So thought I would try a knife from a saw blade. Cut out the shape using an angle grinder with cut off wheel. Saw blade is rather hard but noticed a file doesn’t skate off the surface. Drilled the holes with a high speed steel 1/8” punch. Sharpened the punch with a drill tip and managed to drill all 4 pin holes.

Ended up heat treating the blade using my little forge. Cooled in oil and now file skates off the surface!

I bought a trunk full of Mahogany from work last year and using that as the scales. Everything fit well so used some 5 minute epoxy and put it altogether.

May need to adjust blade geometry as I do not have many tools to grind an edge.

Time of course blew by making the knife. Hopefully finish it before week is up.

Thanks for reading.

Pedro G.






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2018 02:49AM by pedrog.

Pedro
Very nice . I've made a few myself ( maybe 5 ) and used files and a leaf spring . It was very enjoyable and really gives an appreciation for Gary's work . I really went the easy way with antler handles.
Thanks for sharing!

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt,

Thanks for the comment. I hear bone stinks when ground, antler would do the same? Making something yourself definitely gives one appreciation for those like Gary who make it look rather easy.

You learn from what you do. YouTube “university” and tv shows only allow for arm chair comments!

Regards,

Pedro

Pedro,

MUCH better than my first attempt. Is that the new forge? Did you do any additional hardening?

Lon

Hi Lon,

Used the little forge I made even with some refractory missing. As much as it was suggested to add on to this one I think a brick forge is in the works.

Blade was heat treated and cooled in oil. Tempered after.

Thanks

Pedro

Nice job Pedro,

I know you are absorbing all the info you can find, so I just add to your research here. Couple tips from ole uncle Gary. You got a file to skate. That’s good. That’s “Hardening”. Normally the next step would be “Tempering”. Depending upon the carbon content of your blade steel, it is probably too hard to resist torsion stress. So; you just don’t stress it. And that’s fine. But your edge might chip. So you just don’t stress it. No problem. You have a fine knife.

If you want to investigate farther, take a 1/2” by 3” Segment if the same steel. Subject it to the same Hardening. Then put it in the vise with 1/2” extended. Use an adjustable wrench to flex the extended steel. It will probably snap clean. Indicating the blade is high carbon like 1080-1095. Now .... “if” it were to bend 15-25 degrees before snapping, that would indicate a medium carbon steel like 1045-1060. It had enough carbon to harden, but not enough to achieve glass hardness.

To temper: sand your sample to bare silver steel. Take the smallest torch tip you have. Adjust to the hottest pin point flame you can. Heat only one edge (on a blade you’d be heating the spine (flat on, on each side). Use the flame to achieve a blue color to the steel, quickly; then move on. “Paint” the blue along the spine. While you are doing that, a gold color will be advancing to the edge side (especially IF the sample crossection were tapered - like a knife blade).

Your target is to have a uniform blue stripe along the spine (indicating you’ve “drawn” that edge to a spring temper), and a uniform straw gold color along the edge (indication a wear resistant tough cutting edge). The heat of your flame, time/balance creating the blue, mass of the blade/sample will determine your result.

When done, take another bite off of your sample bar. It should resist bending much more. The edge may crack first, but the back should resist more.

Lastly: if you test any sample which snaps like a cracker ... and has a large sparkly Crystalline crossection... then it was overheated before quenching. A proper look (to a fully hardened but broken sample) would be a soft grey crossection with no obvious crystals.

Hope some of this is useful.

Good job, my friend
Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2018 03:04PM by barnespneumatic.

Well ole uncle Gary,

I drew back the hardness heating the steel along the spin to the blue you suggested. Should make the steel less brittle. I will test the steel as you suggested in 2 weeks. On holidays next week and travelling.

I did learn a few things: 1) never epoxy the scales onto the blade until blade work is near complete. 2) Perhaps finish scale profile a little closer to final size and grind hard to reach, contour areas before assembly. 3) I lack the equipment at this time! But I can do better on the next knife.

Again, thanks for the tips. Those are good for anyone here!

Pedro