First Knife! Picture Heavy.

[Don Nguyen]

I have been studying how to make a knife for about one year, and I've finally had the opportunity to do so. This knife initially was not supposed to be finished; it was made as a feeler, to see how the process goes. I decided to finish it.

Forged from a file. Deferentially heated martempered with brine; also deferentially tempered. Satin finish at 600 grit, maple burl handle, sharpened by hand on waterstones.

I thought about taking pictures to show the best of it and hide the worst But I chose to show the knife in full colors, good and bad.

Thanks for looking!

 

[R. Mark Lee]

For a first knife that rocks! It looks like a very functional design to me, like a mini chef knife. There is definitely way more right with the knife then there is wrong. Keep up the good work.

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Knice knife...you did a fine job!

 

[woodzman]

That's a very nice looking first knife!

 

[Don Nguyen]

Last picture didn't get through.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I learned a heckofalot from this one, and will have my next ones finished some time in the somewhat near future

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Nice Gyuto.
Can you explain the martempering in brine?

 

[Don Nguyen]

The idea was to soak it a little bit above critical, about 1475, and then quench it as it passed back through critical (but before the recalescence point). The quench would have to be very quick, getting it from about 1400 to 900 in under a second. I'm pretty sure, however, that in just the blink-of-an-eye quench that I did, it already was much cooler than 900; brine is ridiculously fast.

From 900 I bring it to 450 within a minute or two, and then from 450 to about 130 in 15 minutes for the martensite transformation.

I did a pretty shoddy job of it, because I have no idea what temperature I soaked it at, what temperature it was before and after the quench, and how long it took to get from x degree to y degree.

Also, I only wish it were a gyuto; it's a small paring knife. It was supposed to be a bit bigger than that, but messing up on grinds shrunk it several times...

 

[Will52100]

Good looking knife, and I know what you mean by shrinking, I've turned a few bowies into hunters before!

 

[steveo83]

I like it a lot, nice work!