jmccustomknives

I have gotten asked in the past for knives made from files. I finally got around to buying a mixed lot of old files. The first one I worked was an old Lennox file marked "for stainless". I heated to non magnetic, quenced in my version of "Goddards Goop" tempered at 400f. It wouldn't get sharp. I dropped it on its tip, it left a divot with the very end of the tip being left in the concrete. Thinking I made a mistake I annealed it and repeated the process this time quenching in oil and tempered at 375F with the same results. It acts like 1070, what edge it takes it looses with little effort. I forged a blade from a large Lennox file that wasn't marked "for stainless", it took a better edge but I haven't finished testing it yet. I've had good results from Nicolson files, they make excellent knives. I just took one I made from a Simmonds out of temper, it warped so I'll have to take it back down and redo it. Anyway, has any of you guy ever had experiance with Lennox files? If so, what results compaired with Nicolson?

I've got a boot knife That I've been haulin around for several years, as of yet I've had no sign of failure. I did try the slow set stuff, It wouldn't harden at all. I don't know if it is just the heat and humidity around here or wha,t I've bought it twice with the same results. I would rather use the slower stuff, I don't like being rushed. What brand do you use?

I mostly bladesmith but have aquired a bunch of crane cable. I started doing bonzai tree's. Here's a couple. I know bonzai aren't uncommon among 'smiths, but has any one ever seen them forged from crane cable?

What's got me curious, 5160 saw steel ?. I'm not aware of any maker using 5160 in saw blades. Most are L-6, some are various custom alloys. I make a lot of knives using L-6 and have good succes. Heat slowly to nonmagnetic. Quench in oil. I use a version of "Goddards Goop" 1/3 parifin wax, 1/3 hydrolic oil, 1/3 vegitable oil. I seem to get better results, and since it is solid at room temp I don't have to worry about spilling it. Any way, temper at 400F. You might want a wire edge (go with a 425F temper for this type of edge) as they work good with soft meats and vegies.

I tried the gorilla stuff when I first started, After time the handles would work loose so I started using 5 min 2 part expoxy. Even still, it's good to use rivots. I

Interesting profiles. They will get crisper in time. I might suggest making sure you've got all the file teeth off as they can cause stress risers and cause a break. What kind of files did you use. I just recently started using files and found that Nicolson's worked exceptionally well, Lennox files however I couldn't even get them sharp. The Lennox seemed to be made of 1070, that's what it tested like anyway.