- Joined
- Jun 11, 2008
- Messages
- 1,409
Hey guys, glad to be getting back to the forums!
I have been cooped up for a bit and have had a lot of time to work on some bushcraft type stuff.
I have been using my Fiddleback Ladyfinger for all of my carving and have some observations/experiences to report on the steel/heat treat of my ladyfinger. It is Andy's standard, O1 carbon steel. This particular ladyfinger sports a convex-sabergrind and is very thin at the edge. Although most Fiddlebacks look like safe queens, it is clear to tell that Andy makes his knives for the used. No inefficient or obtuse edges and the sides are nicely polished to minimize drag with the cutting media.
To start- The knife was touched up from it's last use with 2000 grit wet/dry followed by green, then white compound on the JRE strop bat. I was planning on using this knife a LOT and wanted to minimize the necessary maintenance. If the final meeting point of the edge is honed to mirror sharp it will have far less abrasions on a microscopic level that will be the weak points that dulling and edge damage can come from.
The Cutting Media- I had a few things to make in the past couple weeks and the materials I had at hand to make them out of were Deer Leg Bones, Deer Antlers, Osage Wood, Rock Maple Wood. Both woods were over two years old and well seasoned.
The Maintenance- During use on Osage wood and Rock Maple wood, the edge was stropped with fine white compound and then soft leather every hour or so. During use on bone and antler, the edge was stropped with coarse black compound and then medium grit green compound every half hour or so. It should be noted that the bone and antler are thoroughly soaked with warm water for several hours before carving. That makes the compressed cortex just a little softer and is a big help when carving. The bone/antler is still MUCH harder on a knife edge than just about anything I have ever carved.
The Projects:
The first two things I carved were a Knife handle and a Celt handle. Both of those were made of well seasoned Osage.
The next thing I made was an Inuit style salmon spear. It was made from Rock Maple and Deer Bone tines. The shaft and two side prongs are one continuous piece of wood. The canter that was carved out. The three tines were split (batton style) from a deer tibia and then carved to a point.
Finally I shaped, carved, and sharpened eight separate bone and antler points and barbs for the next few projects I'll be working on next week.
I ended up making a second Osage handle last night and this is the only pic I took of it. Its the one in the upper left of this shot.
Edge Observations- The knife's edge is not shown well in any of these pictures. I took them all with my phone and it doesn't have a good enough macro for close ups. The only way to properly show the edge before and after is with magnification (minimum 10x). Instead, I'm just going to describe what I am seeing and compare how it is different than what I am used to from my other knives. I am planning to sharpen this knife tomorrow so I looked through my 10x jeweler's loupe at the edge in order to decide what materials to use to sharpen it. The edge is free from any micro fractures or rolls. There is no angle at which it catches light on the edge and no burr has worn in. The edge is dull gray in color instead of highly polished but there are no scratched on the last 1.5-2mm of the edge which is the part I was stropping. It looks very similar to an edge properly sharpened with 1000 grit wet/dry paper instead of 2000 grit. This is a very unusual way for the steel to wear. I have looked at many customs in all the common carbon steels under a simple 10x loupe and there are always visible imperfections after heavy use. I can still cut paper easily in a draw cut but it will not push cut paper easily. There is no spot on the blade that feels like it slices the paper more or less easily than any other. The even wear on the edge actually looks like a properly sharpened knife edge that has only been honed to the 1000 grit mark. I don't know if I can explain what I'm looking at well enough but I hope it makes sense. Out of about thirty customs, this is the smoothest cutting and most easily maintained knife I have used to date.
I have been cooped up for a bit and have had a lot of time to work on some bushcraft type stuff.
I have been using my Fiddleback Ladyfinger for all of my carving and have some observations/experiences to report on the steel/heat treat of my ladyfinger. It is Andy's standard, O1 carbon steel. This particular ladyfinger sports a convex-sabergrind and is very thin at the edge. Although most Fiddlebacks look like safe queens, it is clear to tell that Andy makes his knives for the used. No inefficient or obtuse edges and the sides are nicely polished to minimize drag with the cutting media.
To start- The knife was touched up from it's last use with 2000 grit wet/dry followed by green, then white compound on the JRE strop bat. I was planning on using this knife a LOT and wanted to minimize the necessary maintenance. If the final meeting point of the edge is honed to mirror sharp it will have far less abrasions on a microscopic level that will be the weak points that dulling and edge damage can come from.
The Cutting Media- I had a few things to make in the past couple weeks and the materials I had at hand to make them out of were Deer Leg Bones, Deer Antlers, Osage Wood, Rock Maple Wood. Both woods were over two years old and well seasoned.
The Maintenance- During use on Osage wood and Rock Maple wood, the edge was stropped with fine white compound and then soft leather every hour or so. During use on bone and antler, the edge was stropped with coarse black compound and then medium grit green compound every half hour or so. It should be noted that the bone and antler are thoroughly soaked with warm water for several hours before carving. That makes the compressed cortex just a little softer and is a big help when carving. The bone/antler is still MUCH harder on a knife edge than just about anything I have ever carved.
The Projects:
The first two things I carved were a Knife handle and a Celt handle. Both of those were made of well seasoned Osage.
The next thing I made was an Inuit style salmon spear. It was made from Rock Maple and Deer Bone tines. The shaft and two side prongs are one continuous piece of wood. The canter that was carved out. The three tines were split (batton style) from a deer tibia and then carved to a point.
Finally I shaped, carved, and sharpened eight separate bone and antler points and barbs for the next few projects I'll be working on next week.
I ended up making a second Osage handle last night and this is the only pic I took of it. Its the one in the upper left of this shot.
Edge Observations- The knife's edge is not shown well in any of these pictures. I took them all with my phone and it doesn't have a good enough macro for close ups. The only way to properly show the edge before and after is with magnification (minimum 10x). Instead, I'm just going to describe what I am seeing and compare how it is different than what I am used to from my other knives. I am planning to sharpen this knife tomorrow so I looked through my 10x jeweler's loupe at the edge in order to decide what materials to use to sharpen it. The edge is free from any micro fractures or rolls. There is no angle at which it catches light on the edge and no burr has worn in. The edge is dull gray in color instead of highly polished but there are no scratched on the last 1.5-2mm of the edge which is the part I was stropping. It looks very similar to an edge properly sharpened with 1000 grit wet/dry paper instead of 2000 grit. This is a very unusual way for the steel to wear. I have looked at many customs in all the common carbon steels under a simple 10x loupe and there are always visible imperfections after heavy use. I can still cut paper easily in a draw cut but it will not push cut paper easily. There is no spot on the blade that feels like it slices the paper more or less easily than any other. The even wear on the edge actually looks like a properly sharpened knife edge that has only been honed to the 1000 grit mark. I don't know if I can explain what I'm looking at well enough but I hope it makes sense. Out of about thirty customs, this is the smoothest cutting and most easily maintained knife I have used to date.
