First Bolstered Knife & Steel Question

colu41

colu41

Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Messages
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I finished my first bolstered knife. I am decently happy with it. And I know what things I did wrong now for my next one.
And also, I strictly am using only 1084 right now as its the easiest to heat treat at home, and I'm getting good results. I will have to order more here very soon, but everyone is sold out of 1084 in all sizes I want. I can get 4" wide stock but thats way too much cutting for me. Is there another steel out there I can easily heat treat at home similar to 1084?
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I don't usually look to K & G for steel but while I was handle material shopping last night I noticed that they had some 1084 on sale. It was not under their steel tab but popped up on the featured products part of the home page. Don't remember what sizes they had as I wasn't shopping for steel.
 
I get 1/8" stock or .14. And most places I find that have 1080 in stock they say it is hot rolled? Does this matter when knifemaking? And K&G didn't have any 1084. And the 1080 they had was 3/16 and only 1 1/4" wide... They have a bunch of O1 though. Are tool steels hard to heat treat?
 
Nj steel baron(Aldo) has some 3/16 thick 1.5in wide(48in long) 1084 in stock right now. Also, his 1084 is very well known as being very good.
 
JG Custom Metal Works said:
Nj steel baron(Aldo) has some 3/16 thick 1.5in wide(48in long) 1084 in stock right now. Also, his 1084 is very well known as being very good.
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3/16 is too thick. Granted I could probably make it work but even the .14 I've been using I'd like a little thinner. I ordered 4 feet from Aldo the last time but, I ended up ordering just now 4 feet of 1080 in the size I wanted from Texas Knife. Hopefully its in stock because they don't like to contact you if it isnt.
 
Any tips out there to make my bolster pins sort of blend better? Or did I just maybe rough up the pins too much making them fit? They seem to look like they were trying to blend but just couldnt get it perfect. Maybe a certain grit belt or paper?
 
colu41 said:
Any tips out there to make my bolster pins sort of blend better? Or did I just maybe rough up the pins too much making them fit? They seem to look like they were trying to blend but just couldnt get it perfect. Maybe a certain grit belt or paper?
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Did you peen them? Did you epoxy them to the tang?
 
colu41 said:
Any tips out there to make my bolster pins sort of blend better? Or did I just maybe rough up the pins too much making them fit? They seem to look like they were trying to blend but just couldnt get it perfect. Maybe a certain grit belt or paper?
Click to expand...

Use soft pins with hardened bolsters and peen them.

Use a cork belt.
 
S.Alexander said:
Did you peen them? Did you epoxy them to the tang?
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I didn't peen them because I wasn't really sure how much excess to leave on there. I will on my next one but I was very uncertain of what to do. And yes they are epoxied.

And that's a good idea. I will harden the next set of bolsters I get and try to find some nickel silver pins or something instead of the SS pins I have now.
 
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Make the pins about one pin diameter longer than the bolster thickness, and use the smallest hammer you have- a small hammer deforms the head of the rivet more and the shaft less.
As you get more comfortable doing this, you'll adjust the extra length to what works for you.
 
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