Lucas Duncan

Looks amazing! Nice work.

I originally wanted a larger vise, but the cost of steel was a problem. I could have gone larger, but the place I was ordering the pipe from started charging a LOT more for the larger diameter stuff. I kinda wish I was friends with a plumber who could give me some scrap material to work with This will work with up to a 2.050" knife, which will handle the types of knives I currently make. If (rather, when) it becomes a problem I may end up building another one that has a larger opening. Yeah, the springs are great. When opening the jaws I just twist the adjustment knobs and they get pulled up automatically. No fiddling around with manually lifting them up to shove the knife in. I stole borrowed the idea off of someone who posted a similar design I found on Reddit.

Yeah, doing anything with knives runs that risk if you aren't careful. I haven't cut myself while making knives yet, but I imagine it is only a matter of time. After having used this a bit more, I have started clamping it so that the edge is just barely hanging over the edge with the knife tip placed at the end of the support platform. It would still probably cut you if you ran your finger along the edge of a sharp knife though. Because of that I also don't sharpen the knife until after any hand sanding has been finished and I have the handle fully assembled. When hand sanding the knife I posted a day or so ago I sanded enough that it started to get sharp, so I actually ground the edge down on my grinder just a bit to blunt the edge.

The tilting feature is pretty awesome to have, especially for hand sanding the blade. I have it placed at about 20ish degrees which makes the ergonomics work out fairly well. For handle work, the tilting feature isn't 100% needed, but it is still nice when working on the butt of the knife or putting it vertically for various tasks.

My first attempt at a sabre grind was TERRIBLE so I had to try it again. My first knife was more of a prison shiv so it won't ever be posted here, or anywhere I am somewhat pleased with how this turned out though. 1084 steel with brass pins and layered G10 for handle material. To get the stripes to show up on the knife I ground the layered G10 down at 1.5 degrees like I was putting a bevel on it. Then I made the other side parallel. The end effect was that the layers are no longer parallel to the knife and it kinda brings some to the surface like you would see after an earthquake pushes up layers of sedimentary rock. After all was said and done, the flats on either side of the handle are flat and parallel to each other. Thanks.

Hello all, this is my first post here, so you will have to forgive me if I mess something up in the formatting or story telling. Finished vise: Vice can be rotated 360 degrees and locked into place. It can also tilt to whatever angle you like, including vertically. One side is flush with the jaws so you can work on handles. Flip it around and you can and sand your blades easily. I have been clamping the blade directly to the platform with it tiled downwards at about 30 degrees. I found that having the tip near the bottom and the blade just barely overhanging the edge works best. Side view of the assembled center section. Note the springs that pull the top jaw upwards whenever you loosen the knobs. The top and bottom jaws have threaded holes in them. The bottom jaw is held firmly in place and the top jaw floats up and down. The tab on the bottom is to help keep it from sliding out. It rides against the edge of the support bracket most of the time. Front view looking at the handle sanding end with the jaws opened up. "Exploded" view of the base showing the construction of it. It is attached to my bench with some furniture screws that accept a 1/4-20 bolt, some of which are shown below everything. "Exploded" view of the center barrel with the parts laid out in their rough positions. The top of the support is cut out so you can slide the center barrel in and out to swap sides. I have found this to be super useful. I hope you all like it.