Newbie working on taking up the offer for waterjet cutting

L

Lucky Bob

Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
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But before, I sent the steel off, I need to get a design down! I'm working on a pocket FB to go in a leather sheath a la AG Russell's Woodswalker, from 1/8" O1 stock. Unfortunately, my university won't let me use campus facilities for knifemaking, so, other than the waterjetting, I'm stuck using files and sandpaper. Given that, here are the design variations I've come up with so far:

10201038wharnieft4.jpg

verticalgrindwharnieec3.jpg

verticalgrindwharnie2dt8.jpg

All three of them are 2" from the origin (the little blue thing) to the tip of the knife, with the third one having a shorter handle than the first two. Also, I worked out the balance points for all three of the designs (as you can still see on the third) and they're all between the top of the choil and the pseudo-subhilt.

I roughly based them on Todd Begg Treefrog seen in the middle here:
DSCN5587.jpg


So, what do you all think, which would you build? What improvements/hybridizations would you make?

And, separately... How hard could one make the cutting edge, while still being practical? And would anyone be willing to (with recompense) do the differential heat-treat for me? (not looking for a hamon, although that would be cool... just don't want/need the handle as hard as the blade)
 
What steel are you planning to use, 1095 or O1 could be diff heat treat to make a hamon but rust will be an issue unless the rest of the knife has some sort of coating or anodizing. O1 would be my first choice since it is used on tool steel and can hold a very good edge.

You might want to make a wood prototype and check the size of the back of the handle, also the thumb rest on top of the blade may be too far forward. The thumb may have to reach over the hump. Looking at all three I think they all have design aspects that when combined may make the best knife.

1. I like the relationship of the thumb rest and the handle, blade seems short and extended from the handle which will require more torque when cutting. Hold a knife and cut some cardboard 1" and then 3" from the handle.

2. better blade length but thumb rest is over blade which may interfear with cutting through objects such as cardboard.

3. I like the curve on the back of the blade better, lets you keep more steel and results in a stronger blade than when the angle is steep to the tip.

Notice how the treefrog makes the transition from the blade to the handle, the small relief makes grinding (for me) easier and help provide a end point for sharpening. The transition you have would be difficult to sharpen.
 
PCR: First of all, thank you for the comments. I'm using O1, because that's what I bought a while ago, and haven't gotten around to using. It's 1/8" because, as you said, I figure it should be thicker if I'm going to go scale-less.

As for the design aspects, I agree with most of that, but I chose to make those sacrifices in order to make it a usable pocket FB. Also, all three blades have the exact same profile, unless I've made an error somewhere.

As for the transition... I'm aware of both of those points. I had been planning to do it with files, so I didn't think that the square transition would be problematic. As for sharpening, the first one has a small notch at the base of the blade, and the other two were planned only to be sharp along the linear part, so the curved (and thicker, the bevel is entirely planar) part would perform the notch's function.

And I'll reply to your PM later, I have work to get to, unfortunately.
 
Well in my best girlie impression, I like serations.:o But I'm no knifemaker:rolleyes:
 
Alright, time to bump this thread for my own ends!

Where can you get 1/8" 13C26 stock (at least 1.5" wide), and how much will it cost?
 
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