work in progress pictorial

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fourcornersrocks

Joined
May 16, 2008
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61
I just started trying to make knives (not a knifemaker yet!) and today I took some photos of my latest work in progress.

Any tips, criticism, praise, or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Here is my semi-outdoor shop. I'm at about 7500 feet elevation here in Colorado on the north face of a mountain. My shop is in a carport until I can build something better. The cool thing is you can see deer, bear and the occasional elk from my shop and I almost never get too hot!

I built this bench mostly out of an old collapsed redwood porch, it weighs about 100 pounds!

shopbench.jpg




I'm going to try to make something like a tanto or kiradeshi, heck I don't know! I'll cut some 1/8" by 1.5" O1 steel slowly with my trusty jigsaw.
readytocut.jpg


and about a minute later (I take breaks to keep the blade cool)
cutcu.jpg


lets start grinding!
grinding.jpg
 
After some grinding with a 36 grit belt here is what it looks like. I was using a bucket of snow to keep my steel cool. :D
closerj.jpg



I ground in the bevels with a new 60 grit belt. You can see some scratches where I slipped and dropped it onto the grinder. Conveyer belt projectile!
uglygrind.jpg



Now it looks somewhat like a knife!
lookinglikeaknife.jpg
 
In retrospect I should have asked if this was a good move or not. I fileworked the top (I forget the correct name) thumbrest area to give it some texture.

Is this ok? I'm worried about them starting cracks during heat treat.


ready for file work
fileworktime.jpg



Done for now, photo taken a few feet from my bench. You can see the file work I was talking about.
donefortoday.jpg
 
I almost forgot to say it is a chisel grind.

I'm thinking eventually it will get either horse stall mat or black canvas micarta scales.

For my next step I'm going to drill out some 1/4 inch holes for a pin and a lanyard tube. Then I plan on hand sanding the scratches out. After that need to figure out what to do for heat treat!
 
Search one brick forge, that should work well enough with a propane torch for HT, also need some oil for quench, looks good, I wont discuss how cold its in my California shop.

Nice start, good luck
 
Patrickknives said:
Search one brick forge, that should work well enough with a propane torch for HT, also need some oil for quench, looks good, I wont discuss how cold its in my California shop.

Nice start, good luck
Click to expand...

I think the one brick forge will be the way to go. I need to order some brick from Darren Ellis I'm thinking. I tried to get a paring knife to non-magnetic with a mapp gas torch but no luck. I've been looking for a while for cheap firebrick or something to heat treat with and I think I'm just gonna have to save up more than I thought.

I have a coffee can full of canola oil ready! :D I looked at it today out in my shop and it was solid, didn't know it would do that!. :eek:

It is COLD here, my drill press wouldn't work this morning, too cold. My mother in law in L.A. told us it was cold there, hah! It got to -20F 2 nights ago here, crap!

Hey man thanks for the comments I sure do appreciate it.
 
Fourcornersrock,

Check to see if you have a local ceramics/pottery supply store. We have one in the SF Bay Area (Clay Planet). I picked up some soft fire bricks there. I got some at a slightly reduced price because they were chipped. Maybe a local fireplace/brick work shop may have some too. Try a search on "pottery supplies Colorado" or more specifically the area that you are in.

I've ordered stuff from Darren Ellis. Top notch guy.

I found that heating the oil to 130-140F gives me better results (I use 01 steel).

Ric
 
Btw, you asked what the filework at the thumb area was called...it's 'jimping' :)

Looking good thus far, wish I had the scenery your shop has!!
 
Phydeaux said:
Fourcornersrock,

Check to see if you have a local ceramics/pottery supply store. We have one in the SF Bay Area (Clay Planet). I picked up some soft fire bricks there. I got some at a slightly reduced price because they were chipped. Maybe a local fireplace/brick work shop may have some too. Try a search on "pottery supplies Colorado" or more specifically the area that you are in.

I've ordered stuff from Darren Ellis. Top notch guy.

I found that heating the oil to 130-140F gives me better results (I use 01 steel).

Ric
Click to expand...

Thanks for the good idea. I'll try the local art supply house, they could have something. I tried all the fireplace stores and all they had was hard brick.

Yes, I got my oil to 130 and had my oven warmed, pretty good for me! i just couldn't get it to non-magnetic.

I bet 1 brick is all I need though! :D

Thanks again, I appreciate any help I can get.
 
GrizzlyBear said:
Btw, you asked what the filework at the thumb area was called...it's 'jimping' :)

Looking good thus far, wish I had the scenery your shop has!!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I wondered what the name of that was. I have done it on a few of my knives.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate the help.
 
Thanks Brian, that grinder is a beast but does a great job until I can get a KMG.

Suddeth, thanks I really appreciate that. I plan on making a few of these.
 
I drilled and chamfered a couple of handle holes today. I did only two as the balance is past the index finger. I only need to gain weight in the handle area for perfect balance so no extra holes.

I did some light sanding too, this is almost ready for heat treat.


handleholes.jpg


I also have some brick coming in from Darren Ellis so the heat treat will come soon!
 
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