Sir Snark-A-Lot

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wtf...a 2-hours-later double tap lol.

Yeah, that was impressive.

All that talk about how much HT costs is making me think about doing it myself with some of the more "beginner" steels. I watched a very informative YT video about different steels and the gentleman suggested 1095, 440c and O1 as fairly easy (in that all materials and knowledge aren't expensive or hard to come by) to HT, DIY-style. I like the idea of 440C since it's stainless and not real expensive. I have a BM 550 Grip that's 440C and it has a great edge and seems to hold it pretty well.
 
Yeah, that was impressive.

All that talk about how much HT costs is making me think about doing it myself with some of the more "beginner" steels. I watched a very informative YT video about different steels and the gentleman suggested 1095, 440c and O1 as fairly easy (in that all materials and knowledge aren't expensive or hard to come by) to HT, DIY-style. I like the idea of 440C since it's stainless and not real expensive. I have a BM 550 Grip that's 440C and it has a great edge and seems to hold it pretty well.

You can't DIY 440C, any stainless, or any decent tool steel (including O1) without a proper electric kiln ($600-$2000). Ought to have some quench plates too (easy enough to come by). And if you buy a kiln, there's no reason to start with 440C. Other stainless will give you far more for only a marginal increase in material cost. (I've never loved a 440C blade except 'Bruce'.)

You can DIY O1 in a 2-brick forge and canola, but you'll be wasting your money if you can't soak it at temp like a tool steel needs (kiln).

1084 for the home heat-treater unless you're going to invest in a proper kiln. You can treat it perfectly for pennies in equipment, AND it makes a fabulous knife. Even 1095 benefits from more control, and is riskier to treat than 1084 (more likely to crack).

Dammit, now you're making me think about bringing the forge to the gathering to get the bug outta y'all. Though pre-heated oil would be a tricky mess. I don't think that's gonna work out...
 
I've read before that 1084 is awesome, if heat treated properly.
 
I think daizee said use animal fat... Lol.

For real though people were making and heat treating knives for hundreds of years... You can do it yourself... Lots of people still do..

Will it be as good as a professionally done place.. No.. But could you do it good enough to use a knife, yes.

We have the science and smarts to do things way better than they were done in the past, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to do it now. For your own knives you wanna use yourself go for it... Never anything wrong with learning.

People say you can't use this or do that all the time when rely they should be saying it's not the best way anymore but will still work.

All my opinions of course, but a million swords and knives throughout history were made with no electricity or fancy kilns.
 
I think daizee said use animal fat... Lol.

For real though people were making and heat treating knives for hundreds of years... You can do it yourself... Lots of people still do..

Will it be as good as a professionally done place.. No.. But could you do it good enough to use a knife, yes.

We have the science and smarts to do things way better than they were done in the past, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to do it now. For your own knives you wanna use yourself go for it... Never anything wrong with learning.

People say you can't use this or do that all the time when rely they should be saying it's not the best way anymore but will still work.

All my opinions of course, but a million swords and knives throughout history were made with no electricity or fancy kilns.

These are excellent observations. Perfection is the enemy of "good enough".
 
You can't DIY 440C, any stainless, or any decent tool steel (including O1) without a proper electric kiln ($600-$2000). Ought to have some quench plates too (easy enough to come by). And if you buy a kiln, there's no reason to start with 440C. Other stainless will give you far more for only a marginal increase in material cost. (I've never loved a 440C blade except 'Bruce'.)

You can DIY O1 in a 2-brick forge and canola, but you'll be wasting your money if you can't soak it at temp like a tool steel needs (kiln).

1084 for the home heat-treater unless you're going to invest in a proper kiln. You can treat it perfectly for pennies in equipment, AND it makes a fabulous knife. Even 1095 benefits from more control, and is riskier to treat than 1084 (more likely to crack).

Dammit, now you're making me think about bringing the forge to the gathering to get the bug outta y'all. Though pre-heated oil would be a tricky mess. I don't think that's gonna work out...

1084 is a dream to work with - easy to file, easy to HT, can be tempered in the oven.

preheating oil is pretty simple - I've used the aluminum center out of a 6 qt ice cream freezer filled with peanut oil before (very similar properties as canola), heated it over a burner to 140 (kitchen thermometer) then turned of the fire. It held above 130 for several blades, because dropping hot steel in raised the temp back up while the next blade was heating. If you don't have a way to heat the vessel, you can heat the oil using scrap metal heated to red hot in the forge. (rebar and/or angle iron work well for this)
 
Internet is out in our area... Again.

I'm using the wife's phone. Damn autocorrect sucks.

Anyway, I made a simple sanding block to use tonight... Once the sandpaper is done the entire thing is trash... No matter as I got the wood out of some scraps anyway.

I just took 2 blocks of wood and sawed them to size. One on top was cut thinner as a handle. Then wrapped the paper around the bottom piece and put 2 nails in it to hold it in place... Worked good enough for what I needed right now.

But the guy who made that sanding block and filing jig is a genius.
 
2" wide double sided carpet tape is good stuff for making a quick sanding block.
 
Got out to a local county fair tonight. Rode some rides. Ate some funnel cake. Watched the rodeo. And heard Robert Earl Keen sing "The road goes on forever..."






My cell phone really takes horrible pictures.


Especially when it's dark.

And I'm shooting into lights.
 
Internet back on now.. Man every night lately its been cutting off on me for a while. Sometimes for the nearly the entire night.

Just called comcast/xfinity they will send a tech out on tuesday. Neighbors told me they have the same issue. Comcast rep says he could see that almost all the modems in our area was down or off.

Hope they fix it.
 
It was good.

Now off to bed.

WW, if you don't do any sleeping, I'll look forward to seeing what you work on tonight.
 
It was good.

Now off to bed.

WW, if you don't do any sleeping, I'll look forward to seeing what you work on tonight.

Im working on this bottle of sake, and watching TV :D Night bud!

Really though, when it gets late i cant run any power tools.. I can file, hacksaw, sand etc. but i already did some hand sanding and took my shower so im done for the night.

My wife kind asked for me to try and do the "work" during the week while the kids are in school...and after she comes home from work but only until dinner... Or after she goes to bed using hand tools.... Otherwise id be down in my basement all evening and on weekends and she doesnt want. We wouldnt see much of each other. And i dont play in the basement after i get the kids from school while she is still at work, i help them with homework, or play around with them or whatever.... Its almost like i have a work schedule LMAO
 
Good parenting is very time consuming. But then again that's true of most things worth doing right.
 
What is everyone's favorite seasoning? Powder form, mixes are fine.

"Hate dust" is way up there for me, but its only available a couple times a year... And thats only if your lucky enough to get it before it sells out.... and its not cheap... but the money all goes to charity so i think thats awesome. A little of that sprinkled on damn near any meat before its cooked goes a long way and taste delicious.

I also really like Cajun's Choice Creole seasoning. It goes on nearly everything well. I also mix that into my bottles of hot sauce for added flavor.

But as a more healthy salt free mix i take cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder and mix them up at about 50% cayenne, 25% garlic, and 25% onion. I keep a shaker full of that sitting right next to my hotsauce... And both of those are in reaching distance when im sitting at my computer.

So what do you like??
 
See me and if my face becomes sincere, beware...

Good stuff bigghoss!

Dunkem - I've been listening to Robert Earl Keen all night. Kinda like getting caught up with an old friend. Thanks!

WW - We usually use a combination of garlic powder, a little salt & pepper, comino (cumin), and cayenne powder or serrano pepper flake on almost anything. Man I miss my mamma's cooking. Gotta make time to go see her this weekend.
 
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