First flat grind/Many questions (pics)

T

Trick

Joined
Mar 3, 2001
Messages
351
This is a hunk of annealed L6 steel that Micheal gave me a while back. Since it was a big piece I thought I would make a big knife not to waste any. This is my first try at flat grinding and after all this time on the forums, I have yet to finish a knife. :) The pictures make it look really bad but holding in your hand it isn't as awful. I can pick it apart but since it is my first attempt and won't be sold, I am a little proud of the attempt to make a knife that almost looks like a knife. I have been carrying it around showing everyone so I have all kinds of finger prints and light scratches on it.
Anyway, I have a few questions.
1. I broke off a small hss center drill tip on what was going to be the center pin hole. There can't be much there but will that mess up the heat treat?
2. Is it ground far enough to heat treat now? I went over it with 400 grit but there are still course grit marks but I was afraid to go any more till after hardening and heat treat. I am going to hopefully send it off to Roger if he will take it before the first of the year.
3. Opinions? I am a big boy, I can take it. :D Telling me it is ruint will not spoil my day much. :)
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Looks kinda neat to me!

Don't worry about the broken drill bit, as long as you're not going to try and get it out after heat treat, and as long as it's position poses no problem to you.

The grit is fine for HT. Lots of makers stop at 40-60 grit, then HT.:eek:

Don't ever be apologetic for a knife you made, as long as it was the best you could do at that time.;) :D

We all started there, and most of us did a lot worse than you. ;)
 
I'd say that looks pretty darn good. Never would have guessed it was your first. No need to get the big scratches out before ht as you'll just have to grind again afterwards. That dent in the tang won't make any difference at all.

Be sure to post some pictures when you git'er'done.
 
The bit won't matter.
I'd say, go ahead and HT now.
It really looks pretty good especially since it's your first knife.

Question....How are you going to get your guard on ? :D
 
peter nap said:
Question....How are you going to get your guard on ? :D
Click to expand...
Something I forgot to mention.

You'd better cut a couple of shoulders in the guard area(for the guard to set on) before HT(just slightly wider than the widest part of the tang), or you'll end up having to have someone grind the tang down, and using it for a mortised tang handle.
 
Mike Hull said:
Something I forgot to mention.

You'd better cut a couple of shoulders in the guard area(for the guard to set on) before HT(just slightly wider than the widest part of the tang), or you'll end up having to have someone grind the tang down, and using it for a mortised tang handle.
Click to expand...

Looks pretty good to me:) If you do as Mike suggest (or if not) you probably need to radius these two sharp corners before heat treating it.
xpqjc

Regards,
Greg
 
Looks pretty darn good to me. I would do the shoulders as suggested above first and the broken bit poses no problem I can think of. If you wish me to HT her for you I'll put you down on the list; you can consider it done - just confirm that before year's end. However, you need to know the only L6 I have HT'd is that within a couple damascus blades - never have done a solid L6 yet. You would be the first so take that into consideration.

EDIT: In reviewing my records I find I have not yet heat treated any L6, damascus or otherwise.

RL
 
Thanks everyone! I am pretty picky about anything I do for myself but I am not going to beat myself up on this. I mean, it would have been in the scrap pile by now if I was making it for someone or for sale. But since I am just learning its all good. Plenty of stuff that I want to try and fix after heat treat.
I feel really stupid and am embarrassed to say this, but what Mike said has completely lost me. I knew I would have to slot the guard wider than the tang so I could get it over the end, but I thought silver solder would be ok to use to take up the extra on the guard? And Greg, do you mean just hit the corner with a round file to make it not so sharp or take out that whole 90 degree on each side? D@nm, all the years on this forum and I still haven't learnt a thing! :rolleyes:
 
No don't do that. You've done a good job so far and filling the gap with solder is a hackers trick. Soldering a well fitted guard is fine, but not a fill job.

This isn't an unusual problem. There have been more ways to fix a guard with coffin handle Bowie's than Carter has pills.

Mikes suggestion of cutting shoulders is the best answer for your first one.
 
I think what Mike is saying is the guard will have to slip over the tang end and the tang end is wider than rest of tang; so file into the back end of ricasso (shoulders of blade, that which drops down to the tang) to a depth close to the thickness of the guard in such a way that the guard will set almost snug into the tang shoulders. You can do it with a flat file.

RL
 
rlinger said:
I think what Mike is saying is the guard will have to slip over the tang end and the tang end is wider than rest of tang; so file into the back end of ricasso (shoulders of blade, that which drops down to the tang) to a depth close to the thickness of the guard in such a way that the guard will set almost snug into the tang shoulders. You can do it with a flat file.

RL
Click to expand...
Exactly! Use a square to make a mark across the tang(top of blade to bottom, or edge side of blade, just in front of the tang) the thickness of your intended guard, then mark a step at right angles to that line to the rear of the tang slightly wider than the points on the rear of your tang, and they should look somewhat like little, slightly irregular squares marked there. File those in to the line you scribed that was the thickness of the guard material running top to bottom.

Making the notches ever so slightly wider than the widest part of the tang will allow the guard to slip over, and the shoulders will allow it to fit flush, and also give the guard joint some strength.

Maybe someone here who can work with MS paint or one of those can put up a drawing to illustrate my crude attempt to describe this.:confused:
 
GOTCHA!!! :) I see now. Dang, wish I would have known that before I got this far! Thanks guys! I am glad ya all said something!!! This is why I posted in the first place! You guys are all some of the best folks I have met in my years of being on different topic forums! :D
Ric
 
Someone who can draw in PS, like Steve Sando, should show this. I can't draw or I would - I can't even draw on graph paper with a ruler and eraser.

Trick that is one fine knife! We can't see all the details you're talking about but let me just say, flat grinding a blade as big as that looks wouldn't be easy for anyone. And I like its looks.

As far as the deep scratches go - everyone's told you not to sweat it before HT... But if I may, I'll go against the general opinion and suggest that grinding is much easier on annealed steel than hardened. With that much mass you're talking about grinding away a lot of hardened steel. I think I'd bite the bullet and get it all to a uniform grit before HT. Just a thought. (Patience is a virtue. ;) )

That's gonna be a fine knife for you to play with! The first of many more, I'm guessing. Be sure to put whatever is appropriate for your maker's mark on it. Too many people don't mark their first work, and I think that's a loss. I have a knife I got off eBay years ago that is obviously one of someone's first efforts but it's a very cool knife anyway; one of my favorites. And it's not marked. That's just too bad. Your knife is your own, and you worked hard to create it. Sign it! Okay?

Keep up the great work, and thanks for sharing.
 
Thanks Dave! I got 'er in my thick skull now. I am going to work on it some after this I think. I think I will grind some more. Maybe to just 220 or something. But enough to get the deeper scratches out. I will mark it somehow, sometime. I want to buy a stamp from everstamp, but will probably build me an electroetch thingy.
Do you guys think copper would be ok for a guard? I have a large bar of copper that would work good size wise. But, my buddy can bring me a thick piece of 304 stainless from his work also.
Thanks again.
 
There's nothing wrong with copper; it has a fine tradition. It's very difficult to solder stainless too...
 
Well, I just found a piece of stainless that he has already given me. I thought they were all smaller than I need. I am going to mess with that. I will see what I can do making a guard before I start filing. Because it is thicker than the piece of copper that I have. I think copper would look pretty good after it has aged some though.
 
Soldering 300 series SS is extremely difficult for even experienced knifemakers, and almost impossible for those less experienced., I've never been able to satifactorily solder it, and use it only for pinned on bolsters.

410, or 416 SS is a bit easier, but I think that maybe copper, or brass, or nickel silver would be a good choice on this one(a lot easier than SS to solder).

Another thing, with the tang issue, I wouldn't use a real thick guard. You would have to notch way in to make it fit, and that would screw up the whole ricasso area.
Best to keep it at 1/8"-3/16" thickness. That will look good, and has historical roots(1/8").
 
Stick with the copper. It is classic for the style profile you have made. Copper is good and enjoys a popular following. Think classic on this one.

RL
 
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