New Knife Coming to Life

[lamontjb]

Well I have been out f the knife making art for awhile and I finally got my new shop together. I built my workbench, bolted my new vise, drill press, and old KMG which has so much rust that I should be shot. But it still works like a champ (one bearing is squealing a bit though :grumpy:

I am making a knife as a military gift soon. I drew out what I want it to look like and order 2” wide 1095, but I am still waiting for it to come in. However, I found an old piece of 1095 lying around (1 ½” wide) and it had a knife silhouette scribed out... must have been over 2 years ago!

Since I’ve been out of the game so long, I figured I shouldn’t start on the gift knife yet, but experiment with stuff lying around to re-learn the art. So I got the jig saw out and cut the blank out (Jig saw isn’t the preferred tool for that, but it’s all I have at the moment). First blade died on me because I went too fast, but the second jig blade got it down. Then I grinded the rest down on an inexpensive 80 grit belt (Need to buy those hogging belts that I've been hearing about). Once I got a profile out (I say "a" rather than "the" because at the time I didn’t care... I really regret that now because it’s turning out nice).

I then started grinding the bevel and I couldn't believe how straight I was getting it on the first try. I didn’t even scribe the center line (Because my scribe is getting shipped tomorrow). I haven’t made too many knives in the past, but it seems I am picking up right where I left off 2 years ago. I am really happy about that.

I don’t like the profile of this knife, but the bevels are coming out nicely. It’s at the 120 grit stage and I think it’s ready for 220. I'm at 1 mm thick at the edge, so I expect to have to bring the width down as I grind more with the 220 and 400 grit. That’s not bad though since it is a very large width knife.

One question though, the steel seems to rust quickly. As I grind and dry it off, I see rust spots within 5 minutes. Is this because I am still using low grit and water is getting between scratches? Or am I using inferior steel?

Hope you like, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated since I am re-learning everything and trying to get the basics down so that my next knife will be great looking. Also, from now on, all my knives will have differential heat treating. I picked up some imperial's brick and fireplace mortar cement at Lowe’s that I am looking forward to try out with this blade. I will update my progress here.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Yeah man, you still got it.

 

[Will Leavitt]

Looks good to me, don't worry about the rust during grinding. At the lower grits more surface area is exposed and the steel seems more prone to rust during these stages (I run into the same thing.) Add some dish detergent to the bucket of water, this helps sheet it off and breaks the surface tension so that larger grit will sink to the bottom.

Feet and knees together

 

[lamontjb]

Thanks guys... I'm going use that suggestion asap. Here are two more pics of what I did at 240 grit. I can't believe both sides are coming out identical. Also, my bevel is running straight across. I've never been able to accomplish this before and I'm dead scared that I'll never get it to happen again. Hell I could never get it on a file either. Maybe I've become more patient in the last 2 years .HA who am I kidding!!

 

[Barkes Knife Shop]

Great job on the knife. I can see you still have your eye. Thanks for posting it to see. :thumbup:

 

[lamontjb]

Just finished the heat treat. I think its turning out pretty nice. Used APG #36 Refractory Cement as a clay coating. Quenched in ECKW-P50-Fast Quench Oil (cold).

Cleaned it up and put it in the oven at 380. Going to go for an hour. Let it cool down for another hour, and then put it in for another hour.

Tomorrow I plan on cleaning it up.

What grit should I start with after heat treat? Is 400 too high?

Do you like it?

 

[ddavelarsen]

Nice work! It really is like riding a bike, ain't it?

Regardless how little it matters, it's totally unnerving to come back to the shop the following day and see all your knives splotched with rust. I've taken up the habit of spraying a day's work with WD-40 before I quit. Unless you're really close to final finish (or unless it's going to be weeks before you return) rust doesn't matter a great deal but it sure can have an effect on your attitude when you turn the lights on the next day...

 

[Shawn fu]

Nice to see you getting back into it,John_I don't think you lost anything-all looks great from here-nice work.I can't wait to see this one finished:thumbup:

 

[lamontjb]

Okay I am starting to get to the point where I need some help from others. This is the second time where I have got a nice hamon and I want to show it off on this blade. I've also decided that I am going to use as high of a grit as I can on the none bevel side (I can't find my 2000 grit, so I'm stuck with 1200), and then use an 800 polished cork belt on the actual blade. Funny thing is, I can't find any info on this specific belt. I bought it from tru-grit and I can't find it on there website. But thats another story.

Its the first time I've used it and it cut away on my straight line where the bevel meets the top of the blade, but I'm sure that when I grind the top flat with an 800, it will go away.

Is this a good strategy? I'm basically trying to have the blade look usuable. I wish I knew how to get that satin look, so this might be as good as it gets.

Another question is whats the best way to show off this hamon? The pic I'm showing is very decieving because I got really lucky with the camera. Most of the time its very hard to see this line. I've heard of knife makers using ferric chloride, and ammonia to nuetralize the acid but I don't know if thats what they use it for. Any help would be greatly apprieciated.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

First, You have to break in the cork belts. Take a piece of hardened steel and grind on it with the belt for 10-15 minutes. That will break in the belt. When you use it to polish, charge it with green rouge.

Second, If you want a sharp hamon, you don't want to buff it on a belt. finish by hand for hamon development. The buffer/belt will smear the hamon and sometimes wipe it out almost completely.
Stacy

 

[lamontjb]

Ok here it is. I spent some time on this blade here and there and was able to finally finish it last month. It was given to a Lt Col as a gift for completing his command of a Special Operations BN.

I am hoping that this will be my last Full Tang Knife where the handle is epoxied to the blade because I feel that a carbon steel blade should be easily disassembled for cleaning or re-polishing.

I used a medium grit scotch-bright on the blade. Amboyna Burl Wood Handle and a differential heat treat. I did not perform an acid etch (although on my next blade I am going to try it), so the hamon is only noticeable at the right angle.

While there are some definite improvements to be made on this blade, it is the best one I've made so far (not sure if that says anything).

I am providing a link that shows the stages of making this blade so its pretty cool seeing this thing come to life.

-John


http://www.miamimax.com/k7/

 

[lamontjb]

Sorry to bump, but was wondering if you guys could tell me what you thought of my latest knife. I have two Knife projects in the works and I am trying to learn off of this last project. I was out of the knife-making art for over 2 years, since my last deployments put a halt on things. Looking to finish two more (make that 3) before I go down again. Thanks for any input you can provide. I have been re-learning allot and I am very interested in learning etching (Thank you Dave Kelly for your info), Hand Polishing, hidden tang, and more unique hamon. A recent post by Stacy has given me the idea to switch to Satanite. Thanks again.

 

[silver_pilate]

I think it's a great looking little knife! I hesitate to even say this, as it is completely my own personal preference, but I don't generally fall for sway-backed knives, so-to-speak, but that's taking nothing away from this little guy. Without the narrowing waist from the spine, you'd have a bit more space for enlarging those great looking bolsters.

Maybe something that you could do that many people prefer is to hand sand the blade with scratch marks going parallel to the spine. At a higher grit (1200+) with hand sanding, I'd think that hamon should really pop. Again, that's a personal preference, and I don't mind a nice machined finish on a user knife.

One other thing would be to try and match the pin and bolster materials for a more uniform package. Maybe try some SS bolsters with SS pins, or brass bolster and pins.

Great job overall!

--nathan