Several unrelated questions.

T

thegeek574

Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
2,460
First of all, I would like to say that I would have never got this far without all the knowledge i have gotten off this forum. I have several basically unrelated questions, so please feel free to answer whichever ones you can understand from my barely coherent writing;)

first question. I keep hearing about forge scale. I have some sort of a dark, almost bubbled finish on my knives that has a nice grey color from the ashes that i anneal them in. is this forge scale? if not, what is? should i get rid of it BEFORE i start grinding, or after?

Next question. how would you prefer the handle of a approximately 5 inch kitchen knife to be ergoed? I am looking for functionality, as this will be the only kitchen knife that will have under 9 inches that is unserrated. Our current set is kind of falling apart, but the parents have not gotten around to getting new ones.

Next question. How do you treat cherry wood for handles? a friend of mine is willing to let me have an unlimited supply, and so I have enough dry cherry to supply a factory. we have danish oil. i think that was one of the appropriate oils, but i can't remember how to treat the wood. do you epoxy it on, and then dip it in oil? dip it before epoxy?

Final question. how do you grind bevels around pretty steep curves and get a decent grind? I was trying for something basic with my first design and i ended up making the front VERY abruptly curved. let's just say that it ended up with a really ugly spanto grind :thumbup::p

thanks so much. I have been having great fun. it is certaintly a lot more productive than sitting around the house all day. if i can get halfway decent, i might be able to get through college on this. and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.
 
That is a form a forge scale. It doesn't matter when you grind it off, but I would do it first thing.

Figuring out the ergo for the handle is half the fun. Look at some high end kitchen cutlery for a starting point.

Cherry will eventually turn a nice dark brown. You should finish them on the knife and when you're done shaping and sanding start your oil finish. A lot of oil finishes like boiled linseed oil are not really appropriate for a kitchen knife because the accelerators used are not food safe. Resin stabilized wood is more popular for kitchen cutlery.

The trick to even grinds is practice. Pay attention to how you're holding the knife and how you're moving and be deliberate in your motions. Hold and move the same way for both sides.



edit to add:
Making kitchen cutlery to replace old and poor quality family knives is a good and useful thing. Even folks who are not "into knives" can appreciate a good kitchen knife that cuts well.
 
OK, I will take the scale right off. didn't know that for my first knife.

I know it is half the fun, But i kind of want this to be useful. I can either make it myself or spend the money on a new one, and that does not sound too exciting.

I should have been more specific. the cherry handles are going on a different knife. I guess i can put stabilized ones on the kitchen knife. what are your favorite methods for applying the oil?

As far as the grinds go, i will continue to practice, but if Rick Hinderer uses spanto grinds, then by george I can too :D :thumbup:
 
Here's a trick for getting rid of forge scale that has saved me many an hour and many a tool. Soak in white vinegar over night. That's all. It'll get rid of all of the scale. Otherwise it's a huge PITA to grind off and it will dull your tools/belts in a flash.

- Chris
 
that vinegar trick worked great, except that it worked great. let me explain. almost all the scale is gone, but i got some pretty severe pitting along the spine. should i have decreased the amount of time that it was in the vinegar? it was in there for about 12 hours this time.
 
Quote: "
Next question. how would you prefer the handle of a approximately 5 inch kitchen knife to be ergoed? I am looking for functionality, as this will be the only kitchen knife that will have under 9 inches that is unserrated."

It's hard to say without knowing the shape of the blade. A five inch knife is probably a paring knife??? Drop point?? How wide is the blade top to bottom? How thick is the steel? Nathan's advice is what I would do to start with, i.e. see what the expensive professional knives have for handles. Then I would cut out profiles using cereal box cardboard until I had a design that fit the hand that will be using it. If it's your Mom, ask her for her opinion. Trial and error until it seems right.

- Paul Meske
 
The pitting probably did not come from the vinegar — it just isn't an aggressive enough acid. It may have come from overheating or from not removing the scale during forging, which can drive the scale into the softer steel and produce pits. To deal with scale pitting, either brush your steel periodically with a steel wire brush or forge with a wet anvil.

- Chris
 
there is one problem. i didn't forge this. this a stock removal blade. how could it be caused by overheating?
 
thegeek574 said:
I guess i can put stabilized ones on the kitchen knife. what are your favorite methods for applying the oil?
Click to expand...
I have no experience making knives but have worked with wood for over 25 years, I like to use a fine steel wool to apply an oil finish.
 
Silly question, but was the steel rusty? I don't think heat will bubble the steel...Unless you hit 1800 plus. I don't really think the vinegar is aggressive enough to cause sever pitting. Can you post a picture?
 
Spalted, I will work on it. I ma still in the process, so this is much appreciated

Mike, the steel was not rusty as far as i could see. The pits were not deep, and so i am going to assume that they were just part of the scale. also, they were only on the parts of the blade that had not been ground. i will take the scale off first thing, next time. as far as pics go, i will see if i remember to get some up tomorrow. the pits are coming out with sandpaper and time, though.
 
pitsinblade.jpg

look towards the top, there you can definitely see them.

as you can see, these pits go down to the metal. I removed all the forge scale, and they were still there. they came out with sanding, but i am not a happy camper. I do have a question. Do you think it matters under the handle? i am going to remove it from the blade section, but i figure that it should be fine under the handle. shoot, it should allow the epoxy to grip better. thanks for the help. Steven
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top