Work In Progress

[Michael J. Spangler]

hey guys.

i just finished up a batch of knives for a group buy on a local shooting forum. i did a little work in progress thread, and though some of the guys here might appreciate it.

here she is

blanks
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/DE66A2D1-4326-4210-8EB0-38441F86D0CE-28325-000026B4921D74CA.jpg

grinding
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/5259BB59-A529-4B33-A8B8-6DADF83C3E3F-28325-000026B4B0DE4C18.jpg

god my hands are killing me!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/D5DB32FB-4A61-47BA-85FC-535C2CD5153E-28325-000026B4AB1F16F6.jpg

time for some heat
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/4842DBBA-1E1D-4735-894C-0FBAB7A4F0DC-28325-000026B498621AF5.jpg

fresh out of the protective stainless steel foil
hard as glass
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/5EA81A2F-ACBB-4DD5-B4CA-552E9826E455-28325-000026B49EE7E9F0.jpg

in to the cryo, something like 200 degrees below zero F
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/4DD926D0-CDCB-424F-8209-D5B57C55E360-28325-000026B4EA83C912.jpg

fresh out of the cryo warming up to room temp. i have a fan blowing on them, it's taking any little bit of moisture in the air and making little snow drifts on the cold blades. sweet
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/05861F1E-DE2F-4941-ADFF-94813C1C988D-28325-000026B4A42BC0B2.jpg

now in the oven, tempering for 2 hours, quick quench and back in for 2 more hours
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/D0FEF1F8-5E99-418B-A14C-3818C1E58B4B-28325-000026B48A39A67C.jpg

here are the main bevels at about 320 grit.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/C31962DF-71EA-4BA4-89A0-58B5FA25CF9F-4623-0000013F0F1D3EF8_zpsfc78cd83.jpg

[Michael J. Spangler]

relief grinds at about 120 or so, they still need a little cleaning up to smooth out the grinds. these back grinds are a biatch. i you really need to fluff them in, and grind a bit oversized from what the wheel normally wants to grind, so it's tough to get a nice finish due to not having full contact with the abrasives at all times.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/DCF13292-1651-43F3-BD79-245D50D874EE-4623-0000013F07E3FC2C_zps58e5a3a6.jpg

Ok so here are the handle blanks. Mostly. They were milled almost all the way through with a little .060" layer left to keep parts together for the process. I'm lucky to have such good friends with such nice toys to help speed things up.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/84442212-9E5D-4DC6-B961-0ECB9A0B356B-62796-000011D5C036EEB2.jpg

this came in the mail a few days ago. this is what was left of the piece of steel when the waterjet guy is done
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/2ECFFD08-3556-4102-92D7-141472542468-71359-000014475ED757B8.jpg

all the main bevels are ground, they need a little touch up and thats about it. the flats are all about 2 minutes away from being done on each blade. i need to go back to the relief grind now and clean those up before i finish the flats to the final grit. not a ton of work left on these.
getting there
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/5B4FA97A-C35B-4527-930C-B6CCAC286815-71359-00001447718DC199.jpg

i spent a while cutting out the handles from the sheet and reaming the holes for the handle pins. lots of dust. last thing i did tonight was start on matching up the handle slabs and roughing up the back side to help the glue grab on. once thats done i can pin them together to clean up the front of the handles and they'll be ready to glue and pin on
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/1D74DA5E-3693-46FF-B6B0-C4249D39DAA0-71359-0000144768A79783.jpg

its' really coming along fast now. another day of work prepping and i'll be ready to glue them all up. the sheath work comes after that. then all thats left will be etching my signature and putting an edge on these suckers. can't wait!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/7D299118-8CD9-45A7-A811-A12FE0D67841-28078-0000249028575B81.jpg

Ok so the handles are pretty much done. Now a little clean up in the spine and its time to etch my makers mark.

Next is sheath work. I really like the green with the liners. Nice choice. Liners add a nice touch.

p.s the one in the middle with green started out textured then I remembered I needed one smooth so it's at the halfway point between textured and smooth.

here they are all finished up.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/8DA90292-6C2C-437E-A5B8-9C3D34DA1AB1-546-000000165DE553EB.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/2A4DF5D3-6740-4DB3-AF5A-58DFB6F2EADD-546-0000001662F20E58.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/AEA08A54-5104-410B-AD17-BE9A4AFE7F44-546-00000016671F5BA2.jpg

spanglercustomknives.com
you can check out some more details on my website about what the sheaths are like, and details about the unique grinds done on these knives.

thanks for looking hope you enjoyed

[shooter93]

No price list at your site?

[M-Tecs]

Very nice work. What steel did you use?

[Michael J. Spangler]

sorry guys i keep meaning to put prices for similar pieces on the web site.
these run $300

they were made out of CPM154
http://www.crucible.com/PDFs/DataSheets2010/Datasheet%20CPM%20154%20CMv12010.pdf

really nice stuff.

i used the waterjet service and the CNC for the handle profiles to get some of the grunt work out of the way. this helped speed it up and cut down on some costs for the buyers. believe it or not its cheaper for me to pay for the mill and waterjet work than it is for me to waste bandsaw blades, and abrasives to shape them myself.

i had a ton of fun with this batch, delivered the first one last nice to a good friend who has 6 or so of my knives and from the looks if it, this was his favorite so far.