10v Bowie and wasting steel

TLR

TLR

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So I'm doing some knives for a friend in CPM 10v. Unfortunately I could only find it in 12" lengths. Most of the knives are in the 9-10" range. I have a couple of extra pieces that I'm going to make some extras out of and I'm really debating on making a 12" bowie out of one. I have such a hard time throwing away that extra 2" or so of steel on the end.

Am I crazy in thinking about doing a full size bowie in 10v? (I do realize how hard it is to work)

Does anyone eles have a hard time with wanting to use the full bar or do I just have an OCD issue?
 
I'm doing some 10V right now. I talked to Brad and Peters HT and he told me 10V is extremely stable in HT and can be brought down to .010 before HT.

Just do all your grinding pre HT and make sure there are no deep scratches. You shouldn't have to thin out the edge on a big bowie any more before you apply the secondary bevel. So you can pretty much get it back from HT, take off the decarb with vinegar or via tumbling (if you have a tumbler) and then use a couple fresh 320 grit belts to finish.

I haven't had to grind my 10V blades post HT yet but from everyone I've talked to its about like grinding carbide and you will only get 1 or 2 passes out of a belt before it stops cutting.

And don't worry about using the full bar. Waste is a part of any creative process.
 
Completely different note but since you brought it up KalEl. I've tried vinegar on my 3V knives coming back from Peter's but it does absolutely nothing to them in an overnight soak. Am I doing something wrong? I've ended up having to take them back to a lower grit then I really want to get the finish back where I want it.
 
I dont use vinegar much anymore but when I did vinegar soaks I always heated the vinegar. It really ramps up the rate. When i remove decarb I almost always throw the blades in my vibratory tumbler for a while and then do my finishing passes. Tumbling in my experience, creates a really nice surface for final finishing.

Also its dangerous of you arent careful but I use sulfuric acid in the form of drain cleaner for decarb removal on big blades I cant tumble. It will eat off decarb completely in a few minutes, plus it makes for a nice dark patina if you decide to go with that look.
 
KalEl is right that a certain amount of waste is just part and parcel of the stock-removal process. You're "throwing away" roughly half the steel simply by drilling it and grinding the profiles/bevels.

But if it really bothers you, you can always make some fun pendants or key fobs out of your scraps. Popular shapes like crosses, Thor's hammers, arrowheads etc are reasonably easy to make if you're careful and crafty, and you may find people really dig having a piece of simple jewelry made of top-quality cutlery steel. Likewise, many folks make miniature knives if the stock isn't too thick.

Another extremely practical approach is to just grind the cut-offs to the same bevel angle and edge thickness as your knives, HT and sharpen them the same, break one off to examine the grain, and beat the living snot out of them (pound 'em through nails or cinder blocks or whatever sounds like fun) to severely test your edges without damaging a knife.
 
i ll 2nd the get it nearly finished before sending off for HT its a bear to grind post HT even at "soft" hardnesses. i woudl jsut gator belt (a65 ) the blade post HT then etch or park. it to make it grey/black. it will be a bowie that hardly ever needs sharpening
 
I'm doing chisel ground 10v folder blades... will likely grind after heat treat because of those two reasons but I wonder if I could do any removal before ht... it's going to be some serious grind time.

Check out Alpha Knife Supply for other sizes of 10v, they might have what you want.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

KalEl - I hadn't thought about heating the vinegar. I'll give that a try on a blade tonight.

James- that is a great idea to do the punishment tests on the 2" scraps I'll have.

DFK - Based on some pm's I made before I bought the steel I was told consistently not to think about trying to grind post HT. I'd love to hear about your experience when you get done with your folder blades. I did get it from Alpha. I wish they sold steel in 36" lengths because I normally do about 9" knives so I can generally get 4 blades with little waste.

I know I love 3V and I'm excited to see how 10V actually is.
 
Regarding waste. I have a hard time with it too, whether steel, leather or something else (micarta comes to mind). I've gotten better about tossing useless scraps, but still keep larger pieces. With leather, I realized that some of my scraps were perfect for folder sheaths. With steel I've made key chains, and handle materials I've made worry stones, beads and tools.

Especially with something popular/"exotic" like 10v, you should be able to create something that'll turn a profit. People love small key chain tools.

If nothing else, list them to sell once you have a pile. Never know, may be "one man's treasure".
 
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