Well the big day finally arrived……..
In the FC for 3 - 10 min baths and 2k grit polish after each…….
Just wayyyy happppyyyy!!!!
Since this is a presentation type knife I wanted the darks to really pop……so after the FC baths and final polish it when in a vat of really really strong instant coffee for an hour….. then a final 2k detail touch up polish…..
After that it got a WD40 spray and then it rested for 3 days to have the oxides set in…….then wiped down, wrapped in plastic wrap and e-tape to protect the results….. nothing but smiles but more on that later…..
got the handle drilled and test fit with the guard…..
As a “hack” to getting the 3.5 inch deep hole “reamed” out to an oval I use a chainsaw file that has been sheared off and I sharpen the end into a blade and then in the drill press to “mill” the oval hole in…..works pretty dang sweet….I also grind up a sheet rock saw to make a mini broach to cut inside the slot….for touch up…
Next up was to set the guard with some j-b weld….after tapping the guard on and getting it set it gets put under a spring to keep it tight till the jb is set…..
Closeup of the guard fit up…..
The face of the guard was flat sanded to 2k and then buffed to a mirror…..this helps keep any jb from sticking to the face…..I am also going to finish the guard to a mirror……..ok now on a 24 hour jb cure wait…… more to come, and it shouldn’t be too much more, hoping to finish it up in the next two weeks so lots of exciting steps to come!