kbaknife

Phenominal work, Matt. I'm a BIG fan of your hamon activity. What are your post-forging techniques? 1 normalize? 2? Any sub-critical anneal on those? Full finish on the blades prior to quench? Satanite? Parks #50 @ 100 degrees or so?

I do no normalizing after grinding. I had already done three post-forging quenches to refine grain, and then followed that with three normalizing cycles, which have the tendancy to refine grain as well. The finer the grain, the less hardenability! I'm not going to stack three more on top of what I've already done. 20-25 minutes is even MORE acceptable for a soak time than what I do. The alloy content of 5160 - especially the chromium - requires this soak time. Held at 1525, there is no problem. Simpler steels like 1084, 1095, W1, can be brought up to only about 1480 and held for only a few minutes. After the spherodizing anneal that I do for easy grinding and drilling purposes, the carbides are all "pooled" up in little clumps. The soak time helps to break these carbides up and return them to "solution", making for good hardening. This sub-critical anneal is an industry standard for 5160: hold at 1375 for 2 hours. Cool quickly to 1300. Drop to 1200 degress @ 10 degrees per hour. This gets EVERYTHING all evened out after the stress it goes through during forging and sets it up for a really even hardening.

OK, let's see. They were both forged from 5160, but NOT bar stock. My steel is in 20 foot lengths, 1" square, and made back in '84. Part of Ed Fowler's knifemaking philosophy involves forging from large stock, which is one of the reasons I went to Wyoming and took his seminar a few years ago. The repeated and numerous thermal cycles that take place when forging from larger stock, seemed to give him better performance, and I am inclined to agree. Also included are three post-forging quenches to refine grain, followed by three reducing heat normalizing cycles. This is followed by a digitaly controlled oven and a controlled sub-critical anneal process that takes just under 13 hours. After the blade is convex ground, it is held at 1525 degrees for 18 minutes and edge quenched. Then, three 350 degree temper cycles. All pretty basic stuff, but if you REALLY control the basics every time, you should get a blade meant for performance.

OK, I truly don’t want to get long-winded here, but it’s important to me to explain a few things! First, I want to thank Don Hanson for putting up with me for the last few weeks, and for the corned beef sandwich! I’m truly honored to be first J.S. “Testee”! Thanks, Don. Secondly, this knife performed SO WELL, I really need to say a few words about the people who helped me put together my current heat-treating “package”. Jerry Rados has a knife “philosophy” that was quite something for me to run into as a beginning knife maker. Talk about “over my head”! I jumped right into the deep water at the beginning, now 9 years ago. I went to Willow Bow a few years ago and got indoctrinated by Ed Fowler and the Willow Bow Gang and I brought back forging, post-forging, and grinding techniques that I use every time I make a knife. Having been to Ashokan twice now, and an in-frequent “bother” to Kevin Cashen, I’ve utilized his metallurgical expertise to the maximum of my understanding. (When’s the last time you saw Ed Fowler and Kevin Cashen in the same topic??!!) I have used Jim Siska’s take-down assembly method exclusively for the last two years at his approval. Anyway, these guys, along with inspiration from everything Bailey Bradshaw does, has helped me get to this point. My contact with those fine gentlemen helped me put together two knives that were darned near indestructible. What can I say – razor-xxxxxxxx sharp. Cut like a champ. Chopped like another champ with absolutely no damage, chipping, bending, and remained razor sharp. Then, the part that I liked the most! On my home-test-knife, I was amazed that it performed so well, but mostly, that when it came time to bend the blade, I couldn’t even insult it! I only weigh 170 pounds, but I had my legs wrapped around the work bench, and still could hardly bend the knife. Then, I put a 3 foot cheater bar on the handle, and bent it waaaaaaaay past 90 degrees. I never heard a crack! I kept waiting for a crack! Nothing. And, it went back to under 20 degrees from straight! I thought it was a fluke. Then, with my official test knife at Don’s, the same thing happened! I could BARELY get the blade past, maybe 30 degrees by hand. So, I used the cheater again. No crack, not even at the fine cutting edge, and this one returned to exactly 20 degrees from straight. Both knives cut - well -, stayed razor sharp through abuse, and defied destruction. So many times I have seen test knives that had this sharp “kink” right at the vise jaws, cracked

I went in '04 and it was one of the smartest things I ever did. If you have intentions of continuing on to attain JS or MS ratings, then waiving one year of your wait time is worth it in that alone. I met three guys there who have become friends/acquaintances, and we all know what friends are worth. Don't forget room and board, lost wages while away from home, and travel expenses to and from.

I would say to lose the water quench and switch to a water-speed oil like Parks #50, and you will eliminate the shock that can occur with water quenching, but the fast oil still results in the same hardness as brine. Which makes me wonder if you were using water, or brine? Also, the key here is the SPEED of the oil! I saw mentioned here in this thread numerous times about quenching in "oil". What OIL? What makes all the difference is the oil SPEED that matches the alloy of the steel. If you don't know the steel you're working with, how can you choose the quench media? Don't use "salvaged peanut oil mixed with 30 weight........."! Use industry standard quenching oil designed to properly remove heat from STEEL. Not cook french fries. Probably the two most important things you can do here is 1) work with a known steel. 2) Use the proper quench media.

Please disregard the photo quality - it's about the Award, not the picture! Most of you have seen the knife previously anyway! Thanks for all of your kind comments in the past. It helps while in the shop!

I honored by your comments.

It dawned on me, not long ago, that I had not made a knife with a flat grind in just under 2 1/2 years! Thought I had better re-acquaint myself with that procedure. Here's a Take-down W2 Fighter, with some really nice African Blackwood. I made the stainless fittings clean and simple. Overall length is 12 3/8" with a 7 1/2" blade. Thanks for letting me share.

Yes, I forge the tang, draw it down and thread it. On the last one, it's difficult to see, but the pommel nut IS slotted! - for a screwdriver, which I also make to fit the slot. That slot is running vertically and you just can't see it because of the photo angle. Here's a better one:

If you go get me a cup of coffee!

In this you can see the stainless insert. It has an internal "ledge" that the shoulder on the pommel screw "grabs" when screwed on. This makes it a continuous, mechanical connection from blade tip to handle butt!

Here, check this out: Individually Handcrafted Knives for the Outdoor Enthusiast and don't forget that all of these "thumbnails" enlarge when clicked. Also, here are a few examples:

Here are three more knives I'll be taking to the Ohio Classic Knife Show next week. First is a California Buckeye Burl Personal Carry that I have recently named "The Patrolman". I've sold quite a few of these in the past but I just recently had one of our Southern Border Patrol Officers order one in Blackwood, and I thought this name fit. Anyway, this is Stabilized California Buckeye Burl with hotblued Take-down fittings of Mild steel, and a multiple quenched and etched 5160 blade. Overall length of this is 10 1/4" with a 5 1/2" blade. Photo 1 Secondly is a Desert Ironwood Integral, in a Take-down assembly with hot-blued mild steel fittings. The W1 Integral blade was forged from 7/8" W1 and clay backed for some "Psycho Hamon"! I see quite a few Integrals lately in both slab handles and hidden tang, but, as far as I know, I haven't seen any in Take-down - other than myself. Overall 10 1/8" with a 5 3/4" blade to the hotblued spacer. PHoto 2 Last is a Russian Olive Burl Hunter with stainless Take-down fittings and a multiple quenched and deeply etched 5160 blade. This was my first opportunity to use Russian Olive Burl, but you can bet I'll be using more in the future, Super dense and a lot of figure. This should be a really 'hard-use hunter'! Overall length of 10 1/4" with a 5 3/8" blade. Photo 3

check out this current thread on Blade Forums: Etch resist question? - BladeForums.com

I thought I might show a few of the knives I'll be taking to the Ohio Classic Knife Show at the end of the month. The first one is an Integral I forged from 1" square 5160 and selectively hardened. Following the first photo is a picture of the forging process about 1/2 way through. You can see the square to round to knife progression. (This was before drawing out the tang) The handle is a fantastic piece of stabilized Spalted Oak! I'm astounded by the figure in it. You may also notice, that, yes, it's a Take-down. (Did you expect anything else?) The spacer is a piece of hot-blued mild steel, as well as the take-down nut. I'll have a few clay-quenched W1 Integrals to ake as well. Overall length on this one is 11 1/8". Secondly is a 5160 Bubinga Bowie with Polished Stainless fittings. The faceted butt cap was polished and satin finished to gove the "jeweled" effect that I like. Hot blued Take-down nut. Hand-rubbed finish that shows off the edge quench quite well. Overall length of just under 14" with a 9 inch blade. I will be devoting a page on my web site to show the knives I will be taking to the show.

This is as good a place as any to post this - something I just got last night from a knife customer of years past: "Hey Karl, This is G..... B......, I purchased a knife from you 2 years ago ( I think). Anyway, hunting elk the first season I'm sad to say it stayed in its sheath. Well not this year!! Last Monday my hunting partner and I were hunting elk in the William O Douglas wilderness. I was doing the pushing and he was doing the shooting and well..... we found ourselves 14 miles into the wilderness with a 420ish lbs elk on the ground. My partner, who had a brand name knife, had to stop and "touch up" his knife. My knife, on the other hand, is still razor sharp. After all that hair, hide, fat, meat and yes even bone. Thank you for building an awesome knife. G...."

This will tell you more than I can. This will be my time to this show. index (website)

This was a fun knife for me to do, and has all indications of being a nice user if the new owner so chooses! Another piece of Stabilized Spalted Maple I got from Peter Martin. The more of this I use, the more I like it! I hot-blued the mild steel Take-down fittings to match the spalting in the maple. On the guard and the butt cap, the faceted corners are polished, while the flats are satin finished, as are the file grooves on the spacer, while the outer portions are satin finished. W1 blade forged down from 1" round stock. 10 3/4" overall with a 6 inch blade! Available at the Ohio Custom Kife Show!

Try this link: Southern Tool Steel, Inc. - Advanced Search Then click on the "Available Criterea". You may need to give them a call.

Here's a Sambar Stag and Rados Damascus hunter destined for deer hunting in Texas! I forged this from a chunk of Jerry Rados' Random Damascus of W2 and 203E variety. I always get Jerry to make me pieces of his Random extra thick so I do a LOT of forging to get the blade to shape. This creates and unbelievable amount of 3-D Voodoo in the blade after hot-bluing. The Take-down fittings were made from mild steel stock, mirror polished and then hot-blued to "Black Glass"! Handle is a Premium Sambar taper. "Ivory" portions of the Stag brought to 1500 grit and then polished. Overall length is 10 1/4" with a 5 3/4" blade. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did making it.

To increase your luck and avoid cracking from the radical quench of water or brine, use Parks #50 quench oil, which approximates the speed of water/brine, which will be necessary for 1095 and hamon activity. Due to its professional nature, it avoids the stress more common to water quenches. Available form Darren Ellis by the gallon. Ellis Custom Knifeworks

If they do, we could TAPE record it!

There will be no signs of mill rolling left on my knives. I forge my 5160 blades down from 1 inch square stock. By the time I get it down to blade thickness, all alloys have been completely re-distributed. My W1 and 52100 blades come down from 1 1/4" round as well. I'm certain that what we're seeing here is chromium banding in the spine area. The jury is still out on whether or not that is a good thing! I use a limiting plate in my quench tank for the selective hardening - leaves a pretty distinct transition! Thanks for your kind words.

Quite an undertaking, and a very successful one at that! Fantastic!