First WIP thread

[JGarrison Knives]

This is CPM 3V about .17 thick. The knife is about 11.5" over all. Do you guys go all the way up with the plunge line before heat treat or is this far enough?

 

[The_cutting_edge]

If that is as far up as you want it to go then it's good enough, it wont make any difference for HT. what you should be concerned with is edge thickness. too thin it could warp, and if too thick it wont cut as well as it could. since this blade is stainless you can go a bit thinner than a dime (about 1 mm) and come out fine. normaly there is not alot of cleanup needed after HT on stainless (in my experiance with the HT'r I use) so I grind almost to final dimensions and set my grind lines where I want them. when they get back to me it's a quick pass or two on each side with a 500 grit belt then hand sanding.
I like your profile BTW the grind lines look a bit wobbly at the top but decent too. make sure to post pix of the finished product.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

Thanks, still working on my lines. Tempted to get a jig type set up but Ill keep trying by hand.

 

[james terrio]

Try draw-filing to get those bevels straightened out and finish it to at least 400 grit before HT. Hardened 3V is no fun at all to work on.

3V isn't stainless, by the way; it only has 7 or 8% chromium if memory serves. It does resist corrosion pretty well with a smooth finish, though... similar to D2 in that regard. Anyway it will come out of HT without much scale if it's wrapped properly, so there won't be a lot of clean-up needed.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

What kind of files do you suggest for draw filing?

 

[james terrio]

Flat ones Seriously, it depends mainly on how much material you need to remove. Here is a good article describing the various types of files and how aggressively each tooth pattern cuts. You probably don't need to use a double-cut file on those, since they're pretty close to where you want them. Try a bastard or 2nd cut file first. Wider files are a bit easier to control than narrower ones, for this purpose. The Nicholson "Handy File" is indeed handy to have around, since it has single cut on one side and a double-cut pattern on the other.

This link works well to use google to search BladeForums. Enter "draw-filing" and I'm sure you'll get lots of threads on the topic.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

Got these back from heat treat yesterday and this is what Ive done so far. This is the better side, the other sides have a couple small issues that need cleaning up.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

I havent had a chance to draw file yet but I have a couple smaller ones Im going to give it a try on.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

They turned out ok I think.

 

[mgysgthath]

I like em ! I like the handle to ricasso transition too, the angularity of it.

 

[JGarrison Knives]

Thanks, one of the things Ive learned with these are grip size. I used 3/8th mircarta figuring Id want these handles to be a little thicker while not putting into account larger width of the tang. So the handles are a little beefier then Id thought they would be but are still comfortable. My hands small to medium.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

You can probably make those a little more comfortable for yourself if you add some extra contouring where your first and fourth fingers lie, so you end up with palm and pommel swells. I use the roller on a 4x36 sander to do most of the preliminary shaping for those contours.