kevin (the professor)

I forgot the heat treat - I practiced watching colors and testing magnetism for about 5 runs (3 used to normalize). Then, after the last heat, I quenced in somewhat heated motor oil (if you notice the guard was colored by heating and dropping in oil, which heated my quench a little). Tempered for 2 hours at 350 degrees. I was amazed at how HARD the knife seemed, as judged by trying to file it. Even as rudimentary as this is, its better than the knives I had been buying from factories. If you know of any opp's to view bladesmithing in CT or New England, please let me know. ANY AND ALL ADVICE IS WELCOMED! Kevin

Hello Everyone, thanks for letting me on the forum. I have been watching for a month or two. I am a Forensic Clinical Psychologist and college prof by day. However, I grew up a Texas farmboy, and I missed making stuff with my hands. So, true to my geeky nature, I researched how to forge for a year (I made tools, including knives by stock removal when young and working on farm). I grew up in a culture of self reliance, so I was doing things like making knives and reloading ammo when really young. I am attaching a few pictures of my first forged knife (I could not get the gallery and thumbnail process to work, so any advice is welcomed). They show the sequence. You will notice that after the first assembly, I ground the mokume to fit, and the heat shrank the leather on the handle. As soon as a make a couple more, I will be able to convince my wife to let me buy some nicer handle material. Also, the knife has a slight "clip" to the point because I burned the original point off with my grinder! I think grinding is going to be a lot harder for me than forging. On the bright side - I am hooked, and the knife is much better than any factory knife I could buy. Knife stats: 1095 (started with 1inch x1/4inch x5ft bar from Admiral Steel 10 3/4 inches oal 6.25 inch blade 1/8 inch thick @ guard 1/16 inch thick @ tip Convex grind Thanks for all of the information you guys have given me. I have read this forum, and the books by JPH and Wayne Goddard, and they also were very helpful. Take care, Kevin:)

Hello, I am new to this forum. I hope to post first forged knife and brief into about me soon. All I can really say is that I like 1095 so far. However, I have spent a lot of time trying to track down resources, and I am pasting a link to a site from Cashen Blades that is really helpful. http://www.cashenblades.com/Info/Steel%20selection/Steel%20selection.html (if the link does not work, just search around the cashenblades.com site) good luck, Kevin