teknition

Very nice job Joe!! For a first attempt it is quite a beauty, keep at it :)

Awesome post Rich.
Taking the time to look at the ergonomics and work flow in your shop environment can same alot of time as well as strain on your body. Laying your tools out in a logical order of progression often means you dont even have to stop and think about what the next step in the progression is, because it is right next to the step you just took.
Congratulations on the new milling maching, you will find it is a very handy tool. Be forewarned though, once you start using it and see all the cool things it can do, you will be spending as much on tooling as you did on the mill itself :D

Hi Jph,

Thanks for the kudos. The fullering tool has 3/8" round rod for the upper and lower radius pieces, but you could make them any radius you want by scaling the size of the tool and rods up or down as required. When the jaws are closed, the upper rod lies directly over top of the bottom rod and they are in a fixed position. The only adjustments on the tool are the back guage to set the distance the fuller is in from the edge of the steel (controlled by the threaded rod length adjustment) and the t-bolt on top adjusts the height that the jaws open. The jaws are spring loaded so the height adjustment stops the jaws from opening too far between hits with the hammer. I have used the tool a few times and it does work but I need a to learn a bit more hammer control to perfect the results. You are correct that the tool can be easily made in a few hours.

I mainly make blades and since I've made this tool I've found easier ways to fuller the blade with a rounded lathe bit tool that is dragged down the blade in a draw knife like fashion.

If you have any more questions, just ask.

Thats a beauty, I like the unique look of the handle. Did you use any borax or other flux when welding the cable?

Thanks for the compliments guys

Sounds like the skinner is a winner I'll have to make a few more of them.

I found the fillet knife the hardest to make out of all of them because of the flex in the blade. The flexing makes it hard to control on the grinder.

Hi guys.

Ive been busy in the shop and haven't had alot of time to get into chat, but I figured I would stop by an say Hi to all.

I've posted some new blade pics on my website if anyone wants to have a look

Anderson Knives

So much better with pics

Nice job on the blades Steve... lookin good.

Hi Steve,

From the description, they sound real nice. Can we see em too? ;)

Hello everyone, I've been busy out in the shop so I haven't been around in the chat room much lately. I have 3 new knives made but only have pics of 2 so far. I ordered a bunch of stabilized wood so I can finish the other 4 blades I have done that are ready for handles, it should be here soon.

I've added a newly completed knife (brass bolstered hunter) and a new cable damascus letter opener to my gallery. Thought you guys might like to have a look.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/643

Take care :)

:o
I really love the look of that one Rich. The amber sets it off quite nicely.

I haven't actually weighed it yet, but I can carry it around myself. So I'm thinking closer to 100 lbs. I will weigh it tomorrow and see.

It looks much like a fisher anvil from the pictures I've found. The only thing that really leaves me wondering is that all the fisher anvil pics I've seen have a bolt hole in the front and rear on the base of the anvil. Mine lacks these holes but it looks like someone torched a notch in the front center of the base.

I'm with Thomas, I thing its a RR car journal half. Just a guess tho :D

Thanks for the replys guys. Very informative as always

So, now we have established they did have anvils in the millitary during WWII, and most likely a Fisher. Now, does anyone have one or pics of one so I can tell if thats in fact what I have? Did they Have any distiguishing makers mark on them?

I lucked out and bought an anvil today for 25 bucks from a guy in town that used to make knives. It's not the best anvil in the world but its much better than the RR track anvil I have been using up till now.

I looked the anvil over for a makers mark and date etc. On the side it has what appears to be a date of 1944? I tried to bring up the marks with welders chalk, a light sanding, and finally a blast with glass bead. I cant find any manufacturers name on it anywhere but there are a few digits on it. The anvil had been painted numerous time but the original paint is very tough and stayed on in some spots even after the glass beading. The original color is a drab olive green.

Being that its drab olive and the date appears to be 1944, I'm wondering if this could be an old army anvil? WWII is a bit before my time so I'm not sure if the army would have had blacksmiths in WWII, can anyone enlighten me?

The steel looks like wartime steel, very poor quality of casting, lots of pockets and slag in the face. I cleaned it up a bit but more crud keeps showing up, so I just stopped and I will use it as is.

Thanks,

welcome to the forum, all the info you need to know to post pics is found in this sticky. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f20/adding-images-your-posts-1732/

Sweet lookin' blade Oak, looks like a handy knife.

and 20 or so grams of baby waste product. It is not even slightly tinged yellow, but I try not to touch it.

Thank you for clearing that up for me Tyler. I guess from what I've recently read, that I should have said the blade was "differentially quenched" or "edge quenched".
For some interesting reading on heat treatment of steels, Mr.Cashen as well as Mete over on bladeforums have a pretty vast knowledge on the topic and are freely sharing some great info. Here is a link to just one of many threads on the subject over there.
http://216.26.139.58/forums/showthread.php?t=440355

Good question Tyler.

These are some of the resources I used for learning the heat treat for 1084 (There isn't alot of info on the web about it)

Heat treating 1084 Steel

Knife Network : Workshop - Heat Treating

From what I've read, the steel needs to go from 1500-1550 degrees to below 400 degrees in one second or less and the quench oil temp should be 140-150 degrees F to properly harden the steel

I may have used the wrong term when I said "marquenched". What I meant by marquenched is that the blade was not fully submerged in the quench oil but rather it was partially submerged in the quench to leave the ricasso and most of the spine soft while the edge was fully hardened. I believe this is called marquenching?

There are so many terms in the heat treating that it is sometimes confusing. I know that a blade being quenched in salt at just above 400 degrees (martensite finish) is referred to as marquenching. There are deffinate advantages to quenching in salt such as a more complete and gentle transformation to martensite and not having to regrind the blade to remove scale. From what I've read, (lots), basically the way you put the blade in the salt (finish) is the way it comes out. More advantages of salt pots are quick and even heating to critical temperature and less warpage because of the even heating of the steel (no burnt tips and decarburization, etc)

I am planning on setting up salt tanks to treat the blades I make, I just haven't made it that far yet. I have the digitally controlled forge made already, all I have left is to get a stainless pipe and some salt to be able to do it. The price of stainless pipe is astronomical so it will have to wait for a bit until I can afford it (I have other priorities right now like a good bench to work on instead of a workmate).

If you feel like sharing your knowledge of metalurgy and heat treating, I'm more than willing to listen. I by no means know it all or even a quarter of what I would like to learn on the subject.

Thanks Tyler. The oil was 140 degrees F

Nice job Sam, looks like it will be a great chopper.

Thank you all for the kind words, as a new maker your feedback is very encouraging. I always strive to do the best I can as well as gain the skills and knowledge necessary to improve the projects I take on.

Like you Ted, I never get tired of looking at the talents of others on this site in the gallery. The displays of skill, creativity, and artistic talent as well as the generous sharing of knowledge on IFI are what makes this site so great.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the compliments.

Julian, the blade isn't sharpened yet but it does feel nice in the hand. I figured I would wait till I was done playing with it and taking pics to sharpen it so I didn't lose any fingers :D

I finished up my second knife tonight.

Spec's are:

8" overall, 3-1/4" blade length, 1-1/2" at belly, fullytapered. 3/16" at widest point, flat ground, vine filework.

1084 carbon steel, stock removal, normalized 3X, heated to non magnetic and marquenched in 140 degree quench oil, tempered one hour 2X at 400 degrees. Sanded to 1200 grit and etched in ferric chloride, lightly sanded again with worn 1200 grit and WD40.

Handle is African Ironwood with black and white spacers and stainless pins, CA finish, wetsanded to 1200 and buffed.

All comments welcome, suggested improvements?

Nice fab job you did there. I like the Idea you had to utilize the normally unused space for a spot to hang your tools. great idea :D