INSTRUCTIONS AND PROPHECIES OF THE Blessed MOTHER ALIPIA GOLOSEEVSKY, Kyiv...
Type-setting handle for a knife from birch bark. Handmade knife handle made of birch bark. Bolster from a horn. Bolster from elk horn for a knife. Written by YoNas_Kaki.Wedge - Lauri RT 77 - 77x19x3.3 Handle - elk horn, birch bark interspersed with brass, again horn, pin. Parameters - 95x27x18 Sheath - beech insert, vegetable tanned leather, waxed shoe thread, wax for shoes, embossing, brown felt-tip pen.
And now about how all this was done. A Chinese lighter was taken as a size guide
therefore, her own sister will appear regularly in the course of the story. So ... I took the blade and sawed off a piece from the horn, suitable in size for the future bolster
(we don’t pay attention to the turned shank - the wedge was originally prepared for another product) Since the knife is unusually small, I decided to draw a sketch, although I haven’t done this for a long time
according to the sketch, it became clear that the tail would not only have to be cut, but also bent, which was done, using the items shown in the photo
Then he took the future bolster and with the help of the G-6 grinder from Seryoga Oberets, gave its ends (not Seryoga, but the bolster) the shape of graceful arcs
Having marked out on the front side of the future bolster, I drilled three holes on the front side, and on the reverse side, I made a selection with a drill with a cutter (seen in the photo), so that when fitting, the entire thickness of the bolster should not be swatted with a needle file, but only a thin (about 5 mm) wall . All tools used for fitting are shown in the third photo.
I have never been able to fit Lauri's blade to the horn without gaps, and not only to the horn, to be honest. But, fortunately, I have long mastered the technique of dealing with this (on horn bolsters) and will show it right now!
But first, you need to prepare the front surface. I sanded it thoroughly, almost polished it, shed it with highly flowing cyanoacrylate and laid it in the sun to dry.
When everything was dry, I sanded off the excess CA and polished the front surface with steel wool. I cut out the brass plate following the bolster and made it from scrap pine board... it would probably be correct to call it a punch. Those. a horseradish that will tightly press the brass spacer to the concave surface of the bolster (it can be seen in the general photo in the lower right corner) Then, I sealed the front surface of the bolster with ordinary tape and cut the tape along the edge of the hole with a thin sharp knife. Now it will be clear why.
I mixed white Poxipol and smeared the shank with it, in the area of the bolster and the bolster itself from the inside, smearing directly on the front side sealed with tape. I inserted a wedge into the bolster, filled the sample on the back of the bolster with the same Poxipol, smeared the surface with it, put brass on the tail, a punch and clamped everything in the clamp.
We remove obvious streaks from the blade with cotton wool or a napkin soaked in alcohol or acetone, but in such a way as not to pick Poxipol out of the gap. Further, it is important to correctly catch the moment when Poxipol has already risen so much that it will not crawl out of the gap if you pull it, but it has not yet risen so much that it has completely hardened. This moment comes 8-12 hours after gluing. We take the edges of the adhesive tape and - lo and behold! Nothing stuck to the bolster and all the excess is kept, in fact, only on the blade. Carefully, with a thin and sharp knife, cut off the excess, trying not to scratch the bolster and blade. We clean with the same knife inside where is the brass.
Let's move on to birch. First you need to figure out how many records you need. To do this, on the sketch, we approximately measure the area that will be filled with birch bark, subtract from this the thickness of the brass spacers multiplied by their number, and divide the remainder by the thickness of the existing birch bark sheet (we measure with a barbell). We get the approximate number of plates needed. We add from 10 to 30 percent for shrinkage (the thicker the borest, the greater the shrinkage) and proceed to cutting. I will not write in detail about the need to clean it from the outside of small rags, dirt (if any), etc., and from the inside - from "cork-like" seals. I try to prepare birch bark so that one of its edges (across the fibers) is as even as possible. It makes cutting a lot easier. On the barbell, I first measure the length of the plate (it will be rectangular) and run it along the edge of the birch bark, then cut along the line and cut off a piece of the desired width from the resulting strip, I cut this strip along it to the end, trying to bypass damaged and problem areas. I measure the next strip not by the long future record, but by the width. Those. on parts of the plates, the fibers will go along, on parts across. Along / across should be the same and strictly alternate. This is a requirement of both beauty and strength (it turns out a kind of laminate).
Then I take a baaaaaaaaaaaay large pot, pour into it gaaatap water (let the water drain, for a while, so that it is really hot! ..) and throw all the cut plates into it. I take them out in turn, “bite through” with a special tool and cut out the partition with a sharp knife. I do the "bites" so that the plate sits on the tail as tightly as possible, without backlash, but also so that the edges do not break and do not stick out along the tail, this will greatly complicate the shrinkage. And immediately I fold them in turn - along / across.
I pick them up on the tail, put another brass, prop it up from behind with the same punch and clamp it in a clamp. On a good note, it would be nice to let this thing dry. Then the curve of the lines will be sharper. But in this situation, the process may take up to 4 days and, most importantly, there may be a big difference in color between the packages (I already had this once). And I decided to do everything in one go. It all dried up exactly as much as I made cuts in the plates for the next package. I only propped it up after typing, no longer with a curved punch, but with a straight one. Let's see the pictures.
I collected the remaining two packages in the same way (only I had to make one more punch - concave) and put it to dry. In order to once again emphasize the fact that the assembly of birch bark on wet is SELF-SUFFICIENT, I show a photo in which the handle has already been peeled off, but there is no butt plate yet. Those. there is nothing holding the bark. However, it does not delaminate either by itself or when turning on a grinder, although the thickness of the package from the edge to the brass (brass does not stick to birch bark) is only 15 mm at its thickest point.
Everything dried up, roughed up, go to the butt plate. According to the sketch, I roughly marked the desired piece of horn, sawed it off and, on a small grinder roller, adjusted it to an arc formed by dried birch bark. I drilled and once again figured out the fit - everything is nishtyak!
Initially, the installation was planned deaf. But after gluing and peeling ... in short, he was peeled off to a hole in his ass (he overdid it with drilling for the shank). What to do?.. Mobile, contact list, finca. ru - "Vasiiiiiiil!!! Helpiiiiiiiii!!!" "Drop in" - Vasil answered As a result, there was such a pin at the knife in the ass.
And from that moment on, the shoals climbed like an avalanche! First of all, I have never implanted anything in anything. It would not have been possible to drill stupidly - the hole is too big - 8mm and the tail is too close - one wrong move and the drill will lead to the side and kick the butt plate. I cut off a piece of the pin, circled it with a needle on the butt plate and chose the inside with a drill with a cutter. But chose not perfectly round. And the pin itself is also not simple - it has two holes, which also need to be filled with something. I thought for a long time about what, I went through a bunch of options and decided to fill in the color of the butt plate - bulim. I was going to glue not on Poksipol, but on a 30-minute epoxy, so that there was more time left. I mixed sawdust of the horn into it - everything is gray. Added tooth powder - it became much whiter. Okay, I think it will freeze - it will just be what you need. Frozen - gray! It's not that everything looks bad, but ... I would like to be whiter. Moreover, something dark got there ... Ugh !!!
Okay, we need to sew a scabbard. I will not write about this in detail. And so already three, at least, colorfully described this process, and I also studied with them. There was a question about the pattern for embossing. Chose fire color with the customer
Once again, let me welcome this deeply respected congregation.
I bring to your favorable attention the long-promised tutorial on making birch bark sheaths. I ask for your indulgence for lengthy excessive detail, as this is my first attempt at making a tutorial.
So:
Especially for this tutorial, such a knife was made.
Blade "Kankapaa Leuki" 137x27x3 mm. Carbon. Handle 125x335x20 mm. Birch bark (assembly on PVA on the shank), birch suvel. Mounting through the screed. The finish is only 2500 sandpaper so far.
Scabbard sketch.
We make patterns of birch bark (simply wrapping a knife with a folded sheet of paper) and spacers.
We make a spacer from a pine plank 10mm thick.
We cut birch bark. Here is the first ambush: it is very difficult to pick up pieces of birch bark in size for a knife of such length. By the way: the birch bark was kindly provided by SW. Hamakura, for which many thanks to him.
We put the birch bark in boiling water.
2 hours passed. The birch bark changed color and curled up in the shape of the trunk, with the inner layer outward.
While the birch bark is cooking, prepare the knife. We wrap with cling film and fasten the spacer with electrical tape. Do not forget the spacer between the spacer and the RC.
After 8 hours, we proceed to the most important operation. We take out one piece of birch bark from boiling water, carefully unfold it and wrap the knife around it. Fasten with clamps.
Once the first layer is slightly used to new form(10 minutes) and you can briefly remove the clamps, take out the second layer and repeat the operation.
The second layer is fixed, got used to the shape, we take out the third layer and then an accident: it exfoliated!!! The reason is a very thick birch bark (the previous ones were made from thinner). There are no more pieces of this size, we decide to leave two layers, which is enough for each 3 mm thick.
About an hour passed and the birch bark resigned itself to its fate. We remove the clamps and, without disassembling the package, we coat it with moisture-resistant PVA between the layers. Abundantly.
We crimp the mouth with electrical tape, put clamps and leave for a day. The photo shows the prepared crimps. Chipboard 16 mm. with removed and rounded chamfers, which are pasted over with thick double-sided tape.
Days passed. Neither birch bark nor PVA dried out, but they seized a little. We disassemble the entire structure, remove the electrical tape that fastens the spacer and the knife.
Copiously coat the spacer with PVA.
Through the crimps, we clamp the sheath with the knife into a vise and clamps. And forget for two weeks.
Two weeks passed. Birch bark has become similar to tin. PVA became transparent. We understand the design. When tapped, the birch bark rings. Sawing off the excess length at the mouth
Let's continue:
We mark, based on the traces of crimps, the location and holes (step 8 mm) of the future seam.
We drill with a 5 mm drill
With the help of a hook we sew with a strap.
We make an oval hole for the suspension (drill, dremel). That's what happened.
Remove (Corvette 51) extra birch bark and spacer. The scabbard is basically ready. Let's move on to the knife handle.
It's time to tint the suvel and the birch bark of the handle to match the color of the boiled birch bark of the scabbard. We use water stains.
Mixing (gradually) different stains, we select the color, checking it on a piece of suvel.
The handle is covered with stain compote (brush) and wiped with a rag.
After drying and vigorous rubbing with a coarse cotton rag, the handle acquired a completely different look.
Danish polymerized (3 days) and polished by hand with a cloth.
The scabbard is also covered with danish and polished. A braided braid made from the same straps is inserted into the oval hole. Trinkets made of suveli are attached. Everything !
Next is a photo session and the theme "Tues".
Ready to listen to criticism.
Birch knife handle
How to make a knife handle out of birch bark
Handmade knife handle made of birch bark.
Type-setting handle for a knife made of birch bark
How to make a knife
Birch knife handle
How to make a knife handle from birch bark
Knife with a blade Kankaanpaa Saami with a type-setting birch bark handle
Source materials - Kankaanpaa Saami blade, elk horn of suitable diameter, birch bark.
First, the bolster and the butt plate of the handle are made from elk logs. Round pieces with a diameter of 2-3 cm and a thickness of about 1 cm are sawn off from the horn.
Holes are drilled in both rounds and adjusted with a needle file to fit the bolster and shank.
Before processing, the blade is protected with masking tape to protect it from scratches and sticking of epoxy.
In addition, when working with birch bark, both the blade and its tang will be in a humid environment, which in the case of a carbon steel blade can affect its appearance.
So, the shank is cut to the required length, grooves are applied to it for better retention on the handle.
Also ready for further work is the bolster (lower right) and the butt plate (lower left).
The free space between the butt plate and the bolster will be filled with a birch bark insert. This distance must be measured to calculate required amount birch bark spacers.
Now we proceed to the actual manufacture of the birch bark handle. At the first step, the birch bark is cleaned of the white layer on the front side and the cork layer on the inside.
For this procedure, you can use a metal brush or a sharp knife to scrape off unnecessary layers.
The birch bark is cut into spacer squares in the required quantity.
AT this case the required spacer length was 8 cm with a birch bark thickness of about 2 mm. Total required 80mm: 2mm = 40 squares. Plus 2-3 more pieces in reserve - in case of shrinkage of the birch bark package.
Subsequently, the birch bark was dipped into a bath of water for 10-20 seconds to give elasticity, and holes for the shank were punched in the supplies using a semicircular wood cutter and a sharp knife.
At the end of the process, the package of spacers is assembled on the shank (with bolster and butt plate) and compressed using a simple device (see photo).
In this handle, birch bark spacers were "glued" solely due to moisture, although the design allows the use various adhesives(for example, waterproof PVA).
After a couple of hours of drying on the shank, the package is carefully removed from the future knife and is already separately clamped between parallel and smooth surfaces. It is important not to violate the integrity of the package and the alignment of the holes in the spacers when removing the pressed birch bark from the shank. Periodically it is necessary to tighten the nuts of the pressing device to compensate for shrinkage.
After complete drying, the package is re-tried on the shank and, if necessary, new birch bark spacers are added (be sure to moisten them before adding them to the package).
After drying, the bag is put on the shank together with the bolster and all parts are fixed on the shank with epoxy resin.
The structure is again put under pressure, this time until the epoxy polymerizes completely. After that, the handles are roughly contoured with a regular knife. At this stage, the use of a skin or a file is impractical; it is easier to work with a knife on soft birch bark. However, it is better to use something higher-speed, the processing quality will still be better.
At the final stage, the handle is treated with sandpaper and (if desired) the blade is etched in Sprite (this is not an advertisement !!!).
Before etching, the scale is removed from the blade with a fine sandpaper and the blade itself is degreased with acetone. After spending a night in an acidic environment, a beautiful gray coating is guaranteed. Important: you must get rid of the gas bubbles in the drink, otherwise you can get a stained coating where the bubbles settle. You can shake the bottle for a long time, or you can just heat the drink to wait for the bubbles to come out.
Birch knife handle
I'm going to cut the washers to size, glue them together with epoxy, drill them - and then mount large fragments directly on the shank. Actually, what is the question - how to process the mounted handle? Won't the leather get torn apart by a file?
Each of us sooner or later has a knife without a handle. You can throw it away, or arrange a budget lesson for yourself for several weekends and weekday evenings ... and that's what can happen!
Once I was presented with a decorative knife made by Chinese craftsmen. This ugliness did not last long, but instead of an urn, I decided to make a simple carving knife and sent the remaining blade to torture: I sharpened it, hardened it, let it go, polished it, drilled holes for fasteners ... the story is not about the blade, so "let's move on."
At the dacha, pieces of a sawn pear (or an apple tree - I don’t remember already) were selected, a fallen birch was peeled off in the nearest forest ...
The pieces of wood were boiled according to the recipes of the masters in a salt solution with coniferous sawdust and willow branches and then dried. These recipes can be easily found on the Internet, so I will not dwell on the details.
The first step was carved bolster. The answer is drilled into it conventional drill for metal in the size of the shank, taking into account that it does not slip, does not turn and is put on tightly. A little epoxy for strength and voila!
It was decided to glue the birch bark immediately on the shank - so that it sits tightly.
The outer edge was cut with scissors, the inner edge with the nose of a knife. The birch bark lay for several months in a dry room, but remained elastic, so to speak, so I did not subject it to any additional processing.
A few tips:
1) do not try to make the outer edge of the birch bark blanks as close as possible to the shape of the handle - when grinding, then everything will go away without problems, but you will not miss the size;
2) it is important to place birch bark blanks in different sides fibers so that the handle holds the load in all directions;
3) the more accurately cut inner hole, the better - over time it will not give backlash and will not scroll.
On the hastily a simple clamp was built from improvised materials (the budget for consumables is ridiculous), the blade is wrapped with masking tape to avoid contamination (sticky side outward so that the glue does not remain on the blade.
Birch bark blanks can be soaked for half an hour in hot water and just send it under the press, but I decided not to wet it, but missed everything with waterproof PVA (when turning PVA with birch bark they give such a charming smell!) And sent it to the clamp.
A butt hole was also made in the butt blank. Roughly, the workpiece was planted on epoxy, after which the formation of the handle began. The process is simple: we take a drill (it is important that the speed can be set relatively low), a rubber nozzle with Velcro, emery wheels of different grain sizes and do what was intended!
The buttstock sat very firmly, but since the holes had already been drilled, I had to rivet copper wire as planned in advance (he took a hammer and hammered it - the edges flattened themselves, and removed the protruding one with emery).
The last stage is polishing with felt.
Birch bark is a durable material, but it is desirable to process the tree with something additional. It is better to do this in advance, but I did not know this.
In different forums, I describe the process of waxing a handle with birch bark in different ways - do not trust anyone: the birch bark darkens from the wax (the photo shows a small spot near the back), and if you wrap it with tape, then when unwinding, you can damage the birch bark adhering to it.
I decided to act in the most simple and budgetary way ( linseed oil dries / polarizes for a long time, you need to look for teak oil or special impregnations, and they are probably not cheap) - I bought a piece of wax from beekeepers on the market, put it in a jar, melted it in a water bath and kept it, heating the workpiece in it, until it stops air out, then polished (directly with wax residue) with a soft cloth.
Now you can remove the tape from the blade and sharpen.
On each fruit tree there is a place where a gardener annually cuts a worthless shoot, as a result of which a bump-growth forms on a branch / trunk. This outgrowth is called suvel - an ideal piece of wood for needlework, because in the context it gives an amazing pattern.
I got a bolster in wavy fibers, and the back cover is all in circles of knots. There was one large and black knot on the blank of the butt in the center, but I decided to leave it, and he, an infection, went to the side when grinding ...
I photographed with a file, so the quality of polishing and the drawing of wood is unlikely to be appreciated ...
Because of the shape of the knife and personal beliefs, I decided to make the scabbard not mounted, and besides, with a holster-type plow. It took four evenings.
The process is simple: I glued the front part, the back and the edge into the center and under the press with waterproof PVA from three layers of birch bark.
Usually birch bark sheaths are made with the "wrong side" out, but my birch bark was very beautiful, so I didn’t turn it over - I went through a thin layer of PVA for safety and that’s it.
From a piece plastic corner, left during the installation of windows, made a blank according to the size of the blade, inserted it between the blanks and glued them together. After drying, I smoothed and sanded the edges. 
The last day - I drilled holes and stitched with a blunt needle in advance.
Important: do not drill "for beer" - it can turn out as crooked as mine.
Tip: the ends of the threads are easy to hide inside if you wrap one around the other, and then stick it into the hole from which it (the first tail of the thread) came out and tighten. Then cut off on both sides and that's it (although you can still drop glue into the hole).
Since almost everything was made from what was in the garage (I bought only a nut and wax), the budget for the craft came out ridiculous.
And most importantly: if you decide to make a knife yourself, be sure to read the legislation on this topic!
Do not judge strictly - this is my first knife and sheath. ;-)
