How to get clay to stick?

Thanks again for all your comments. Since typing the last reply, I tried the AP stuff again, and again, and again, crack, crack, crack. It wasn't me, or my technique. It was the mortar/cement itself. I went looking around town for a subsitute, and came across Rutland's black fireplace repair mortar. It was SO much easier to work with. It applied very nicely, and quickly, and evenly, and cracklessly. Oh that's not a word? When it dried, it dried perfectly. No cracks, no problems at all. I did notice one thing that CAN be more of a problem with the black Rutlands mortar (mine came in the caulk tube...no tubs were available), and it was mentioned already......be careful with air bubbles. I noticed that it is extremely easy to trap air between two "layers". Once dried, it dried nice and hard, solid and even. The spine width is about .110", and that's about how thick my "clay" is on each side. I should be good to go. I was concerned that the black mortar might not perform as well as the other materials, satanite for example, but I'm confident it will work. I can't wait to get the heat treat done, I hope to have time this week! Rest assured I'll let you know how it went, with pics. Thanks again for all of your kind advice.
 
Well, I'm reporting back in. Did the heat treat yesterday!!! It worked!!!! My first hamon, my second knife. I was using, please don't fire back at me...I don't have a forge (yet), a charcoal fire with my 1080+ steel. I didn't wait till dark, which was my original plan. I should have.....but that aside.....still a success, and I'm happy happy happy! Covering my fire to cast a shadow, I could see the red climb from tip to ricasso. I mistakenly ground the tip too thin, and I was afraid of overheating the tip while waiting for the "red" to go all the way back towards the tang. Consequently, my hamon falls off before it gets to the ricasso, so there is a fraction of an inch near the choil that didn't get as hard. However, the tip and edge are screeeeeeeeaming hard. I didn't bother to do a temper, being that it's diff treated. I've heard yes and no. I decided no. I probably will next time. So.....the knife came out of the quench (canola oil 130f) just fine (my edge was way too thin.....but it didn't crack...no cracks that I can see or feel!!!). And the black mortar repair worked like a champ!!!! The hamon followed (besides the part that I didn't heat enough) my clay line exacly (I didn't put any pattern to it....just a straight line for my first attempt). I'm working on hand sanding, at 600 right now, and without an etch yet, you can REALLY see the line. I'm sorry, I'm so excited. Forgive my crazy interjections and ramblings. So, just out of the quench, I'm knocking the "clay" off the blade with my fingers, when quess what happens? Yep....I dropped it. Slow motion like....I was puckering up! It hit point first on the linoleum tiled floor. It bent the point just very slightly, about .015". And that steel is coming off when it gets the edge anyway. You can barely notice it now. As I said, the tip and edge are just rock hard, so the point being BARELY BARELY bent when I dropped it.......again...I'm thrilled. My second knife with hacksaws, files, sandpaper, dremel tool, hand drill, outdoor fire, high powered desk fan, canola oil. So cool. I absolutley love this hobby. My next step is to take a pic of the knife for you guys....and eventually build a cheapo forge! Mr Burke, you're absolutely right. The clay was too thick. I heard the clay is supposed to be the thickness of your blade on each side, but it was too thick (over 1/10"). You can really tell while hand sanding that it is soft and the edge is real hard. Maybe too soft, but this is a small knife, only about 3.5" blade, for slicing.

If I may, I would like to thank you ALL on this forum. A big hearty THANK YOU! I knew nothing of making knives a few years ago. I know even less now! (Not really, but the more you learn, the more you realize what you don't know). But I went from nothing, to making my first knife, and really really impressing my friends and family, simply by reading the questions, replies, how-to's, watching vidoes, surfing forums, asking a few questions of my own, and visiting custom maker's websites. I think the ONE thing that really pushed me over the edge, to go ahead and TRY to make a knife, was a video I saw on youtube of a guy making a knife out of an old file, annealing it, grinding and shaping it, hardening and tempering it, and finishing it with a wood handle. He used a camp fire fueled with charcoal and a carpet fan (I don't really remember his air source), and motor oil for the quench. Seems like he used a propane torch to do a temper (not sure on that one either...it's been awhile).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top