Maybe I got one more knife left in me?

[rcmodel]

Then, this is the photo of the pattern.




* Which I can shrink up in Publisher to fit the handle.

* Then, you print it in reverse on plain paper using T-Shirt Transfer printer setting.
* Cover the handle with thin Elmer's Glue.
* Stick the pattern to it.
* Let it dry.
* Then wet the paper and rub & peel off the paper down to the image on the handle.

Testing on a old piece of Formica counter top to simulate the Micarta:





I'll Bee Doing Some Fancy Scratch'n now!!

rc

 

[Valkman]

Good for you RC!

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Just got home and getting caught up. Glad to read that things are getting along better rc. Keep up the good work Sir.

 

[rcmodel]

Progress Report.
Still not much.

I'm still hung up on transferring Scrimshaw patterns to handle in a usable media.

* Best method I have come up with so far is print the pattern on glossy photo paper.
* Cut it out and glue it to the micarta.
* Then wet the back and peel & rub all the paper backing off you can get off until you can see the pattern.

(There has to be a better way!!??)
Cause this isnt working!
The photo film image it too thick & tough to scratch through!!

So, this was a test tonight on Formica counter top material.

Top of photo is pattern glued on:
Bottom is actual practice scrim I did tonight:
(Scratched & filled with Acrylic paint)

Gotta be way better then that on the knife handle!!!



Here is the first & last time I did Scrimshaw in 1983 when I could still see real Good!
(I am pretty sure I just drew the pattern on with a 0.5mm lead pencil.)



But that was then, and this is now!

rc

 

[rcmodel]

Might have just figured it out!!

Using a laser printed target I had.

I cut out two images, taped them to the Formica.

And ironed them on!!!

(Won't work with my ink jet printer!)

IT WORKED pretty good for a rush test job!!

So, I'll take my patterns to Kinko's and make Laser photo copies out of them!!

Then iron them on the knife handle!!



rc

 

[Henry45]

Sweet knife RC! My dad made a few in his day. I always loved sitting on that stool and watching him work on the lathe and mill as a kid. I learned alot from his ''tutoring'' while he worked. I'm still learning from him, he's 94 yrs old, and comes over and ''tinkers'' with me in the reloading room/shop. Thanks for keeping us up on your project. It sure brings back great memories..

 

[JonB]

Impressive work RC! Not only are you a walking encyclopedia of reloading knowledge, but a skilled knife maker as well. Excellent work!!

 

[rcmodel]

Progress today:

Still working on some good way to transfer Scrimshaw patterns to the handle'
Took patterns to a photo-copy place today and got three sheets of patterns printed by color laser printer.
We will see how that goes tomorrow.


I got the blade back from the trophy shop after they Laser Engraved it.

Cost me $38.50 + Tax, $40.85,, which is more than I had in the whole knife before.

But I think it was worth it!
Came out pretty good I thought!





rc

 

[Valkman]

Wow that engraving is nice! You could've used stencils but you would've had to order them, a bunch too, and wait for them and then have a bunch left over you didn't need. It cost a lot this way but really came out nice.

 

[rcmodel]

Laser printed paper patterns, taped down and Ironed On.




Peeled off, not so good!:
But I Touched them up with a Pentel 0.5 drafting pencil.



Good enough for Gooberment Work, I guess?
If I can scratch them good!!

Eagle's head still looks like a cartoon though!! :banghead:

rc

 

[rcmodel]

Progress report, 10-1-15:

The linen Micarta is defective!
Very porous, as the fibers aren't totally impregnated with epoxy like it should be.


Its kicking my butt trying to scrimshaw it!

Scrimshaw Tools:



Test Eagle head (Lower right corner) on Formica came out decent enough, but not dark enough.

The handle will be scribed deeper.:



rc

 

[rcmodel]

Scrim paper pattern taped on, and lettering cut & Scratched in:



Eagle head cut, and Words Inked:



rc

 

[rcmodel]

Scrim all scratched and inked & Painted:



Cleaned it with fine 0000 steel wool, & Disaster struck!!!

Ink bleeding into the surrounding Micarta linen fiber and Ruined the whole thing!!




All I can do now is sand it all off and start over?
Or, Throw the whole Dang handle away and start over with some decent Ivory Micarta!

I'm very inclined to be leaning that way tonight!! :banghead:

But, I may sand it off, seal it with clear Krylon acrylic, and try it one more time??

rc

 

[srtolly]

From your earlier statement about the quality of the micarta I would be inclined to scrap it and start over. Maybe some horn or something, I happen to like wood but I know that's not the look you want. I don't know much about it though except that I haven't had good luck when I've used micarta.

Whatever you do will look fantastic I'm sure.

 

[Valkman]

I'd sand it and try again - that's too much work to throw away. Hope it works out!

 

[rcmodel]

I probably will sand it One More Time and seal it with krylon clear and try again.

But there is something basically, intreniscly wrong with this Micarta.
It's evil!!

I've probably made 75 or more knife handles using Mircarta over the years, and never seen anything like this porous stuff!

The only other bad batch I got was 20 years ago.

It was made with fiber-glass cloth instead of cotton linen.

And it would take the teeth off a carbide saw blade in one cut!!!

But it wasn't porous like this crappy stuff!

Not sure I want it on this knife??
It will pick up dirt and hand oil and be black instead of white 30 years from now.

rc

 

[hso]

I'd stop trying to scrim it if you know you have a material issue.

I'm not a scrimshaw fan so I'm biased against it for the most part.

 

[rcmodel]

Finally gave up and called it good tonight.

Call it Folk Art, or something kind like that!!

Right side done:





Left side done:



Or maybe not???

The lettering came out WAY too Dark.
Probably sand it off and do it for the forth time. :banghead:

rc

 

[srtolly]

Looks pretty good to my eyes, maybe a little bleeding around the lettering.

 

[rcmodel]

Yep!!

That's been the whole problem from the get go.

This crappy Micarta is very porous, and normal India ink used in scrimshaw bleeds out into the fibers real bad!!!

I did the eagles with acrylic paint, it doesn't bleed, and came out like I wanted.

Think I will sand all the lettering off down past the bleeding and do it again with acrylic paint tomorrow.

rc

 

[srtolly]

Hopefully it didn't bleed down too far.

 

[rcmodel]

No, mostly bleeding out the sides in the top layer of linen.

I took it down last night with a orbital sander, and re-scrimed it.

Looks a little better now.



Maybe glue it up tonight??

rc

 

[srtolly]

Very nice, can't wait for the finished product.

 

[JohnKSa]

Using a laser printed target I had.

I cut out two images, taped them to the Formica.

And ironed them on!!!

I haven't been following this thread closely for a few days. This is exactly what I was going to recommend. The toner powder in a laser printer is actually a plastic powder and it's "fixed" using heat which melts it to the paper. That means it can be re-melted and transferred to another surface.

If you have a pretty good printer, you can sometimes print the pattern repeatedly onto a single piece of paper and then there's more thickness which makes it easier to transfer by ironing.

You can also use this technique for metal etching since the ironed on material is plastic and won't be affected by most metal etching solutions/acids. Just invert the image so that the design is white (no toner) and the background is black.

 

[rcmodel]

Turned out, it worked on my test piece of Formica counter-top.

But it didn't work on the Micarta.

I couldn't get it hot enough to stick without scorching the white Micarta!!

I finally just printed them on Parchment paper and cut right through to pattern.

rc