Chopper - WIP + a folder. UPDATE CHOPPER FINISHED!

[jonnymac44]

Looking good, Tim:thumbup: Get some more shop time!!

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

I'd love to Jon. Life is back to begin hectic now works started for the year. So i can only steal an our hear and there.

But i did get a lot done over the Christmas break. I sent 9 blades to HT yesterday :thumbup:

 

[mike deibert]

Hey Tim,
I just now looked at this thread. Awesome job so far! That is going to be one cool knife. I am extremely flattered that my KITH knife gave you some inspiration on this piece but I must say you are doing some really cool things with that inspiration and have come up with a really cool design. I can't wait to see how this baby turns out. I'm not so much worried about getting you a pair of shoes, I'd like to get you hooked up with a forge so you can pound these babies into shape a bit. Ever consider it? You have a lot of talent and a forge would open up new avenues in your knife making. Either way you are doing a great job on this piece. I hope your busy schedule doesn't slow you down too much. By the way, whenever you want to try surfing just let me know we have some great surf here in Nicaragua for you try

Nick was right, Jason and Burt have influenced me a lot in my bladesmithing. I owe so much of what I know and am able to do to their direct participation in my learning.

Blessings,
Mike

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

Hey Tim,
I just now looked at this thread. Awesome job so far! That is going to be one cool knife. I am extremely flattered that my KITH knife gave you some inspiration on this piece but I must say you are doing some really cool things with that inspiration and have come up with a really cool design. I can't wait to see how this baby turns out. I'm not so much worried about getting you a pair of shoes, I'd like to get you hooked up with a forge so you can pound these babies into shape a bit. Ever consider it? You have a lot of talent and a forge would open up new avenues in your knife making. Either way you are doing a great job on this piece. I hope your busy schedule doesn't slow you down too much. By the way, whenever you want to try surfing just let me know we have some great surf here in Nicaragua for you try

Nick was right, Jason and Burt have influenced me a lot in my bladesmithing. I owe so much of what I know and am able to do to their direct participation in my learning.

Blessings,
Mike

Thanks very much for the comments and nice words Mike. I meant to send you a link to the thread but forgot all about it.

Well so far I've only fully completed 3 knives (i did just send 9 to ht though ) so i haven't really looked into forging yet. I thought it might be a bit noisy in suburbia. I am planning on moving out of suburbia a ways when i get around to asking my girlfriend to marry me. So maybe then i could set one up.

You could probably answer my question; do you need to leave big knives like this one with a thick edge before ht (and just in general for handling chopping) or just treat it like any other?

OR you could come to Australia, we've got a bit of alright surf here too.

1:52am better go to bed

 

[mike deibert]

Dude, don't temp me. I've always wanted to visit Australia. Which reminds me of something; I've only had Vegemite once but I love the stuff and can never find any. I know that was a random thought but it just occurred to me.

Well, I hope you can set up a forge when you move out of suburbia. You'll have a ton of fun! As for the edge thickness during heat treating I'm sure you'll come across many different techniques and thoughts. All I can say is that I do my own HT and for that reason I try to leave a little extra material so there is less chance of warping. Which has a strong chance of happening when hardening a longer blade. Since you are sending your blades out for heat treating (I'm assuming a professional outfit) then you might want to ask what they would prefer. As for the intended purpose after HT I prefer my choppers to have an edge that will stand up to violent strikes that may go off target from time to time so a little thicker is better for me. My smaller knives are kept with a thin, flexible edge most of the time.

Hope that helps.
Mike

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

Dude, don't temp me. I've always wanted to visit Australia. Which reminds me of something; I've only had Vegemite once but I love the stuff and can never find any. I know that was a random thought but it just occurred to me.

Well, I hope you can set up a forge when you move out of suburbia. You'll have a ton of fun! As for the edge thickness during heat treating I'm sure you'll come across many different techniques and thoughts. All I can say is that I do my own HT and for that reason I try to leave a little extra material so there is less chance of warping. Which has a strong chance of happening when hardening a longer blade. Since you are sending your blades out for heat treating (I'm assuming a professional outfit) then you might want to ask what they would prefer. As for the intended purpose after HT I prefer my choppers to have an edge that will stand up to violent strikes that may go off target from time to time so a little thicker is better for me. My smaller knives are kept with a thin, flexible edge most of the time.

Hope that helps.
Mike

Yeah, nothing like a bit of yeast extract on your toast in the morning. I could probably send you a jar?

So what thickness do you grind to before you put your secondary bevel in? (post HT).

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

I had a bit of time this morning. I would have had more but i slept in until 10 . I filed the f/edge some more, drilled my pin and thong holes (thought it would be better to do that before tapering the tang) and started tapering the tang.


Marking and drilling the main holes. I had to work up to the big 14mm thong hole.

I don't know how other people taper tangs. I kinda just made this up as i went. First i found a 2mm bit of steel the sameish size of the meterial i wanted to take off either side of the tang and stuck it onto the grinder bed.

Then i ground until i had a good angle going.

When i had enough of an angle going horizontally i switched to vertical so i could move it around on the belt a bit more. Every now and then i swap back to the horizontal position to make sure my angles still on track.

That's as far as i got for now. I have to go to my girlfriend, grandparents 50th anniversary.

 

[Matt Brook]

I'd love to Jon. Life is back to begin hectic now works started for the year. So i can only steal an our hear and there.

But i did get a lot done over the Christmas break. I sent 9 blades to HT yesterday :thumbup:

Your blades can say hi to mine! I sent 5 off the week before last to Hills. Cant wait to get them back!

Tapering looks good. I got shown how to do my first tapered tang for one of mine I have off to heat treat. I was stoked to get up to Bruce Barnetts workshop and he showed me how to go about some things I was having trouble with. Also let me borrow some books and a dvd. I reckon the knifemaking comunity is awesome for sharing information.

Cant imagine getting that sort of help in a lot of other hobbies.

Looking good, I am out to the shed. I have some RWL34 and 1075 calling my name :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Matt

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

Your blades can say hi to mine! I sent 5 off the week before last to Hills. Cant wait to get them back!

Tapering looks good. I got shown how to do my first tapered tang for one of mine I have off to heat treat. I was stoked to get up to Bruce Barnetts workshop and he showed me how to go about some things I was having trouble with. Also let me borrow some books and a dvd. I reckon the knifemaking comunity is awesome for sharing information.

Cant imagine getting that sort of help in a lot of other hobbies.

Looking good, I am out to the shed. I have some RWL34 and 1075 calling my name :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Matt

Cool! I can't wait to get mine back either. I've only handled 2 so far so it's going to be fun to get all 9 back and start puttign handles on. Maybe even get a little creative.

I've only used RWL and D2 so far. I'd like to try a simple carbon steel some time. So i can have a go at heat treating it myself with a torch or something.


I got a little bit more done on my chopper thisarvo. I just had time to finish tapering the tang. It's a little steeper than i was planning. It goes from 6.3mm to about 1.5mm so it's pretty thin at the end. Oh well. I'll post some pics later.

Tim.

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

I slapped a very worn 120# (my only belt under 80# >.<) and gave all the surfaces a bit for of a grind.

Weight reduction holes drilled and counter-sunk

All sanded up with 80#

 

[amcardon]

Seems to be coming along quite nicely! You've made some impressive progress on this blade considering you can only work on it for a couple hours in your free time... I wish my knives came together this quickly! (and I even do my own heat treating...)

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

Seems to be coming along quite nicely! You've made some impressive progress on this blade considering you can only work on it for a couple hours in your free time... I wish my knives came together this quickly! (and I even do my own heat treating...)

Thanks mate. When i do get time to work on my knives, i work hard. I'd hate to imagine how long it would have taken me to grind this blade out with one of those 2" grinders a lot of people are using.

 

[mike deibert]

Yeah, nothing like a bit of yeast extract on your toast in the morning. I could probably send you a jar?

If you sent me a jar I would love you forever. Seriously though I would love some! I'll send you a pm...

So what thickness do you grind to before you put your secondary bevel in? (post HT).

First I need to warn you: I'm a blacksmith not a machinist. I do a lot of things without using fine measuring devices (sometimes I do). When I go to start my secondary bevel on a bigger knife the edge thickness is usually under a 16th of an inch. From there I'll aline my edge, making sure it's straight and then work the bevel up into the blade until I get my preferred taper.

Your knife is looking great so far!
Mike

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

Thanks mike. I'll see what I can do about the vegemite.

 

[seionage]

nice!

 

[1066vik]

just saw this - awesome work m8!
Definitely looking forward to the finished blade.

 

[tjiscooler]

This is going very good! Classy shape.

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

Thanks everyone!

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

I think i'm onto something with this one. When i showed my Mum she shuddered. More sanding.


Sanded to 120# satin, with my super secret sanding formula (kerosene and singer oil).

Sanded to 240# (getting there)

 

[unky_gumbi]

Nice knife, kick a** amp:thumbup: