First integral WIP

[drewfacehotm]

I know I don't post a whole lot , so I'll give a little info about myself. I am a full time machinist w/ about 9 years experience, about 3/4 of it on manuals doing oilfield work. I started making knife when i was about 13 from there i always had an interest in milling machines which got me to where i am today. When i started working a regular job the knife-making was phased out, about two years ago i wanted to start making knives again so i built a new grinder, lit up the forge and started hammering away, well turning all those dials gave me carpal tunnel syndrome in both my hands so swinging a hammer didn't last long, started to build an air hammer, then ultimately decided stock removal would be best.

I got 10 regular blades just about ready for handles and was itching to try an integral, i always wanted to do one but never had access to a mill, now i do and a really cool boss that lets me use the shop for different projects i have. I started off with a 1.5"x .75"x 8" piece off A2 i got as a drop from ebay. I laid it out in blue and started cutting.This is what i got done tonight. All I have left is to profile and grind it to size.

 

[Southclaw]

Nice. I can see a knife hidding in that steel. Bring it out.

 

[drewfacehotm]

Thanks, i should have some more pics by the end of the week.

 

[Salem Straub]

Cool, I do integrals by hand and always wanted to try it with a mill. I'll be watching this to see what you do. Thanks.

 

[type00rev]

Subscribed!

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Cool man. I just finished up an old integral project. I went into it thinking "how hard can it be, I'm a machinist"

...good lord...

It will be cool to see how this turns out. I love integrals.

 

[drewfacehotm]

It takes a little bit of laying out and planning, I'm working on two of them, same handle different blades, had to scribe my lines for where i wanted the top of the radius to end and stay off enough when roughing for the ball end to make the radius. The first three sides i miscalculated (I calculated the number the day before and remembered it wrong) and had to take more off to get to size. Polishing the ricasso is the only thing i think I'll have trouble with. For the handles I'm just gonna mount a router round over bit that matches the radius i put. Tomorrow morning I'll finish up the profile.

 

[drewfacehotm]

Made a small wheel attachment this morning to polish in side the radius, next step is to grind the blade bevels, maybe drill some holes in the tang to lighten it up. After i get this ready I got a few sub hilt fighters and 2 short choppers to get ready for heat treat so i can send all this stuff to the heat-treater together.

I made the small wheel too, pressed a piece of uhmw on a 3/8" rod and turned the ends down to .250" to fit some little bearings. Works pretty good, i might make another wheel and make a small radius platen so i don't groove the blades when i finish the radius in the riccasso. The uhmw makes a lot of static, got zapped quite a bit today, not bad but really annoying.

 

[Salem Straub]

That's how I made my small wheel, too...

I also want to make a small radius platen, that would really help to speed up making integrals with tapered tangs.

The knives are looking good so far.

 

[drewfacehotm]

Thanks, i saw on here a while back someone had made their small wheel like that, very simple but it works really well. i might make my platen next weekend with a bigger bottom wheel.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

There are several ways to eliminate the static. First, try spraying the small wheel and surrounding area with static guard spray.

If that does not take care of it, make a static strap. Cut a 12" pieces of ball chain and a three foot piece. Put a 1 meg resistor in between the two pieces. Put a small magnet on the long end and a copper strip about 1X2" on the other. I used one of those round magnets with a clip for notes on the refrigerator door. I took off the clip and attached the chain. Attach the magnet to your grinder. Drop the copper strip in your pocket or tuck it in your waist band. This will eliminate all static discharges between you and the grinder. If you need to walk away from the grinder, just remove the magnet and then re-attach it when you come back. If you forget, it will pull off by itself. I clip the magnet to the buckle on my leather apron when away from the grinder.

 

[drewfacehotm]

i might try that, i noticed today i went out in my worn out slip on shoes with no socks and it didn't shock me at all, just stinky feet :barf: