slav
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Post by slav on Oct 7, 2007 5:55:52 GMT
I made this tanto from some 1095 and 1060 carbon steel that i bought off the internet. (www.admiralsteel.com) It was kind of a seat-of-the pants ordeal, and I used what i had available. Folded, clay-tempered (real hamon), water quenched, hand polished with files and sandpaper(s). The "fittings" and handle are also home-made. I used stained rawhide taken from a soaked dog-chew. wrapped in cotton cord, with copper menuki (bought), and lacquer soaked. The hand-guard is polished aluminum. EDIT: Oh! I forgot to mention my ghetto forge. Here's how I made it: I filled a large coffee can with wet clay/mud. then I pushed a smaller can (warpped in Saran) into the middle, and let it all dry for a couple days. Then i pulled the middle can out, leaving an insulated, cylindrical mud-hole forge thingy. Then I poked a hole in the bottom of the coffee can "forge" and iserted the tip of my high-power blowtorch. Instant forge. Got the steel from cool to red to white-hot in about 20 minutes. More details, since you all seem interested: also created some straw-ash to keep up carbon content in the forge. (probably didnt make a difference, but it felt traditional). Used high-temp furnace cement for tempering. And cool water quenched. Interesting Note: ALL of the monosteel blades I have water quenched have cracked, and warped. I now use oil for monosteel. Interestingly, the folded blade showed no sign of warpage or crackage whatsoever. I'm thinking that the "linear" structure of the folded steel gave it a resistance to warpage and "hyper-sori", thus no cracks or sideways curvage. Is this true? Very sharp. Balances well. Proud of this one! What do you think? MORE PICS BELOW vvv Notice that I sculpted the back of the blade. A sort of hex cross section, i guess. Took some effort to get the angles right and keep it even...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2007 6:08:52 GMT
Wow! That's really nice. What kind of lacquer did you use for the hilt soak? What was it like doing business with Admiral? Good service, fast shipping, etc.? I've heard it's supposed to be a good place to get various steels from, but I haven't dealt with them yet.
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slav
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Post by slav on Oct 7, 2007 6:20:43 GMT
To soak the hilt-wrap, i used outdoor shellac. Since the wrap is cotton, it soaked through and was fully saturated and hard as a rock after about 4 generous coats.
Admiral was great. I simply phoned in my order, and they dealt with it just like any other internet business would. The prices are great. 6 feet by 1 inch by 1/4 of 1095 for less than $25!
Shipping was very reasonable, though i cant remember the exact amount.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2007 6:32:39 GMT
Thanks for the info. Some places get kinda weird about small orders or have ridiculous minimum order amounts. I heard a year or so ago that Admiral was good on both issues, but I couldn't remember exactly where I'd read it or any of the specifics. I used to have a knife by CRKT called the First Strike that had a resin or lacquer soaked ito wrap on it, and the grip it provided was amazing. I traded the knife, but I've toyed with the idea of doing a Musashi ito like that, but I didn't know exactly what to use. Thanks again.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Oct 7, 2007 12:52:32 GMT
Very tidy job. Damasus looks great. Have you folded steel before?
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slav
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Post by slav on Oct 7, 2007 17:23:13 GMT
no, first time. I have also done a few monosteels with the remaining 1095 but thats it. None as fancy as this one.
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Post by grahamts on Oct 7, 2007 17:44:56 GMT
Really nice job Slavia, looks good. ;D What sort of forge did you use? Home built or commercial? Whichchever it was you obviously can use it OK.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2007 18:15:43 GMT
That's beautiful, man. Start your own business so I can start buying stock!
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slav
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Post by slav on Oct 7, 2007 20:33:05 GMT
I added more details to the original post ^^
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2007 21:40:27 GMT
If it happens to go missing in the next couple of days, it is most definitely NOT me. I would NEVER steal such an awesome piece of homemade goodness.
EDIT: Karma for sharing your project with us.
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slav
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Post by slav on Oct 7, 2007 22:58:27 GMT
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed. You know, even if it did turn up missing, most of the enjoyment came from making it not owning it. And I can always make another!
That said, it is under tight wraps and a watchful eye.
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Post by randomnobody on Oct 8, 2007 1:39:57 GMT
Very nice, love the pattern. Having a tough time gauging the dimensions. Care to share?
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slav
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Post by slav on Oct 8, 2007 2:21:11 GMT
8" overall. 4.25" blade. 1/8" blade thickness. Full tang. I will Illustrate: Notice that I sculpted the back of the blade. A sort of hex cross section, i guess. Took some effort to get the angles right and keep it even...
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Post by randomnobody on Oct 8, 2007 2:28:34 GMT
Very, very nice. The lighter background really set off the details. Blade is a bit shorter than I'd have mine, but to each their own. I have no room at all to talk as I'd never be able to attempt to reproduce your results. I just don't have the time or disposable income for the study and experimentation. Maybe some day...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2007 3:43:10 GMT
Well done.
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slav
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Post by slav on Oct 8, 2007 3:56:40 GMT
Here's an old pic of some others: All have been given away as gifts except the folded tanto mentioned above. randomnobody, the middle one may be a more suitable size for your preferences. (though, i cant remember the exact dimensions )
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Post by Dan Davis on Oct 8, 2007 12:23:51 GMT
Admiral is my main supplier, Terry and the guys are great. When you heat treat their 1095 you need to normalise it 4 times to reduce the effects of the manganese content, and do not heat it much above critical (1540F) (dull red) before quenching as it grows grain very fast and hardens rapidly, making it prone to cracking. I like their 1065 and 1074 for monosteel blades although I use quite a bit of their 1050 as well.
Nice job.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2008 2:54:31 GMT
What is normalising?
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Post by salvatore on Mar 24, 2008 4:43:37 GMT
Normalizing? Putting everything back where it belongs. When a blade is heated and then forged, some parts of the blade are harder or softer than the others. Essentially, you heat the blade up past non-magnetic, let cool in the air, do this again, and perhaps a third time(3rd time was what I was taught), then quench that time. It should evenly spread the hardness throughout the blade, giving you a balanced blade. There are construction workers, alright? 3 groups. One group with black hats, one with green hats, one with red hats. Now, the black hats and green hats and red hats got all mixed up, normalizing puts them back where they belong. You see what I am getting at? That is basically it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2008 22:02:18 GMT
so its homogenizing the carbon content of the steel?
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