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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 3, 2008 20:08:50 GMT
This is a knife I forged for my grandmother, who always wanted a good letter opener/paper knife, but never got given one. The blade is forged, ground and polished freehand, so is never going to be a performance blade, but all the same, I feel I have been very successful. It will do its job very well. The blade is straight and even, with no warps this time. Material is scrap jack handle round bar. Likely carbon content is between 40 and 55 points of carbon. The blade was hardened in brine, and tempered at 230 degrees centigrade for an hour and a half, resulting in a completely even straw yellow temper colour. Polishing was taken to 1000 grit, then buffed to a mirror shine. The handle is painted using autobody cellulose primer, and finished with two coats of black laquer. Here is a pic of the whole knife; And another; Here is the blade; And the handle; Although I am less pleased with the aesthetics of this blade comapred to my last, the fundamentals are much improved. The forging and grinding is more even, as is the sharpening and heat treatment. The last knife was tempered to a colour I didnt want, but this one has worked perfectly. I have learned a lot from making this.
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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Jun 3, 2008 23:48:35 GMT
Sweet! I love seeing this stuff. I like the curl on the back of the handle, nice touch. so you gonna cut some bottles with it ;D think you could cut a tatami omote for us with it? I hear it isn't that hard vids man, give us video documentation! In all seriousness, that is a really nice piece of work. +1
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 4, 2008 21:06:05 GMT
Its ok. I wasnt happy with the polishing, so I attacked it with a finishing disk (a 1500 grit silicon-carbide polishing disk) on a DA sander today. It scuffed up the polish, evening the finish, but took off the mirror shine. I'm going to go back over it with some 2000 grit wet or dry I scabbed from work. I don't really want to re-buff it, as buffing is rather dangerous.
I also sharpened it. It can shave the hairs off of my arm nicely. Don't think I should do that too much, though, or I'll end up with none left.
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 5, 2008 17:05:10 GMT
I re-did the polish, using a metal polishing paste, by hand. If anything, the finish is nicer than the buffer gives.
I also re-painted the handle in a matt black, as I felt the gloss distracted from the blade somewhat.
Last of all, I stropped the edge on a leather strop charged with oil and jewellers rouge. The blade no longer feels as sharp, but cuts a lot better, if you know what I mean.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2008 22:27:58 GMT
A polished properly stropped edge will feel smoother, not so jagged. Looks real good Matt nice job.
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 6, 2008 22:02:01 GMT
Thanks. Next project is a hacksaw frame, which I am 3/4 of the way through. Then it will be a kitchen chopper from an old leaf spring, then a full tang utility knife, also from spring.
For my next knives, I want to use a proper jig to ensure I am filing the bevels correctly. A thread on IFI got me thinking about this. Does anyone have any good bevel forming jig ideas?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2008 3:25:08 GMT
hey matt if u find any good jigs lemme know im looking for something that will help me keep my bevels even
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 11, 2008 20:49:44 GMT
Will do.
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Post by Dan Davis on Jun 12, 2008 15:23:53 GMT
Cake and Pie fellas. Clamp the blade edge up and vertical in a vise. Then stand over it and file both sides until they match. (Hint: if you do this before you harden the blade you can repeat it fairly quickly afterward using a sanding block).
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 12, 2008 21:01:16 GMT
Thats ok, but doing it by eye surely cannot give a uniform bevel angle?
I got grilled on IFI for suggesting that flat grinds are easy, for this reason. The guy in question said something along the lines of "flat grinds are hard to achieve" and I replied with something along the lines of "flat grinds are so basic; how can they be hard?!"
He banged on for a while about how flat grinds should be "perfect", and how the bevel angle should be completely even on both sides. From this I figured that a filing/grinding jig is needed to keep the bevel angle even, and create this "perfect" flat grind.
Am I on the right track here, or on another planet?
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Post by Dan Davis on Jun 12, 2008 23:40:39 GMT
Sounds to me like that other fella just had a bug up his ass.
I hear crap like that a lot; stuff along the lines of "if it ain't machine-perfect it ain't no good". bullsemprini, I say.
Hand-made means made by hand and by eye and if it's not perfect so what. All that matters is that it is as perfect as your hand and your eye can make it.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2008 2:48:00 GMT
I got grilled on IFI for suggesting that flat grinds are easy, for this reason. The guy in question said something along the lines of "flat grinds are hard to achieve" and I replied with something along the lines of "flat grinds are so basic; how can they be hard?!" It wasn't so much wether they are easy or not, it was based i think off the fact that he was speaking from expeirience, having made quite a few blades, as opposed to (no offense don't take this the wrong way) a beginner merely stating an opinion based on observations instead of the fact of having done alot of knives.
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Post by Dan Davis on Jun 13, 2008 12:15:41 GMT
Guess I can buy that, Sam.
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Post by Brendan Olszowy on Jun 13, 2008 13:32:58 GMT
I'm with you Dan. I go by my eye and my gut. You watch the bevel form. 1 sword bevel (out of 4) takes me over an hour. it's sculpture, plain and simple. If its really good, it's because I made it really good, by my hand, and my eye, and my gut. I didn't program it into a computer then smoke my pipe while the computer delivered my blade.
If I got it good it's by skill - thats all - I didn't have a jig or a computer get it right for me. Not only that but I had a possibility that I would F it up causing me to either bin 8 hours work, or resculpt it to incorporate the F up. Any regardless, its never going to be 'perfect'. It's going to be "Organic". And there's nothing wrong with that. Would you want a print / copy, or a hand painted masterpiece - where you can see the brushstrokes?
Ask him for me Matt - "OK, what sort of bevel is Easy" Blade making isn't easy. It's a skill that you develop. Mine get better each time, and I've shared that with the forum, and people notice it.
Go Artisan sculpter Matty! Do us some big blades. A nice Seax, instead of the kitchen chopper. You can't make a kitchen chopper out of spring. It'll rust and contaminate the food. Make me a seax instead.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2008 18:16:40 GMT
about rusting... are lower carbon steels more rust resistant then higher carbon steels?
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 13, 2008 21:19:15 GMT
All steel rusts. Alloys containing lots of chrome and nickle are more resistant to rust.
See, I sort of agree with both of those opinions. I like making my knives by eye. But I also like the idea of having the option of being able to refine my hand working with machine precision.
You're right, Sam, when you say that statement of mine is based on observation. I mean, a flat grind is so simple and basic, I just don't really get where he is coming from. He's probably right, but I wish he'd have clarified what he meant.
Bren, I'm actually already halfway through the next project. I'm just on the finishing now. I'm toying with exotic paint finishes on the handle, but am having no joy. I may just bin it, and straight laquer over satin black, but I don't want to.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2008 5:59:16 GMT
What makes you think a flat grind is simple and basic, that is a very broad statment.
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 14, 2008 17:31:34 GMT
To me, a flat grind is simple because there is no convexity or concavity to worry about keeping even.
I say "simple", but perhaps I should say "simpler than the other grinding styles".
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2008 18:03:31 GMT
Do you also mean simpler to accomplish?
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Jun 14, 2008 23:02:58 GMT
I have found a flat ground profile simpler to achieve on a blade so far. I am only on my third knife, though, so this can't count for much. I am experimenting with a cannel grind for my latest knife, for no reason in particular.
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