Haven't been around much lately...

Hey, Dan, I was just looking at these again, and I noticed something I hadn't noticed before. Do you think there is a potential for stress risers at the transition from blade to tang? Should those angles be more radiused? I know next to nothing about these things, but that doesn't stop me from posting:rolleyes: .
--Josh
 
They will be slightly, after I finish filing them down. There's still a little work to do there... :p

However, one thing to keep in mind is that the tang is almost as thick right there as it is wide. Also, fortunately, that part is not hardened...;) Should cut down on the "snap...oops...there goes my knife..." a little bit. :D


btw, it's red dye, not blood....


or maybe I should just say it's blood, sweat and tears and keep it at that...*groan* nah...nobody'd believe I was a "tough guy"...:(
 
Just curious, but, I read/was told somewhere that it was not a good idea to make a sharp right angle where the tang meets the blade. As I remember it was better to make a round or radiused junction, to keep from breaking the tang off at the blade. Is this right, or is this just another blademakes reasoning?
 
Originally posted by Seabee17
As I remember it was better to make a round or radiused junction, to keep from breaking the tang off at the blade. Is this right, or is this just another blademakes reasoning?
Click to expand...

I read the same advice (don't know if you read it or heard it, but that same advice got to me through a book) in Goddard's "$50 Knife Shop" book. The reasoning giving was that radiused blades dispersed force better. Since then, I saw a Cold Steel bowie without its kraton handle and it had 90 angles in its tang. I'm told that, aside from the crappy handle, the Cold Steel Trailmaster is a very tough knife. Though I'd like to criticize Mr. Thompson for everything from squared tangs to Strawberry Quik, I'm inclined to believe a radiused tang isn't always a must-have in a strong knife.

Hope I was intelligible.

Mr. Koster,

Is www.pendentive.biz up and running? It looked a little odd.
 
I agree/disagree based on the following:

I agree that an abrupt angle is more likely to start a crack than a radiussed one.

However, given the thickness and heaviness of these tangs, I don't get too crazy about radiussing them. I just use a half-flattened file to round it down and then file the ferrule appropriately.

sheesh...and all this time, I thought for sure someone would be pointing out that fact that the shoulder lines "don't match"...that is, I ground them at more of a "V" compared to the tang...;)

Of course, all this is done with purpose...:D
 
Thom - the website in its current state is a "dummy/front" for the blade work I do, and for the Humanities classes I teach...:D (got my hands into everything, I tell ya...)


anecdote:

In order to make the top blade, I had to whack about 2.5 inches off the end of the file. This was no simple task! I destroyed a bimetal bandsaw blade, ruined a bimetal hacksaw blade, and finally out of frustration, put the darned thing in a vice and hit it with a heavy hammer - very hard! - for about 3 minutes. Got out my father-in-law's tooling chisel (for steel) and give it a few dozen whacks... nothing....didn't budge at all! I won't reveal what I did to cut it down to size, but it was one step shy of calling lightning down from the sky...:rolleyes: :footinmou

Anyway, long story short - if it would have broken, or if it had been brittle, it would have cracked the first time I used the hammer on it. Frankly, I'm not worried about it. Stainless steels, thinner steels, yes, I'd be worried...but these things are 1/4" thick and practically nuke-proof...ok, maybe that's taking it a bit too far...:D:footinmou
 
Two things: FWIW the kamis don't radius the tang transitions on khukuris; and as far as cutting file steel goes, you might want to try a cutoff wheel instead of saw blades.

-Dave
 
In addition to a cut off blade there is a round carbide impregnated blade that will cut through most anything.:D
I use them for cutting Pipe Stone aka Catlinite.
 
Originally posted by pendentive
Nice to see ya, Dave!

Yes, I desperately need a cutoff wheel. However, I'm too stubborn to get one. In the meantime, I'm saving up my pennies and dimes for one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37151
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Dan it would be an excellent idea to see if you can find out what kind of winding the motor has on the bandsaw.
We had a similar one in a shop I worked in and the motor finally went. It took some doing to replace the motor as it wasn't a standard application. We were going to get the motor rewound but couldn't as it had aluminum windings.:(
Even though it my be alright for a hobby machine.:)
 
By golly Dan, all these fellers are right, 61 RC is way too hard (even though the Leukku blades made by KJ Eriksson of Mora Sweden are tempered to 60 RC, and if a Leukku ain't a "campe knife" Tsimi ain't a duck). And just what were you thinking knucklehead, when you didn't give them tang shoulders a nice, curvy, radius at the ricasso juncture? You wantin' somebody to get hurt? Tell you what, best pack them things up and mail 'em to me for safe keeping.(grin)

By the way, while I was home in Florida I found myself in this huge antique store, and while my daughter was browsing around looking at what-nots I did some browsing of my own. Picked up a sweeeet horn handled, Sheffield made, straight razor for SIX BUCKS. But that's not the best of it. In one booth I found what could only have been an old machinist's tool chest, and came away from there with a whole hand ful of nice old (really old) Nicholson files!!! Yabba Dabba Doo!

Sarge
 
Sarge,
Great to hear from you! I know I'm not the only forumite who's missed your posts, and figured you were off in some godforsaken hellhole of combat. And you were in Florida! Don't do this to us, bro. Check in when you can, and the Guinness is on me when you can make it to River City.
Berk
 
Dan I have been to the Harbor Freight store here in Atlanta and looked at that very bandsaw. I think that it would be good for most purposes. I am now using a Dewalt angle grinder with cut off wheels to rough out stuff. One thing that you might want to consider since you are using files at this point, in regards to the cut off wheels at least, is that they get the area that you cut really stinking hot. I mean really hot. The area near the cuts would have it's hardness effected without a doubt. Just something to throw out there. Oh and I feel this needs to be said. I am just getting started making knives myself and can't imagine doing the grinds on the kris blade that Dan did. If you can do that now Dan and keep the grinds that even and well done...then you owe us all the pleasure of watching as you keep turning out great blades. I think anyone that has put a piece of steel to a belt sander or grind stone would agree that a kris blade would not be something that most makers could/would make. It is that difficult. Add the fact that you haven't been doing this for very long and it becomes stunning. Keep up the good work. Mark
 
Well, if you already have a grinding wheel, you can probably just put a big cutoff wheel on that, I suppose?:confused:

And that kris _is_ impressive. I would be pretty scared of making it in wood, let alone metal...

-Dave
 
Originally posted by pendentive
Thom - the website in its current state is a "dummy/front" for the blade work I do, and for the Humanities classes I teach...:D (got my hands into everything, I tell ya...)

I won't reveal what I did to cut it down to size, but it was one step shy of calling lightning down from the sky...

Stainless steels, thinner steels, yes, I'd be worried...but these things are 1/4" thick and practically nuke-proof...ok, maybe that's taking it a bit too far...
Click to expand...

Are you related to a Joseph Koster who lives in New England? Although he has not divulged any knowledge of bladesmithing or complex grinds, he's a renaissance man.

I won't press for your blademaking secrets. However, I will look forward to pictures of your current and future works.
 
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