It's a good day (to make knives for my JS test) Professional photos added

The support around here is amazing, thanks everyone.

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Heat treating the knives. You can't really tell but there is a piece of square tubing in the forge to diffuse the heat a little. There is a magnet hanging from the forge so I can confirm my heat/color instincts before I quench, I will go just a little paste critical temperature. I bought a new thermometer for the oil, the old one got fried when the oil flashed, it took me a little while to get the fire out.

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My oil started out at 60 degrees F. and the temperature went up about 70 deg. with every knife I quenched. After the forth knife the temperature had risen to about three hundred deg. I think that's a dangerous level so I needed to cool it down. I got a piece of steel from outside (it's 9 below outside today) and put it in there. This piece happens to be 4140 but I think you could use any alloy :D:D. I also wonder about the effectiveness of quench oil if it gets too hot, does it still cool the steel fast enough to harden it if the oil gets hotter? For consistency I am trying to keep the oil between 100 and 200 for all the knives.

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The camera makes this blade look too hot to quench but really the color is more dull than this. It should be around 1500 degrees. Into the oil.

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I just rest the tongs on the edge of the oil pan while the blade cools to hold it upright in the oil. While this one is cooling I am putting the next blade in the forge (and taking pictures).

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These blades are all ready for tempering, The oven is pre-heating while I write this. Next, tempering and drawing back the spines.

Thanks for watching, and thanks again for all the support.
 
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Into the oven at 375 degrees for two-one hour soaks. You can use your home oven fore this but sometimes the wives don't like it. I bought my own oven and Angel don't get to tell me what I can cook in it. I've dried every kind of handle material you can think of, heated horn for straightening, dried jerky, I use it to temper flint for napping, cured coatings for knives and guns and I temper knives in there.

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I bought an oven thermometer to make sure my oven thermostat was right. I wasn't having any trouble heat treating but I just wasn't sure what temps I was using. As it turns out, my oven was right on.
 
Mark Knapp said:
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Here's a quick peek at the handle material I am going to choose from for the submission knives. This material has been curing for over five years now so it should be OK.

Heat treat tomorrow.
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Lookin good Mark. I'll trade ya some nice JS test wood for that rotten fossil stuff in that box. ;)
 
Don Hanson III said:
Lookin good Mark. I'll trade ya some nice JS test wood for that rotten fossil stuff in that box. ;)
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That's a very nice offer Don, is your magic JS test wood guaranteed to make the knives pass? You already have nicer ivory than I do anyway :D:D.

Actually, I realize it can be a risky thing putting ivory on test knives, what with the humidity in Atlanta, but what would life be without the risks and challenges. Anyway, it could be a mistake.
 
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In between tempering cycles, I let the blades cool to room temperature. Just like when normalizing the blades need to have circulation all the way around while they cool to prevent warping. To lay them down on a surface would be a mistake.

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After the second tempering cycle I sanded the blue black oxide off so I can see color when I draw the spines back, tomorrow I will do that.
 
Thanks so much for sharing the process with us, I am nearing the point when I will be taking my test as well, so this is a big inspiration!
 
Mark Knapp said:
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Here's a quick peek at the handle material I am going to choose from for the submission knives. This material has been curing for over five years now so it should be OK.
Click to expand...

I'm interested in seeing how you will finish out your test knives. Whether your handle treatments will be in your typical unique and artful designs or more traditional ABS? I know they will be outstanding either way.
 
Mark Knapp said:
That's a very nice offer Don, is your magic JS test wood guaranteed to make the knives pass? You already have nicer ivory than I do anyway :D:D.

Actually, I realize it can be a risky thing putting ivory on test knives, what with the humidity in Atlanta, but what would life be without the risks and challenges. Anyway, it could be a mistake.
Click to expand...

Mark, I see no reason not to use the good stuff, but the 5 knives submitted need to be as simple & as clean & precise as humanly possible.
 
Kevin Jones said:
I'm interested in seeing how you will finish out your test knives. Whether your handle treatments will be in your typical unique and artful designs or more traditional ABS? I know they will be outstanding either way.
Click to expand...

Don Hanson III said:
Mark, I see no reason not to use the good stuff, but the 5 knives submitted need to be as simple & as clean & precise as humanly possible.
Click to expand...

Kevin and Don, I'm agreeing with Don, I'm afraid that with the scrutiny that these knives will be going through it's not a time for elaborate and artful.

With the difference in humidity from Fairbanks to Atlanta it would be very risky to use lots of different materials (that all react differently to humidity) and technical joinery in one handle. I haven't had any problems with the knives I've brought to Blade for sale but I have had materials on my table do a lot of weird things due to the humidity. I'm going with classic designs and simple joinery on this one.

It's kind of a big investment to take time out to make these knives (instead of filling orders) so I would really like to pass the first time out. I may already be taking some risks with the materials I've chosen but I really wanted my test knives to reflect Alaska knife making.

All that having been said, size limitations on some of the pieces I have chosen will require two or three piece handles.

Sometimes artful and ABS clash, I'm going to try to make some really nice knives according to ABS teachings and design parameters. To be honest, I am nervous about it.
 
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Here's the set-up for drawing back the spines of the blades, the idea is to further temper the spines to spring toughness without effecting the cutting edges. The blades are put in a pan of water with about 1/4 of the blades width in the water. Paper towel or something similar is used to keep the curve up to the tip wet. Ideally, for the performance test knives, the hamon needs to be below 1/3 of the blade width so that if the blade cracks during the bend test, the crack stays below the 1/3 line. If the crack goes over 1/3 of the width of the blade, you fail.

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The blades are heated to a white/blue color and allowed to cool back down to room temperature.

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The torch is kept moving along the blade.

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We are looking for an even color along the blade. Ideally the whole ricasso should be treated, the plunge leaves a sharp corner at the ricasso and a crack here is possible without proper care.

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These blades are all ready for finish sanding on the belt sander and then to hand sanding.

Thanks for watching and thanks for all of the positive encouragement. I've got other things that need attention so it may be the middle of next week before I get back to these knives.
 
Mark, Thanks for taking us along for your test. Enjoying to progress. Looking forward to shaking your hand Friday morning.


Bing
 
Nothing to be nervous about Mark, you know what you're doing. You've been given some really good advise about simplicity, I think you've got this no problem.
 
Mark Knapp said:
Kevin and Don, I'm agreeing with Don, I'm afraid that with the scrutiny that these knives will be going through it's not a time for elaborate and artful.

With the difference in humidity from Fairbanks to Atlanta it would be very risky to use lots of different materials (that all react differently to humidity) and technical joinery in one handle. I haven't had any problems with the knives I've brought to Blade for sale but I have had materials on my table do a lot of weird things due to the humidity. I'm going with classic designs and simple joinery on this one.

It's kind of a big investment to take time out to make these knives (instead of filling orders) so I would really like to pass the first time out. I may already be taking some risks with the materials I've chosen but I really wanted my test knives to reflect Alaska knife making.

All that having been said, size limitations on some of the pieces I have chosen will require two or three piece handles.

Sometimes artful and ABS clash, I'm going to try to make some really nice knives according to ABS teachings and design parameters. To be honest, I am nervous about it.
Click to expand...

I agree Mark, no reason to get too fancy. Basic designs executed to the best of your ability should yield positive results.
 
Mark, thanks for sharing this progress with us. It's interesting to see it all come together. Keep up the great work.
 
I really don't think you should be worried, Mark...

Also take along a copy of my new book, to "break the ice"...
Maybe after you pass with flying colors, the judges can also enjoy
seeing something different, for a change....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)
 
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