Buck Duke 500 Fern Knife 1 of 2

[MakkyBrown]

This is the first of two of these Buck Duke 500 knives I am making. Fern matches nicely with the stainless/nickel bolsters. These are quite a large knife and just a bit smaller than the Buck 110's I have been making. Pity I can't buy these anymore as they are a really nice knife. Was fairly hot down here in Tas today so I spent part of it on the far cooler lower floor/garage finishing this knife. 

[Jamo]

An awesome result Makky. You should be proud of your work 

[MakkyBrown]

Thanks mate, I should upload some pic of the last Buck 110 I have recently finished. Probably the best one so far and the last for now.  Macro pics of the side scales are cool as lots of the fern eyes have little agates in them.
MB

[Faceting Frank]

Another great job done. How do you get the fern so level with the metal part? Do you sand/polish it in place.

[MakkyBrown]

Yes, Frank I sand them to fit(just touch) and take a very small amount of metal off aswell. It is time consuming and hard on your cabbing machine. I first lap one side perfectly flat then cut in the end angles so they fit nicely. Then glue and on to lots of grinding.
CheersMB

[MakkyBrown]

I should add. Anyone reading this don't try this unless you are confident is your cabbing skills as the metal is a lot softer than the stone. It is possible to get a seamless join without over or undercutting. Somewhere I have some knife making instructions I put together years ago I will try and find it an add it to the download section. Might give it an update to cover my current approach.

MB