new at this

[jrhart50]

Hi my name is James and I have a fiew questions for the folder craftsmen.
First how do you cut the nail nick in and do you do it before H T
I have a dremel, belt sander,drillpress,a buffer and files.
Next how can I finish water bufflo horn to a nice shine
Thanks in advance. James Hartman

 

[SteelSlaver]

I have only made 6 folders. I put the nick in the first couple with a dremel and a thin blade by hand. I did ok. The next ones I did I put the cutter disk in my drill press set it on highest speed and put the blade in a cross feed vise and used that to move the blade to the cutter and make the length. I did mine after HT. But I know many of the top people use a big dovetail mill cutter for the best look, with the sharp point on the ends. You could do this with a drill press and a cross slide. Practice on cheap steel. This would have to be pre HT unless you had a carbide cutter. If you don't have a cross feed vise for your drill press, get one you will love it and be a lot beter off and safer when you drill.

On the buffalo horn. First use sharp belts and keep it cool or it will get white streaks. Sand it as fine as possible and buff lightly. Once it is sanded up and buffed it really looks great, but, it sure seems to shrink. I have seen many others complain about this to. Good luck and enjoy

 

[jrhart50]

Thanks I will try that on nail nick by hand for the scales i might get wood I have got some mesquet that was given to me

 

[Patrickknives]

You can use a dremmel before or after heat treat. If you use the thin cuttoff you will get a nice thin nic. I taper one of the thicker cuttoff stones to get more of a nic shape. Do the edges of the nic first and then the center because you will loose the sharp edge quickly making the edges of you nic blunt.

I use a drill press at high speed and a drill vice to hold the blade rather than hold by hand.