My first knife....hopefully first of many

Cox Workshop

Cox Workshop

Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
120
I've lurked for a while but never posted. I don't know enough to give advice and most of my questions are answered through other peoples posts. So I've never really needed to post. But that makes me feel like a mooch. So I figured I ought to share something. Mainly I want to say thanks for all the knowledge shared on these forums. My first knife has some shortcomings but it's significantly better than it would have been had I not had the info you all provided. So thanks!

Blade Material: 1095

Handle Material: ??? Actually not sure, some scrap of hardwood I had laying around the shop

Blade Thickness 3/16 inch

Blade Length: 4 inches

Blade Grind: flat grind

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I think I'm happy with it given its my first attempt. The plunge line at the ricasso turned out a bit rough. Also I'm unsure of my heat treat. I followed the advise other posted on the forum for 1095 but I'm not sure I had the heats correct. A kind older gentleman gave me his old pottery kiln and I purchased a cheap temperature controller and sensor off ebay and wired it up to use as a heat treat oven. The setup seems to work great but I've never tuned the temperature controller to the kiln. I worry what I was reading was not the actually temperature. Not sure how to tune it actually. I should have checked for non-magnetic which I didn't. Now I'm kind of kicking myself. Oh well, lesson for the next blade. Seems to take and hold an edge pretty well, but I've not had a 1095 blade before so I'm not sure what to compare it to.
 
Next is picture taking. I know that knife are the toughest to photograph. try taking a front on shot so we can see the complete profile.

The knife and handle look great, especially for a first, have you tried a file on it or the brass rod test on the edge? They will help you see how well the HT came out.
 
Yeah, pretty bad pictures actually. Out of town right now and these are the only ones I snapped before I left. I'll be back home tomorrow though. I did try a file on it. Seemed ok, then again it was the first time I had done a file test so I don't have a lot to compare it to. It felt a lot more like it was glancing off then it did when I tried it on the untreated 1095 for what that's worth.

Don't have any brass rod laying around I may have to get some. Is there a reason everyone uses brass? Just as to not scratch the blade? I have some aluminum rod maybe I can use that.
 
Great job on your first blade, I have seen many firsts including my own that did not look nearly as good as yours! As far as the heat treatment were you at least able to see the color of the blade fairly well before you quenched it? And a good way to see if it hardened well is to just use it to cut things around your house and job and see how sharp it stays. A lot of people will give you a hard time for not following a "proper" heat treating cycle, which is understandable because your not getting the steel's full potential, but I have found my O-1 tool steel blades hold an edge just fine by using my propane farriers forge. Looks like you are off to a good start!:thumbup:
 
extdrive said:
Yeah, pretty bad pictures actually. Out of town right now and these are the only ones I snapped before I left. I'll be back home tomorrow though. I did try a file on it. Seemed ok, then again it was the first time I had done a file test so I don't have a lot to compare it to. It felt a lot more like it was glancing off then it did when I tried it on the untreated 1095 for what that's worth.

Don't have any brass rod laying around I may have to get some. Is there a reason everyone uses brass? Just as to not scratch the blade? I have some aluminum rod maybe I can use that.
Click to expand...

That's a good question about why brass rod? I think it's because it has consistence so you have a standard of sorts. also as you said it won't marr the steel of you have hardened correctly and if it does you need to re HT ..

That's just a guess and you may find that on the Net of one of the schools or ask that question to a Master Smith?

I've just used it as a test on the few carbon steel blades I've HTed and found it helpful.
 
Here are Wayne Goddards thoughts regarding the test:


The Brass Rod Test (as it appeared in BLADE Magazine) by Wayne Goddard

The brass rod test was demonstrated to me in 1959 by an old blacksmith who made knives in the 1930s. Here is my version of the brass rod test which is simple test of heat treating to help determine that a blade will hold up in normal use.

Clamp a 1/4-inch-diameter brass rod horizontally in a vise with the top half above the jaws. Or glue it to a piece of hardwood. Lay the knife edge on the brass rod at the same angle used for sharpening (about 15 degrees). Have a good light source behind the vise so that you can see the deflection caused by the rod on the edge. Apply enough pressure so that you can see the edge deflect. (When tested on a scale, the pressure works out to 35-40 lbs.) If the edge chips out with moderate pressure on the rod, the edge will most likely chip out in use. If the edge stays bent over in the deflected area, it will bend in use and be too soft to hold an edge. The edge of a superior blade will deflect on the rod and spring back straight.

The test is intended for knives in the hunting knife class. Thin filet knives or thick camp knives will not respond to the test in the same way. The blade that is too hard will chip out in normal use, too soft and the edge will bend. The brass rod test can quickly determine if the blade has a good balance of flexible strength and hardness sufficient to hold an edge.

The brass rod test as I present it is not intended to replace a hardness test to determine that a blade was fully hardened. It only applies to blades that have been tempered. I have worked out my version using it on blades made of alloy and carbon steel types that backyard heat treating methods are adequate for. The brass rod test is only a comparison test to determine what is in my opinion a hardness that will hold up in normal use. I started using is about thirty years ago and still think it is the best non field-use test I've found for testing the suitability of a blade steel and heat treatment for a working knife.


Wayne also notes in his book $50 Knife Shop:

"A thick blade with a heavy edge cannot be evaluated with this test. Find yourself a scrap of wood with a big knot in it and chop through it with your thick-bladed camp knife, if it doesn't hold up well to that it shouldn't be sold as a camp knife."
 
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