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

So nice! Can take a deep breath now that you are done.

 

LOL... Thanks @Hanzo ... but you didn't read till the end huh... still have to double check everything and make a kydex sheath... then I can take a deep breath and call her done...

 

You do nice work. A pleasure to watch.

 

I did read through. Figured knife would be good when you take you look see. Also figured that was the hardest part. The sheath is a separate part.

Although I would like to see your kydex with the bolsters in that knife.

 

Bear... why a kydex sheath instead of leather?

Just curious about your thinking. I'm a huge fan of leather but always willing to change my mind

 

Thanks for the question @Ganado and it is a good one....

Kydex was specifically requested... member has experience with high carbon knives and a a recent deluge of rain hit one in a vehicle where it was kept...

Long story short.... the blade help up... did not rust as the member would have thought it would... light oil... no sandpaper... rust almost "slid" off

A leather sheath would probably held more moisture next to the blade... and hence more corrosion...
When asked... They wanted another Kydex sheath

The right tool for the right job in the right conditions... it's kydex this time... and yeah... I love leather as well... but it just depends....

Great question... hope that helps... I'll post the pics the member sent me... maybe they'll chime in...

Have a great evening...

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Knives are tools and a good tool needs the right protection. I always keep a coating of oil on a carbon blade to protect the investment and life is too short to carry an ugly knife. So most often now a Kydex sheath is not necessarily what I like for appearance but form and function comes first.

This tool was rescued once by me, as sorry as it appeared in the first panes of this series I will tell y'all it was in a much worse condition when I brought it home to be adopted. I used and used this knife for near a week everyday, never sharpened it for it was up to the task I ask. I purchased the knife at a Pawn Shop for a job that I would not use any knife I owned, for this would be a hard dirty edge beating week of abuse for any knife and certainly not what I wanted for the knives I had. I finished that job of near destructive abuse and then wondered what I would do with the knife that not only pinched my hands from the missing slabs of wood but the sharp edges of the steel back bone of the handle and the sharp steel finger grip rubbed holes in my hands. The final straw was when I cut a thumb on the 3rd day of my work, mind you I still had not laid the blade on a stone to sharpen it and I had been cutting material against a steel back plane for days, sure in the most economical manner to save the blade to the finish and to do the job correctly. When the knife drew blood I knew then that the Knife had a soul of its own and I owed it a second chance. I had seen these knives as new many times in the past but did not care for the flat sided grips so I never purchased one when they were common.

After I finished, the knife sat in a box with scraps of the material it had cut, looking at me, accusing me of not keeping my side of the bargain. But I never made a bargain with you I said to the the knife. The knife was all sullen and would stare back at me as I shut the box.

Then years later I meet BEAR, I liked his work, liked his appreciation of details and his ethics, enjoyed what he did and could do with whatever he set his mind too. I started looking for the knife and did not find the scrap box and thought it might have been trashed. By chance I looked where the box should not have been and there waited the Knife, no longer sullen, still willing to work as it was but wanting to have a second or third chance of being not only useful but good looking and appreciated by others.

I ask BEAR if he would consider a monumental task, a task that I did not have the tools or skill sets to accomplish. "Sure send it on out, I'll take a look and see if I can help" said BEAR.

As all can see the knife is almost finished and with a Kydex sheath it will be on the next airplane from Hawaii, bright brass, shiny carbon steel blade, stainless steel rivets and a Koa wood handle, ready for its third life and showing only the marks of time and the hard work it did, it is seen with those battle scars, well earned, that no one should erase.

BEAR gave that knife a new lease on life and that is a fact for all to see.

Thanks BEAR

HK

 

Nice blade! Reminds me of an old Buck 110 of mine. It was my first "heavy duty" knife after my Victorinox Hunter. After using it for about 20 years, I gave it to someone who lost much of his gear due to some dire consequences. Although used, it was kept very pristine.

HK, yours reminds me of a fixed blade version. After @Bear works his magic, I suspect your knife will get much love and use. And you will have a heirloom.

One of my friends and I would periodically scour the TSA confiscated blades and tools. I looked for good quality ones and buy them in bulk. Since it costs pennies on the dollar, I kept a stash to give away when someone needed one. Sometimes I would kerp a high quality one or two for myself. My friend always looks for Buck. I am not quite as selective. I did find a Kabar Dozier. It was in decent condition, but the owner let it become a butter knife. After a little TLC and sharpening, it has a second life as a lightweight shaving sharp companion I sometimes carry.

My ling winded point is you found yourself a keeper and while there is no hanzo DNA on your blade, I appreciate it from afar. It will be epic with the koa handle!

 

Thanks @HK_User and @Hanzo ... Great posts indeed....

Aloha Monkeys...

A bit more time on this...

Getting ready for sheath work... check the knife again for any edges that are too acute for the kydex sheath... yeah it was polished already but found a few that needed more filing ... no problem with the brass bolster... needed a diamond file for some of the steel....

Ready to cut the kydex... yup black and a nice "Leather" brown (best of both worlds @Ganado ... Black will be the proto type.... as I am not sure yet how to address this one given the bolster... might be easy ... might be tricky... but rather think it through than make a mistake and have to thermo mold another...

Score the kydex and snap it...

Press is an inverted wood vise ... I heat my kydex on a hot plate... it's the fasted and most consistent way....

Everything cut and ready to go....

Tape up the blade... for a little room... don't want the kydex hugging the blade too tightly....

Ready to press...

Thats it for now... Thanks for taking a look...

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

A few more pics

Kydex turns pretty pliable when heated (thermo forming)

In the press and after pressing...

Drilled the drain holes...

Will work on this more tomorrow if I have time...

Thanks for looking Monkeys...

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

I like @Bear's drain hole. Wait, sounds wrong! [emoji12] Obviously, I meant his sheath hole.

 

That still doesn't sound right @Hanzo ... but I appreciate the effort

 

Maybe there's no way...

 

Aloha Monkeys...

Here's a little departure from the project... and some "Bear" advice for you Mom and Dad's out there....

So today was a pretty hot and humid day.

Summer break has started and dropped my 17 year old (going on 27 all prim and proper) Daughter off with her friends at a nearby private pool for some fun...

Picked them all up at 3:30 and took the friends home and came home with my Daughter...

We got out of the car and my Daughter commented on how hot it was and I really had to agree...

Flash back to her preschool, kindergarten, elementary school days... on hot summer days I would take the hose out and set the sprayer on and shoot it up into the air so it would come down like rain... and we would run and jump through it on the front lawn to cool off... till we were soaked to the bone and all cooled off... lots of fun and great memories of a Daddy and his Little Princess laughing and being silly ....

So today I took a chance and asked if she remembered those days... she laughed and said she did... and I asked if she wanted to turn on the hose and cool off like when she was little... now this is a teenage Woman on the front lawn in front of the entire neighbor hood...

She asked if I would jump through as well like when she was little... and I of course agreed....

And... she said "Yes"....

Needless to say... there was lots of laughing and screaming and we both ended up soaking wet to the bones...

Some of the best memories of your kids childhood with you... can indeed be relived ... if you take a chance...

and simply ask... "Wanna turn on the hose and cool off like we used to when you were little"

This was a very good day for this Daddy and his "not so little anymore" Princess....

Give it a try... ( doesn't have to be the hose... could be the ice cream parlor etc )

I guarantee... it will warm your heart and make you smile... (there might even be a tear when no ones looking)

Have a great weekend Monkeys!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

I concur. But I will have quote you... No pictures then it didn't happen. [emoji12]

 

I have never worked with kydex, that is interesting. Leather is rather expensive, how does kydex compare? And is it harder or easier/ better or worse in your opinion?

 

Thanks for the new pics, Bear, especially the ones making the sheath. For some reason I thought you sandwiched the knife between 2 sheets of heated kydex and when you squashed it down, it sealed to itself making the front and back parts of the sheath one piece.

And I'm not gonna mention anything about a drain hole or other type of hole.

Kajun

 

Aloha @kellory ... kydex is pretty darn easy to work with once you get to know it and get all your equipment and technique dialed in... equipment is pretty inexpensive... Hot plate cost me $25 on sale... most folks have a dremel, files and sandpaper... you can use garden pads or butt pads... or any kind of foam... doesn't necessarily need to be the foam for kydex... although you will want to invest in some of that foam is you plan to make more than a few sheaths... you'll also need some hollow rivets and the setters for the rivets... and the kydex itself is pretty cheap.... I would suppose that compared to leather... kydex is less expensive all things considered... and like I said... once you get everything dialed in... it's pretty easy... lots of online tutorials out there....
You can even cover a kydex sheath with leather and get the best of both worlds... contact cement is great for that with thin leather...
I can put some links up for supplies, presses, rivets, kydex and dies if anyone is interested...
Hope that helps...

Take Care and God Bless,
Bear

 

Aloha Monkeys,

More progress on the sheath today...

Mark for the cut aways... and carefully cut and grind ... easy to take off... impossible to put back

File and sanding the entry way into the sheath after filing and sanding the bolsters....

Need to make sure everything is smooth so the knife slides in and out with no hang ups....

Then using a mini heat gun... carefully flare the entry and then file and sand again....

When reheating the kydex to flare the edges and make adjustments... needed to tape and put rags on the areas I did not want to deform after the initial forming ...

Finished the proto type after a lot of thought and fitting and going slow... clamp first... fit the knife in and out... bolsters are very thick and the angle is acute... the kydex needs to spread a great deal to clear the bolsters... so the rivets need to be set carefully to allow for that and still hold the knife rock solid....

Then rivet the two hollow rivets near the tip first... and test the knife for hang ups...

Then one rivet at a time after that... each time testing the knife... adjust... file and sand....

Then adjust for the belt loop ... member sent a Tek Lok ... needed to use a full size heat gun to adjust the side that will be next to the body... straighten... burned my fingers a bit... but nothing serious....

Finally it works... nice and secure and shuts with a satisfying "snap"...

Yeah it looks rough... but I'll smooth it all out tomorrow if I have time...

Then work on the brown one... hopefully if all goes well... I will be finally finished with this member project ...

Apologies to the Monkey for taking so long on this one... had to think a lot of it through as I had not taken on a project like this before... lots of challenges and learned a lot...

Thanks for looking everyone... and for the likes and questions... hope this helps you with your projects or maybe to take on a few of your own...

Have a great weekend!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Question. .. do the rivits from the belt clip interface with drawing the knife. Will they snag?