got my steel in today and started working on my FIRTS KNIFE!!!!!

J.McDonald Knives

J.McDonald Knives

Basic Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
2,021
pics will come in about an hour. yesterday i also received my drill bits for my pin stock and also more micarta for handles. im ready to kick this pig and get this knife done. im sure yall are happy to see me finally making a blade. the steel is 1080 @ 1 1/2"x1/8". just making a simple skinning knife i freehand drew with a sharpie. i know thats not the way to do it but i know what its supposed to look like so i didnt really care how crappy i can draw. HEHEHEHE!!!! any last minute advice yall want to give me? HEHEHEHE!!!
 
That's awesome. I just got some money and will likely go get some O1 tomorrow to start grinding some serious knives.

Can't wait to see your work.

Charles
 
well here it is cut out and cleaned up mostly. i just have it at 60 grit right now. what yall think so far?

FirstKnife1.jpg

FirstKnife2.jpg


im taking a break right now to cool off cause it just rained this morning so its friggin humid and my face shield is starting to fog up and have sweat drops on it. im going to do a tecnique i learned from Johnny Stout and HT the blade before putting on the bevels. that way it doesnt warp on me.
 
You might want to drill your holes first.

Don't swish the blade side-to-side in your oil or you'll find you can still warp it.
 
It doesn't matter so much. Remember to countersink them slightly to remove the burr. You just don't want to count on the tang being soft enough to drill after HT.

There is little sense going past about a 120 grit belt since you are not planning on using a protective coating like PBC. It will come out scaled and need complete grinding. Even 60 will work. Make sure there are no deep scratches around the edges left over from the angle-grinder steps.

I personally always make sure the scratches run with the edge, not across it. May not make any difference whatsoever, but when I started that long ago it made sense. Lost back in the fog, now.

If you HT tonight, make sure and remember to have your oven set so you can temper immediately. Don't forget to ckeck your hardness with the file to make sure it worked first. Knock a little scale off the edge on the grinder of need be to get to good steel, test it, then toss in the oven.

Hope that helps.

Have fun. I've got a HT furnace to go program.
 
I say cut the tang at the end in a
__________
>_________ looking thing and then have a recessed cone cut out in the handle.

Looks nice. What are you using for a handle?
 
im going to be HTing it in my gas forge. also im doing all the work on the blade with my 1x30. i cut out the rough shaped with my angle grinder and steady hands and cleaned that up and got it closer with the bench grinder and then got the rest of the shape with my 1x30. even on a small blade like this ive already had to put on a second belt to clean it up a little more. this is going to be fun....... HEHEHEHE!!!! but im going to be so proud of it when im done. i cant wait. ill keep yall updated.
 
Caden_Vekk said:
I say cut the tang at the end in a
__________
>_________ looking thing and then have a recessed cone cut out in the handle.

Looks nice. What are you using for a handle?
Click to expand...

im using micarta. i have red and black linen scales in 1/8", black linen scales in 1/4", and green canvas scales. im planning on using the red scales. i have enough scales to make 7 knives. to apply them im going to just use the flex coat epoxy i have since i know its still good. it may be designed for rod building, fly tying, and lure making but it will surely work for applying scales. just dont know how long it will last. after my knife is finished im going to take it to the leather store and hand it to the guy and say make me a sheath that compliments this knife and maybe something to commerate it being my first knife.
 
OK Jake,
You do play around (smile)
Nice grinds so far......Hey if you can't drill due to hardening....get a solid carbide drillbit.....to heck with too hard......
Just don't get out in your backyard....you might trip on a variety of something and not be able to grind "no more" for awhile....(smile)
Keep on going!!!!!!
 
John R. Fraps said:
....Hey if you can't drill due to hardening....get a solid carbide drillbit.....to heck with too hard......
Click to expand...

Yeap, but sorta costly...I got a 3/32" and 1/4" HiRoc in from MSC today that total $46 for the two. :)
 
PimpinSquee said:
i already planned on it. should i drill them now or after i get it to 320 or 400?
Click to expand...


When you get that one done put that one in a drawer and start another one. In about one year take that one out of the drawer and compare it with what you're doing now. Remember most of the knives you doing now will be kinfolk knives but thats to be expected at first. So far it looks good. I would like to recommend you to drill all your holds before attempting any type of heat treating process. Have a successful learning day. A+----------For Effort----:thumbup:
 
I started messing around with forging A2 last year and had a hell of a time drilling holes. After trying a variety of carbide bits, I settled on tile cutter bits for a Fordham tool used it the drill press. Keep spraying on WD-40 and burn your way through.
 
well i ordered 5 of the jobbers cobalt bits. i just drilled 2 holes in the tang and i didnt have any probs with them. thanks for the advice and compliments guys. i plan to get back out there and grind on this some more. i would like to appologize to those who thought i was slacking off on making a blade. like i have stated before i like to do things the right way. another reason why i wanted to wait for this steel to come in. i wasnt procrastinating, i was just waiting on the right stuff to work on.
 
Good job so far,
If you're really worried about drill bits go to a local machinne shop and have one of the guys teach you how to sharpen drills. Don't buy a drill doctor.
Its a lot easier than it sounds, just like evrything else it takes practice. I was talking with Wayne Whittaker about this the other day and I told him I had just sharpened a 1/16" bit. He told me if I could do that and drill a hole with it, then I didn't need anymore practice, I was there already. Its easier than grinding bevels, I can tell you that much. And you can sharpen cobalts and even carbide if you are patient. I've even taken broken bits and ground them flat and then resharpened the point.
Although, I do still need practice on mantaining the angle of the point. I mostly buy 118 and 135 degree drills, but somehow they always turn into 90 degree points after I'm done.
Del
 
well i bought 5 incase i lose one somehow since they are soo small. after i drilled the holes from eyeballing them i checked the distance of them from both edges of the handle and using my digital calipers i have them dead center within .002". if im lying im dying. since my auto punch is a cheap crap one that wont make a starting point on annealed 1080 if my life depended on it i just decided to go slow starting out and had no wobble and got it in there beautifully. after i do some more grinding on it ill post pics of it with the holes drilled.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top