Customized 6 OT

[OLDE CUTLER]

I sometimes stop and visit a local custom knife maker just to see what he is working on and shoot the breeze. A while back when I was at his shop he handed me a zip lock bag and said to take it home with me. I asked what it was and he told me it was a pair of wooly mammoth tooth handle material slabs. I looked at the bag and all I saw was a bunch of pieces. I took it home and filed it away. Over the winter now I had occasion to take a closer look at the pile of pieces and started to try to reassemble them to see if it would amount to anything useful. Using a dot of super glue here and there I got 2 fairly good slabs from the pieces, but there were a lot of chips and small pieces missing. I took the slabs and laid them out on my stainless steel flat surface and built a clay dam around them. Then some pouring epoxy resin was mixed up and poured over the slabs, enough to completely cover the material plus a little. The casting epoxy is a very thin almost water consistency that got down into every nook and cranny with the aid of a tooth pick to work out the air bubbles (tip- make certain your dam is strong enough to contain this thin material, a burst or leaky dam would be a disaster).

After removing the slabs from the form and cleaning them up, it became apparent that one of the slabs was about 1/4 inch too short for my intended knife, a Schrade 6 OT. I had a brand new pair of liners with the bolsters already riveted on, and a LB7 donor knife for blade and lock bar. With the one slab being short, I added a small bolster to the bare end from 1/8 inch brass. The handle slabs were then flat sanded on what would be the inside, and epoxied to a thin piece of red liner material. Then the outside surfaces were flat sanded to remove all of the casting material.

Donor LB7 which provided the blade and lock bar.

The new 6 OT frame parts

Gluing the slabs onto the liners on a stainless steel plate.

The clear acrylic material can be seen in a few places where it filled some voids, but is so transparent that it is not noticeable without looking closely. Note the book match of the slabs.

Finished product. Salvaging the 2 wooly mammoth slabs was worth the time invested.

This pair of slabs is not as colorful as a set I had previously done, but still look great on a large knife. See previous one here viewtopic.php?t=57851&hilit=Mammoth

[Steve Warden]

Another beautiful piece of work, OC!

[Jeffinn]

Nicely done!
It looks great.
Jeff

[glennbad]

That looks far better than the one I did some time back...

[FRJ]

That is very nice work on that good looking knife.

[OLDE CUTLER]

That looks far better than the one I did some time back...

You have some issues with separation or chipping?

[OLDE CUTLER]

Thanks for the comments guys!

[doglegg]

OC, your time and efforts were well spent. And your patience is on full display!!! That turned out wonderful! You are a craftsman!!!

[Nev52]

Very Nice work That is one beautiful knife.

Nev

[glennbad]

That looks far better than the one I did some time back...

You have some issues with separation or chipping?

The stuff I used was already in a resin. I had the hardest time cutting it though. Also, the resin was clear, and I didn't coat the back of it, so the brass liner showed through. I did have some chip-out as well...

[edge213]

I sometimes stop and visit a local custom knife maker just to see what he is working on and shoot the breeze. A while back when I was at his shop he handed me a zip lock bag and said to take it home with me. I asked what it was and he told me it was a pair of wooly mammoth tooth handle material slabs. I looked at the bag and all I saw was a bunch of pieces. I took it home and filed it away. Over the winter now I had occasion to take a closer look at the pile of pieces and started to try to reassemble them to see if it would amount to anything useful. Using a dot of super glue here and there I got 2 fairly good slabs from the pieces, but there were a lot of chips and small pieces missing. I took the slabs and laid them out on my stainless steel flat surface and built a clay dam around them. Then some pouring epoxy resin was mixed up and poured over the slabs, enough to completely cover the material plus a little. The casting epoxy is a very thin almost water consistency that got down into every nook and cranny with the aid of a tooth pick to work out the air bubbles (tip- make certain your dam is strong enough to contain this thin material, a burst or leaky dam would be a disaster).
IMG_5948.JPG
After removing the slabs from the form and cleaning them up, it became apparent that one of the slabs was about 1/4 inch too short for my intended knife, a Schrade 6 OT. I had a brand new pair of liners with the bolsters already riveted on, and a LB7 donor knife for blade and lock bar. With the one slab being short, I added a small bolster to the bare end from 1/8 inch brass. The handle slabs were then flat sanded on what would be the inside, and epoxied to a thin piece of red liner material. Then the outside surfaces were flat sanded to remove all of the casting material.

Donor LB7 which provided the blade and lock bar.
IMG_5943.JPG
The new 6 OT frame parts
IMG_5945.JPG
Gluing the slabs onto the liners on a stainless steel plate.
IMG_5985.JPG
The clear acrylic material can be seen in a few places where it filled some voids, but is so transparent that it is not noticeable without looking closely. Note the book match of the slabs.
IMG_5987.JPG
Finished product. Salvaging the 2 wooly mammoth slabs was worth the time invested.
IMG_5992.JPG
This pair of slabs is not as colorful as a set I had previously done, but still look great on a large knife. See previous one here viewtopic.php?t=57851&hilit=Mammoth
IMG_5993.JPG

This turned out beautiful!

[rea1eye]

Very nice work OC.

Bob

[Reverand]

"...looks great on a large knife..." Is an understatement!
Great save on the handle pieces, and a wonderful improvement on that knife!

[OLDE CUTLER]

As happened with my previous wooly mammoth tooth rehandle, I saved a couple of small leftover pieces and made a pair of ear rings for my nieces birthday present tomorrow.

[doglegg]

As happened with my previous wooly mammoth tooth rehandle, I saved a couple of small leftover pieces and made a pair of ear rings for my nieces birthday present tomorrow.

20250403_080402.jpg

Knife restorer,
Miniature duck decoy maker,
And now Jeweler!
Wonderful work!

[orvet]

Great work OC!!
It looks like it took a lot of patience, but the results were definitely worth the effort!!