Hi!
Im reading this forum for the better part of the last year and I want to thank you all for all the knowledge you guys share here.
For now Im only working in my garage and I try not to spend too much time in there, because Ive two little girls and a wife to attend to
But this hobby is getting under my skin.
#1 was made off a piece of steel I found after cribbers doing a grade beam. Lets just say that lots of mistakes and adjustments to the shape were done along the way so I wont post a picture
#2 I took a inspiration from Trollsky. The steel I was working with was quite thick so I did the wide blade just to give me enough space to grind it thin enough at the edge. All done with files and sandpaper. Handle is made of my homemade micarta(bondo+fabric). I filed the rough shape and than I went all the way to 600 wet sandpaper, but I couldnt get a good finish on the handle(its kind of rough). Is this because bondo is just not good enough or do you guys do something different? There is also a hidden pin for that paracord thingy. Ive tried some filework on the spine and also Ive etched the logo. I was basically trying everything I could on this one. HT was done in my fire pit so the results are so so, but its not too soft. Lesson learned: do not overheat your pins, keep better eye on the blade geometry(you cant see in the pictures but the edge is not perfectly straight), make sure your opening around your hidden pin is big enough for the paracord to pass before you glue the handles to the blade
#3 I wanted to try an antler handle and a bolster. I bought a 1x30 Kings belt grinder. It helped a lot with the rough grinding, but it was really hard for me to keep the grind even so Ive used files and sandpaper to finish the blade off. Bolster is made of damascus steel ordered long time ago so I dont have a clue what kind of a steel it is. I used JB weld to glue it to the blade. Question here. I etched it in Murriatic acid. I started with 1:7 ratio with distilled water and etched it for almost 30 minutes wipping the surface with toothbrush from time to time. Nothing happend. So I went to 1:3 ratio. Same thing. Finally Ive just put it in the bottle 32% and keep wipping it every 5 minutes. It was there for a good 30 minutes, but the pattern didnt come out really well after I polished it. The blank I took the piece from has the pattern really nicely visible. What did I do wrong?
I used 1084 from aldo on this one. HT in my stove tempered in oven. Before the HT Ive finished the blade to 400, but after the HT there were some spots on the blade that were really rough and I had to grind them down. What can I do to prevent that? I also made a sheat for this one. Just raw leather and wooden insert to hold the blade in. Lessons learned: dont rush and get a really nice and tight fit for all the parts(there is a small gap between the wood and the antler thats filled with epoxy and it doesnt look good), keeping even a better eye on the blade geometry(there is a small dip close to the bolster, I just grinded too much of the edge), always use clean belts when grinding the antler(black marks on the antler from the leftover steel on the belt, I got lucky and had enough room to clean them up with finner belt)
I would really appreciate any input and ideas from you guys.
Thank you, Andy
Im reading this forum for the better part of the last year and I want to thank you all for all the knowledge you guys share here.
For now Im only working in my garage and I try not to spend too much time in there, because Ive two little girls and a wife to attend to
But this hobby is getting under my skin.#1 was made off a piece of steel I found after cribbers doing a grade beam. Lets just say that lots of mistakes and adjustments to the shape were done along the way so I wont post a picture
#2 I took a inspiration from Trollsky. The steel I was working with was quite thick so I did the wide blade just to give me enough space to grind it thin enough at the edge. All done with files and sandpaper. Handle is made of my homemade micarta(bondo+fabric). I filed the rough shape and than I went all the way to 600 wet sandpaper, but I couldnt get a good finish on the handle(its kind of rough). Is this because bondo is just not good enough or do you guys do something different? There is also a hidden pin for that paracord thingy. Ive tried some filework on the spine and also Ive etched the logo. I was basically trying everything I could on this one. HT was done in my fire pit so the results are so so, but its not too soft. Lesson learned: do not overheat your pins, keep better eye on the blade geometry(you cant see in the pictures but the edge is not perfectly straight), make sure your opening around your hidden pin is big enough for the paracord to pass before you glue the handles to the blade
#3 I wanted to try an antler handle and a bolster. I bought a 1x30 Kings belt grinder. It helped a lot with the rough grinding, but it was really hard for me to keep the grind even so Ive used files and sandpaper to finish the blade off. Bolster is made of damascus steel ordered long time ago so I dont have a clue what kind of a steel it is. I used JB weld to glue it to the blade. Question here. I etched it in Murriatic acid. I started with 1:7 ratio with distilled water and etched it for almost 30 minutes wipping the surface with toothbrush from time to time. Nothing happend. So I went to 1:3 ratio. Same thing. Finally Ive just put it in the bottle 32% and keep wipping it every 5 minutes. It was there for a good 30 minutes, but the pattern didnt come out really well after I polished it. The blank I took the piece from has the pattern really nicely visible. What did I do wrong?
I used 1084 from aldo on this one. HT in my stove tempered in oven. Before the HT Ive finished the blade to 400, but after the HT there were some spots on the blade that were really rough and I had to grind them down. What can I do to prevent that? I also made a sheat for this one. Just raw leather and wooden insert to hold the blade in. Lessons learned: dont rush and get a really nice and tight fit for all the parts(there is a small gap between the wood and the antler thats filled with epoxy and it doesnt look good), keeping even a better eye on the blade geometry(there is a small dip close to the bolster, I just grinded too much of the edge), always use clean belts when grinding the antler(black marks on the antler from the leftover steel on the belt, I got lucky and had enough room to clean them up with finner belt)
I would really appreciate any input and ideas from you guys.
Thank you, Andy
