Laminated Bowie WIP - Photo Heavy!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Lorien, no this will have a clip point, but I dare not try to forge the profile too close as strange things can happen with the core. It doesn't hurt to forge the steel on edge, but when the shape gets this far along, you can distort the core more than you'd want to.
 
ah, I see what you mean:thumbup: I forgot for a minute that this one's laminated- duh!
 
I'm going to ask a question that you have probably answered in the past, but I haven't seen it. Why do you use 416?
 
Keith, I use 416 for a couple of reasons... I've used 303, 304, 316, 410 and 416, and in many ways, they all work fine. The main advantage of 416 over most of the others is it's ease of grinding, drilling, etc. Asthetically, both 410 and 416 will "eat" carbon from the outer edges of the core and it creates those cool carbon migration patterns that look like layers of silver and gray.
 
Ok a few more...


dv034sm.jpg

Rough grinding the profile, and yes, I'm having a bad hair day. :D


dv035sm.jpg

I've ground down to the outer edges of the core...


dv036sm.jpg

And I re-heat the blade...


dv037sm.jpg

And re-forge the edge until it's perfectly straight.


dv038sm.jpg

I start at the base of the edge and end at the tip. This will ensure that the core is in the dead center of the blade.
 
excellent work and tutorial burt! congrats!
let me ask you, do you use something else in between the 3 layers to facilitate the welding? in an other thread of a knife you made, someone said you put nickel or something like that in between. maybe 15n20?
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=460285#post4436248
an also, would it be the same if instead of using 416 i use 420???
thank you very much, and keep it coming!!
fernando
 
Last edited:
It's the steps of post #46 that really do it for me... I had figured you'd just let the layer transitions come out how they may, but no, you actually tweak/reforge it so that the transitions come out straight!

Wouldn't have thought of it myself, but it really appeals to the obsessive in me. :thumbup:
 
A few more....


dv040sm.jpg

Once the blade is forged, and the profile rough ground, the whole knife is sketched out. From this point on, I really try to work to the drawing. And apparently times here are tough because even for a knife this nice, I still use a piece of paper that looks like it was sitting under an old, leaky car for the last year... :confused:


dv041sm.jpg

Blade is in the heat treating oven for normalizing. Just in case it's misleading, there is a door on the oven, but for the photo, I opened the door.


dv042sm.jpg

The heated blade is allowed to air cool during the normalizing process.


dv043sm-1.jpg

And here is the blade rough ground, prior to heat treating.
 
Last edited:
That is one nice looking profile.. Wow... This one will be a stunner for sure.
 
Good looking blade profile.
Thanks for letting us be a part of this. Very educational.
 
Burt, I was so impressed with you as an instructor at the "Intro" course at Haywood last June, and you continue to inspire me! You are a great talent!

Have fun at the "Battle of the Bladesmiths" Wish I could be there.

Thanks for the great thread!

Steve
---------
Potomac Forge
---------
IN GOD WE TRUST
 
This is one of my favorite looking knife designs (based on the sketch and blade profile)
 
Very cool to see the whole process at work - looking forward to the finished product!
 
I'm loving this.....well, except for the part for when Burt's rough ground blade looks better than my finished blades:)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top