dodo knives

well theo I don't have any advice on this as I do mosty stock removal...but the 2nd and 3rd pics are a really good pattern in my opinion and should look great when they get cleaned up make sure to post pics when they are done....

hey guys sorry I didn't get a pic up I still don't have my camera,,however this morning I got so frustrated I went back to the grinder (my platen is glass I don't think that would me it) I re raked and buffed (just as I did before) and it came out ALOT better there are still 3 small area with this but its much much harder to see. I don't know what its from never had this happen before the worst thing besides this is I have had a lil orange peel show up am I right that that is from letting the blade get slightly to hot and is only on the surface? any way I am not going to spend any more time on this as I said you REALLY have to look for it to see it much much better than it was and this blade is for a family member that is only paying cost so I aint going to continue messing with it

your right sorry guys...I wont be able to get pics up until tomorrow morning I don't have my camera with me right now but I will make sure to put the up as soon as I can in the morning...however I don't know how good this is going to show up in a camera but I got a light box for pics I will do my best

hey guys so I have been trying to mirror finish this blade and I am having some problems that I never had before. the finish kind of looks like ripples in water. in a way it almost looks like I went to the buffer pre maturely with large scratches in the blade and they got dulled down and shiny. that's what it looks like but that is not what it is I went to 3000 grit before touching the buffer and I am very carefull to make sure to get out all previous scratches on the next belt all the way up and I did check and there was no big scratches when I got done at the grinder and deffinitly not enough to make this pattern. is there anything I could have overlooked that would cause this un even surface?? thanks

yeh I actually started getting pour into a Styrofoam cooler (the really thick ones that food and dry ice is packed into) the only problem with that is it would only last 2-3 days so I had to get a batch (usually 10) blades ready for heat treat and do them all at once to make it worth it money wise. I just got the dewar 2 months agao....sooooo much better

I have read the spec sheet but haven't read to much of what other knife makers have done with it I will make a point to check it out cryo wont be a problem planed on doing that anyway I have a 35 liter dewar full of liquid nitrogen I have been using it with 440c

oh ok I didn't know you use the plates on a positive pressure someone described it to me as basicly a small piece of stove pipe nailed to the wall and ya know how stove pipe 0kinda clips togather on the seem well they said to leave that seam open about a inch and there is a hook inside the blade hangs on and air is sparyed though the seem that is still open...thinking about it I think it would cool quicker your way in the plates....can the air be sprayed at a higher psi like is it a minimum of 30 psi but say 60 psi still good or it needs to be right on at 30?

hey guys so the only steel I have used so far is 1084 and now mostly 440c. I want to start learning a couple other steels, I have a small bar of CPM S35VN. I am also thinking about CPM 154. So either way lets use the CPM S35VN for this conversation.. as far as the quench goes the spec sheet says, " Quench: Air or positive pressure quench (2 bar minimum) to below 125°F (50°C), or salt or interrupted oil quench to about 1000°F (540°C), then air cool to below 125°F (50°C)." ok so I don't have access to any salt tanks so as far as the other ways. First am I right to assume that by interrupted oil quench it is just like a regular oil quench but when the blade cools to about 1000 deg. pull it out and let it cool in air, that's it? Second how does a positive pressure quench work I read somewhere that you make a container that you put the knife in as soon as it comes out of the oven and then blow compressed air in to that container? that's all I read there wasn't any details of how it is actually done. I did do some searching for info on positive pressure quench and couldn't find anything this so if anyone can give me some information on it or if you can point me in the right direction to where I may find more info on this it would really be appreciated! yes I understand that it can be just air quenched (or maybe plate quenched) but I have been told by a couple of knife makers that have been doing there own heat treat for a long time that usually the easiest way (air) is usually the worst way and I did find that air and plate quenching on 440c although it did harden a oil quench hardens just the same but the grain was a lot better in a oil quench. either way if I am going to start a new steel I would like to do testing on more than one method to see what works best for me. any info on this positive pressure quench would really help...thanks guys

THANKS GUYS I am going to order some more blades today thanks again for the help

mostly g10 micarta and stabilized wood. I use lenox diemaster 14-18 tpi for the metal so I was thinking maybe just slightly less tpi but didn't know if there is anything that would work better I know there is straight tooth wavy tooth skip tooth all that kinda stuff I don't know much about

hhey guys I am about to order new bandsaw blades (lenox diemaster) for cutting the steel but I also want to get one or 2 cheaper ones for cutting handle material I never got a blade specifically for handle material any one have any tips on what kind or how many tpi or certain features I should look for?? any info would help thanks

hmm I would have to look and try to remember in this batch I had 1 and 1/2 bars that I have had for a while and yes I have done knives from them (it was actually 3 half bars) but there were also 2 new bars from a newer order that got cut up so I don't know wich came from what...

I have absolutely no idea did the same as always preheat 1400 for 10 min then up to 1875 for 30 mins quench in parks 50 oil then into liquid nitrogen over night then I always temper low at first at 370 for 1 hour mainly just to relive stress then I always grind one and do a brass rod test in the past the first brass rod test has always been to hard then I re temper and redo brass rod test raising the temp by 15 degrees at a time when it gets to where I want it then I temper the rest of the blades at that temp. the final temper has always been either 400 or 415 I do it this way because sometimes I have noticed the size and thickness has a small effect on how hard it gets and what is the best temper temp. I try and keep all the blades in each batch around the same size big knives one batch small another either way that original temper at 370 has always been too hard I almost didn't even do the brass rod test this time at 370 because like I said it has always been to hard but I am glad I did because when I did it the blade was soft that deflection off the rod didn't spring back when it should have been hard at that point I have always had the edge chip alil when the temper is that low I did grind another blade to check and that one was soft too...obviously something was done differently but I cant figure it out so I guess I have to re harden all these but I don't know if I need to anneal and or normalize

Hey guys so I heat treated a batch of knives and grinded a couple and test with brass rod. I know that is not a accurate way to judge hardness but its good enough to know that this batch came out MUCH softer than usual. I don't know why I did everything as I usually do I guess there is something I over looked but I can not figure it out...I have never had this problem so the only way I see to fix it is to re harden so I guess my question is what do I have to do..oh the steel is 440C I see on the spec sheet annealing instructions do I have to anneal everything before I re harden?? I have heard with some steels you have to normalize but there is nothing about normalizing on the spec sheet I was also told that 440c may not be able to normalize since it is a air hardening steel. any help would be appreciated thanks guys

the only problem with using a second container for treatment is in the process of pouring from dewar to conainer and then back to dewar if any is left you will loose a lot due to evaporation everytime you pour it into a new container it instantly evaporates until the liquid nitrogen cools that container down to close to its temp wich is exactly what I am trying to prevent if I can put the knives directly into the dewar it will make a HUGE difference due to loss

got it ill do it now

thanks Thomas I appreciate it ....you live in texas? you said your in the same area as me?? I am in new york

glen as Thomas said the kinves are at room temp when the go in the cooler. and I put them in slowly I don't just drop them in and I made a lil home made rack that fits in it to keep them on their spine. I also put that cooler inside a BIG plastic tuperware kinda thing and it is completely surrounded by insulation I found the insulation on the sides and on top of the cooler helps it keep a lil longer. and will conatin a spill if that happens. How ever a major problem with this is that everytime there is LN in it it freezes little channels through the Styrofoam and after about 5+ fills it can eat a lil pin hole all the way through this lil pin hole is SMALL its not big enough that you can actually see liquid coming out but it is enough to give a spot for it to evaporate as it comes out and it turns those 3 days I can keep it to about 1 1/2 I have had this happen to 2 coolers so far (another reason I need a dear to much waste) Thomas I don't think I would want one from a scrap yard but a used one is a option IF its still in very good condition....you said " have I looked from Al?" what do you mean "Al" ??? JM thanks I didn't think about that contacting a doctors office or a lab and seeing if they have a used one may be a very good idea thank you!

hey guys so I have been using a THICK Styrofoam cooler to put liquid nitrogen in for cryo treating the stainless I use. good side I don't have to spend a bunch of money on a dewar, down side it only lasts for 2-3 days so I have to profile and get a bunch of blades ready for heat treat and do them all at once other wise I would be going through a lot of liquid nitro gen if I went and did 1 or 2 blades at a time, I have been doing it this way for a lil while but I think I am ready to invest in a dewar so I can keep the liquid nitrogen for a extended period of time so I don't have to run around with a chicken with its head cut off trying to heat treat as many blades as possible before it evaporates...so I did some searching on the web amazon ebay ect.. for dewars and there are so many out there I saw some ones that look decent for around 4-500 bucks wich is ok I am NOT trying to buy one for 1000 bucks most I saw were between 15-25 liters. so I am wondering since I don't know much about this all I know is I think I want at least a 15 liter one and it has to have a wide enough neck to fit the knives through so I am looking for some advice on what any of you guys do wether you know a certain company that would be good or a site that sells them that would be good to look at or even if there is another option besides a dewar to hold the liquid nitrogen ANY help would really be appreciated I am in a lil bit of info overload from looking at so many different ones,,,,thanks guys

First I agree absolutely beautiful knives!!!! Second I am one of those younger makers (well I am 30) I have been making knives for about a year and a half and I am finally feeling combtorable taking someones money for one of my knives, for me I need that knife to be as perfect as I can get it to take money for it. but also since I am just starting to sell some knives and hopefully get back some of the thousands of dollars that has been put toward equipment and supplies. recently I have had a hard time with your first piece of advice (go slow) and when I try to go to fast I make mistakes some times I just have to walk away for a day....THANK YOU for sharing your advice I take the advice from the older makers a lot more seriously now that I want to make a great quality knife and hey you are the guys that know how to do that I also agree with others and hope you can continue to share som knowledge with use even tho you will not be making blades as much any more. lastly I hope you enjoy your retirement but you may find it doesn't suit you when my father retired he got BORED and picked up new hobbies and side work...

thanks guys yeh it doesn't take long to make and 200 is ok I can pay for supplies and still put a decent chuck in my pocket that may work.....the next batch I do ( I will profile and HT 10blades at a time then finish them and start again) but on the next run I am going to write everything down materials and time so I know exactly what goes in and what comes out. I wont do that everytime but at least once to get a good idea

Matto....thanks for the comments and advice...ill get more pic up soon I just got a new camera and made a light box soo I am still figuring out how to get the best pics...I would have been very surprised if I was your cousin to but it does make sense....maybe I was thinking to high tho I don't know I need to do more research. I had some one on another forum say I should price the one with red an black kirinite for $90...that will not work by the time I pay for the steel, handle material, belts, sand paper, liquid nitrogen for the heat treat all that I would just break even and that's no profit for my time so that will not work. I think I am going to make a few "models" and also take some custom orders online...accepting a custom order will depend on price and time obviously if I am in the middle of a batch of some of the models I will make it will take longer for the custom order to get done...I think the business side of this is going to take a lot of research and trial and error to make myself and the customer happy....that being said what do you think about the red and black one becoming one of those models I will make...looking at a pic like a customer would is it appealing??? thanks again

Hey guys...so I am just getting into selling some knives I have sold a couple locally by word of mouth but I think you can only do that so much so I think I am going to make a page and start selling online. but I need some help on pricing so I figured I would ask here attached is 2 pictures of recent knives the pink was a special request. the red and black iam thinking about making a few of the same profile but different handle material maybe different finish maybe different grind line that sorta thing both are 440c stainless heat treated and cryo'ed in liquid nitrogen. one obviously is black and red kirinite the other is pink pearl acrlester. one has satin finish the other is polished both will come with a kydex sheath and a clicp either tecklock style or a utily clip. besides the pricing I would also appreciate any tips on how to advertise or get the word out once I make a page and get it up.....any advice or thoughts on my knives would also be appreciated if need be ill put up a few more pics of other knives tomorrow I just didn't want to flood the post with pics right away THANKS every one....by the way my name is dave