Bringing a pile of steel back to life!

I will agree with ya there. I have beaten the heck out of Ol hickory too. Thats why i still have that ol chef knife. In fact I bought another one im using now. I said cheapo cause the dont cost much but they are better quality than most you find on the grocery store shelf. The steel is pretty soft but easy to sharpen too. I sharpened my wifes last night and compared to HI Khuks it was a 2 min job! 600 grit only now convexed and sharp:thumbup:
for a forge I plan to use some native sandstone rock here. Not what most would agree to be ideal but I have tested the stuff in many of hot fires and it is good stuff due to the iron cement. All other types of rock I have used pops, chips, pings and sometimes quite dangerously. I have enough charcoal around so really nothing more than a blower salvaged from something, a pile of rocks and, and maybe a chimney pipe section or something for a blower duct.

I almost forgot it no longer daylight savings here. I better go check DOTD an hour early today!

blue lander said:
I'm really inspired by this thread. You took a disaster and turned it into an opportunity to learn a new skill. Very cool. What kind of forge do you intend to build? I've seen people make them from sand and bricks, looked pretty straightforward.

I do have to say there's nothing cheapo about Old Hickory knives, though. They're the only knives I've found that my wife can't destroy from prying half frozen chunks of meat apart. I probably use my Old Hick pairing knife more than any knife I own, and not just in the kitchen. Until I bought my KLVUK, I used their 12 inch butchers knife for trimming branches off trees and whatnot as well as BBQ duties.
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I had the hardest time sharpening my old hicks because they had no edge whatsoever. I ended up buying a cheap Chinese fakeo edgepro off Aliexpress and was finally able to put a nice edge on it. Now I just touch it up on the bottom of a coffee cup every once in awhile and it stays razor sharp.

Now I've got bbq on the brain. Gonna have to fire up the Big Green Egg this weekend.
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Ha Green eggs and ham! mmmm! OK dudes! I cut slabs for the scales. That was fun! I realize I dont have squat for woodworking tools or even a table saw so break out the sawzall and screw that chunk of wood to a piece of plywood and get at it! That was some dense wood! Had to use a carbide blade to cut it. A regular blade was just smokin up the house. Seemed to work out well enough. I mapped out what I thought might give me enough pieces to do the job but dont know till i get done.

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Here is a piece I polished out that I cut off the slabs im going to use. Turned out quite nice looking. There were plenty of voids so will definitely have to work around them and or fill them.

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Here are the scales rough cut to fit.

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I made sure the part that meets the bolster fit exactly because I think that will make or break the final look of things. Next is to find a way to drill out for the pins and attach everything together. Then I can sand everything to meet the tang. At least thats the idea.​
 
Great job! like a Phoenix from the ashes!

When I watched kukri being made in Dharan in 2005 the water that was poured was very hot from a kettle but not boiling. I don't know if they all do the same or not though... possibly many methods.

Spiral
 
Interesting that the water was hot and that you watched it in person, Spiraltwista.
Agree on the Phoenix from the ashes :)

Wish I would know how to stabilize wood. That would have taken care of the voids and maybe even make the knife dishwasher proof.
 
It was stainless before but after being annealed for over a week who knows what the true composition or carbon, nickel etc. content may be now? I rarely use a dishwasher anyway and my wife is trained to know what hi carbon steel is so I am fortunate in that aspect. Maybe ill stamp a phoenix on them when done:D Actually the credit goes to JA Henkels so ill leave the blade alone.
You guys that have seen this are fortunate! Id love to see how they do it. Not much on "the Tube" for water quenching. Been a long time since Ive checked so maybe ill revisit?
Jens Schuetz said:
Interesting that the water was hot and that you watched it in person, Spiraltwista.
Agree on the Phoenix from the ashes :)

Wish I would know how to stabilize wood. That would have taken care of the voids and maybe even make the knife dishwasher proof.
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I love the look of that wood. I think you can send wood off to be stabilized by professionals, not sure how you'd do it yourself. I think they vacuum seal the wood in a bag with epoxy.
 
Next step is to drill scales, glue them down and make a pin to attach them. The pin was made from a brass grounding screw turned down on a lathe to 4mm. Thought i might use copper but didnt have any on hand that size and I didnt want to wait for an order to come in for brass rod so I made one. I hope its soft enough to spread out when time comes. When I was turning it I got one long chip so it must be soft otherwise it would have broken up into many pieces while machining. I have noticed brass pipe fittings are very brittle when machining but this bolt seems like it will work out.

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Here are the scales after drilling holes. I clamped one scale down at a time between a piece of plywood and the knife tang using the holes in the tang as a guide and to prevent splintering when drilling and it did work. Was a bit nervous on this one after all the work shaping the scales. Once I got one scale drilled I repeated the process by flipping the knife over and repeating the drilling.

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I then mixed the epoxy and used the drill bit in one hole and the brass pin in the other hole to align everything while clamping. Time to start removing some more material now and then the scary part will be next...driving the pins.​
 
That is so cool. I think this knife is going to look amazing when you're done, and what a story it'll have to tell! Definitely family heirloom material.
 
Heirloom yes! Pawpaw made it! Hope it last that long. Notice i only have three:D I think ill watch them a little closer after all that work goes into them. Im definitely realizing the lack of tools now since I havent really done any woodwork since the fire (cept build a house). I miss my radial arm saw and belt sander something terribly. I did buy a cheapo craftsman sander but I realize it doesnt have any worktables on it. Trying to keep everything squared up is challenging. Guess when I actually hammer out my first blade from stock I will have to come up with a makers mark! What about you BL? Look like your really diggin on this knife making! You'll have to come up with one too!
Here's another piece of steel im bringing back to life. I did get lots of cool stuff from the fire. Check out this ammo box. It was full of .45acp, .380, etc. It did its job! it was all bloated out but no punctures or escapees! Some of the casings actually blew out the side with the lead still in the casing. Im going to sandblast this box and paint it olive and try to restore the stenciling but leave it puffed out! Wonder the looks i get when I take it to the range:cool:

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More blade pics tonight. Its all glued and trimmed.
 
Almost done with the handle. Flattening the pins was a bit of excitement but i hit them hard enough to flare them out until they wouldn't move and then a little bit more?...no split wood! Sanding them off generated a lot of heat through the brass pins so I had to sand them slowly. Got the final shape and now taking care of the blade on my japanese waterstone. Me and this stone go back a long ways:D

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Once the blade gets a good honing to a shape I want then I will put on a good polish to the handle and a final sharpen. I am pleased with the fit of the oak scales against the bolster. I intentionally left extra wood on the length of the scales so I could start over many times if needed to get things to mate up. Good thing I did!

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Next will be clean up blade, sharpen and go find a good steak! Might be tomorrow!​
 
OK folks I think this is a done deal for no. 1! I can finish the other two small knives but for the larger knives I will need a better way to heat them. I'm happy with the way it turned out. No disasters:thumbup:

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There were a few minor voids in the wood which are hardly noticeable but the camera sure picks them up.

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Spine came out nice and flush to the scales.

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Here is where I spent most of my time trying to get the wood to mate up to the bolster squarely.

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Getting the pins hammered in without splitting was a nervous moment too but it worked out.

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The blade did have some fairly small pits from sitting outside in the weather for some time. I left the small imperfections and polished it as is. Kinda gives it some history and a bit of villager like finish. Overall I think I got it figured out as long as it don't fall apart or something. We will see how it holds up to time. I rubbed it with mineral oil since it will be a kitchen knife. For the next two I think Ill explore some void filling options. Only got one serious problem now! I need a big fat rib-eye for the real test!
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Here's an interesting thread on stabilizing wood using acrylic medium and can even be used on horn! They mention of making a chamber from brake bleeder tool and clear container. I was kind of thinking of using an old compressor from a dorm refrigerator to make a vacuum chamber. This sounds like a very cool craft to learn.
You could make a chamber long enough to put the entire Khuk inside and stabilize it maybe? Dont know if my GCB or 25" siru would be feasible? Piece of pipe maybe?

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/573996-Stabilizing-woods-vacuum-vs-pressure
 
I can't say for sure but I highly doubt it. I've spoken at some length with the guy I get my stabilized wood from and getting the formula right is more important than having the equipment to do it. All stabilized wood is not created equal.
After conversing with him I decided it was far too complicated for my simple partially functioning brain.

Would be nice, he's very slow on orders and it's very expensive but at least his never lets me down.
 
Thanks Bawanna. Thats kinda what im reading now. Some are saying that there are oily woods that cannot even be treated or dont do well. Guess like anything it takes experience to know all the different types of wood and their oil contents etc. Ive seen some blocks large enough to make one Khuk handle already stabilized anywhere from $30-$50 and then some. Im thinking it may be worth experimenting with if you do the same kind of wood all the time for example. About the only kind I have around here besides charcoal is oak.
Bawanna said:
I can't say for sure but I highly doubt it. I've spoken at some length with the guy I get my stabilized wood from and getting the formula right is more important than having the equipment to do it. All stabilized wood is not created equal.
After conversing with him I decided it was far too complicated for my simple partially functioning brain.

Would be nice, he's very slow on orders and it's very expensive but at least his never lets me down.
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