Granddaughter's present for me

[mla2ofus]

About a week ago my 15 yr old GD approached me about making a Christmas present for me. She needed a leaf spring and I have a broken boat tlr spring, so we got a leaf and straightened w/ her doing the torch work and me playing blacksmith. I then asked what's next and she was reluctant to tell me she needed to draw a design on it to be cut out w/ the torch. I told her that me knowing what the gift was to be didn't really matter just the fact that she put the most effort into it. So to make it short I cut it out and again, w/ her wielding the torch I worked it down to a bevel edge on my 5" long 5" shafting I use for things like this. Now the work fell on her to start w/ a regular disc on the grinder, then a flap disc, then the belt sander, the orbital sander and finally my big Milwaukee polisher w/ wool pad and rubbing compound. Overall she has spent a majority of time on this w/ grandpa watching for dangerous situations developing such as putting goriila tape on the edge during the buffing process as it had to free handed.
The handle pieces were quite a challenge as we tried two different types of glue and they didn't bond well during the sanding process. I heated the two areas for the rivet holes to near melting and let them air cool slowly. Got one drilled easily however the 2nd went a bout 1/4 of the way thru and no matter how many times I sharpened the bit refused to go further. I finally heated it red hot, ran to the drill press and drilled right thru the red hot iron. I now own a 1/8" bit w/ a beautiful blue tip, LOL!!
Indexed the holes on each half and drilled them. Cleaned flux off some brass rod to use for rivets and using my baby ball peen got them installed. Turned out pretty nice for couple of people who've never made a knife before. When she gets home from school, we'll run it thru the Work Sharp and see what kind of edge it will take. By the way, the Work Sharp is an excellent tool to free hand sharpen small bits.
You can bet your a$$ when I'm gone I will have seen to it who gets this!! Tho I have good rapport w/ her this was truly a bonding moment for both of us. She still wants to learn all about welding but I leave it to her when 'cause I don't want her too feel it's a have-to-learn thing.
MikeAttachment 1281271Attachment 1281281

[aevald]

Now that's AWESOME! Nothing better than the bond between a granddaughter and her grandpa. Well, that is, until you have a great granddaughter maybe. Best regards, Allan

[roadkillbobb]

WOW.....thats great,,I cant get my %*&#@& kids from behind the stupid video games to do much of anything,,the ex is no help in that area...your a lucky guy!!! and to boot granddaughter....

[ThorsHammer]

Awesome!

[Tim9]

Very cool....all the way around.

[jriltex]

Something to be very very proud of. Please pass along to her our respect and appreciation for her actions. You got a good one there!

[Equilibrium]

Ohhh.... the handle is incredibly attractive and the blade.... breathtakingly beautiful!!!
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Lucky her that she has a grandparent like you and lucky you for having a grandchild like that.

[BD1]

TOTALLY COOL !!! Teaching and passing on your knowledge is a rewarding experience , I know. Doing it with your granddaughter is PRICELESS !!! The though of her wanting to do it for you is overwhelming. Thanks for sharing .

[cwh]

Awesome. Congrats to both of you on a job well done.

Pretty good sign there that you've done something right in your life.

[mla2ofus]

Equilibrium, The handle is from, of all places, a pallet a friend at the local lumber yard spotted and cut it out of it. It's a real tight grained maple. Thanks to everyone, I'll have her read all the posts.
Mike

[weldermike]

Way cool!

[Equilibrium]

Makes no difference where the wood for her handle came from.... that grain is awesome and really compliments the blade. Really says something when a 15 year old creates eye candy like that that's also functional. Bet it feels nice in your hand too. It looks like it's perfectly weighted.

[mla2ofus]

Only use I plan for it is gutting out deer or elk. It will have a keen edge and will be oiled well for 11 mos of the year.
Mike

[DSW]

Good for her!

[7A749]

Very cool!

[steelsurgeon]

She's not a gang member, right??

All kidding aside...that came out great! She may have a new addiction!

Rich

[zapster]

Impressive....


...zap!

[baldy347]

Thanks for sharing this, not much I would not give to have one of my grandchildren do this for me. I think your Granddaughter is a real treasure!

[ironmangq]

That's Awesome! I remember doing cool projects with my grandpa when I was younger.

[mla2ofus]

Thanks again!! I had her read the thread and all the posts yesterday and I think it really helped her self esteem, tho she's never had any more problem w/ that than any other 15 yr old teen. We ran it thru the Worksharp yesterday and it cut paper like a straight razor. Now I need to find a local who does leather work to make a belt sheath for it.
Mike

[leightrepairs]

That is really awesome..and the knife looks great too.

Mike

[mla2ofus]

A little update. Friend of a friend made this sheath for me and I really like it! Has a belt loop and is built tough. I can't see it but he said he put an extra piece of leather inside so the edge can't touch the stitching.
Mike

Attachment 1300051

[mikecwik]

That is awesome. I tend to find Christmas the worst day of my year personally. Its eve being the best.

So many things given that nobody cares about, needs or even wants but that is a nice present.

[7A749]

That's so special Mike. My grandpa was gone three years before I was born. It's great you could help her with this.

It turned out awesome, and the sheath looks good too.