The custom Pride knife has been progressing quite well. I was able to grind the bevels on the blade and get the knife mechanics all dialed in. This knife has reached a point where it's mechanically complete, meaning that all of the mechanical properties of the knife are in working order. From here on out, it's all finish work. Here are some pics of the progress.
Here is the Damasteel blade with the bevels ground in. I've taken this knife up to a fairly high polish. Once the knife is practically done I'll give the blade a final polish, add the gold studs, and give the blade an etch to bring out the pattern.
I have marked on the right liner where the lock bar will be cut. I almost jumped the gun and cut out the lock at this stage, but I caught myself. It's much easier to add the jeweling to the inside of the liners before the lock is cut, so that's what I did next.
Here is one of the liners clamped down to my mini pallet on the mill. I use a Cratex rod to create the swirl effect on the liners. It's a subtle detail that I think adds value to the piece.
To cut the lock bar I mount the liner in my mill and use a small cutoff disk. I used to do this on the drill press, but now that I have the mill, it's much more precise, not to mention that I break far fewer cutoff disks this way.
With the lock bar cut into the liner, I assemble the knife and file the lock bar face down carefully until a good lockup is achieved.
Here's the knife fully assembled in its current state of construction. You would think it would be heavier that it is with all metal construction, but the titanium is fairly light. It feels really nice in the hand too.
Here's a final pick of the insides of the knife. I did insert the ceramic detent ball into the lock bar and drilled the detent hole in the blade tang, but I didn't get a pic of that step. It's shaping up to be a very nice knife. Next week I'll get started on the detail work. It shouldn't be much longer before this project is complete. I can't wait to get the Timascus colored and the blade etched. It should be a real showstopper. Thanks for following along with me on this build.
- Brandant Robinson