9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
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9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Here is a 9" dagger I had the pleasure of assembling this last weekend. this is a group of parts someone had put together and sold as a kit on SharperDeals. The blade is stamped Frank B. I have built several Mikovs and Leverletto kits but this is my first Italian Stiletto kit knife. I thought it would be helpful for folks who are new to Italian blades to see some photos of how the stiletto knife is put together. I don't have enough experience to lay out a whole tutorial, sorry...
Anyway, here are all the parts that comprise an Italian stiletto switchblade. right now it is unassembled but it is about 90% finished. when making a knife you need to test fit all parts and assemble the knife, detect any flaws then do some tweaking before final assembly to insure the knife will function properly.
And I have already peened the scales to the brass liners. Before I took this picture I cut, test fit, sanded, and oiled the walnut handle material typically called 'scales'.
This shot shows the backspring installed.
Just showing the back rear bolster.
Next the blade:
Now the button side liner.
This shot shows the front swivel bolster is not yet attached. Pushing down on this part when the knife is open lets you disengage the blade from the spring's locking tab so that you can close the knife. and at this point I would like to thank RICK, top blade seller on SharperDeals for giving me a spare set of front bolsters. I f-ed up the originals by drilling the pin holes off center so Rick helped me out and gave me a replacement set. But I'm a regular RICK customer so don't be surprised if he doesnt have any for you when you ask!
Now the knife is assembled. The spring pin and rear bolster pins stick out because I want to do function testing. If I find any flaws then I can take the knife apart and make necessary adjustments. You can see the safety is missing and that is because that part did not come with the kit. I tried making one but I did not have the same quality steel to replicate another.
here is the finished knife. I finished the walnut by sanding up to 1000 grit and sealing with 2 coats of Danish oil then a few coats of furniture paste wax, and some buffing. I really love this grain.
This closeup shows the rear bolsters. I would say these are reject parts because you can see the half oval gap where the bolster contacts the liner. but I don't care because I built it. Also with the backspring I needed to smooth off the edge here because the when die press stamps out this part it leaves this edge with a rough looking edge. now it is all smooth and shiny!
I used the Frank B knives in my collection as a guide during this build so it was easy to spot my flaws when compared to Italian quality.
Anyway, here are all the parts that comprise an Italian stiletto switchblade. right now it is unassembled but it is about 90% finished. when making a knife you need to test fit all parts and assemble the knife, detect any flaws then do some tweaking before final assembly to insure the knife will function properly.
And I have already peened the scales to the brass liners. Before I took this picture I cut, test fit, sanded, and oiled the walnut handle material typically called 'scales'.
This shot shows the backspring installed.
Just showing the back rear bolster.
Next the blade:
Now the button side liner.
This shot shows the front swivel bolster is not yet attached. Pushing down on this part when the knife is open lets you disengage the blade from the spring's locking tab so that you can close the knife. and at this point I would like to thank RICK, top blade seller on SharperDeals for giving me a spare set of front bolsters. I f-ed up the originals by drilling the pin holes off center so Rick helped me out and gave me a replacement set. But I'm a regular RICK customer so don't be surprised if he doesnt have any for you when you ask!
Now the knife is assembled. The spring pin and rear bolster pins stick out because I want to do function testing. If I find any flaws then I can take the knife apart and make necessary adjustments. You can see the safety is missing and that is because that part did not come with the kit. I tried making one but I did not have the same quality steel to replicate another.
here is the finished knife. I finished the walnut by sanding up to 1000 grit and sealing with 2 coats of Danish oil then a few coats of furniture paste wax, and some buffing. I really love this grain.
This closeup shows the rear bolsters. I would say these are reject parts because you can see the half oval gap where the bolster contacts the liner. but I don't care because I built it. Also with the backspring I needed to smooth off the edge here because the when die press stamps out this part it leaves this edge with a rough looking edge. now it is all smooth and shiny!
I used the Frank B knives in my collection as a guide during this build so it was easy to spot my flaws when compared to Italian quality.
Last edited by big_ski on Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:41 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Nice. Cool pictures, cool post
Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
nice job
tryker
tryker
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Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Great job on the pics and your finished knife!
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Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Looks good, I think the slot for the safety would likely weaken the scale anyway. Nice shots, very informative!
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Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Nice job on the knife, walnut is one of my favorite woods for scales and gun stocks. The visual tutorial is very impressive. Greg
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Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
purty cool for a rookie lol. i wish i had the time and space to do some mangling. i think it would be a very good stress reliever. great job on your first italian
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Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Nice job! Always enjoy a look inside a knife.
Tom
Tom
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Re: 9" Walnut Dagger stiletto kit knife
Thank you gentlemen!
This was good experience. I went past the point of no return a couple times and had to start over.
"Nice job on the knife, walnut is one of my favorite woods for scales and gun stocks. "
Yep, me too. I'll try a little checkering next time.
This was good experience. I went past the point of no return a couple times and had to start over.
"Nice job on the knife, walnut is one of my favorite woods for scales and gun stocks. "
Yep, me too. I'll try a little checkering next time.