5160 Forged Knives *work in progress

jrscgsr said:
I wouldn't harden the blade 3 times. I would normalize it 3 times.
Click to expand...

I had to harden it a fourth time actually. I slid the file across the blade after the third hardening, and it bit a few times. I just couldn't stop obsessing over it being fully hard so I hardened it the fourth time, and VOILA. Like glass!
Keep note the spine of this bowie is 1\4" thick ;). I wanted to be sure it got hardened good and deep.

Here is a video of me tempering that knife before I did an edge abuse test.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31J0y6nBDNs

I tempered it twice, hacked a 2x4, took my 60-100x magnifier looked the edge over it had little chips. Sharpened it again, tempered the third time hacked the 2x4 it didn't chip nor roll. It was perfect! So I razor-ed the edge, cut myself twice by accident, cut the paper, hacked the 2x4 shaved, looked the edge over again with the magnifier it had no rolls or chips.

So long as I dont break it when I ping the tang to the butt-cap this knife is pretty much complete. I will post pictures today of it completed, and my wife has a small amount of sewing to do on the belt loop holder for the sheath, and this gift for my brother in law is finished.
 
I haven't had an issue hardening blades before. As long as you follow the heat treat for the steel your using it should harden the first time. I use a gas forge though and realize your using a charcoal forge which would be a little more difficult to control. Looking forward to seeing the new knife. How long did this one take compared to the first time? Seems like it went quick.
 
I don't know why but I cannot edit my parent posts title for this
project which is just about completed. If anyone here wants to
see this knife from scratch to finish visit this post, but below is
pictures and videos of edge test, and abuse testing for this
bowie.

If you want to see this knife fully documented from ground up visit the parent post here
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=141947






Here is Tempering 1.
Tempered1.jpg

Tempering 2.
Tempered2.jpg

Automatic transmission fluid, and quench container.
ATfluid.jpg

I'm knife sharpening hone collector crazy
Hones.jpg



WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO 30 minutes of
sharpening, and it cut me twice. So I went to test the edge
on paper and VOILA BABY SHE's RAZOR SHARP. I took a
video I was going to shave the back of my head, but after
cutting myself so easily twice and feeling that edge and heavy
weighted blade on the back of my neck I stopped feeling
uncomfortable LOL.
CutThumbPicture.jpg



Ok Below is the videos of the edge test, Edge Abuse test, and shave.
I do have a video of me tempering the blade, but it was going to take 2 hours to upload meanwhile slowing down my other uploads. It was a video of the third tempering. I will upload it later tonight before I go to bed and edit this post, but the more interesting stuff I posted :).

I told the wife were going to get a better camera with Audio next paycheck. I'm tired of this not so clear video's and I take them religiously to share these tribulations with you fellow knife makers.

YouTube - temperingVideo
YouTube - Cut1video
YouTube - ShaveLegnPaper
Note: In the shave head video.. since this blade is so heavy I was a bit scared
of it after having already sliced myself twice with ease. So I stopped before
making a big bare bald spot scare of it sinking into my neck. However
I like doing this shave test with smaller knifes since you can control them
easier.
YouTube - ShavePapernHead
YouTube - Chop2x4nShave
YouTube - SheathAlmostComplete

I'm going outside to start installing the handle now that
everything is solid. I used the radio shack 60-100x magnifier (8$) during
tempering, and it took four tempers.. as I kept the edge
straw color not so much bronze. I had rather it been
harder than be softer, and need to be re-normalized,
and re-harden, and the patience paid off!

---FINISHED UP THE BOWIE HERE IT IS FINALLY COMPLETED---
PingingTang.jpg

(Im buying a vice today - searching craigslist, because I'm not pinging
another knife over using vice grips unless absolutely necessary as with this project)
PingingTang2.jpg

LookingGreat.jpg

Wifes the one who made the sheath :). "keep your eyes on the sheath LOL".
YouTube - SheathOnWifesHip.avi
YouTube - SheathComingOffHip.avi
Note: I used MidWest snips to cut the thickest stainless steel spoon I could find to shape.
Then hammered out the center, and used small files for precision.
YouTube - ButtCapVid.avi
COMPLETED PRODUCT VIDEO RIGHT HERE
YouTube - CompletedProduct.avi

Now it's time for me to clean up the yard today.
Ive been so busy on this bowie. Damn coons and
skunks fight at night and some how get into this
gazebo wrapped in chicken wire to keep them
out, but coons always manage a way in, and the
skunks run them coons out. Wind blew trash all
over the yard so since I'm done with this knife
I'm cleaning up the mess.

I hope you folks enjoyed watching this knife project
from start to finish. It was great all for the exception
of that frustrating little knife, but I learned a lesson
from it! DONT TAKE SHORTCUTS lol.

Also side note: I now see why smiths charge 700+ dollars
for hand forged bowies. After adding up the hours if you
charged minimum wage. This knife would have been around 650$
I did however gain tools to make it easier on me so hopefully
next bowie wont be so darn hard. Got to get new files. Wore these
down to nothing on this bowie!
 
Hey Cody,
Thanks for sharing your journey in making this Bowie. You can be very proud of this piece. I like the hammered texture and the overall mountainman style of this bowie. The sheath turned out nice as well. I know it was probably frustrating at times but I promise the next one will be much faster.
I too got started in bladesmithing with Tim Lively's video. Because I was working in a remote part of Nicaragua all Tim's techniques really came in handy. Tim's video gave me a lot of forging and heat treating education. If I could offer any advice to you I'd say take what you've learned from Tim and keep working it. But, there is much more information out there (specifically on Bladeforums). Keep reading and asking questions and if possible find a JS or MS in your area to learn from. You'll be surprised how much more you'll learn. Keep a humble attitude, a steady hammer and you'll go far in bladesmithing.
Hammer on,
Mike
 
I would second what Mike just said and add just one thing... Please find some other way of testing the edge on your knife. Shaving the back of your head with Bowie is going in a direction that can't end up good.
 
I am ready to put my first handle on a blade, and cant seem to get my drill press assembled for use. do you think I would ruin the scales if I used a hand drill to drill the holes in the wooden scales? most say everything has to be exactly vertical, and a hand held cant do that with close enuf precision, so that when the pins are put in place they will split the scales

CodyOebel said:
After looking around for a file my little boy snatched up I found this peice of 5160 bar that I had melted in half because I didnt watch it enough, and had got side tracked from my kids. The longer of the two peices is a good 8", and so if I can get this bowie mostly done by the end of this weekend. It gives me a week to possibly forge another knife. However.. I may not have time to make a hollow wood handle like the previous one, and might just do a hickory split handle, screw holes through the handle. Take some 16 penny nails in an annealed state. Cut them to length put them through the drill holes, and ping them down as well as 3ton glue the handle.


AmyKnife2-2.jpg

AmyKnife2.jpg

We will see if I get to this point during this week as I also have limited coal.
Click to expand...
 
BoxerBill said:
Cody,
Thanks for taking the time to share. I have the dvd by Tim Lively & it's awesome! Bill
Click to expand...


It sure is :)

I really like making big bowies. Probably because I like
hammering a whole lot. I'm going to get a few more hammers,
and a finish hammer. I'm going to start aiming for that
center ridge\line Tim gets on his. Meaning each hammer
blow will have an aimed strike, and not just a flat smash
and go approach so the controlled strikes on blade will
give me that center line Tim had on his. It will take allot
longer, but I cannot explain to anyone what hammering
the hot steel does for me. I have a form of OCD.
I cannot sleep when working a knife. I have hell
trying. All I think about is what I'm going to do
to the knife before bed time, and when I wake up
I cant wait for the early AM darkness to brighten
up outside, and I get pissed if its rainy\dewy LOL.
BUT when I hammer that metal all my thoughts
aren't so flushed but for once in my life they are
calmed, and I can actually think right. It bugs
the living hell out of my wife during the day
when I'm forced to go to town with her and
have been working on a blade. I'm silent the
entire time driving to and from the city, in the
grocery store, and silent completely. She tells me
"Stop thinking about that damn knife your bugging
the **it out of me". LOL

I really like Tim's knife in Primitive knife making. The
guard has swirls, the bottom of the ricasso separating
the bevel and edge has that swirl. I'm going to do
something similar. Just I don't got anyone the knife
will be going to. So maybe I will try to sell it for a
modest price. I do have one more bowie to make
for my step father! Any knife I make will be fully
documented as this one was. I'm buying
a better camera right after Xmas to add in as
a tool to my knife making!
 
Besides chopping and looking at the edge through a loupe, try doing a brass rod test to evaluate your temper. If done right, you evaluate the entire edge of the blade. If it rolls, too soft. If it chips, too hard.
 
NStricker said:
Besides chopping and looking at the edge through a loupe, try doing a brass rod test to evaluate your temper. If done right, you evaluate the entire edge of the blade. If it rolls, too soft. If it chips, too hard.
Click to expand...

I did use a brass rod and cut it, but my standards of abuse would be to use a milder steel.
The knife cut that brass rod and didnt get a shine or braze.
used a magnifying glass on the edge, and I used
a brass rod which I purchased in order to make handle rivets.
I didnt do the string loop razor test to see on what scale it is razor.
I will tell you this though. Take a gillete razor shave your leg,
and this knife
shaves just the same even after the chop abuse!
I was out of AAA batteries as my little camera has a video
recording function, but sucks up energy. The chopping was
after my wife got home and we got batteries. By that time
I had already put a razors edge on it, and was tired for the day.
I seen tai goo use a mild steel rod. So I dont know if it would have folded or
chipped if I had used a mild still rod instead of the brass rod. It's already
boxxed up and gift wrapped. Plus I dont know exactly what
kind of mild steel he was talking about.
Next knife I make I will use a steel rod I seen at the
tractor supply store where I bought my brass rod I forget the name
or type of steel rods they were, but I could bend them easily
by hand so maybe that's a better test than brass rods.
I think it's softer steel similar to what tai uses, and would be better
for edge test than the brass. The knife sliced right through
the brass rod and didnt even really shine the metal. Cut right through it.
I think if I use a milder steel rod I could get best results.
and maybe see if it will even braze the steel shiny. Next knife I
will have a better camera with hopefully a lithium battery that last
a long time when doing video.. plus SOUND. This cam I used is a 40$
cheap snap shot camera. I'm going to buy an HD digi cam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPbnRzkjMF8

**Note** Before I would ever give someone a knife you can guarentee
It will be top quality! this was for my brother in law, but if someone
were to have ordered the knife to be made. They get a video of it's production
abuse test such as mild steel rod cut test, 2x4 razor edge abuse test, and if I get
a vice I will do a pull flex test to show it can flex.
A flex test on a bowie like this however just isnt happening or practical. It's too damn thick!
I didnt taper it thick in the middle, and tapered towards edge and tang. I left it thick.
Just the way I would want it!
I didn't spring quench the bowie. It was fully submerged.
 
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You did the cutting test on the brass rod. Have you also tried running the down the brass rod to check the edge hardness making sure it doesn't chip or roll? Find this helpful for a quick check of edge temper.
 
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Tai Goo said:
... Looks like we have a live one here! :)

Hammer on, Cody!
Click to expand...

OMG TAI GOO replied to my thread.

I feel like I just virtually shook the hand and met a Knife super star, and got complimented by him!

---Feels like going outside and beating away at more leaf spring steel---

Soon as I deliver this big bowie to my brother in law in freer texas, and come back to
San Antonio. I'm gonna start smithing another blade.

I got a hand drill shipped and on it's way to my house.
Buying me a finishing hammer today!
Now to eliminate my electrical blower source if anyone here
knows a place I can get one of these hand cranked blowers.
I got about 60$ to spare for one.
 
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