Making My First Bush Knife (pictures)

Christof60 said:
I agree with that, although carbide tipped teeth are usually obvious, and I don't see any there...
Back when I built knives completely from scratch, I always tempered just when I got the "blank" cut out, holes and notches cut, etc... But I never did any edge work. I think that makes for an uneven temper and may give the thinner part a brittle edge, if you harden the thickest part to what you want RC 59-61, but I'm not enough of a metal pro to state that as fact.
I also agree on the "no swishing", and dipping one direction, but I always did it with the blade lying horizontal. Again, no proof to my theory, but I figured that it took far less time to dip when you have an inch or two if holding horizontally, compared to 5-10" if you dip vertically... Again, just my opinion, far from proven fact.

Today, they have all these fancy new ways of tempering, "Cryo", "Progressive", etc., but to me, simple is, was, and always will be the best way... Canola oil huh? Never thought of using vegetable oil...I always used plain used motor oil...
Also, keep in mind that when talking about "Tempering", that is really the last part of the process.... The first part is actually "Hardening", and that is when the quenching is done. "Tempering", is the last step in the process, where you heat the "hardened" steel to a specific temperature (can be as low as 400 deg), and keep it at that temp for specific amount of time. This turns the very hard and brittle steel a little softer and less brittle... In other words, you wouldn't want your knife to be as hard as a file, they snap pretty easily, but are really hard which makes them good or what they do, cut softer steel...

Sorry for the long winded post, probably more info than what you wanted.

But be dang proud of that blade you have made, it is beautiful, and would be something to be proud of even if you made it in a full machine shop!

Bravo! Can't wait to see the finished results!
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the info and the nice words
Yes its hardening i mean, i heard that i can temper it in my oven afterwards at like 400 - 500f for like 20 minutes.
I hope this steel can be hardened, i totally didn't even think of the fact that some steel cant even be hardened.
 
Hey knifemakers, its been a year since ive touched my blade and with exams finishing up in a month i plan to finish it off.
Therefore, im ordering materials on ebay now so they should be here in a months time (canada right lol), the thing im stuck with is handle pins....

Im thinking the simplest would be using basic brass pins and epoxy. I figure ill just buy any brass pins off ebay as well as some hard wood.
1. drill 3-8 holes (recommendations please! i want an extra sturdy design)
2.Glue the scales together lightly
3. Drill the holes through the scales ( i heard it must not fit too tightly)
4. Next ill crack teh handles apart, add epoxy and glue the handles with pins attached into the knife and clamp for one day (really need opinions on epoxy for L6 (i think) to hardwood. I'll also cover the pins in epoxy before i glue them
5. Cut the pins off and file the handle to design.
6. One thing i was really confused about is whether or not i should tap the flush pins with a round hammer to mushroom them and clap the scales to the blade? Really not sure if thats necessary

ALSO, is there any benefit to using stainless steel pins?

THanks so much, any help is appreciated.
 
SanitySource said:
Hey knifemakers, its been a year since ive touched my blade and with exams finishing up in a month i plan to finish it off.
Therefore, im ordering materials on ebay now so they should be here in a months time (canada right lol), the thing im stuck with is handle pins....

Im thinking the simplest would be using basic brass pins and epoxy. I figure ill just buy any brass pins off ebay as well as some hard wood.
1. drill 3-8 holes (recommendations please! i want an extra sturdy design)
2.Glue the scales together lightly
3. Drill the holes through the scales ( i heard it must not fit too tightly)
4. Next ill crack teh handles apart, add epoxy and glue the handles with pins attached into the knife and clamp for one day (really need opinions on epoxy for L6 (i think) to hardwood. I'll also cover the pins in epoxy before i glue them
5. Cut the pins off and file the handle to design.
6. One thing i was really confused about is whether or not i should tap the flush pins with a round hammer to mushroom them and clap the scales to the blade? Really not sure if thats necessary

ALSO, is there any benefit to using stainless steel pins?

THanks so much, any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Have you already drilled your holes in your tang?

I think three pins would work the best. But surley you could find a wood specialty store near you and a lot of hardware stores should sell brass pinstock. Also there is no need to peen the pins if you're going to use adhesive, and stainless pins don't really have all that much more advantage over brass. Besides if you're going with a traditional style, brass is the best option
 
I.N.F.K said:
Have you already drilled your holes in your tang?

I think three pins would work the best. But surley you could find a wood specialty store near you and a lot of hardware stores should sell brass pinstock. Also there is no need to peen the pins if you're going to use adhesive, and stainless pins don't really have all that much more advantage over brass. Besides if you're going with a traditional style, brass is the best option
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the reply,
No i havent drilled the holes yet, i will before i take it to go get hardened though.
Im sceptical if three holes will be enough? I guess im just not familiar with adhesive.
Can you recommend a certain type?
Those are some good tips, im sure i could find both of those materials locally.
Thanks!
 
SanitySource said:
Hey thanks for the reply,
No i havent drilled the holes yet, i will before i take it to go get hardened though.
Im sceptical if three holes will be enough? I guess im just not familiar with adhesive.
Can you recommend a certain type?
Those are some good tips, im sure i could find both of those materials locally.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

A three pin handle construction is plenty durable for any knife out there. Also with the combination of a adhesive it would more than suffice your uses. Some people use JB weld, but I personally have had great luck with Gorilla Glue. If you can't find that, just look for a glue that bonds to wood & metal. Also some adhesives expand, which is fine, but don't glob it on if it does.
 
I'm supposed to be studying for finals but got bored and took to photoshop to plan out how i want it to look. Although i really wanted to dye the wood bright blue...
 
Finals finished up and i finished off my knife the next day. Heres the pics

Here is the wood....



Making the soup can forge




Cut the scales


Heating up the soon to be a big failure soup can forge in the -8C temps of ontario


After 40 minutes of heating and still only this far...

Im confident that if it wasnt so F%%%%ng cold that it would have heated up. Its a shame.

Due to the cold, tried to keep the door half way open sometimes but too damn cold. Probably killed some brain cells with all the CO2







Gorilla glue expanded like crazy and got stuck everywhere... Oh well, no worries about it being waterproofed

Hands were like this for 3 dsays


AT LAST!







Its over! i can get back to my life!

FINAL THOUGHTS
A very fun and rewarding project although definitely not the easiest. Although nothing is on a first attempt.
The one thing i regret was my crappy heat treat. The weather was just not on my side and cooling my forge as fast as my torch was heating it. Later my Dad and i tried it on the gas stove with the torch on it as well and got it to a dull red but by the time we went to dip it in the 140F corn oil and he had to turn off his torch etc. it had cooled. Although, it still left a trail in the corn oil. Not sure if that means anything.

In the end it had been quenched twice, both times it never hit the point of non-magnetic. Although my ideology is that... you quench it to harden it, then temper it to soften if back up. I had a self admitted crappy heat treat so i never tempered it to soften it back up. Figuring that this would leave it with a semi decent heat treat. Thoughts?

Thanks for the help !
 
Your heat treat probably didn't work at all... if anything it probably made the knife softer... of course I could be completely wrong, but I don't think I am. You have to get the steel up above non-magnetic and quench it immediately to get it to fully harden. Then you make it "softer" by tempering it, so it won't chip during use... read the stickies and they will impart the wisdom of ages upon you!
That said, good first attempt! Make more!
 
Very cool man! I agree the knife probably didn't harden but hey its all good fun and practice. I think your on the right track with everything. I built my first forge a few years ago using the coffee can forge plans. Its simple to build just like the one you have already finished(just a little larger). I'm not sure what you used for a refractory material but I would suggest using kaowool/ceramic blanket to line your forge. Its sold on Ebay and other places online and is fairly cheap. Also some refractory cement will keep that heat where you need it. You could also try using another propane tank simultaneously to ramp up the heat(With safety in mind obviously). I had one in the side that stayed in the forge and then I had another one I held with my hand and pointed into the forge. Not perfect but It definitely got the blade non magnetic and hardened well. Like what was mentioned earlier you can cut off a small piece of steel heat it to non magnetic then quench. That way you will know if that steel will be able to harden before you start on your next project. By no means am I a professional but this worked for me before I was able to drop big bucks on an Evenheat kiln. Best of luck man keep cranking them out!!!!


Here is a link to a simple coffee can forge plan
http://hackerverse.com/how-i-built-a-coffee-can-forge-part-1/
 
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