first homemade knife

[Plastikosmd]

Started to make something useful out of the scrap piles of end mills/bits etc. (well at least I repurposed one endmill!)
I was finally able to get some quality coal (500lb) and figured I’d try my hand at making a knife. Now I have an excuse to get 2x72” belt sander!





I left a bit thick, I didn’t want to burn it.
Next to start profiling/grinding

 

[bikerdoc]

I like it. Welcome to the addiction.

 

[troy fairweather]

nice remember to grind off those flutes so you don;t get cold shuts.

 

[Plastikosmd]

^Uh whut?


Google here I come

Update:

Aaaa, think u meant “off” thank ! Thought it was some “Smith speak”
Did read some on cold shuts though

I have a lot to learn.
As I was getting the coal up to temp, they broke off nicely, I got lucky and good info for future reference

 

[troy fairweather]

^Uh whut?


Google here I come

Update:

Aaaa, think u meant “off” thank ! Thought it was some “Smith speak”
Did read some on cold shuts though

I have a lot to learn.
As I was getting the coal up to temp, they broke off nicely, I got lucky and good info for future reference

lol ya off. for knifes try to not have to many heatings, did you quench it yet.

 

[bikerdoc]

I drill my scale holes before I quench

 

[Plastikosmd]

No quench
Heck I only have seen that forged show

I will grind a bit when I get a proper belt sander
, drill and read about quench and temper

 

[Valkman]

Looks like a good job to me. Do you have any idea what kind of steel it is?

 

[bikerdoc]

Good for you .Keep on learning.

 

[Curtism1]

Looking like a great start to a nice knife. Looking forward to update post on the project.

I just recently started on the quest to make a knife, but going the route of using a file for the blade and just removing material.

 

[dh1633pm]

Please keep us updated. I have never forged a knife. Just made a few from blanks. Interesting and thanks for posting.

 

[RA40]

Super cool! Will enjoy the updates as this progresses.

 

[Plastikosmd]

other than a "tool steel" nothing specific as to type. It should harden ok (like the endmill once was)
I have a few blocks of S-7 and other various steels but I figured I would repurpose before I cut into those supplies

just about to put a deposit on a power hammer, it seems I have caught a bug

 

[hso]

Go to the blacksmithing forums for advice on equipment and tools.

Do NOT grind the edge thinner than a quarter before you quinch. You'minute the carbon out and/or warp your edge. If you don't know the steel type assume an oil quench. If you have a little left then forge to the thickness of a quarter and oil quench and then test with a file. If it hardened go ahead and temper and then break it to check if your grain is fine or coarse. If coarse you will need to change your quench for finer grain and add some cycles to temper.

 

[Valkman]

Good advice hso. I used to keep a small magnet attached to my bench, and when I heated the knife for HT I'd try it on the magnet to make sure it was fully heated along the length of the blade - this is critical. Once the knife showed no signs of magnetism I'd heat it one more time and then quench in oil. Then I'd try a file on the edge and if it bounced off I'd go to tempering. Good luck!

 

[BigBlue 94]

Good advice hso. I used to keep a small magnet attached to my bench, and when I heated the knife for HT I'd try it on the magnet to make sure it was fully heated along the length of the blade - this is critical. Once the knife showed no signs of magnetism I'd heat it one more time and then quench in oil. Then I'd try a file on the edge and if it bounced off I'd go to tempering. Good luck!

Curious, why heat it again after it reached critical temp? The magnet trick is a good one btw. I've never heated in an open forge before, only an electric furnace at school.

 

[hso]

Because you can drop below critical before you can get to the quench.

 

[BigBlue 94]

That was all I could think of. I'm no HT expert by any means, but I've done some, along with some annealing of ball bearings and the like.

 

[Valkman]

By the time you've checked it on the magnet it's probably lost some heat so I always reheat it, just to be sure. I also knocked all the scale off prior to tempering so I could see what color the steel was. A good test is to bend it in a vise after tempering - if you can bend it 90 degrees without breaking you did good. This will set you up for future heat treating as you'll know a lot more about what you're doing.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I've heard of the blade bending test, but I was a little cornfuzzled. When they test them in a competition, dont they bend them back to straight, if chosen to do so? We had one of the few master knifesmiths visit school once. He's a local guy named Dan. It was really cool to hear him talk

 

[redneck]

A coal forge is a little more forgiving if you know how to manage the fire, but I usually stick a piece of pipe in my forge and then slide the blade into that when I am heat treating. Not having the flame hitting the blade directly makes it heat a little more evenly and cuts down on scale and decarb.

You might also want to heat the handle/tang of your blade up close to temp, and then flip it around and heat the blade end. The point will come up to temperature much faster than the rest of the blade and can easily get hot enough to cause grain growth before the rest of the blade has reached transformation temp.

 

[Valkman]

I've heard of the blade bending test, but I was a little cornfuzzled. When they test them in a competition, dont they bend them back to straight, if chosen to do so? We had one of the few master knifesmiths visit school once. He's a local guy named Dan. It was really cool to hear him talk

I don't know what they do in competition, but they are probably testing the same thing - proper heat treat.

I met and talked to many knifemakers at Blade show once. You can learn a lot just by talking to those guys. I didn't forge, did stock removal, but I learned a lot about what a knifemaker's standards should be and what should be let out of the shop. It's got to be 100% if it's got your name on it!

 

[BigBlue 94]

Maybe it wasnt competition, but trials to achieve master status. Iirc, you could opt to have your blade bent back to straight, to basically show off. But!, if it broke, you failed just as if it broke on the first bend.

In years past he would bring power hammers and such for a demonstration, but not the year I was there.

I'd like to get my own coal/wood forge built some time. I've already got the tools for sharpening.

 

[Valkman]

That is so cool!

 

[BigBlue 94]

That is so cool!

Yeah, I'd been wanting one for a while. The frame needs repairing (easy as pie), but the wheel stone is in almost perfect condition. Just a couple chips, but nothing too big.