Rival1314
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2012
- Messages
- 1,424
Hey all, this project came my way and I thought it would be a great one to share. It was my first time working with timascus and I definitely learned a lot. A customer of mine had a korth Knives custom prototype with some wood scales....it was nice, but not really a looker. We selected a nice piece of White timascus from AKS, the goal was to make a set of scales that covered the full frame, as the wood scales had some portions that were left bare. here is what we were working with
Being my first time making full scales from timascus I made a set of scales for a Boker Damasteel Kwaiken of mine. The side scraps werent enough for scales on most knives, so it worked out well. This would also give me an opportunity to learn on my set, then proceed on the Korth with a bit more comfort. Working with the timascus wasn't a whole lot different than standard ti, but it had its quirks. The billet was pretty flat, so minimal surface sanding was needed...this was great, because I dont have a surface grinder. Drilling for the hardware posed no issue, though the piece seemed to heat up quicker than 6al4v, so i used a bit more cutting fluid than i normally would.
fit test, to ensure i didnt just make a crazy expensive error...
from here it was time to profile the scales...here is where the difference came in to play. I had to grind alot slower on the timascus than I would with 6al4v. the piece heated up quicker, and work hardened a bit. there was also alot of buildup on the burr side that needed to be removed when grinding fast. I have a 1.5hp frinder with VFD, and i found that 30% speed worked best for me. Profiling started on 80, then jumped up to 120, and touch-ups at 220. when planning out the approach I decided to hide the pivot screw to give the knife a cleaner overall look since we were going to cover the full frame.
From here it was contouring time....unfortunately I didnt take many pics of this process....lots of quenching after a pass or two and I didnt want to get my phone wet. As you can see from this one, I mount the scales into a thin piece of oak, leftover trim from another project. the key to profiling was using minimal pressure, and letting the belt do the cutting. I was again at 30% speed, starting with hard angles on the platen, then rounding out on the slack portion of my belt.
For finishing the scale contours, I worked my way through grits from: 80, 120, 220, 400, 600, 800 then hand sanded with 1000. I have read a few different opinions on finishing grits, polish, and flaming and 1000 seemed to be a number many people landed on or near. My customer wanted some deep blues in his scales with minimal bronze, and being white timascus wanted to see the nice white contrasts as well. I did a few test finishes on the kwaiken scales, one with electro-anodizing and the other with just a propane torch. For the electro-anodizied test I dipped the scale in multi-etch as I would with any other anodizing job. I anodized the scale a royal blue at 26v with my power source, with this i just got a solid blue scale and you really couldn't see any contrasts or pattern in the titanium. I then took my propane torch to the scale getting an even spread until the pattern started to pop out. The "white" layers of ti were heating to the point they gave a really nice whitish/bluish color...here was the end result:
The second test was with just a propane torch and a hanger. I spread the flame as evenly as I could up & down the scale, barely touching it with the inner blue flame to ensure i had consistent heat. Beginning with bronze the color began to slowly develop, though the inner layers didnt seem to change until i temporarily removed the heat to give it some air. I worked my way through the scale until i started getting an even deep blue and could see some good contrasting. I found that heating both the front & back of the scale really made the "white" layers contrast a bit more. Here was the result of the flame test.
This I all I have put together for now, I'll post up what the customer ended up choosing and finished project pics later. I'm putting together an overview video for my youtube channel, so I'll be sure to post all the finalized pics and details soon
Would love any feedback you may have for me...none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the valuable resources and people on this forum....I truly appreciate the amount of knowledge available and the great folks that are willing to share!
Being my first time making full scales from timascus I made a set of scales for a Boker Damasteel Kwaiken of mine. The side scraps werent enough for scales on most knives, so it worked out well. This would also give me an opportunity to learn on my set, then proceed on the Korth with a bit more comfort. Working with the timascus wasn't a whole lot different than standard ti, but it had its quirks. The billet was pretty flat, so minimal surface sanding was needed...this was great, because I dont have a surface grinder. Drilling for the hardware posed no issue, though the piece seemed to heat up quicker than 6al4v, so i used a bit more cutting fluid than i normally would.
fit test, to ensure i didnt just make a crazy expensive error...
from here it was time to profile the scales...here is where the difference came in to play. I had to grind alot slower on the timascus than I would with 6al4v. the piece heated up quicker, and work hardened a bit. there was also alot of buildup on the burr side that needed to be removed when grinding fast. I have a 1.5hp frinder with VFD, and i found that 30% speed worked best for me. Profiling started on 80, then jumped up to 120, and touch-ups at 220. when planning out the approach I decided to hide the pivot screw to give the knife a cleaner overall look since we were going to cover the full frame.
From here it was contouring time....unfortunately I didnt take many pics of this process....lots of quenching after a pass or two and I didnt want to get my phone wet. As you can see from this one, I mount the scales into a thin piece of oak, leftover trim from another project. the key to profiling was using minimal pressure, and letting the belt do the cutting. I was again at 30% speed, starting with hard angles on the platen, then rounding out on the slack portion of my belt.
For finishing the scale contours, I worked my way through grits from: 80, 120, 220, 400, 600, 800 then hand sanded with 1000. I have read a few different opinions on finishing grits, polish, and flaming and 1000 seemed to be a number many people landed on or near. My customer wanted some deep blues in his scales with minimal bronze, and being white timascus wanted to see the nice white contrasts as well. I did a few test finishes on the kwaiken scales, one with electro-anodizing and the other with just a propane torch. For the electro-anodizied test I dipped the scale in multi-etch as I would with any other anodizing job. I anodized the scale a royal blue at 26v with my power source, with this i just got a solid blue scale and you really couldn't see any contrasts or pattern in the titanium. I then took my propane torch to the scale getting an even spread until the pattern started to pop out. The "white" layers of ti were heating to the point they gave a really nice whitish/bluish color...here was the end result:
The second test was with just a propane torch and a hanger. I spread the flame as evenly as I could up & down the scale, barely touching it with the inner blue flame to ensure i had consistent heat. Beginning with bronze the color began to slowly develop, though the inner layers didnt seem to change until i temporarily removed the heat to give it some air. I worked my way through the scale until i started getting an even deep blue and could see some good contrasting. I found that heating both the front & back of the scale really made the "white" layers contrast a bit more. Here was the result of the flame test.
This I all I have put together for now, I'll post up what the customer ended up choosing and finished project pics later. I'm putting together an overview video for my youtube channel, so I'll be sure to post all the finalized pics and details soon
Would love any feedback you may have for me...none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for the valuable resources and people on this forum....I truly appreciate the amount of knowledge available and the great folks that are willing to share!