Number 2

[LucasY]

Hello everyone, a little introduction: My name is Lucas, 30 something, from Pennsylvania. A former boss got me interested knife making a few years ago, but haven't gone much further than putting handles on blade blanks. Now that he's retired he wanted to take me in as an apprentice in his small forging shop to pass on his knowledge. He has been making knifes for literally as long as I've been alive, and had gotten the damascus bug 20 years or so ago. In preparation for this I made a knife on my own out of 1084, that one isn't going to win any beauty awards, but it cuts well. I had my first lesson on forge welding a few weeks ago, spent the day forging out some 1084 and 15n20 from Aldo. I left that day with a chunk of steel 1/8" thick by 1.5" with 180 layers, random pattern, just big enough for 2 knives if I was careful cutting them out.

This knife is the first out of that. I cheated a bit and used a pattern from a blade blank I had previously purchased, but shortened the blade up just a touch. Heat treated by warming just past nonmagnetic, quenching in canola oil and tempering 2 one hour long cycles at 400F. Finished it out with some maple I had laying around, black paper micarta and stainless steel pins. Wood is finished with tung oil. I apologize in advance for the cell phone pictures. I need to set up my light box and get some decent pictures of it yet. For some reason the blade looks cracked on the one side in the pictures, but I've looked at it under magnification and I can't see any evidence of it other than that one picture.

I learned a lot making this one. The plunges are a little off at the top of the blade, the left side being what I had in mind, got carried away and a little too deep at the top of the right. On the next one I'll definitely do better on that. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out, should make a half decent user. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[i4Marc]

That is a great second knife. Don't worry about the mistakes. It's to be expected. You'll do better on the next one. My question for you would be, how do you feel about knifemaking? Do you have just a passing interest in it or are you excited about it? You're former boss is offering you a great opportunity if you have a real interest in learning how to make knives. You seem to have some talent for this. Your boss could really speed up your learning curve if you took advantage of his offer, as long as it didn't interfere with your life plans.

 

[LucasY]

I love the work involved in making things, and looking for ways to improve my skills. I started out by buying blade blanks, mostly kitchen sets, and finishing them out with various woods to give away as presents for Christmas and birthdays. It gives me something to occupy both my mind and my hands. I've set up a small shop in my basement in which I do leatherwork, the occasional grips for pistols, and now mainly knives. I'm sure my wife would say she's tired of hearing about my plans for the "next knife" and me handing her a knife and "saying how does this fit your hand?". I'd say I'm hooked. Honestly looking forward to learning as much as I can about the process of making knives, and hoping to someday being good enough to be a JS.

 

[psiewert]

Knife looks great! Personally I'd go with fewer pins but that's a personal choice. Did you etch the knife after it was completed? The reason I ask is that the Damascus pattern seems to fade was it gets close to the guard.

 

[S.Alexander]

Wow great work! Your bolster pins look misaligned compared to the other handle pins. This may be due to the fact that you used SO many pins.

Keep it up. Show us your other blade from the Damascus billet.

 

[Varga Knives]

Fantastic job!!! What an opportunity you're getting too! I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more from you in the future.

Pick yourself up a carbide file guide (I need to get one as well).

 

[charlesh1028]

Beautiful second! I have been wanting to do a Damascus blade but I don't think my skill level is where it needs to be to spend the money on it and mess up lol.

 

[LucasY]

Thanks for the encouragement.
Here is a quick snap of the first one I made. 1084 from Aldo, 1/8" thick. I didn't spend much time on it because I honestly thought it would end up in the junk drawer rather quickly. After using it while camping for an extended weekend and chopping up a 2x4 I wish I had put more effort into it.

On the second knife, the entire blade was immersed in ferric chloride for 25 minutes before I started handle fitment. The bolster pins are definitely misaligned compared to the rest, I was originally planning on using stainless bolsters, but broke 2 drill bits trying to drill them before I scrapped that idea and went to the micarta. Overall I'm happy that mistake happened. I don't think I would have given the micarta a chance otherwise, and it turns out I really like the look.

I started shaping number 3 this evening, using the rest of the damascus I had forged. Simple drop point, same pattern as the first knife I made. Planning on maple scales and brass bolsters

 

[Nic.]

Number 2?!?!? Holy crap, great work!!!