Begining WIP my own knife.

Shashi Rochlandi was who I used to converse with, IIRC. I believe that they dealt with a forge/foundary shop in Mumbai. They may be able to set up a connection to help you learn.
 
I've managed to get a reasonable shape to it. The tang etc is still unfinished.
After the wheel sander I have not used any power tools. That bit of cheating was also because its very tough o work this steel because its still quite hard even after annealing, which was done to forge the rough shape. I am still unclear how to HT this particular steel. I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it...........
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PS. I'm using the fairly idiot proof "Sharpie" method to flatten the edge. But I might just be the idiot this not proof against....
How do I check if its truly flat? And it strikes me that a true FFG would automatically have some distal taper. Is that right?
 
Post shaping, grinding and HT. HT was as follows
1. Heated to nonmagnetic plus 2 minutes. This happened surprisingly fast. In 15 minutes it was glowing bright red so I tested it with a magnet and it slid off.
2. Quenched in fresh peanut oil for 90 Seconds after the flame went out. It flamed for maybe 4 seconds as I dipped and moved the blade around.
3. Let it cool until I could hold it in my hand.
4. Heated it until I got a dull glow again. Took another 3 mins and a few seconds.
5 Let it cool in its own time.
6. Hardness testing-
Tested with another file on the edge and it slid right off. Also I had banged the edge against a granite counter top to test hardness and to see if the edge chips or rolls before the HT. Edge rolled about a mm. I tried the same thing after HT and there was a little silvery edge roll but I had to look with a hand-lens to find it. And there is a small chip on the kitchen counter top I am hoping my wife doesn't notice :D

I am considering making my own Micarta for a handle. Any advice?
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What kind of steel is it? Dimensions?

Its an old file. I don't know what exactly the steel is but I determined its not case hardened. I find it difficult to source smaller amounts of anything with a higher carbon content than 1045. And I am unsure if that is good for knives. I chose a file because of proven "hardenability" and its a small and relatively thin knife. Incredibly difficult to grind and sand though.
Dim: 7.5 Inches with 3.5 to 4 inch blade depending where UR measuring from. 4.5mm thick at the base of the grind tapering off towards the tip.
Inspirations
Spyderco Mules- For the blade shape and the proper FFG with the distal taper.
CRK Nyala, J. Neilsen BUK, Lon Humphrey Brut de Forge were my inspirations for the general shape of the knife.
 
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