My attempt at a small bushcraft blade

marthinus

marthinus

Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
5,959
Well. Here is my attempt. I picked up some 12c27 a while back, been fiddling with it for some time. I dont have the right tools so I used a steel file on a black cut out. I later used a drill press with a round polishing attachment (a very old and mucky one) that I glued on some cardboard and on that some 80 grit paper. I then just went ahead and made some attempts at a scandi grind. Here are some pics.

DSC01177.jpg

DSC01179.jpg

DSC01181.jpg


DSC01184.jpg

DSC01185.jpg


In short having no means of proper heat treat the steel was to soft. It kept on folding.

Well....

Still no proper means of heat treat I decided to give it a shot. 3 HT processes. 1 was heat treat (dont know to what degrees) quench in oil. Second HT (dont know degrees) quench in oil. The last HT and cool down. Well. Here is that result.


P8260006.jpg

P8260008.jpg

P8260015.jpg

P8260016.jpg

P8260014.jpg

P8260018.jpg


My work is bad I know but it has been fun! Here are some thoughts.

The edge is not as soft. Previously as I hit knots in the wood like shown above the blade started folding BADLY!!!!! Now it is not an issue. The knife will not hold an edge as well as 1095 or pretty much anything with higher carbon, but it is ok for playing around with and that is why I made it. All and all it cost me about $20 to get it to the point it is now. I dont know what I will do with the handle yet but that is not an issue now.

I really like this size of this knife. I can use it as a backup knife to a decent fixed blade where I dont want to screw up the edge or something while practicing fire starting or batoning. I think this will be ideal to fit in my small ammo bag I use to carry my fire starting kit, flashlight and what else in. The edge is still not where I want it and whitling is still a problem for me using this knife. Of course something like an ESEE RC3 will outperform this by far.

Well. Let me know what you think.
 
Sweet design. May be worth cranking out a few and sending in a batch to be professionally heat treated. 12C27 isn't a bad steel for smaller slicers like that.
 
I really like the overall look, especially the blade shape. The size looks ideal for most outdoor needs (in my experience). I'm not gonna get into technical details regarding the HT, I'll leave that to professionals. Not as easy, especially without proper equipment.With that in mind, I think you did a good job. Two thumbs up for the try and for shearing with us.
 
marthinus said:
Well. Here is my attempt...Well. Let me know what you think.
Click to expand...

Here is what I think. First effort with minimal tools? Great job!

Blanking: I had talked to the guys at Great Lakes Water Jet a while back. They will cut a blade or as many blades as you want to your pattern for a lot less $ than you might imagine.

Heat treat: Quite a few makers here will gladly do a top notch job of custom heat treat for you, again, for a lot fewer $ than you might guess.

Steel choice: Custom billets of steel of your choice size/thickness/composition are easy to get online (even from eBay) from knife supply shops. Some makers here may even have first quality cut off scrap that is too small for their patterns but just right for yours.

Again, IMHO, great job! :thumbup:
 
Thanks guys for the kind words and tips. I would love to send a knife to a proper HT guy, but alas, no job = no money to do everything I wish. I have been playing around with this for the past year, doing a bit, studying, doing a bit, studying so on and so forth.
 
Well, a while back (two years ago) I wanted a custom knife of my own design, a "copy" of a design made by Marbles and discontinued early last century, the Dall DeWeese circa 1902.

I first cut a template from aluminum flashing to get the proportions and details I wanted. Then... I cheated. I sent it to Bryan Breeden here on the forum along with my choice of burl wood and had him cut, grind, treat and assemble it for me. I had the satisfaction of design, material choice and end posession and use. But I avoided the lashup that would have resulted from attempting it myself (don't ask how I know this).

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=576071&highlight=deweese

After two years of use, I am still pleased with my decision to use a real maker. That doesn't mean I won't try to do one myself again (oops!) some day. If/when I do, I would hope it would turn out at least as well as yours has.
 
Thanks for all the advice! I got some nice resin and am going to start making a micarta handle for the knife. Nothing fancy, simple construction just bolted on that I can remove or store matches in. I have been beating the crap out of the knife and I dont know what, but the steel is harder, not as hard but it does not disform at all as in the past when I hit knots in the wood. Still know there is major room for improvement!
 
marthinus said:
Thanks for all the advice! I got some nice resin and am going to start making a micarta handle for the knife. Nothing fancy, simple construction just bolted on that I can remove or store matches in. I have been beating the crap out of the knife and I dont know what, but the steel is harder, not as hard but it does not disform at all as in the past when I hit knots in the wood. Still know there is major room for improvement!
Click to expand...

I use bondo resin in my micarta. What are you using for the fabric? Remember to wrap the big packet of layers in wax paper before clamping them.
 
Great design - keep at it!


You can get more info on 12c27 here:
www.steel.sandvik.com

click on "technical center"
then "Material data sheets"
then click the "+" next to "strip steel" on the left side menu
then find 12c27 (2nd from the top)

Dan
 
nc527 said:
I use bondo resin in my micarta. What are you using for the fabric? Remember to wrap the big packet of layers in wax paper before clamping them.
Click to expand...

Ferrousknight said:
I prefer foil. It did not stick at all to the cured resin.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! I have been reading a lot regarding making micarta. Seems denim is a good material. I have another similar type material in a type of olive drab colour. Think I am going to go with that. Wish I had a bright orange, but sure I can find a dye in future.

I wanted a brown, but when I saw the price for small slab of G10 in that brown (khaki) I decided it is not worth it.

I contacted a resin making company. Luckily for me I live close to a manufacturing area, one of the biggest in our country so raw industrial materials can be obtained. Technoresin is the company and the guy was very intrigued when I told him about this. 500ml of resin, 220ml of hardener. Mixing ration is 100ml to 44ml. All for under $20. Low heat generated as well. I went with the lower heat generated but longer hardening. Should take about 4 days to harden fully. Just have to be patient.

jds1 said:
Nice job!!! That's a great looking pattern.

Jeff
Click to expand...

kilua said:
thats pretty cool!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words!

Daniel Koster said:
Great design - keep at it!


You can get more info on 12c27 here:
www.steel.sandvik.com

click on "technical center"
then "Material data sheets"
then click the "+" next to "strip steel" on the left side menu
then find 12c27 (2nd from the top)

Dan
Click to expand...

WOW! Thanks for the link! That is really informative and helpful! Seems one can use oil, but I did not reach the correct temp for that! Reading that I think the knife is somewhere described as:

Too low cooling rate after austenitising gives carbide precipitations in the grain boundaries. Result: Brittleness and reduced corrosion resistance.

The handle seems to get surface rust easily and I do not think the hardness is all that great (compared to what it can be), would be interesting to test it one day when I get to someone with such a Rockwell machine.


Thanks once again!
 
I like the dimensions and the design. It's hard to find a compact BC type knife that has enough handle and not too much blade. That one looks like you have hit a particluar balance that I am always seeking. I would commit that to a piece of steel that's easy (for someone else) to HT and run with it.

I really like the way you rounded out the spot where your index finger goes, kept the cutting edge close to the handle and did not put a guard on in. The right contours on the scales and you are gon to have a really nice and very useful knife. I had one of the makers set me up with some blanks in O1 from sketches I sent. All I had to do is finish grind and do handles, and I have two of the handiest knives I have ever owned. I have been using them for a couple years now and can't find much to complain about.
 
Nice bro great job! I've been meaning to do the same one of these days but alas I'm just too damn lazy!
 
Thanks for the kind words guys.

Here is a video of the knife in use on redwood as well as the machete I recently got. The wedge that the knife creates helped a lot to split the wood.

Generally I do not like batoning, but the more I do it....the more I am starting to enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EbCH1XDwlI
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top