I suppose I'll just start a "what I'm building" thread.(now with more forge welding) - Page 3

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I suppose I'll just start a "what I'm building" thread.(now with more forge welding) (Page 3 of 17)

Posted: 12/1/2019 7:26:34 PM EDT

[#1]

Here's a small batch ready for HT today. I'll get them hardened and through one (hopefully two)temper cycles tonight.

The top two are O1 and the bottom are 1084.

After these two are done I'm going to leave the O1 alone for a while because I feel like I can get a better heat treat on the 1084(and I have a lot more 1084 than O1)

Attached File

Posted: 12/2/2019 2:34:28 AM EDT

[#2]

What's the stumpy one for?

Posted: 12/2/2019 5:39:28 AM EDT

[#3]

Quote History

Quoted:
What's the stumpy one for?

View Quote

The top one is for a friction folder.

Posted: 12/9/2019 11:01:10 PM EDT

[#4]

Attached File

Let's see how this turns out.

It looks like it might have shifted when I clamped it together while the epoxy was curing. It'll be usable, but the gap between the bone and carbon fiber might be bigger than I'd like.

Posted: 12/10/2019 9:21:43 PM EDT

[#5]

Attached File

It should work ok. One mistake was made so far that I can't figure out how to hide short of making a new scale, so I'm going to roll with it.

Posted: 12/10/2019 9:34:00 PM EDT

[#6]

very nice.

Posted: 12/10/2019 10:51:16 PM EDT

[#7]

Thank you sir.

Posted: 12/29/2019 3:48:44 PM EDT

[#8]

Attached File

Preview pic.

This one will be cool if I don't mess it up anymore. Lol

Posted: 12/31/2019 12:47:31 AM EDT

[#9]

Attached File

Attached File

Here it is. It wasn't sharpened in the pics but it is now (20°per side).

A lot of my problems with the scales were because of the cow bone being inconsistent thickness and not as flat as the CF was. I also messed up when I clamped all the pieces of the scales together to glue up by putting them on a board that wasn't smooth. The liner was flexible enough that it followed the imperfections in the wood and when I sanded that side flat it ended up sanding through some high spots and that resulted in a couple of spots where the "liner" is just epoxy. On my next order of handle materials I'm going to get some g10 liner and hopefully that will help to keep stuff like this from happening. I'm also going to try to avoid trying to make flat pieces from cow bones (shamelessly stolen from my dog

)

Even with a few imperfections this is by far my best knife to date. I hope this trend continues and the next one is better yet.

I still need to make a sheath for this one and I'm leaning towards trying a leather pocket sheath with a clip again. We'll see what happens though.

I think at this point my biggest regret on this one is not putting a lanyard tube in it. The handle is just bigger than three fingers and a lanyard would help it fill the hand a bit better.

Posted: 12/31/2019 1:30:49 AM EDT

[#10]

Not bad. Keep it up.

Pics of the blade edge? I am curious to see this 10 degrees.

What steel was this one again?

Posted: 12/31/2019 2:04:09 AM EDT

[#11]

Thank you for the kind words.

I used the 20° setting on the lanskey jig. I believe that the instructions said that it was the inclusive angle. No pics at the moment but it looks like about like the factory edge on a Spyderco.

This one is 1084, as it's the best steel for me to heat treat with the equipment that I have.

ETA: I did a little reading and found that lanskey labels the guide in degrees per side, so this knife is at 20 DPS, 40 degrees inclusive. I'll edit my last post to reflect this.

Posted: 1/4/2020 2:40:58 AM EDT

[#12]

Time to quit looking at it and see how it works.

Attached File

The handle is pretty small for this kind of work but it wasn't really intended for it.

On the upside, it whittled this pile and still easily shaved hair. Hopefully that means I've got a decent heat treat.

I've got a sheath started for it. I'm having another go at putting a pocket clip on it but I'm going about it differently than last time.

Posted: 1/23/2020 9:16:14 PM EDT

[#13]

Attached File

You guys might recognize this one from a while ago. I finally got the gumption to try grinding it.

I ended up getting the grind pretty lopsided chasing the shape of the plunge, so I figured I'd just turn it into a beater. I also tried my hand at serrations. I did them with chainsaw files. I think they turned out well.

The handle is jute twine, done in the "strider" style wrap. (When I do it again, I'll probably put something under the twine to give it some more bulk.) The steel is 3/32" 1084.

Posted: 1/24/2020 10:32:42 PM EDT

[#14]

Attached File

Time to HT the next batch. One of the ones on the left is going to a friend. The one second from the right is for my kitchen.

Posted: 1/31/2020 9:05:38 PM EDT

[#15]

I'm calling it 1.5 knives finished this week.

I'm hoping to get mostly done with the other one tomorrow.

Posted: 1/31/2020 9:12:08 PM EDT

[#16]

What about the one you had to weld back together? Salvaged?

Posted: 2/1/2020 1:32:08 AM EDT

[#17]

This guy?

Attached File

It's flat/straight and tempered again. I think it will hold up just fine. I'll definitely use smaller holes in the future though.

It's probably next in line. It'll be the guinea pig for a new to me texture on the handles. It's unbroken twin is going to a friend and I don't want to learn on that one.

Posted: 2/1/2020 9:44:20 AM EDT

[#18]

Nice, can't even tell.

Posted: 2/1/2020 9:55:44 PM EDT

[#19]

Remember when I said that I didn't want to experiment on my friend's knife?

I lied. Lol

Attached File

I suppose the two sets of scales that I ruined before starting on this set counts as the experiment.

Posted: 2/1/2020 11:01:36 PM EDT

[#20]

Looks good though.

Posted: 2/1/2020 11:12:11 PM EDT

[#21]

Thanks. It's surprisingly difficult to make a semi random pattern. Lol

This will be much easier once I get a small wheel attachment for my grinder. Sanding in all those little grooves was not fun. Lol

Posted: 2/2/2020 9:57:31 PM EDT

[#22]

Aaaaannnnnd it's glued up.

Attached File

Posted: 2/5/2020 11:38:28 PM EDT

[#23]

Pants.

I kind of hate having to shift gears from "dirty" to "clean" work. It'd be much nicer to be able to have dedicated work spaces for each.

Anyways, let's build a sheath.

Attached File

For me, sheath building starts with a cereal box. They're rigid enough that they make a good pattern and they bend about the right amount to be able to test out the design.

Attached File

I like to trace the knife onto the box. I trace the left, right and spine of the knife all into one shape then figure out how much to allow for the welt. I then cut it out and give it a test fit.

Attached File

After I'm happy with how it's working I transfer the pattern onto leather and cut it out.

Attached File

After any little tweaks to the fit, any tooling gets done it gets dyed and left to dry.

Posted: 2/6/2020 11:19:53 PM EDT

[#24]

So I'm going to end up re making this one over the weekend because I slipped with a tool in a pretty obvious spot and there's a spot that took the dye much darker than the rest. I'm also going to use a slightly wider stitch spacing as the leather is a bit thin to support the stitches being as close as they are on this one.

I'm going to finish this one and use it for the twin to this knife so I'll post pics of finishing it up.

Here's how it looked after the dye dried.

Attached File

From there the belt loop gets folded over and sewn. After that, the welt gets glued down and then the sheath gets folded over and glued.

Attached File

After the glue dries I'll sew the seam and trim the welt to match the edge and then burnish the edge.

Posted: 2/6/2020 11:57:24 PM EDT

[#25]

Quote History

Quoted:
Time to quit looking at it and see how it works.
https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/78442/KIMG0255_JPG-1220096.JPG
The handle is pretty small for this kind of work but it wasn't really intended for it.

On the upside, it whittled this pile and still easily shaved hair. Hopefully that means I've got a decent heat treat.

I've got a sheath started for it. I'm having another go at putting a pocket clip on it but I'm going about it differently than last time.

View Quote

How much for this one?

Posted: 2/7/2020 12:05:20 AM EDT

[#26]

Quote History

Quoted:

How much for this one?

View Quote

....chuckles...

Posted: 2/7/2020 2:19:52 AM EDT

[#27]

Quote History

Quoted:

How much for this one?

View Quote

Thanks for the interest, but I don't feel like I'm quite ready to put my name on these and release them into the wild yet.

I hope to be able to at some point(abrasives get expensive. Lol) but I'm not there yet quality wise.

Also, I think that we're not supposed to make offers like that outside of the EE. I'm pretty sure I've seen mods warn people for it.

Posted: 2/8/2020 2:17:09 AM EDT

[#28]

Quote History

Quoted:

Thanks for the interest, but I don't feel like I'm quite ready to put my name on these and release them into the wild yet.

I hope to be able to at some point(abrasives get expensive. Lol) but I'm not there yet quality wise.

Also, I think that we're not supposed to make offers like that outside of the EE. I'm pretty sure I've seen mods warn people for it.

View Quote

You won't, yet...but it is nice to know you could, yes?

Posted: 2/8/2020 2:27:19 AM EDT

[#29]

So I took this last knife up to my local knife store and had my name laser engraved onto it.

I figured that since it was going to someone else I should mark it.

It's a strange feeling to see my name on a tool that someone could be using a generation or more from now. It's not my first completed knife (obviously) but the first one I put my name on. It was a little bit more of an emotional (for lack of a better word) experience than I was expecting.

It is nice to see that someone else sees value in something that I've made.

Posted: 2/8/2020 4:22:11 PM EDT

[#30]

Posted: 2/9/2020 11:44:47 AM EDT

[#31]

Quote History

Quoted:
So I took this last knife up to my local knife store and had my name laser engraved onto it.

I figured that since it was going to someone else I should mark it.

It's a strange feeling to see my name on a tool that someone could be using a generation or more from now. It's not my first completed knife (obviously) but the first one I put my name on. It was a little bit more of an emotional (for lack of a better word) experience than I was expecting.

It is nice to see that someone else sees value in something that I've made.

View Quote

Consider electro etching them. You can do it at home with stuff you probably already have on hand.

Btw love this thread. It's got me thinking about making some of my own knives. Got virtually all of the tools less the forge.

Posted: 2/9/2020 1:59:14 PM EDT

[#32]

Quote History

Quoted:
Consider electro etching them. You can do it at home with stuff you probably already have on hand.

Btw love this thread. It's got me thinking about making some of my own knives. Got virtually all of the tools less the forge.

View Quote

I will definitely be etching them at home in the future. The machines aren't even that expensive to buy. I think I spent ~35% of the cost of one just having this one engraved. I was just in a hurry for this one.

You should give making one a try. I only use the forge to harden the blades. You could do it with a rosebud on an oxygen/acetylene torch or a mapp torch if you had to.

I'm not an expert by any means, but let me know if I can help you out. Definitely post on here if you get started though!

I got the replacement sheath finished and got the knife sharpened up last night then I put the lanyard on this morning.

As usual, I learned a lot on this one. I feel like my grinding has improved overall but especially on my plunge lines. I also learned how rusty I am on this kind of leather work. I definitely need to do more of it to get back to the quality that I know I'm capable of.

Attached File

Posted: 2/9/2020 9:26:23 PM EDT

[#33]

Here we go on another.

I think I made the handle a little skinny. We'll see how it turns out.

Attached File

Posted: 2/9/2020 9:45:40 PM EDT

[#34]

Looking good. I've found the more knives I make, the wider & thinner I make the handles.

Posted: 2/9/2020 10:14:55 PM EDT

[#35]

Wider across from side to side?

I did notice that the last knife (brown handles) was much more comfortable than the one with carbon fiber handles(the handle scales were about half as thick on the CF one)

Posted: 2/9/2020 10:22:26 PM EDT

[#36]

Wider from the spine of the handle to the belly.

Posted: 2/9/2020 10:33:38 PM EDT

[#37]

This one is kinda the opposite of that. Lol

Maybe I'll have to pay more attention to that in the future. My designs pretty much consist of me drawing something that looks like it might work ok and giving it a try in steel. Lol.

Thanks for the tip.

Posted: 2/12/2020 12:28:52 AM EDT

[#38]

Attached File

More 1084 and richlite. I hope to get this done tomorrow, then get started on the one that I broke and welded back together.

Posted: 2/13/2020 1:35:47 AM EDT

[#39]

I decided to leave the flats "as quenched", meaning that they are pretty much seasoned like a cast iron skillet. It doesn't look too bad to me.

The handle isn't as bad as I was thinking it was going to be. If I make another one I'll make the back end a little bigger.

I'm thinking that I'll build a cross draw sheath for this guy. I've been making a bunch of"EDC" type fixed blades so I should probably start carrying one. Lol.

Attached File

I think I'm going to get this one finished next.

Attached File

Posted: 2/13/2020 2:12:52 PM EDT

[#40]

Fixie is looking good. Pocket sheaths is where it is at.

Not so sure about that little folder yet...

Posted: 2/13/2020 10:27:21 PM EDT

[#41]

This is me getting ready to try to figure out why the newest knife cuts like crap even though it's shaving sharp.

Attached File

Posted: 2/13/2020 10:46:11 PM EDT

[#42]

Attached File

I quickly noticed a trend.

She chonk. Thicker behind the edge than my rc-4. My green friction folder is thicker behind the edge and cuts better, but it's sharpened at a ~34° angle vs 50° on this one.

I think step 1 here is sharpening to a 40° edge to see how it does. If it still cuts like crap I'll have to think about regrinding it.

Posted: 2/14/2020 2:12:56 AM EDT

[#43]

Once a heat treating process is fine tuned, I think you'll be surprised how thin you can grind a knife and have it hold up.

I full flat grind almost all my blades. On hunters and skinners, I shoot for .010" behind the edge. Kitchen and fillet knives are .005" or less. I sharpen on a slack belt for a convex edge. Hunters and skinners at 12-15 degrees per side and kitchen and fillet knives at 10-12 degrees per side.

My EDC is made from 1084 and around .008" BTE. I've chopped deer antler with it to show a customer how it would hold up. Put 2 small rolls in the edge that sharpened out with a few swipes on a diamond steel.

Thin for the win!

Posted: 2/14/2020 10:25:04 AM EDT

[#44]

I'll definitely be making them thinner in the future.

I wasn't looking forward to regrinding this one. Luckily resharpening at 40° made it a lot better.

Posted: 2/26/2020 12:21:22 AM EDT

[#45]

I got around to grinding the blade that I welded back together. I changed the profile a little bit and made it much thinner.

I was shooting for .010" at the edge but overshot a bit and ended up at .008". Go big(thin) or go home, right? I'm a little scared that it's not going to be very durable but I suppose I have to break one at some point.

I also got to use one of the surface conditioning belts that I picked up with my last belt order. I'm not sure how but it's both firmer than I was expecting and not firm enough. I'm hoping that it breaks in a bit and gets just a little softer. Right now it feels like a really course belt without a platen behind it. I was expecting it to be more like the scotchbrite pads I used to use for auto body work. I am liking the results so far. On this one I went up to 400 grit and then to the grey scotchbrite belt.

Attached File

Also pictured are the next two designs I'm going to try.

Posted: 2/29/2020 10:56:54 PM EDT

[#46]

It's not too bad for something that was broken in half.

I used copper tube for the pins. I wish I had some 1/4" copper tube for the lanyard tube as well. I'll have to order some.

Having a blade that was messed up gave me the opportunity to try something new without worrying too much if it turned out poorly. This is the first knife that I've tried any kind of contouring on the handle. I think it turned out pretty well for my first time.

I still have to sharpen it, but other than that, she's done.

Attached File

Posted: 2/29/2020 11:46:29 PM EDT

[#47]

The copper tube is great...love it and will steal.

Not sure about the color on the swell...but love the swell!

Posted: 3/1/2020 12:25:46 AM EDT

[#48]

Quote History

Quoted:

The copper tube is great...love it and will steal.

Not sure about the color on the swell...but love the swell!

View Quote

Thanks!

I'm liking the way the handle feels too. I'm definitely going to do more contouring like this in the future.

The black is on the palm swell because the material had a layer of black on both sides, so it got ground off when I shaped the handle. I'm not the biggest fan of it having a black spot in the middle of the scales, but I'll live with it.

Posted: 3/1/2020 9:27:16 PM EDT

[#49]

Attached File

Next batch ready for heat treat. These ones are 1/8" 1084.

I realized today that the 20' of steel that I bought at blade west isn't going to last as long as I thought. I might have a local source worked out though.

Posted: 3/2/2020 12:26:31 AM EDT

[#50]

Attached File

I went ahead and reground this one today. It was quite thick before(.045"). I took it down to .020" behind the edge and it seems to cut much better. I didn't hit the grinds perfectly, but I didn't fuss around too much trying to match it up exactly for fear that I'd end up with a tiny knife by the time everything matched. Lol

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I suppose I'll just start a "what I'm building" thread.(now with more forge welding) (Page 3 of 17)

General » Metal Working Forum

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us