It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted here on the Robinson Edge. I've been busy with yard work and some family business and haven't spent much time out in my shop. It was good to get back out there and start making sparks again.
This new knife build will be a Pride design that was commissioned as a custom piece. I'll get to experiment with some new materials and put a few little tweaks in place with this design. It should be a fun build. Here are some photos of what went on in my shop over the weekend.
Here is where each knife build begins, a big pile of raw materials. For this knife I will be using CPM154 for the blade, 416ss for the spacer, 6AL4V titanium for the liners, linen Micarta for the scales, and zirconium for the bolsters. This will be my first time using zirconium and I'm anxious to see how it is to work with and how it looks in the end.
All of the major parts rough cut on the band saw and ready for the grinder.
The blade has been profiled and drilled for the pivot and thumb stud. Next it's into some tool wrap and off to the heat treat oven.
I guess I was into the build since I didn't take any progress photos up to this point. The work was mostly precision drilling and tapping of all of the holes. These are both side of the handle, ready to be profiled.
After some time at the grinder the handle sides look more like knife handles and less like chunks of materials screwed together haphazardly. The zirconium is a little different to grind. It behaves a lot like titanium, throwing off bright white sparks, but it was a little easier to grind that titanium too. It wasn't too bad to work with. We'll see how it finishes up in the near future.
I missed a couple pics of surfacing down the heat treated blade and grinding down the spacer to the proper thickness. Anyway, here's the first assembly of the handle. It shows off the dovetailed bolsters pretty well from this angle. Next, everything will get ground down flush with each other and the blade will get fitted to the handle. That should all happen next week.
The Pride design is one of my favorites. It's elegant, sleek, and has a great profile. It's also very comfortable in the hand when in use. I have high expectations for this one. Check back soon for more progress. Thanks for following along with me on this build.
- Brandant Robinson