- Joined
- Mar 20, 1999
- Messages
- 1,163
Whew... this stuff is really weird. Never have I seen a material that dulls and scratches so easily yet is so hard to work with!
After 2 days and countless hacksaw blades (about 1.5 to 2 inches cut per blade in 1/8" thick stock!), I finally went to the helpful Sears hardware store and found some 12" Carbite Grit Saw blades (stock # 40862), and a 10" Carbide "Rod" Saw blade (stock # 40861). The latter is a round, thick wire coated with Tungsten Carbide grit. Both products perform miraculously and I highly recommend them! The grit does load up with Ti particles, so I am going to buy some soapstone to try on them.
After I cut my blanks out, I began grinding on them with my new belt sander. I started with an 80 grit belt and finished with a 120 grit. Those are the only belts I own right now. I will be ordering more. I think a 60 grit belt would have made the early work go faster. I remembered that someone mentioned some sort of lubricant for the belts that makes them cut longer so I tried a little Teflon lube (ZEP45) on one 120 grit belt and found that the belt loaded up very quickly. Perhaps I should try a product specifically for grinding belts!
I fingured out that I was using WAY too much pressure and working the Ti too fast. I was having to wear a glove or hold a leather patch up against the blank due to the piece heating up so much. When I tried to thin the edges and tip of the stock out, they would burn up or blacken terribly and become hard to obtain even grinds on. I discovered that if I took the gloves off, and handled the Ti with bare fingertips while grinding, I could frequently quench the work in cold water and keep it from overheating. Although I was working "slower," I actually made faster, cleaner, neater progress.
So with all that... may I introduce my first completely finished piece, The Texas Tanto!
Why The Texas Tanto? Good question! Well, I'm originally from Texas and very proud of my home state. I wanted to name the knife something that would honor Texas. But even beyond that I started this project with the idea of a Titanium blade specifically for backup carry in Texas. Why Titatium? Because if you've ever been to Texas in the summer you've learned to do one thing well and that is SWEAT! Since fatigue and irritibility set in quickly when you are overheated, I didn't want something that would rust all over you and start weighing you down. I wanted to build a low maintainance, lightweight blade specifically for defensive backup carry. This is what I came up with:
<center><img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=33630&a=208307&p=22019260&Sequence=0></center>
I know many of you hate chisel grinds, so I sabre ground this one (both sides). Until I get a good quality grinder, the rest will also be saber ground or chisel ground. I will be making more, so if you want one, let me know. Oh yeah... OAL is 7.25 inches.
I tried to finish this with sandpaper, but the dang thing resisted all attempts. I finally got a halfway decent looking 320 grit finish and topped it off with the old green Scotchbrite. The finish still doesn't look great and picks up smudges, prints, etc, very easily. Future versions will probably be bead blasted and have a lanyard hole (I couldn't find my drill!). Eventually, I want to have these water jet cut. It will save LOTS of grinding time and yield a more uniform product.
If there are any additions, deletions, changes that you would like to see on your model, let me know!
[This message has been edited by the4th (edited 05-31-2000).]
After 2 days and countless hacksaw blades (about 1.5 to 2 inches cut per blade in 1/8" thick stock!), I finally went to the helpful Sears hardware store and found some 12" Carbite Grit Saw blades (stock # 40862), and a 10" Carbide "Rod" Saw blade (stock # 40861). The latter is a round, thick wire coated with Tungsten Carbide grit. Both products perform miraculously and I highly recommend them! The grit does load up with Ti particles, so I am going to buy some soapstone to try on them.
After I cut my blanks out, I began grinding on them with my new belt sander. I started with an 80 grit belt and finished with a 120 grit. Those are the only belts I own right now. I will be ordering more. I think a 60 grit belt would have made the early work go faster. I remembered that someone mentioned some sort of lubricant for the belts that makes them cut longer so I tried a little Teflon lube (ZEP45) on one 120 grit belt and found that the belt loaded up very quickly. Perhaps I should try a product specifically for grinding belts!
I fingured out that I was using WAY too much pressure and working the Ti too fast. I was having to wear a glove or hold a leather patch up against the blank due to the piece heating up so much. When I tried to thin the edges and tip of the stock out, they would burn up or blacken terribly and become hard to obtain even grinds on. I discovered that if I took the gloves off, and handled the Ti with bare fingertips while grinding, I could frequently quench the work in cold water and keep it from overheating. Although I was working "slower," I actually made faster, cleaner, neater progress.
So with all that... may I introduce my first completely finished piece, The Texas Tanto!
Why The Texas Tanto? Good question! Well, I'm originally from Texas and very proud of my home state. I wanted to name the knife something that would honor Texas. But even beyond that I started this project with the idea of a Titanium blade specifically for backup carry in Texas. Why Titatium? Because if you've ever been to Texas in the summer you've learned to do one thing well and that is SWEAT! Since fatigue and irritibility set in quickly when you are overheated, I didn't want something that would rust all over you and start weighing you down. I wanted to build a low maintainance, lightweight blade specifically for defensive backup carry. This is what I came up with:
<center><img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=33630&a=208307&p=22019260&Sequence=0></center>
I know many of you hate chisel grinds, so I sabre ground this one (both sides). Until I get a good quality grinder, the rest will also be saber ground or chisel ground. I will be making more, so if you want one, let me know. Oh yeah... OAL is 7.25 inches.
I tried to finish this with sandpaper, but the dang thing resisted all attempts. I finally got a halfway decent looking 320 grit finish and topped it off with the old green Scotchbrite. The finish still doesn't look great and picks up smudges, prints, etc, very easily. Future versions will probably be bead blasted and have a lanyard hole (I couldn't find my drill!). Eventually, I want to have these water jet cut. It will save LOTS of grinding time and yield a more uniform product.
If there are any additions, deletions, changes that you would like to see on your model, let me know!
[This message has been edited by the4th (edited 05-31-2000).]
