- Joined
- Dec 27, 2010
- Messages
- 6,852
Some of you may remember me asking about good places to send out for heat treat, and Darrin Sanders offered to do the heat treat for my novice blades. I'll be posting up some pics of my WIP here as I go, but I wanted to make sure I mentioned to all and sundry just how awesome a guy Darrin is.
He has been very kind, and has provided so many helpful tips for me to improve my work; he's a true resource for a novice maker/hobbyist, not just in providing an excellent service, but also in providing advice as well to help improve. I don't know any makers in my area, and it's a real godsend to have a master take a look at my work and help me identify what I need to work on, and provide tips for said improvement. And, not having the resources to do my own heat treat, it's great to have it done professionally also!
I have sent off 3 blades so far to Darrin for heat treat, and he's been great to work with. We both prefer using USPS where possible, and if anyone else is looking for a heat treat, USPS is probably easiest for Darrin, so that's what I'd go with. I actually started on my 3rd blade first when I got them back, and have been working on polishing off the scale that's left. I don't know exactly how much scale is generally left, but there wasn't a whole lot on my blades, so Darrin may have gone above and beyond on that as well. He actually also chamfered my pin holes as well, since I didn't know that needed to be done.
I haven't had a chance to get too much testing of the edge, but I banged away at a scrap piece of pine lumber, and just demolished several large cardboard boxes, and the edge is still going strong, didn't even need touching up. So the heat treat looks pretty good. The 5160 dagger actually has some nice flexibility to it as well. Anyways, here's some pictures of one of the blades; I'll add the other two as I go along. Still having trouble polishing; hand polishing is taking me a while, but good work takes time, I know.
Handles are cocobolo, hand sanded down to 1500 grit, which is the finest I have been able to find locally. Blade is 5160, 11.25" long, 18" OAL. My mother runs a jewelry shop, so I got some of those manufactured rubies from her and some silver circular beads and inlaid those over my pins. Kinda gives it some bling.
Started out like this:
I briefly cord wrapped it to help me hold it while I refined the grind:
I got impatient and made handles before I sent it off for heat treat:
Here's it so far:
Darrin is great to work with, and if you need a blade heat treated, he can handle most kinds of steel. I highly recommend his services, which are VERY reasonable, especially considering how much you get. I basically feel like he's just doing it out of the goodness of his heart, and can't imagine that he's making a profit. So, a heartfelt thank you to Darrin. I will be sending more blades his way just as soon as I get more steel (and finish these ones).
He has been very kind, and has provided so many helpful tips for me to improve my work; he's a true resource for a novice maker/hobbyist, not just in providing an excellent service, but also in providing advice as well to help improve. I don't know any makers in my area, and it's a real godsend to have a master take a look at my work and help me identify what I need to work on, and provide tips for said improvement. And, not having the resources to do my own heat treat, it's great to have it done professionally also!
I have sent off 3 blades so far to Darrin for heat treat, and he's been great to work with. We both prefer using USPS where possible, and if anyone else is looking for a heat treat, USPS is probably easiest for Darrin, so that's what I'd go with. I actually started on my 3rd blade first when I got them back, and have been working on polishing off the scale that's left. I don't know exactly how much scale is generally left, but there wasn't a whole lot on my blades, so Darrin may have gone above and beyond on that as well. He actually also chamfered my pin holes as well, since I didn't know that needed to be done.
I haven't had a chance to get too much testing of the edge, but I banged away at a scrap piece of pine lumber, and just demolished several large cardboard boxes, and the edge is still going strong, didn't even need touching up. So the heat treat looks pretty good. The 5160 dagger actually has some nice flexibility to it as well. Anyways, here's some pictures of one of the blades; I'll add the other two as I go along. Still having trouble polishing; hand polishing is taking me a while, but good work takes time, I know.
Handles are cocobolo, hand sanded down to 1500 grit, which is the finest I have been able to find locally. Blade is 5160, 11.25" long, 18" OAL. My mother runs a jewelry shop, so I got some of those manufactured rubies from her and some silver circular beads and inlaid those over my pins. Kinda gives it some bling.
Started out like this:
I briefly cord wrapped it to help me hold it while I refined the grind:
I got impatient and made handles before I sent it off for heat treat:
Here's it so far:
Darrin is great to work with, and if you need a blade heat treated, he can handle most kinds of steel. I highly recommend his services, which are VERY reasonable, especially considering how much you get. I basically feel like he's just doing it out of the goodness of his heart, and can't imagine that he's making a profit. So, a heartfelt thank you to Darrin. I will be sending more blades his way just as soon as I get more steel (and finish these ones).
