1st set of knives off for HT - wife took some pics

[knifemaking01]

haha fair enough, i see your point and i like it, and out of that keep the best 2 or 3, and gift of the others then make some more....top stuff dude we are all learning

 

[Shannon Carter]

Okay, I spoke with Brad@Peters' this morning and he said that I should have the blades back by tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing them. Since this is my first set, I have a couple of questions:

1.) I left the blade edge between .030 and .040 thick when they were shipped out for HT. I'd like to put a satin finish on the primary bevel. My plan at this point is to run over the blades with a 120 grit belt, then I have a few different Trizacts available - A65, A45 and an A30. Any recommendations on using those or should I get something else on order? I will probably leave the flats with the oil quenched finish.

2.) The expected use for these knives will be outdoor/woods. Should I try to take the final edge down a little smaller than .030-.040 before a final sharpened edge?

As always, I appreciate the advice! I'll keep the pictures going in this thread.

--Shannon

 

[J. Oeser]

Looking good Shannon, you aren't messing around!

I usually hit my blades with a 60 grit ceramic after HT to get the edge thickness down, then I hit it quick with a 120 then straight to an A45 gator and I'm done. I take all of my knives down to .015 at the edge before sharpening. My smaller knives and pocket knives are almost down to a zero edge before I put a very small micro bevel on them. It's all about the geometry and you do not want a fat edge. Even on my bigger knives the edge itself is taken down very thin.

Okay, I spoke with Brad@Peters' this morning and he said that I should have the blades back by tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to seeing them. Since this is my first set, I have a couple of questions:

1.) I left the blade edge between .030 and .040 thick when they were shipped out for HT. I'd like to put a satin finish on the primary bevel. My plan at this point is to run over the blades with a 120 grit belt, then I have a few different Trizacts available - A65, A45 and an A30. Any recommendations on using those or should I get something else on order? I will probably leave the flats with the oil quenched finish.

2.) The expected use for these knives will be outdoor/woods. Should I try to take the final edge down a little smaller than .030-.040 before a final sharpened edge?

As always, I appreciate the advice! I'll keep the pictures going in this thread.

--Shannon

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

I like what I see! Good stuff here...

I feel batches are a great way way to start off making top notch knives. By the time you grind the last one if you are like me you will cycle the first few through again to make them even better!

 

[Shannon Carter]

Looking good Shannon, you aren't messing around!

I usually hit my blades with a 60 grit ceramic after HT to get the edge thickness down, then I hit it quick with a 120 then straight to an A45 gator and I'm done. I take all of my knives down to .015 at the edge before sharpening. My smaller knives and pocket knives are almost down to a zero edge before I put a very small micro bevel on them. It's all about the geometry and you do not want a fat edge. Even on my bigger knives the edge itself is taken down very thin.

Jared, thanks for the reply. I'm anxious to see what I'm up against post heat-treat. I'll give this a shot, sounds like I've got the necessary belts to get the finish I'm looking for. At .015, would I be able to take the edge to a set of stones for sharpening or would I need to set the micro bevel on the grinder? Again, I can't say thanks enough.

--Shannon

 

[Shannon Carter]

I like what I see! Good stuff here...

I feel batches are a great way way to start off making top notch knives. By the time you grind the last one if you are like me you will cycle the first few through again to make them even better!

Daniel,

Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback! I wasn't sure how to approach it, but a batch seemed to make sense to me. You're absolutely right, I cycled through the whole batch again attempting to reproduce some of the steps I thought I had figured out.

--Shannon

 

[wolffbite]

That is a VERY impressive first batch. Your grinds are very clean and consistent!

Looking forward to seeing how they finish up :thumbup:

 

[Shannon Carter]

That is a VERY impressive first batch. Your grinds are very clean and consistent!

Looking forward to seeing how they finish up :thumbup:

Jonathan, thanks for the kind words! I'm still very much a lost ball in high weeds, and suspect I will be for quite some time, but I'm having a blast. I've had several hobbies over the years, but there is something really neat about this one.

 

[GabD]

nice blades =)

 

[Shannon Carter]

nice blades =)

Thanks!

 

[Shannon Carter]

Thought I would throw some updated pics up tonight, so this may end up being a partial WIP. I have taken the top and bottom of the tang all the way to an A45 gator. Obviously, I'm going to have to grind the scales down to the edge of the knife, so should I have just skipped cleaning up the edge of the knife up before attaching the scales?

 

[JGguns]

Looking good man. Denately turn this into a WIP. Is the handle micarta slabs and pins?

 

[SBuzek]

I don't clean up the edge until after scales are attached,that way you get a good clean square juction between the blade and handles.If you do it before you tend to round off the edges of the blade and have to grind off more to get the look you want.
Stan

 

[Shannon Carter]

Looking good man. Denately turn this into a WIP. Is the handle micarta slabs and pins?

Thanks, the handle material is 3/8" black canvas Micarta with .030" black and white G10 liners. Also, the pins are carbon fiber. Both 1/4" and 1/8". I found them online at a place called Dragonplate out of New York.

 

[Shannon Carter]

I don't clean up the edge until after scales are attached,that way you get a good clean square juction between the blade and handles.If you do it before you tend to round off the edges of the blade and have to grind off more to get the look you want.
Stan

Stan, thanks! That makes complete sense to me. I had to completely go over the knife again.

 

[Shannon Carter]

Well, I started working on the handles last night.... that was fun ;-) Here are some updated pics. I intended to take a few pictures along the way (and I will on the next few) but once I got started, I couldn't quit long enough to pick up my phone. Anyway, so here is my first knife:

Also, any suggestions on how I can keep these little gaps around the pins from showing up? I suspect my problem is that I didn't coat the pin with the epoxy good enough... I just placed them in the holes. Here are the examples:

 

[L6steel]

You definitely have a future in knife making Mr. Carter!!!
To fill in the gaps around the pins you can mix up a small amount of epoxy and add in some black pigment and used something to force it into the gap. Put some tape around the area first to control the mess. Once the epoxy dries, hand sand it slick.

 

[Shannon Carter]

You definitely have a future in knife making Mr. Carter!!!
To fill in the gaps around the pins you can mix up a small amount of epoxy and add in some black pigment and used something to force it into the gap. Put some tape around the area first to control the mess. Once the epoxy dries, hand sand it slick.

Michael, thanks! I've learned much, and I'm pleased with the way this one turned out, but I'm ready to start on the next one to see if I can correct some of my mistakes. Thanks for the tip on the gaps. I appreciate it.

 

[wolffbite]

Are you just straight using a drill bit on your handle slabs? Or are you reaming to size?

Drill bits will tend to drill oblong/oval shaped holes and leave gaps around your pinstock by not drilling circular holes.

On all the 1/4 or 1/8 pins i do I drill undersize and ream to size. I get a nice snug fit. I usually slot all my pins with a dremel cutoff as well to allow spaces for epoxy to pool since the fit is so exact.

Great job finishing the first handle! I'm sure by the last one you will have many excellent looking knives :thumbup:

 

[Shannon Carter]

Are you just straight using a drill bit on your handle slabs? Or are you reaming to size?

Drill bits will tend to drill oblong/oval shaped holes and leave gaps around your pinstock by not drilling circular holes.

On all the 1/4 or 1/8 pins i do I drill undersize and ream to size. I get a nice snug fit. I usually slot all my pins with a dremel cutoff as well to allow spaces for epoxy to pool since the fit is so exact.

Great job finishing the first handle! I'm sure by the last one you will have many excellent looking knives :thumbup:

You're right, I just used a drill bit on the handle material. Should I use a round file or is there a better tool for reaming the hole? Thanks for the tips!