Wheeler's Steel * Stuck in the metal with you

I have used Birchwood Casey Super Blue, twice before with varied results. Once on the knife that the handle broke, that one turned out well, and on the one Damascus knife I made, that one just didn't seem to get as dark and looked streaky to me. It must have been my prep work:o
 
on that note...:D



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Going over the blade with the Super Blue. This will REALLY make the blade dark;

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This is neutralized with cold water after it's been on the blade for a minute;

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This is the block I like to use for final sanding on damascus. If you use a soft block, it will contour to the convex blade shape and give it a nice finish, but it will allow the paper to go down into the recessed areas (that are currently very dark) and lift the color out of them. This particular block has a material glued to it that's VERY hard, but has just a tiny bit of give to it. So it gives a nice finish, but also rides on the high spots and leaves the low spots dark;

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Final sanding of the blade, this is with the mint green 3M polishing paper, which is supposed to be something like 6,000 grit. That sounds fancy, but it's just going to really help to highlight the high areas of steel so that they contrast with the lower areas. I like this better than buffing, as a buffing wheel tends to pull the dark color from the low areas on a pattern like this (in my experience). I do this with a lot of Koolmist;

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After all the polishing is done;

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Same thing, different view; :)

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ah! Coffee's ready- back in a minute with two more installments.
 
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The etched and polished blade;

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same;

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same, close-up near tip;

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same, showing the fine layer appearance of the spine;

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I really don't want my knives falling apart, so I try to do several things to ensure that they won't. I haven't been doing this next step for too long, but I think it's one of those extra things that is worth more than the small amount of time it takes to do it. I take a checkering file and file a small serious of singe line checkering grooves in the tang. They're not big, deep cuts that are going to make me worry about cutting too far into the tang... but they are a create a really good surface for the epoxy to adhere to. I do this AFTER I put the guard on, just to make sure I don't raise a burr that might scratch the guard fit-up;

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I don't do the entire tang... the is the area that will be inside that rectangular pocket I made inside the handle block with the broach;

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EVERYTHING gets cleaned with Acetone;

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I really like Acraglas from Brownell's for my knives. I have had to take a couple knives apart before, and it required completely destroying the handle to get it off the tang;

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I like to mix the Acraglas under something warm/hot, like a Halogen light. It makes it mix better, flow better, and it seems to me that it cures out a little faster this way too;

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Everything gets a good coating of epoxy;

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Tightening up my handy dandy fixture; :)

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Glued up tight... time for this to sit for awhile so the Acraglas can cure; :)

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Just double checking that everything went together like it was supposed to, by sighting down the blade. Everything went together square and in-line when it was dry... you'd be surprised how things can move around with wet epoxy on them, even when everything was a nice tight fit. If something had moved, I'd be able to see it here. Fortunately, everything was still lined up. :) These fixtures do help make sure things stay where they're supposed to as well; :)

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It's sure no Mike Snody video, but I thought some of you might be interested anyway. The jist of it, if you don't want to listen to me blabber about it, is to show the shimmer in the blade that just doesn't show up in a static photo. :) And BTW- I don't think I say "ya' know" 18,000 times when I'm actually speaking to someone, like I did in the video :eek: :foot: ;) Good thing I didn't want to be an actor or a dj! ;)

Edited to add: I wasn't smart enough to embed it, but 1234 and Unki helped me out. THANKS GUYS!!! :)

 
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Thanks for a fantastic WIP !


Let me embed the vid for you .

[youtube]OtAW56uA0ag[/youtube]


1234,,,,:)
 
Thanks 1234!!! :) I would like to know what I need to do differently to get that to work. Although after listening to myself I sincerely doubt I'll be making many videos!!! :o LMAO :foot: :D
 
Now you've got me thinking, Nick. Over time I began to look at random patterns as the point of beginning. In other words, now it's time to start making damascus! It's been years since I made any steel that wasn't twisted, accordianed, Ferry-flipped, mosaic, etc.

But my wife always reminds me that random is about as pretty as you can get.;) Beware though, I have a friend who has such incredible hammer control that he makes "random" blades that are simply straight lines. Boring!
I give him trouble about it all the time. Beat that stuff! Upset it, dent it, hammer the you-know-what out of it! It's the deformities that bring out the beauty. Not refering to you, but us poor forgers make incredible random patterns!:eek: Ha ha. And, random is far less wasteful.

That is one beautiful blade!

Cheers,

TV


Terry Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
what a sweet dog! You're a fortunate dude, dude.:thumbup:
 
Nick, I have to laugh. Your shop is so organized that your Diet Pepsi is even on a coaster in the etching picture :p
You would hate my shop as it is a random mess. But, then again you are a pro and this is just a spare time hobby for me ;)
 
Lorien said:
what a sweet dog! You're a fortunate dude, dude.:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm not sure if you noticed, but your knife just happens to be in that video as well. :p ;)

Terry- THANK YOU! :) I really am a sucker for a beat up random pattern. I've seen stuff come out of a rolling mill with almost zero distortion... but I sure don't accomplish that in my shop!!! LOL

Jason, it's funny you noticed that. I made a couple kind of as a joke when Angi was out in the shop with me one day... but since I have them, I go ahead and use them! LOL I really abused my last bench, so hopefully I can keep this one nice for at least a little while. I will probably wish I'd forked out the cash for a higher quality top--- I LOVE the butcher block, it's a nice, warm, inviting work space. But it is getting marred up pretty easily. They had Lista benches at the school that people beat the crap out of and they barely showed some scratches.

Edited to add:

Thanks Don! :)

Thanks Chris! :) Just so you know, I have a box with some things that are reminders of how I do and don't want to be thought of in the knife world. The things that I don't want, are essentially failed promises... the most notable one is a check from across the ocean with a big red X through it (for a blade blank that never quite got finished) :(

An interesting side note- My aunt thinks I should be getting some kind of compensation for plugging the products in these pics. So what do you guys think I could get from Brownell's??? A $5 gift certificate??? ;) :D Hell, I'd take it! It would be better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick! :)
 
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tips, tricks, techniques, fixtures- is that what makes a good knife maker?

I would say 'no'. There is only one word that I can think of which sums up the quality of a knife maker, (and a collector for that matter).

PATIENCE.
 
Lorien said:
tips, tricks, techniques, fixtures- is that what makes a good knife maker?

I would say 'no'. There is only one word that I can think of which sums up the quality of a knife maker, (and a collector for that matter).

PATIENCE.
Click to expand...
And I will add, if I may, ATTENTION TO EVERY LITTLE DETAIL. Nick clearly has this down to a science.

Keep 'um comin'.

Robert
 
the knife is great bud but anyone that likes dogs as much as you is greater


Grreat thread guys
 
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