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Ya, I don't know why I thought I should reheat to nonmag after heat treat. I understand normalizing and I had planned to do that, but without me saying so specifically in the other post, you had no way of knowing that. I understand normalizing better than any of the rest of the process as I do it on a regular basis when welding bandsaw blades at work. Okay, so after some final prep on the two blades in question, I think I'll try it next week.

I was going to patiently wait for a time period. Lord knows I forget my share of things lately.

Fine looking knife! Did you salvage enough from the old wedge to make the bolster?

Steve, being new to the process I just want to make sure I'm clear on this. I may try it next week on a couple of hand seax-ish blades that I have ready for HT. This is what I plan to try: Heat treat: Heat to nonmagnetic and quench in veg oil as it is all I have. Temper: Reheat to nonmagnetic then quench the edge only- for how long? Am I on the right track here? If you were to differential harden then how would you temper? Maybe in a toaster at say 400 degrees? I may try one blade with a differential heat treat, and the other with a differential temper to see which works best for me. I don't think it is a matter of something being unclear in the sticky. I think it is a matter that I am too new to the process to completely understand without asking more questions and trying it myself.

Thanks for those links Steve. I should have known it has been discussed and simply searched for it myself. I'll have to try a differential temper soon.

Anything special about the mud? I'm maybe 30 minutes from Chris and I live in the middle of red clay heaven. Could I just coat the spine and part of the blade with some red clay, or does anything need to be added? Or is red clay totally unsuitable for this purpose?"

I'm sitting here trying to think of a proper complement. All I can say is simply gorgeous. Pics like this push me to further develope my own skills.

Glad to have you aboard. I have family in southeast GA, over toward Jesup in Wayne County. You could also pick up a book called The Art of Blacksmithing, by Alex Bealer. Good book. It will give you some good fundamentals. Look for your local ABANA chapter. You may find a blacksmith closer than you think. For knifemaking, there is always The Complete Bladesmith by Jim Hrisoulas as well as his other books. VERY good info there.

Thanks JPH, I also learned more patience. Making a knife, and making it look good actually takes time and patience. Early on, I would get frustrated, rush the process and ruin the blade. Now, I realize that you MUST stay focused keeping the end product in your mind's eye and working until you get there. I also would throw a temper tantrum (yes, today is my 39th birthday and I still admit to an occasional temper tantrum ) when I made the slightest mistake on the knife. Something that could have been repaired was either destroyed or abandoned for junk. Now I simply reevaluate what it could be now that my hand wasn't as steady as it should be. That patience has started spilling over into other areas of my life, thankfully.

Hehehe. I remember when I first got into blacksmithing a few years ago. I had the idea "I'm gonna make me a sword!!!" Well, the smithing failed - no experience. I tried to grind one. Wrong equipment and not enough patience. So I cut back on the size a bit. Failed. Cut back some more. Failed. Continued playing around with blacksmithing, but found that my heart drew me back to blades. SO, finally I settled on actually listening to other actually experienced people on these boards and I started working on 9" knives with about 4 1/2" blades. My first knife was finished some time ago. I have several others in the works now. I plan to work on these short knives until I get really good at it- HT, finish, fittings etc . . . then I'll move on to slightly longer blades. I'll probably follow that pattern as long as I am able to forge. But looking back, I see that my own hardheadedness has cost me a few years in experience. :rolleyes:

I'm glad I came across this thread. I have a simular problem with Ace Hardware brand paper. I asked this same question on another forum and the answers were the same as here. It is good to cross reference sometimes. I can get any grit of 3M brand wet/dry paper I want from a local auto parts store- I already checked, so after I finish the knife I am sanding on now, that's where I am going for the next batch of paper.

Congrats on the first knife. It sounds like you used the right file. I once forged two beautiful utility knives out of Simonds 12" files. They were looking NICE too. Wouldn't harden to save my life though. You're on your way, man! Keep it up!

I understand that completely. The day job does tend to get in the way of forge time. But that's the good thing about the lay-off schedule I'm on. As long as the weather is cooperative, I get to work outside in the forge for a while every other week.

Look for a local sawmill. When you find it, look for the saw filer. If he has an old sawblade sitting around that is no good for the mill anymore, he will either sell it CHEAP, or give it to you to get it out of his way. You may even work out a deal to make him a knife from some of the steel. It looks really bad when the mill manager comes into the filing room and sees old unrepairable saw blades sitting in the floor. It makes the filer look like he is way behind. Warning though, you will get a LOT of steel and it WILL have teeth that are just waiting to draw blood. DO NOT get a blade that is twisted. That is stitches waiting to happen. But from personal experience: I'll agree with someone else here who has told me these same words. Scrap can be good to get started on, but sooner or later you'll want to go to new steel. For general blacksmithing, I am utterly frustrated with scrap mystery steel.

1) Ditto what everyone else said. That is one good looking knife. I am a moderator on a site for people who are trying to recreate JRR Tolkein's Middle Earth rangers. With the shape, the lack of a high gloss finish and the inlay, that looks like something we would love to carry into the woods with us. My first knife has Bubinga handle slabs. Beautiful wood. 2) I'm glad to hear you're not happy with it. That will drive you to wow us with your second knife. As good as this one looks, I look forward to seeing your next one!

That's a really good looking knife. I like the shape of it. What about some walnut slabs or something like that for the handle?

I didn't expect to get photo tips here! Thanks Frosty. My blade photograghy stinks! Oh, yeah, nice start on your knife-making journey, DM.

Jorgensen, that is a good looking rr spike axe. I like the unrefined look of the handle too.

I completely agree with Matt87. I'm of the stubborned sort and have been bound and determined that I can "do it like the pros" my first time out. As a result, I have worked on many knives over the past three or so years and actually finished a grand total of ONE! I'm not so stubborned these days. Also, listen to the suggestions about steel choices. You're on the right track in saving for a good steel. There are plenty of good steels out there that will make an excellent monosteel kitchen knife. But I agree with you. I'm sick of cheep kitchen knives.

I probably let it get too cold then.

I have some smaller coil springs that came from the resaw at the mill where I work. I tried to straighten one of them recently and it split along the length of the spring. I was told by a friend that I should try to anneal the springs before I work with them. What do you guys think?

Thanks for the info. Avoid olive oil. Also make sure handles are sealed and secured.

Yeah, I would be aiming more at the home kitchen, backyard bbq, pig-picking guys here in NC. Many of these folks hate stainless as much as I do. I'm going to be contacting a couple of people about a good way to care for carbon steel. My advice to folks that buy my cleavers at the present is to wash it off in hot soapy water, dry it and oil it down with veg oil or olive oil.

Sorry I didn't reply. It's been pretty busy around here for the past couple of days. The warranty wouldn't be a bad idea these days.

I'm really considering the whole food safety thing here since my original post. I doubt anyone who buys a butcher knife from a hardware store is going to be really concerned with how they care for the knife. But then again I could be wrong, they could treasure it and take very good care of it. The guys around here take their grilling very seriously