First time making a knife WIP

O.k. so, I received WW first two knives of 01 to heat treat in the mail this evening. I was as anxious as any of you to see these pieces and honored that he involved me to help work on them. So, I got them out of the box and upon first inspection was very impressed. I had a few concerns/questions so I decided before I did anything it was only right to talk to the craftsman himself. We spoke via a phone call and I think we have a clear instruction of where we go from here.
The stock he chose is 1/8 of a inch thick. Not a thing wrong with that, but if I was to nit pick one thing he did wrong was using that stock. Its very hard to learn how to grind folks when there's no room for error. For his first efforts, he pulled it off very well, a little thinner than what I would like as far having to heat treat but think I can pull it off. I know he wants to experiment with different steels, but (and I haven't told him this) I am going to send him a piece of thicker 01 to play with so he can get a more forgiving feel for his grinding.
Stay tuned folks, I'll get them turned around as fast as I can.......... good job WW. I'll do my best to do your work justice.
 
TMHunt said:
O.k. so, I received WW first two knives of 01 to heat treat in the mail this evening. I was as anxious as any of you to see these pieces and honored that he involved me to help work on them. So, I got them out of the box and upon first inspection was very impressed. I had a few concerns/questions so I decided before I did anything it was only right to talk to the craftsman himself. We spoke via a phone call and I think we have a clear instruction of where we go from here.
The stock he chose is 1/8 of a inch thick. Not a thing wrong with that, but if I was to nit pick one thing he did wrong was using that stock. Its very hard to learn how to grind folks when there's no room for error. For his first efforts, he pulled it off very well, a little thinner than what I would like as far having to heat treat but think I can pull it off. I know he wants to experiment with different steels, but (and I haven't told him this) I am going to send him a piece of thicker 01 to play with so he can get a more forgiving feel for his grinding.
Stay tuned folks, I'll get them turned around as fast as I can.......... good job WW. I'll do my best to do your work justice.
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One of my favorite quotes on BF. A++ for customer service!
 
Thank you very much Todd!

One of my biggest problems, with almost everything i do, is i get excited and jump on things without fully thinking them out first. I have always been the "act now think later" type and its caused a world a problems for me LOL. Before i even had these 2 ready for HT i had already ordered up 8 feet of steel thats also 1/8" thick stock... Which is great if im filing them, but i quickly found out id prefer thicker stock on the grinder.

Like you said there is no room for error with thinner stock, which is a problem when your new and going to have errors. On the smaller one i spent more time trying to fix my mistakes from grinding the bevels than i did grinding the bevels. In the end it was paper thin and no way to put steel back on it.

I think from now on ill order 3/16" until i get a much better feel for what im doing!

I appreciate the help and the comments, have to say i was embarrassed even sending them to you because i have seen first hand the great knives you make... Hell i expected you to look at them like what is this crap LMAO... I have so very much to learn still but its nice to hear from someone with your talent that even though they are NO where near perfect that they are not as bad as i thought for my first attempts.

Really appreciate it brother, I look forward to seeing them after HT and learning how to improve from these!

Richard
 
O.k. so, got WW Heat treat close to finished tonight. They are in the draw oven as I type this. So far everything has gone well. I was a little concerned about how thin they where. 01 seems to like a little extra stock on its bones during the HT process to avoid warping. The smaller one for some reason needed a little straightening before the oven. Think I got them about the best I can get them.

They are thin blades, I told WW I wouldn't suggest battoning or prying with these. (As if I would for other blades ;)) but these two will be slicing fools once the edge is put on.

They checked at a very brittle 63 point RC. With as thin as they are I'm aiming for a 57-58 RC. Working on that now.

Enough of my drivel...... here's some pics.

Waiting for the oven to heat up.


Oil getting to temp







 
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Awesome!! Just awesome!!!!

Thanks man for everything you are doing bud! You work QUICK!!!!

I love the pictures and really appreciate them as well, in fact the one with the blade glowing red will be my screensaver LOL

Very generous of you for doing this, means a lot brother!!
 
So, life's little duties have kept me out of the shop for a couple days. Now, back to business. First, lets finish up WW projects. I was shooting for a RC of 57 on these two pieces. I would usually shoot a couple of points higher especially on the smaller knife. but these where a little thin so I thought a conservative 57 might keep them from ending up as handmade screwdrivers after the tips broke off. Lol.
I think I nailed it pretty well.






I also managed to get a little warp out of them which isn't the easiest thing to do with thinner stuff, but all and all. WW, your good man! My work is done here, I'll get them packaged and back to you ASAP. Good job man. :thumbup:
 
Very cool. Also thanks for the pics. I have been wondering how the hardness number was determined.
 
Thats Awesome Todd!!!

Thank you very much for the help brother, really appreciate it man!!

I cant wait to see how they perform once they are finished up!! Ill get some handles done up then put the edges put on them an start slicing crap up :D
 
Knives are back from HT now, Todd did a great job and really turned them around FAST!! Really appreciate it bud!!!

Now ill start working on the handles and get them finished up!!

Since i dont have any experience making handles im going to start out trying to do the first ones handle out of a cheaper oak hobby board. Depending on how i do with it ill do the 2nd ones handle out of Madagascar ebony.

I picked up one of the cheap HF scroll saws so that will be used on making the handle. Then sanding by hand.
 
Started hand sanding the HT scale off, and practiced cutting out my first set of scales. Figured id get a picture before i keep going with it.

The scale on the right was my first attempt at cutting out a scale. And i cut the top finger groove out too deep. Second one on the left i did a better job staying on the lines. Ill make up another set. I could keep the 2nd one, but i want more practice before i start cutting on more expensive wood so ill do up another set just for the extra practice.

15403286730_6610c68249.jpg
 
worldwood said:
Started hand sanding the HT scale off, and practiced cutting out my first set of scales. Figured id get a picture before i keep going with it.

The scale on the right was my first attempt at cutting out a scale. And i cut the top finger groove out too deep. Second one on the left i did a better job staying on the lines. Ill make up another set. I could keep the 2nd one, but i want more practice before i start cutting on more expensive wood so ill do up another set just for the extra practice.

15403286730_6610c68249.jpg
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Keep your scales slightly over sized then put the pins in and shape while pinned. Helps keep everything lined up and avoids under sizing like with what you did. If you do that, you really can't take off too much material.
 
You will want to get your scales flat, then drill the pin holes, then start shaping the scales.

Making a fitted scale before drilling the pin holes is like building a house and then trying to set it on a foundation. ;)

I did this tutorial several years ago for some guys that bought blade blanks from me. I did it with a minimal amount of equipment because that's what they had. It's VERY simple and is quite different than how I normally would do things in my shop...but it might help you out a little. :)

http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/nw1/scales1.htm
 
Harden Knives said:
Keep your scales slightly over sized then put the pins in and shape while pinned. Helps keep everything lined up and avoids under sizing like with what you did. If you do that, you really can't take off too much material.
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Thanks for the tip!!

I drew them out slightly oversized, but on the first attempt cutting them out i didnt take that turn slow enough and i went too far with the cut. But thats why i started with cheaper oak boards.

I guess on the next set i can put a pin in them just leave it sticking out an extra inch or so... I still want to be able to remove them and this way i can pull the pins with pliers... I plan on using different wood as scales and im just practicing with this wood for now.
 
NickWheeler said:
You will want to get your scales flat, then drill the pin holes, then start shaping the scales.

Making a fitted scale before drilling the pin holes is like building a house and then trying to set it on a foundation. ;)

I did this tutorial several years ago for some guys that bought blade blanks from me. I did it with a minimal amount of equipment because that's what they had. It's VERY simple and is quite different than how I normally would do things in my shop...but it might help you out a little. :)

http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/nw1/scales1.htm
Click to expand...

Thank you for the link, that is a great write up!! Will come in handy!!
 
Hand sanded them for a while then soaked them in vinegar for several hours then went back to hand sanding for a little bit.

Next, I soaked them in a ferric chloride solution for a while to give them a nice dark etch.

Now ill stonewash the small one. And probably stonewash the big one tomorrow.

15599016312_4d9be3a5c1.jpg
 
Damn WW, those are looking nice and clean.
 
What do you think looks better? Should i keep them like that, or etch them back dark again?
 
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