I'm almost finished with my first knife...

clemsonreeder

clemsonreeder

Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
176
I posted a little while back so here's the update. I made my own propane forge which will get plenty hot enough. I practiced with some mild steel a few times first before HT my blade. I quenched in 130F veg oil. Tempered for an hour at just under 400F. The handle material is my own homemade micarta made from an old pair of khaki pants. The pins are brass and the lanyard hole liner is a .38 special shell casing. I performed a brass rod test w/ 1/8" brass rod and it appears my edge is too soft.:(:confused: Unfortunately i figured this out AFTER i am almost finished the knife....lessoned learned. Any suggestions for better results in the future?

I apologize for the poor pictures.


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the mycarta is great, the blade and handle are well balanced, looks great
 
The problem with practicing on mild steel to achieve your heat treat is that you have to heat to different temeratures for different steels. If you are using a magnet to test temp, then that's better, but with many steels, the temperature that achieves non-magnetic is slightly lower than the temp required for full hardening.

I've heat treated all of my knives (given, not all that many) in a propane forge using the magnet test. I'll bring the knives up to temp and then soak a few minutes longer, trying not to bring the temerature up too high. Lots of adjusting the gas flow and moving the blade in and out trying to keep it non-magnetic, but not over cook the steel.

As you can see, it's a trial and error thing. That's why I'm building a HT oven :). Better to practice on scraps of the steel you are using for your blade to get more consistant in your HT.

--nathan
 
I would finish it up and do some endurance cutting before ruling it out as too soft. IMO, the brass rod test is somewhat vague. My second knife passed the brass rod test, but didnt hold an edge any better than any other knife I had.
 
What is the steel you used?
I've made knives for over 30 years out of reclaimed junk yard steel and never had many problems. Then I decided to start making a finer quality of knife and bought a truck load of new O-1. My first knife almost went in to the recycle bin because I thought I had botched the hardening. What I had missed was the decarbing of the surface. I found that I have about .003" of soft, decarbed steel that once sanded off leaves a fine hardened blade under.
Just something to check before you through in the towel.
 
Hey Clemsonreeder, thanks for posting that link on how to make micarta. That makes my fingers itch to try it. One question about Micarta.......do you work it like wood with belt sanders and sandpaper and buffers, or does it take any special tools?

I think I want to try and rehandle a factory knife I have. I was thinking alternating layers of od green and khaki.

That tutorial you linked for doing hidden tang handles looks like just the ticket.

That is what makes this site so great. Thanks.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Hey Clemsonreeder, thanks for posting that link on how to make micarta. That makes my fingers itch to try it. One question about Micarta.......do you work it like wood with belt sanders and sandpaper and buffers, or does it take any special tools?

I think I want to try and rehandle a factory knife I have. I was thinking alternating layers of od green and khaki.

That tutorial you linked for doing hidden tang handles looks like just the ticket.

That is what makes this site so great. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Micarta is great to work with- as long as you don't breathe the dust. It files beautifully and tends to mushroom rather than split; it really takes a beating. However, it will be tough to mortise out a hidden tang in micarta with hand tools, the rule of thumb is micarta works nicely with metalworking tools-and a mill excels in this. I think of it as a cross between a hard wood and aluminum.
Green and khaki would look great. good luck!
 
This steel 1095. I am definitely not throwing this away, I had thought about the decarburation along the edge, and am hoping this is case.
Yeah, micarta is fun to make and I used a coping saw to cut out the rough shape and then just sanded the heck out of it. A couple things I learned along the way: Most resins you buy do not finish out clear---they are yellow/amber in color when they harden. Those were really faded tan khaki pants I used and you can see how green it turned out. Also, after I sanded to shape I coated the handle in super glue---try to get it as smooth as possible (I used rubber gloves and my finger). After the super glue coat I would sand it smooth with a 500 grit--you will then see the low spots if any. Re-coat with super glue and repeat till desired finish. To get the shine I put a buffing wheel w/ white compound in my drill press and went to town. I hope this helps...
 
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