M A S S I V E recurve bowie *WIP*

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Big Rick said:
Erick, it's me.
I commissioned this one off Mark and a Kukri after receiving my first knife from him a few weeks ago, which I was very much impressed with!
Mark is in my mind one of a few up and coming young knife makers from the USA who are destined for great things. For someone that is relatively new to knife making his work is up there with some of the best.
Love these WIP threads and looking forward to seeing this one finished.
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I thought it was you, maybe Allain.
Great stuff!
 
Ok guys so the knife is officially just that, A KNIFE! Christened by meticulous heat treatment with hamon's at the forefront of my mind, the knife is now hard and ready to lop off limbs!.....

Tree limbs ofcourse :D :p



First thing i did was clean up the back of the spine/harpoon clip with a big wheel (makes life much easier!)


Now that all my grinds are roughed in and things are where i want them (for the most part) its time to wash the blade with dish soap to rid the surface of any oils etc...


the way you know that the blade is clean and free from all the soap is how the water just runs off the tip in a nice stream like motion.
Why am i doing this? you'll see shortly! :)


The MOST important part in hamon making, IMHO, is the series of thermal cycles you run the blade through to get it ready for the funky funk that you're about to induce into the grain of the steel. Since the blade is ground within 90% or so of its final shape i really want to limit decarb as much as possible, so a thin layer of satinite is applied to help negate that as best i can. Now if you were to apply satinite to an unclean surface bad things would happen.....! LOL :D


Here you can see how i apply the satinite wash using a (clean) painters brush. you want to get it covered in one maybe 2 shots max


Next i hit the blade with a torch just to dry the satinite quickly; i also think it helps lock the clay onto the blade a bit better.


THE BEAST! My friend has graciously allowed me to use his monster evenheat kiln (and the accompanying electricity) to heat treat this big ole blade.
Thanks Casey! :cool::thumbup:


Here is the blade placed in the kiln along with a couple of his little buddies that I'm also working on :D


yeah its kinda HOT in there!!!! watch out for those hairy knuckles.....


I do a series of step down heats to "Thermal cycle" the blades, ending with a long 1 hour soak at a lower heat to help prepare the steel for that funky funk described earlier. :cool:

FWIW i don't just set the blade down to cool like this, ill hang them tip down until they've reached "black heat"


The blade is done with its thermal cycling, and the satinite wash has been removed and what little scaling occurred was ground off to expose fresh W2 tool steel.


Starting with the main body of the hamon i use a pallet knife to apply a layer of satinite with varying layers of thickness dependent on the thickness of the blade in that given cross-section. Since there is a ton of distal taper in this blade, different areas of the steel will heat and cool quicker than others, so that needs to be kept in mind when applying the clay.


So for the legs of the hamon (the interesting part) i use a tungsten carbide scribe to paint on the clay protruding down from the main body. this takes quite a bit of time and is very tedious and easy to mess up... ask me how i know LOL. I'm shooting for a Japanese "Choji" pattern with the X's and dashes. Hopefully i held my mouth open at the correct aperture, and woke up facing the right direction today. ;):D


Heres a shot of what the pattern looks like all clayed up. Again i caramelized it with the Crème brûlée torch. :D


stuck her back in the oven, set to soak in the lower end of the spectrum for W2 (just to help the parks cool the blade below critical a bit faster....)


Boom! the cheeks are clenched and the knife is entering the quenchant!!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek:
Parks 50 quench...


agitating the blade in an up and down motion to help break that vapor jacket; with a very brief interruption :)


and here it is after the quench! from what i've seen its typically a good sign if the clay is stuck to the blade after the quench!


And the moment of glory....... did it work?! YUP!!!!!!
Here you can plainly see the main body of the hamon, its really hard to catch the fingers in a photograph....
Keep in mind this is just a quick pass over the blade with a 60 grit belt to knock the scale off.
Cant wait to bring this guy up to 2500 grit!! :D


A photo that shows some of the fingers just a tad better. I really can't wait to get this fully developed for you guys to see :)


And this is how the blade sits after 3 tempering cycles!
Next up i'll finish grind the knife, hand sand it to a dirty 800 and begin fitting the guard/handle :)
stay tuned guys!
I really appreciate all the kind words and interest this thread has received.
As always feel free to ask me questions etc....

Ps. there is a video on my instagram that shows off the hamon a LOT better for those interested :)
 
Love that knife. Looks like you will have some nice ashi from the pic. Do you let the knife cool to room temp before tempering? I've read W2 needs more time to fully harden. I never let it cool lower than 120F but have no idea if it needs to or not.
 
Shipshores said:
Love that knife. Looks like you will have some nice ashi from the pic. Do you let the knife cool to room temp before tempering? I've read W2 needs more time to fully harden. I never let it cool lower than 120F but have no idea if it needs to or not.
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Hey thank ya sir!
After the quench i let the blade cool to ambient temperature. TBH i do it mainly out of convenience, as i don't really like burning myself LOL

From what i know about W2, it isn't entirely necessary to do so since its a shallow hardening steel. I think the slow cool, until ambient room temperature, is more important for deep hardening steels..... like 01 or 52100
I'm no expert, but i get good results with W2 the way i've been doing it :)
 
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Thanks for this most informative and interesting WIP. An impressive tool you are making there. I will stay tuned.
Can't wait to see the completed knife. Love watching a genuine craftsman at his/her best. :thumbup:
 
Alright guys, so i got the blade finish ground and taken to its final dimensions in preparation for hand finishing. I didn't take any pics of me finish grinding the blade as its a pretty stressful time for me and i was very focused on grinding! :)

So here is what i got done today...


So here is the blade all finish ground, i went to roughly 400 grit to get me a good foundation to start hand sanding.
It was a gloomy, rainy day in Houston...


I cut my plunges in too.
Maybe some of you noticed in the previous pics, but when i rough grind my blades i cut the plunge in ahead of where i actually intend for the final plunges to be. So i put my file guide on, slightly set back from the plunge, and cut them in during finish grinding. Its just the way i like to do it :)


Not bad but not perfect either! still have a lot of hand work to get these plunges to their full potential. :D


Next up i feathered the edge. And sharpened the knife for the first time ever....
FUN is about to commence!!!!! :D


TIME TO GET TO CHOPPIN!!!!
the test subjects are the standard 2x4's and old whitetail deer antler.


Chop chop chop! getting after the main bevel. It really bites DEEP!
I usually do this outside but it was pouring. So i ended up making a H U G E mess after chopping through about 4 or 5 pieces of wood LOL :D:rolleyes:


Yes I test the clips too! And sharp she was


after all that, it still shaved hair! W2 can really make for a good cutter.
After testing i wouldn't call this a chopper, despite it's size, but because of the crazy distal taper it feels fast, light and really stings upon impact! Still great for chopping though :D


How she currently stands... and because i know all of y'all were wondering this entire time if it could spread peanut butter well, i went ahead and confirmed that is does indeed spread peanut butter quite well!!!!! :D:p #ItWeelKeelPeanutButter
 
I've really been enjoying following along both here and on Instagram. Your personal commentary enhances the technical aspects a lot. Quite the project! Looking forward to seeing the beast emerge in final form.
 
Man oh man Mark! That thing is a beast! :eek: :D

You really have a great eye for detail, and apparently a steady hand for grinding too ;) . This is really coming along beautifully, if that's even the word to use here... I guess Bada$$ would suffice. :cool:

I'm really enjoying the WIPs you've been putting together lately, and I appreciate the extra time you're taking to take all the pics along the way. Can't wait to see more of this! :thumbup: :thumbup:

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been a few years since my last upload)
 
Very nice thread and knife, Mr. Cooke.

I look forward to seeing your piece completed!

Love the it will keeel lol - that guy is spooky....

best

mqqn
 
Hey thanks guys, too kind! :)

I'm currently working on hand finishing the blade; so i should have another substantial update here in the next few days.
Secondly I'm waiting for my 416 stainless to ship for the guard. Turns out this is a big knife, and requires big guard stock! The stock i had on hand just didn't cut muster.

So it's on the way. However, the mail man needs to hustle up! :D

Again, thank you all for following along, and thank you Rick for you're patronage/ wicked cool carbon fibre ;)
Im beyond excited to start shaping this handle!!!
 
Brother you got it goin on! Your attention to detail and thinking several steps ahead are amazing! I do not have that ability!

Enjoying this WIP.... thanks for taking the time!

Steve
-----------
Member, W.F. Moran Jr. Foundation
ABS Apprentice
 
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