Kit Knives

[dlr110]

Here is my latest Kit Knife. A liner lock with a stainless steel blade and liners.
At first look the scales might look like Rosewood, but that is Bubinga Wood or nicknamed "African Rosewood."
It's a hard and heavy wood that is grown in Cameroon, Gabon and the Ivory Coast of Africa.
The knife is 3.75 inches with a 2.6 inch blade. The only real work I had to do on this one was shape,
sand and finish the wood handles, put an edge on the blade, then assemble.

[doglegg]

Your skills are growing.

[Paladin]

Good job! And a nice looking knife.

Ray

[cody6268]

That looks great! I love the wood and the finish. Not to mention, a perfect size closed. Is this a Jantz kit knife?

I noticed SMKW had a handle-less Solingen-made carbon steel German Boker Trapper for less than $30. My only problem is that when knives are made in the factory, the handles are assembled completely (liner, scale, bolsters, shield) before they go on the knife, and I'm not sure how to put a handle pin in when it's already assembled. Just gluing them on won't hold.

[dlr110]

That looks great! I love the wood and the finish. Not to mention, a perfect size closed. Is this a Jantz kit knife?

I noticed SMKW had a handle-less Solingen-made carbon steel German Boker Trapper for less than $30. My only problem is that when knives are made in the factory, the handles are assembled completely (liner, scale, bolsters, shield) before they go on the knife, and I'm not sure how to put a handle pin in when it's already assembled. Just gluing them on won't hold.

The kit is sold by Knifekits.com online or through Amazon. The picture I'm showing you below, is this what you're talking about on the Trapper. This is they way mine came and I haven't decided what scales I want to put on it yet. But I have the same question you do about the handle pin. I'll figure it out and show my results or maybe one of our expert AAPK members will give us some good instructions.

[Old Folder]

Looking good David.

[Steve Warden]

Yer showin' off some skills, there, Sir!!

[jmh58]

Looks Good David!!! Congratulations
John 🥸

[KLJ77]

Another GREAT looking 'kit' knife, David. Very impressive.

[dlr110]

Here is one I've been working on for about a week. Just couldn't get the wood to
look the way I wanted. It's Olive wood and I will brag on myself, I did a much
better job with the pins this time and I was able to get a really sharp edge on
the blade. These kit knives are really helping me learn and practice better
techniques just about every step of the way. I really admire the big boys that
can start from raw materials and end up with a classic knife.

[cudgee]

. Love the Bubinga Wood, looks fantastic, and olive wood always looks good. Keep practicing my friend, everyone starts slow and learns as they go, you will be able to make a folder from scratch one day. Then you will be one of the big boys.

[dlr110]

Thank you everyone for you compliments and encouragement. I'm having fun and I
enjoy sharing with all of you. On the the next one.

[Reverand]

I am really glad that you are having fun with these kit knives!
You do some really good work, too.

[cudgee]

Thank you everyone for you compliments and encouragement. I'm having fun and I
enjoy sharing with all of you. On the the next one.

I look forward to all your future projects, i find them interesting as a tinkerer.

[dlr110]

Thank you everyone for you compliments and encouragement. I'm having fun and I
enjoy sharing with all of you. On the the next one.

I look forward to all your future projects, i find them interesting as a tinkerer.

Thanks cudgee, I appreciate it.

[dlr110]

Here's today's knife, I just finished it.
The first pic is the knife assembled, but the scales haven't been shaped and smoothed out yet.

The next three are the finished product. I ended up with a little gap between the scales and the fancy bolsters, but it's not too bad. The scale material was thicker than I wanted, but the color was so rich looking I just couldn't pass it up.
I'm surprised how easy Buffalo horn is to work with and it turned out very smooth. I started out with a small 80 grit drum on my Dremel for the final shape and then went to a 400 through 7,000 grit to finish and polish. Cleaned it up with a little Murphy's oil soap and finished with polish and wax.

For my next 2 projects I have a fixed blade in Damascus Steel and Buffalo Horn handle and a Camillus flip open, I call it, and I'm using some strange dark wood on it.

[Steve Warden]

Another great job turning out a beautiful knife.
That horn in drop dead gorgeous!

[Reverand]

Looking really good!!

[glennbad]

Sweet!

[KLJ77]

GREAT looking knife, David. At first glance, I thought I was looking at a Koji Hara design. That horn turned out awesome.

[dlr110]

Here is another one out of Buffalo Horn.
It's a Camillus Knife Kit, but you select the scales and make you own handle.
I was hoping that the brown would come out more as I polished it, but it turned
out pretty good. I know some of you my be getting tired of my knife kits, but
I'm having a good time and it keeps me out of trouble. Hope you like them.

[doglegg]

No complaints from here. Keep it up!

[Reverand]

I am enjoying the show!

[dlr110]

Here is one I've been working on for a couple of days.
A Trapper that I assembled, cut the pins and then picked out the wood. I think the name is
Ebony - Macassar wood, but I'm not going to swear to it. When you sand it there is a ton of
very fine black dust everywhere, so I had my respirator and gloves on along with my arms
and head covered. The blades are very tight, but there is not much snap. In these pictures
it's hard to see how smooth the handles are, but when you hold it you feel how smooth the wood
is and you see the light reflecting off of it. I'm rather proud of how this knife turned out.
I have several types of handle materials on back order so it may be awhile before I'm able to
finish another one. Also I need some supplies.

[doglegg]