Well, this weekend's shop time was very productive. I only have a few more small details and tweaks left to do in order to finish the Talon build. Here are some pics of this week's work.
Since the knife was already assembled from last week, I took the opportunity to shape the handle. Here it is all polished up to 2000 grit. The red shred carbon fiber really came to life with the higher grit finish. I'll give the handle a spin on the buffer to bring it up to its full potential.
After buffing, the bolsters get a forced patina. This is done by heating with a torch to get the desired results.
I'm always amazed at how forcing a patina on copper can completely change its appearance. I call this particular patina "red mottled". It's mostly red with some black and copper undertones. It's pretty cool.
Here's the blade with my file guide attached, ready for grinding.
Grinding the bevel actually went better than I had anticipated with this unique S shape. Here's the blade after 600 grit, ready for hand finishing.
Here's the blade finished up to 600 grit. Looks pretty good.
Here's one of the scales buffed up after receiving a wax finish. Nice and shiny.
The insides of the liners get treated with a jeweling technique. This is done at the drill press with a Cratex rod chucked up in the press.
The jeweled liners all finished up.
Here's my setup for cutting in the lock. It's a cutoff wheel mounted in the drill press. The liner is mounted in a drill press vise and hand fed into the cutter.
Working on the filework on the spacer.
After several hours at the workbench, here is the results. This is going to look great.
Here are the titanium parts anodized a nice, bronze color. The filework flats will get a satin finish, leaving the bronze color only in the low parts of the filework. Should look pretty cool when I get it done.
The final task of the day was to sharpen and mark the blade. It was kind of a pain to sharpen the s-shaped edge, but it turned out alright. It is certainly sharp. I have a small gash on my left palm to prove it.
Just a few more things to tweak and a couple of thumb studs to build and this knife will be done. It will definitely be a unique knife, but I think it still stays true to my designs and finish standards. I can't wait to see what the final knife will be like. Thanks for following along with me on this build.
- Brandant Robinson