sandpile

Raise the grain and sand back till you get it where you want it, oil and seal and wax till the handle is water proof and Simoniz or something similar on the carbon blade. I use nose oil on my EDC O1 personal knife blade. Lots of ways of getting there but no short-cuts just elbow grease and experiments. None as easy as buying stabilized handle material. chuck

During all the posts I did not see anyone mention a full anneal. After the normalizing and before the quench heat. I like to do a full anneal it helps on most of the warpage and sets the steel up for initial grinds. Works for me. chuck

On quench tanks of any length you need to be able to heat your oil and stir it up to make sure your not going to have any hard or soft spots. On a tilted tank for swords or whatever you want to quench. You will need to heat at three levels. I have a basket on a wire set up in my tanks. I can't drop it any further than the bottom of the basket. chuck

JOHN- Mighty fine. It is a once in a long while of forging to get something to turn out as slick and nice as this one. Congrats! Your learning curve and hard work is what got you here. Thanks for the excellent pictures. chuck bennett

On Thomas' Cur-mud-geon. I realize I am two weeks late on this post. Having had several dealing with the accused.Grin I believe the #1 and #2 of GLENNS explanation pretty well fill out THOMAS's rather clever abilities to go right to the point and squat like an ole hen. If you check his track record he is generally right on the money. That's my 2 CENTS worth.----BOG chuck

I'll restate my question now that I see hardening sounds pretty straight forward (whenever I do end up trying to make something out of it): Can A2 be annealed in Vermiculite, or does it have to be done in a furnace? Being even more specific, will Vermiculite limit the cooling to the "40 degrees F per hour or less" rate that is called for when annealing A2? Thanks again I was referring to his revised question. chuck

We drill every thing and fit up before epoxy. Drilling one bolster at a time. If you break through before twistinge bit off. You can use a smaller sized bit in reverse at a very slow speed and back the broken bit out----sometimes. 416 work hardens real fast. Have a fresh bit and cutting oil before you start. It is best not to predrill and ream on 416. The work hardening can be a problem of several metals. Hope that helps chuck

ALVIN-- To your question. Yes you can anneal A2 in Vermiculite. If it is less than a quarter inch you might want to sandwich(clamp) it between two thicker pieces. Heat the three pieces up to above Non mag. Quickly jam them in the vermiculite. Come back the next day about the same time. chuck

If not too bright --may be called HAMMER HEADED. CHUCK

If someone wants to try horse manure. I have some behind the barn that has been there several years. I would think a hog, dog, or re-tired out house dung would be hotter by quite a bit. chuck

I have made some really good knives from circuler blades(big ones) and some really nice ones from Starrett reciprocating hack saw blades which are HSS and will get as hard as wood-pecker lips and wear better than you suspect. Great round knives from the circle saws. Cut them out with a hot/wrench, just over size the cut and grind/forge back from the burn line. If the circuler saw has carbide tips--I chunk it. I triple norm them and quench twice/over mag and temper twice/375. On both steels. Checking with a good edged file. I come across some Tech-Nite blades from Capewell that had laminated edges. Pretty tough to make any thing but straight knives--- like paring knives. chuck

I prefer Texaco--Parks or straight mineral oil--Heated. chuck

First time i have seen these posts. THANKS everyone. Neck op. was great! wished I had done it ten years before. Thanks and God Bless chuck bennett

RICH--Looking good! chuck

Hello folks--10" or 12" pipe, flu, chimney -- tall enough to extend a few above the tallest closeby obstruction. Check with code people if needed. That keeps their noses from getting bent out of shape. chuck

FARMER PHIL is right. have fun with your spikes, then go to used or new spring steel(5160) making several blades and getting the feel of it(5160 is a great steel to practice with, it is real forgiving---52100 is a lot tougher to get right) and the advice here for your heat-treating. Everyone will be glad to assit. On carbon steel--I hardly ever go over 350 to 400 degrees on the tempering. Have fun and keep mashing. chuck

You are coming to it. Handle work is good. Just need to keep on making knives till you get where you want to be. congrats chuck

I can't remember where I got mine. I still have one chunk that is 2'X4"X2". We have carved up most of what I had. Grand pups like to carve in BOXWOOD. Never tried any for a handle. Might work, it would be about like the old Poplar wood that was used in wagonseats, and sideboards for the turn of the century freight, and field wagons. Super clear grained. chuck

Hillbilly-- You did me a good turn. Now I have to figure out why the(audio) volume is not working. I watched and listened to the old fart.(ED is a year older than me) Makes a lot of sense and has carried out tons of tests. I bought sixty lbs. of 52100 from REX WALTERS in PENN. so I could have the same batch of steel that ED is using. REX had eight or ten 20(maybe 30) ft five inch rounds of this steel. I have made several knives from this steel, good knives, but am still not getting the results ED and some others are getting. chuck

SAIGA-- I used to live near(west 1 1/2 miles) DOGWOOD. I lived in Booger county. Had the old Philpot place. I also had the LYONS RANCH leased for a couple of years. I am out in the Tx Panhandle. chuck bennett

Did not look at the dates for the previous posts