Making a Bowie the Patton way, start to finish.

Here I'm filing the shoulders the guard will but up against. With L6, it's important to do this before hardening. :D

Here's the filing jig attached:

filingjig.jpg



Here it is filed. I use a round file to give it a nice big radius there to prevent stress risers.

shouldersrounded.jpg


shoulders-1.jpg


shoulder.jpg



Here it is almost ready to harden. I almost forgot to grind the false edge!

preheattreat.jpg



My mark. It looks kind of small for that big ricasso. I'm going to have to get a bigger stamp soon...

mymark.jpg



All that remains before hardening is coating the blade with some anti-scale compound. It'll be the first time I've used it, so I need to do some research to find out how to use it. :D
 
Today, heat treating! I'll be using the aforepictured heat treat oven, and here's a picture of the (preheated) quenching tank:

quenchtank.jpg



Here's the blade coated with anti-scale compound:

beforequench.jpg



I only have two hands, so I couldn't get a picture of the actual quench, but here's a shot of it at temperature:

hotblade.jpg



For L6, what works best for me is soaking a minimum of 10 minutes (it was more like 25 for this knife) at 1525 F. Then I dunk it in the oil, agitate it to cut down on vapor jackets, then pull it out while the blade is somewhere around 500 degrees and do any straightening that's needed.
The 3 blades I hardened just now were all done with the anti-scale compound. They all 3 "screamed" at me while being quenched. It kind of freaked me out the first time. I've never had a blade do that, so I guess it's caused by the compound somehow. :confused: Anyway, they came out nice and clean:

afterquench.jpg



The blades are in the kitchen oven, getting "snap" tempered at 275 F while the heat treat oven cools down to the temps I'll need for tempering.
 
I didn't know the process you did all that, really liked seeing the steps of your making, very interesting.
 
I've never had a blade do that, so I guess it's caused by the compound somehow. :confused: Anyway, they came out nice and clean.

Mine don't make a noise, but I haven't used the stuff on a blade anywhere near that size.

Anyhow just wanted to say, isn't that no-scale compund AMAZING? Working without it is like hammering with a screwdriver- I have no idea what made me think that was ok. :thumbup:

Keep up the great thread!
Mike
 
Well, probably most of you have forgotten about this thread, but it's past time to pick it up again, so here goes.

Today I put the edge on the blade and chopped with it. The edge wrinkled. :(
So I'm going to start over again with a different steel, or possibly a different brand of L6. The stuff I have now has been giving me trouble right from the start, and I'm not going to hassle with it any more.
Right now, getting this knife done is my #1 priority, so this should be wrapped up in a week or two.

Thanks for reading. :D
 
Well, probably most of you have forgotten about this thread, but it's past time to pick it up again, so here goes.

Didn't forget. Just shaking like Beeker from the Muppetts when Dr. Bunsen Honeydew gave him permission to buy a Phillip Patton damascus EDC. That was my favorite show. In the meantime, episodes of This New Bowie have been very cool as well. Sorry to read the edge didn't act all L6ish.
 
Thanks for sharing - I enjoy seeing how "simple things" like knives are made. Great stuff.
 
Hello folks,

Well, as mentioned in my last post, I had to scrap the original blade, and started over with W2. Yesterday I tested the W2 blade, and it passed. :thumbup:

So the next step after post heat treat grinding is hand sanding. First, here's a photo of the blade after I've finished on the grinder:


240grit.JPG



I usually finish with 240 grit at the grinder. For most of my blades, I then go to 400 grit by hand, then 600. For this one, I'm just going to go to 400, then go over it lightly with 600. When I do a hamon, I use 400, then 600, then 1000, then 1500. Each grit is done perpendicular to the scratches left from the previous step, this way I know I'm getting out all the scratches.


Here's a photo of my sanding stick:


sandingstick.JPG



It's a piece of osage orange about 12" long and 1" wide, with some rubber glued on on surface. The rubber keeps the sandpaper from sliding around.
I have another stick made with micarta with no rubber on it for those times when there's a ripple that needs to be sanded out.


First, I take a rod of the same radius as the plunge area, and clean it up, making sure it's smooth and even: I move the paper perpendicular to the lenght of the blade.



cleaningplunge.JPG




I move the paper perpendicular to the length of the blade. So to remove the scratches left by this step I use the end of the sanding stick like this:



polishingplunge.JPG



A still picture doesn't very well show the movements needed to polish the plunge area, so I'll see if I can upload a video clip of how I do it.



After getting out all the perpendicular scratches in the plunge area made by the grinder, I move to the rest of the blade:


sanding.JPG
 
Look'n good. Can't wait to see this one finished and I REALLY appreciate you taking the extra time to post pics so we can see the progress and steps it takes to finish one of your knives.
 
Polishing the choil area:

polishingchoil.JPG


Here it is covered with tape, to protect it during the rest of the work. Next step is fitting the guard.

tapedup.JPG
 
Those notches in the tang look like they come to a point. Would this not be considered a stress riser?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Those notches in the tang look like they come to a point. Would this not be considered a stress riser?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

Hi STeven,
Good question. I don't think so. It's not really a sharp point, but it does look that way in the pictures, because of the contrast between the polished ricasso and the radiused area, which is still dark from the heat treat.
The part that looks sharp is a continuation of the radius, which is 3/16"

Thanks for asking,

Phillip
 
Hi STeven,
Good question. I don't think so. It's not really a sharp point, but it does look that way in the pictures....

Thanks for asking,

Phillip

Thanks for the answer....it is a point frequently hammered on by makers I know, it has become ingrained.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Okay, here is the piece of 416 SS barstock that will be (actually, it IS now; I did this step this morning :D ) the guard. I have it marked for drilling the holes that will be the beginning of the tang slot, and it's chucked up in the drill press vise:

invise.JPG




Drilling the holes:

drilling.JPG




Holes drilled:

slotdrilled.JPG




Here the webbing between holes has been filed out:

webfiled.JPG




Here it is with the slot halfway squared up. I modified this machinists vise by replacing the jaws with hardened O1 for filing guard slots.

squaring.JPG




Almost there!

halfway.JPG




Done filing. This is the farthest it will slide up with hand pressure.

done.JPG
 
Back
Top