How do i leave scale on the finished blade?

S

soft_cranberry

Joined
Apr 16, 2023
Messages
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I love the rustic look of knives that leaving the scale? on gives some knives. How is it done?
Leave it on after hammer work?
Or
do i grind as usual and Leave it on after HT and tempering?
Or
Leave it on for the entire process then just brush it off and oil it?
Im really not sure how they get that “smooth” but rough black look.
I’m having trouble posting an image. But here’s a link to what I’m talking about.
https://freeimage.host/i/HU9Ucu9
 
What I do is finish to 400grit HT then just put an edge on it.
Depends on the steel HT method and quench to what finish you get.
D2 takes a great HT finish. Look at some of Greg Medfords work.
5160 in an oil quick dip followed by water edge quench finish work really cool, but takes practice.
Unwrapped SS comes out sweet but again it is a combination of steel finish grit and HT method.
Share some of your successes and failures with all the details, to help everybody
 
Hankins said:
What I do is finish to 400grit HT then just put an edge on it.
Depends on the steel HT method and quench to what finish you get.
D2 takes a great HT finish. Look at some of Greg Medfords work.
5160 in an oil quick dip followed by water edge quench finish work really cool, but takes practice.
Unwrapped SS comes out sweet but again it is a combination of steel finish grit and HT method.
Share some of your successes and failures with all the details, to help everybody
Click to expand...
What would u recommend doing for 1095,. To get that forge scale finish look?
 
The forge scale look is achieved during forging. And assuming the blade is forged with the appropriate taper, you simply avoid grinding the forged area


3xe7xR5.jpg
 
Usually if you just leave the blade especially high carbon uncoated the HT will leave plenty of scale.
If you want more "Character" beat on it with the ball end of a ball peen hammer pre HT...OR hit it with the edge of your belt
 
I have several ball pein/peen hammers with tips from 1/8" to 1" They also have different curvatures (not all a circular radius. The smaller ones have carbide balls in the head like straightening hammers. When using a ball pein make sure the ball is sanded and polished to a high shine. It will leave smooth divots that way. After working the blade to nearly the taper you want pickle the blade to remove the scale and brush it off well. Heat again to forging temperature and use the ball pein to add the "Tsuchime" hammer marks. Tsuchime means "hammer finish" in Japanese. The ones that look like it was done with a heavy hand and a big ball pein don't look nearly as good as ones done with a lighter hand and various curvature and size peins. Tuschime looks very good on san-mai knives.

If you want a more rustic kurouchi or "brute de forge" finish, just forge it out and leave the scale on. After HT pickle off the worst of the scale and leave the upper portion as is when grinding. A fine nickle wire brush on a buffer will add some luster to the rough surface without taking away the dark look. A soak in FC will darken the kurouchi before the final sanding/sharpening steps.

I am not a fan of leaving all the forge scale on the knife as it looks unfinished and dirty to me. I prefer pickling all the scale off, wire brushing the surface, and then adding back the dark color during HT. A knife with rough scale would also not be good for kitchen use.
 
Yeah, remove the rough scale. It can trap moisture under it.
I usually wire wheel after heat treatment. I then rub the entire blade with some food grade wax when i'm done, so that gets into the forge texture too. I haven't found any problems with it rusting.
I haven't done that yet for the one above
 
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