What's the next step?

Joined
Mar 20, 1999
Messages
1,163
Ok..... I started with a piece of what I think was a leaf spring of some type. The stock is 1/8" thick. Using a hacksaw and a dremel tool I've gotten this far (around 2.5 hours of work).

<center><img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=33630&a=208307&p=21118930&Sequence=0></center>

I haven't been careful at all about letting the steel get hot. It's gotten too hot to touch a few times. Was I correct in guessing that this wouldn't effect the blade since no heat treat has been done or do I now have a wall hanger?

What do I do next? I am guessing that I should clean it up a bit more, and then start grinding the blade down.

Thank you all!
 
I would sand the flat sides to about 400 grit , Drill for the pins or rivets and then grind the bevels. After that you can heat treat and then final grind the bevels. I like the design. Bruce
 
Bruce,
Thank you for the compliment! I got tired of waiting for my Ti stock to come in and started on this last night while the missus was at a Mom and Daughter banquet at church.
I have two other designs that I want to make, but want to make them in Ti. I have reason's for the other 2 being made in Ti exclusively.
smile.gif
This one still needs a name. F.U.N.K. - Fourth's utility neck knife?
No pins or rivets. This one won't have any scales.

 
I would suggest doing the file work next then sand it and heat treat.....Bruce

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The Soul of the Knife begins in the FIRE !!!! Akti # A000223
 
Looks good so far. Was there any curvatuer in this section of "spring" when you started.
If there was it may majically reapere when you heat treat your blade. Annealing it before you go to much farther will eliminate most warpage during heat treating and make for easier grinding, drilling and filing during construction. FYI, hope you did it already.



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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html
 
Well, since it isn't going to have scales, you obviously don't have to worry about drilling the holes next.

I agree with all the posts above.

But, if you went that far with a hack-saw and a dremel, I'm pretty sure you don't have a huge wealth of knife-making equipment.

Okay, if it's as far as annealed and straightened out.....

Then I would first sand it flat. Without many tools there are still a few good ways to do that. I think the easiest way to do it and make sure it's actually flat is this: Use feathering spray adhesive to bond some sand-paper to a sheet of glass, or something hard and flat. Then using equal pressure over the entire knife, run it across the paper. I would start at like 120 grit, there are some pretty deep scratches in the steel. Work up to a final grit of your choice.

Then put in your bevels. I'm imagining you're going to be doing a lot of filing. After that, sand out the bevels, either in the same manner as the flats, or with a hardwood block and sandpaper. Cutting fluid will make the job easier and faster.

Then do your file work, but be careful. Straight file work is really just the beginning of a crack. That's what Paul Bos told me, so I believe it. If you can make your file work a little shallower or rounded out a little, I think it would lessen the chance of the blade breaking in heat treat. Many makers like Rob Simonich and Jerry Hossom put thumb purchase file work on some of their blades, but they're very experienced and know what they can do without compromising their blades. It's easy to get carried away if you're not careful.

Best of luck to you.
Nick
 
I'd like to offer a suggestion, rethink the file work in the finger groove. I think it would get kind of uncomfortable with much use. I like the design of the knife though.
Tom
 
Ditto on the design. Here's a filing tip. Take a piece of metal (or wood if thats all you have) that has a straight side and clamp it to your blank right where you want the "grind" (the bevel that you are filing) to start. That keeps it nice and straight at the ricasso.
 
In a knife this size, and if it's properly stress relieved when it's heat treated, you won't have a problem with that filework on the spine. I agree about the filework in the finger groove. It will certainly rub.

I've never had a knife with filework break after it left my shop, but I have had knives break right at the filework while I was working on them. If they are going to break that is where it will happen. I have a built in stress test on all my knives, to insure a customer never gets one that will break. When I set my bolster pins, I do it with a 4 pound sledge hammer and all the force I can deliver with the knife sitting on the anvil. If that blade is going to break, that is where it will happen. In 18+ years, I've had maybe 6-7 blades break that way out of many hundreds of knives. So far I've been lucky that none of my customers have a 5 pound sledge.

None of my tactical knives get any filework however.

Nice design there BTW. I'd suggest bringing the bottom of the plunge forward just a little from what you have drawn though. I don't think you want a sharp edge coming back into the finger groove. Otherwise, it's a nice little knife.

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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
 
Jerry,
If a plunge is what I think it is, I already thought ahead on that one! After the stitches I just had, I am a little more aware about where the edge is.
 
Sorry to confuse you!!!! A ricasso is the area just behind where your grinding (filing) starts near the handle that is left flat and shined up. On your drawing you drew what your grind (filed primary bevel) will liik like, so the area just before where your grind line is and just after your finger notch is the ricasso. All you do is clamp the metal or wood vertically or at some angle where you want your grind line to begin and file away. Your grind line curves near the ricasso area- I think that this can only be done when grinding on contact wheels, as they are round so you can get this effect. I think you'll have to be satisfied with a straight liiking grind line. Here's a pic...

View


You can see in this picture (this, by the way, is the second knife I made, with a little help, where I had to grind the blade and the whole bit) that just infront of the handle material is the ricasso and that angled straight line is where the ricasso ends and the grind line begins. This blade was ground out on a disk sander, but even then I put a domaflickey on it. A domaflickey is just two flat and relatively thin strips of metal with 1/4" holes drilled at the ends and one of those strips has a 1/4" bolt stuck through each hole and welded to the strip. You then have a clamp that does the same job as that filing jig I told you about. You just place the strip with the bolts on it on the blade where you want the ricasso to end and your grind line (or plunge-cut) to begin, slip the other strip over the bolts and put some nuts over the bolts to clamp them down on your blade. When you get a grinder, get one of these domaflickeys made. For now, clamp some steel or wood where you want and file away!

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"Come What May..."
 
I don't have a welder, but I do have some bolts and a drill. I'm making a domaflickey this afternoon!

Thanks again!
 
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