off material to fit than it is to put it back on... nothing like a tool handle that has been modified by you to fit your hand perfectly....

Blade is hanging to dry... I'll start on the bearing a bit later...

Thanks for coming along...

Have a great week!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Love the pics. Your attention to detail is awesome!

 

Thanks for the kind words @TXKajun ... in truth... my nature is one of a "good enough" approach... I like simple rustic tools... some things bug me though and I've learned in my old fart aged condition... that it's better to fix or address it... so I don't worry about it... or have it bug me... so sometimes I find myself spending time on things that most folks don't even notice... so thanks for noticing...

It's a "Bear" thing

Thanks again,
Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

Thanks @Yard Dart you are most welcome... happy to hear you appreciate it.... I wondered about even posting all these WIP pics and explanations on such a mundane thing as replacing the wood scales on an old knife... but I figured it may help someone, some way, some day... down the road...

Bear

 

Agreed @Yard Dart ... I've learned a bunch here just reading and looking a pics that have been posted by all our members including yourself... Thanks again...

Here's the last pics of the day...

Member is also getting a matching bearing block... thoughtfully cut from the same piece of curly koa so figure would match.... rough finished but you can see the matching wood and figure

Won't go through the process of how I make that as it is posted in an earlier post in this thread along with pics as well....

Thanks again everyone...

Have a wonderful week!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Ooooh. Pretty.

 

Aloha Monkeys,

More shop time on this project...

Fixing up the front guard bolsters... all hand filing and 320 and 600 grit sandpaper...

Cleaning up the crud out of all the nooks and crannies and checking to make sure everything looks tight and there are no problems to fix....

Not too much sanding on the blade... want to keep as much of the original "charm" as possible... but still have her look shiny

Tape up the handle for re profiling the edge and sharpening (I won't go into that because I did an earlier tutorial in this thread on how to sharpen and polish an edge)

Before pics show nicks and a "funky" edge profile....

All finished pics... nice polished edge at 17 degrees that will shave hair and curl paper... also re profiled that edge on the grinder to make it a nicer sweeping edge...

Hope you like the progress so far...

Next... take off all the tape... check over the knife one more time... then it's time for a kydex sheath....

Thanks for stopping by...

Have a great day!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear