Alchemist Bone Knife.
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I wanted to make a unique antique/primitive style knife with sort of a mysterious theme about it. I had a piece of bone to work with & a piece of white oak from a long gone tree that grew on the mountain above my childhood home. I really didn't know how it was going to turn out exactly but I knew basically what I wanted so I got to work. My comfort zone is making stuff out of cardboard, painting, etc... so this was new materials I worked with. I learned that bone is nasty to work with so having the proper safety such as dust mask, cutting cabinets to further avoid breathing in the hazardous bone dust, & as with working with anything safety glasses. I also learned that with wood, especially an old piece, you really have to make several cuts to get a workable piece because it subject to break when cutting since there are weak spots inside so it takes a lot of work to get a workable block the size you need.
Tools Used & Diagram of Parts & How I Put It Together.
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Remember if you are going to cut bone you want to avoid breathing bone dust because it lines your lungs and will not ever come out. Not only did I wear a high grade dust mask but I also made a cabinet out of a cardboard box and lots of tape and cut a window in it taping in a piece of plastic and I cut arm holes & taped shirt sleeves around the holes. Here's everything else I needed.
Safety glasses
gloves
dremel rotary tool with sanding wheels, fiberglass cutoff wheels, rotary cutting bits.
knife
flexible super glue
1/2" wooden dowel 6" long
bone slab
80, 100, 150, & 400 grit sandpaper
pencil
drill press & various bits
files both flat and round
Miramax prestain, wood stain, polyurathane, and spray clear coat
gel pens for alchemy symbols I drew on the blade
blocks of wood
towels & cloths
pliers
Cutting Out the Bone Inlays & Gluing Them in Place.
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One of the hardest things was cutting out the bone inlays to place in handle and sheath. Once I got the inlays cut out of the bone using the dremel & various attachments I had to use 2 different sizes of rotary cutting bits to cut the recesses in the wood to accommodate the bone inlays. This required many trail fittings & going back and take a little more out until they eventually fit flush with the wood. I then used a generous amount of flexible super glue to hold them in place with it actually oozing out around the edges of the inlays & used a cloth to wipe off excess. I then sanded over top of them before the glue was dried to make the edges blend in nice & flush.
Finishing Touches
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With inlays in & the sanding done I was ready to stain. I used miramax prestain, stain, and polyurathane. I drew the ancient alchemist symbols around the blade using gel pens. Gel pens gel smudges off very easily so I spray 4 coats of clear coat over the symbols to keep them protected because sliding the sheath on friction holds it in place & the symbols would never remain without being well protected. I really didn't have the alchemist idea until I had the knife finished & since the bone inlays I made and overall ancient look of the knife seemed to have a alchemy feel about it & I wanted some sort of drawings on the blade I had the idea to just go the alchemy route. I really had no idea that would happen but I'm very happy with how it turned out. It should long outlive me & I actually wrote my name and date inside various parts of the knife before assembling it because who knows where it might end up one of these days.