Rob's 1st knife build - You, with a little bit of me, we're building a knife!

Post their 1st temper. Oven was set to 450 (just under actually) looks like I'm in the blue/purple zone, and not the straw color. Any concerns?

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Looks like number 5 got a little too toasty...

And no. Straw range is around 230 degrees. Thats the color you would want.
 
Yeah, I was surprised how quickly they came up to temp with the lump coal/hair dryer combo. The first one was a face melt. :(. After that I turned the hair dryer down a notch.

Looking forward to getting the Scales from you!
 
Woods going in the mail first thing tomorrow morning! Something to know is the macassar is going to look very light. It needs to be oiled to bring out the dark brown and black streaking. Personally, i like tung oil, though some people use boiled linseed.
 
Don't worry about the color... unless you expose bare metal and de-grease them the same way, every time, the colors are not the best indicator to judge a successful temper.
 
QQ: I originally filed the edge down to the thickness of a dime. Now that I'm done with heat treat, do I file that down to the final edge now, or do I leave that area for the 25' angle final edge? (Remember I'm using the Gough jig, and files). Next steps?
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The candy man also showed up today with some sweets from Mr. Greenberg

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Macassar Ebony and some Wenge
 
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Your blade may(or should) be too hard to file without damaging the files in short time. If it files easily you need to heat treat again. Post heat treat is usually done with abrasives(grinders, sand paper, stones, etc..) You need to bring the bevels down much thinner before setting your edge. I wouldn't leave it much thicker than .015". I go to .005 prior to the final edge.... sometimes, I take the flats right to sharp before setting the edge.
 
Yeah, the file didn't do much but take off the scale (apparently a good thing). I guess should have gone a bit thinner before heat treat with the file jig. I know I'm gonna screw these up if I gotta take em to a belt, and I know I'll screw up my forearms if I gotta grind em down by hand using 40grit on up. Hmmmm...
 
You've certainly got the tools and a good head start from the info here. I reckon you'll do a grand job mate.

Look forward to seeing them go through the next steps! :)
 
Meh... you can work those down with papers and a sanding paddle... or figure out some other clever way. You seem to be very capable of addressing challenges.
 
Ok, some progress. After hardening, it was just too difficult to remove the material I needed to remove (roughly the thickness of a dime) with the Gough jig. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have gone a bit thinner at the edge on the file jig and HOPE they make it thru heat treat. So, I just decided to hand grind them on my 6x32". Wasn't the ideal sander for the job, but I made it work. Not perfect, but acceptable for my 1st hand grinds I guess. I was even able to make a knife out of the blade that got its face melted off.

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Now they are ready for hand sanding. Start with 120 grit, then 220, and 400. You can usually quit there, or go as high as you want up to 2500 grit.

Get a block of hard wood about 6"X2"X2". Wrap the sandpaper around it and use it like a file. Go in one direction each stroke. Use wet-or-dry type paper and dip it regularly in a bowl of water with a few drops of dish soap. Change the paper often. It is of no gain to sand with dull paper. Sand each grit until it is smooth and all older grit scratches are gone. Wash everything off before starting a new grit to avoid carrying coarse grit onto the finer papers. It is a good idea to have a "dunk bucket" that you can occasionally stick the blade in to rinse off the swarf while sanding. It will also keep your hands from getting caked with the swarf, too. I like to put some baking soda in the dunk bucket as well as the dip bowl. It softens the water as well as increases the PH.
 
Thanks for the tips Stacy. Made some progress tonight.
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400 grit starts to look purdy. I'll stop at 600, tape the blade and begin handle work.
 
Just ran across this... Very impressive! (iv never seen that file work jig.. great idea!)
 
1st blade is sanded to 600grit, satin finish and ready for final edge. Gluing up some scales/liners tonight, and maybe sanding another blade to 600grit.

Question: I heat treated the butt of the knife for a window breaker. I did this BEFORE drilling the lanyard hole. I'm actually thinking to delete the lanyard holes on this 1st batch since its KILLER to drill at this point on the drill press with titanium bits. Any suggestions, or just delete??
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If you have a torch you can spot aneal the spot that you are going to drill for the lanyard hole...
 
I use two flute solid carbide drills. Get 1/8" and 1/4". They will go through hardened steel with your drill press.
 
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