gearhartironwerks

Steve, Thanks for the ideas. I woke up at 3am today for the usual reason old guys do, then couldn't get back to sleep. As such, I think I may know part of my problem. I think the thermal cycling sucked out a lot of heat from the salt bath and I didn't give it enough time to reheat. My tube is only 4x18", and I cycled 2 blades at a time x 2 and on the third heat, went to the quench. I'll try your suggestion of 1550 deg today and will hopefully not work after my 3am calling. :) John

Saturday is my "play day" in the shop where I work/play for myself. I had 5 knives to heat treat and decided to try a new quench (to me)...canola oil heated to 120 deg. The blades were heated for 5 mins to 1500 deg in a salt bath, then immediately quenched in the oil. After an hour tempering at 350 deg, the Rockwell was in the upper 40's/low 50's. Most of the blades were 1095/L6, and one was O1/L6. Three of the five were chef blades, and the others are hunters. As my good friend Stuart Sinclair, a Scotsman, would have said: Wot ahh shi..y day. Steve, Rich,others, any ideas? Thanks for any suggestions. John

Yep...we know how time making blades works... you start in the morning, and before long, the boss reminds you that it's time to quit. This is not to be chauvinistic as I do dinner as much as not, but when the phone rings at the shop, I know who it is. At least, that's how it is around here. Time flies when you're having fun. :) That being said, I think you're off to a good start on your blades and I appreciate your work in posting your results. Please keep doing so, and include a finished blade for us to see. Thanks again, John

Imho, a lot of times those lines pretty much disappear after heat treating and etching. I don't know why, but they do. Please send pics before and after. Thanks for your post and effort. We can all learn. john

Trust your intuition... John

Nice work pictured. john

I use Acryloid B 72 diluted in acetone kept under vacuum for 2-3 days, cycling several times a day. Acryloid B 72 is used by museums for permanence. After several days under vacuum, the penetration is complete. Then I allow a week+ for drying time. That time can be decreased up by heating to 150 deg and soaking for an hour +. The cost is reasonable, and all that is needed is an old pressure cooker and an auto vacuum pump + some plumbing. The alternative is to spend $100+ for a gallon of "cactus juice" and do the same process. John

When on a budget, leaf springs are a good place to start. Imho, rarely do they fail...and I've been pretty good at messing up some perfectly good steel. :) Rich is correct in using new steel. I couldn't afford to pay the price when I started, so looked for alternatives, and leaf springs were readily available. For a source, try a junkyard, or better yet, if there is a spring manufacturer in your area, contact them and ask if they sell rems...most do. The steel will be new and will most likely be 5160. John

I like the look of the blade as is, but agree with a handle change. John

I think maybe I'd go 1500 and soak it for 15-20 mins for the O1, then quench in 130-150 deg oil. Maybe Rich and Steve could chime in? I'm currently working on several O1/L6 blades and don't have the experience heat treating that Steve and Rich have. I'm as anxious as you to hear their responses. Thanks to all involved for your input. John

That's pretty much the Deke Wedow pine cone from a laser cut blank. Deke developed and dem'oed it at Tom Clarks' shop in 2002. Credit to him. John

I like it! Nice job. Terrific guard. I can appreciate the time you spent and the creative effort. john

Nice work! I'm anxious to see the finished blade. John

Braze it with a low temp silver solder as Doc mentioned. Be sure to neutralize the acid flux with baking soda. Scrub well and rinse. John

As I was watching that video, it reminded me of a family trip we made to my birthplace, Johnstown, Pa. in 2006. It was also my 40th hs reunion and as my kids had never been to Johnstown, I thought we kill two birds w/one trip. My kids were 22 and 19 at the time. The reunion was held in a "church grove" ... no alcohol...out in the country in the corn fields. I was looking forward to seeing the "kids" I went to school with and hadn't seen in 40+ years. Wow, what a surprise. It was like walking into a geriatric nursing home. There were so many walkers and crutches that I was thankful to be upright. I hardly recognized anyone. My kids wondered if I knew these folks. I remember seeing the coal miners coming out of the mines in the cars as the school bus passed at 7:30am. The only white recognizable spots on them were their eyes and lips. Their faces were black and devoid of life. Years later, a friend who was a manager at Bethlehem Steel, took me for a tour of the mill. It brought the scenes all back. It was hard work and that was all there was to do if you didn't get an education and leave the area. It was either the mines or the mill. My cousin, who still lives in Johnstown, reminded me that those folks worked hard in their lives, and as such, their bodies were worn out. I hadn't really considered it as I didn't think of myself as 'old'. But, it was an eye opening experience, and seeing those guys in the video work, brought it back. John

Nice blade and pattern! Something you may want to try to increase the contrast is when you remove the blade from the ferric chloride, immediately mist/soak the blade with acetone. Do not rinse with water prior to the acetone. (Be sure to hold over a trash can, or in the utility sink.) When the acetone dries in a few minutes, lightly sand w/600 grit. Rinse with water, then back into the etch. Repeat for several more cycles, then neutralize (I use lemon scented ammonia), dry and oil. Enjoy the holidays. Looking forward to more pics. John

Greetings, We did the annual shop cleanup and found the table tops and floor. Thought I'd take a couple of pics while it is clean. John

The feather pattern is a toughie for me. While I rarely have a problem forge welding a billet, for some reason, the feather doesn't always seem to stick, or has an inclusion. I cuss, swear, drink a single malt scotch or two, then start over...the next day or when time permits. Mostly, I work with the power hammer but try to 'set' the weld on the anvil with a hammer prior to going to the power hammer. I don't know how the pros do it as I've never taken any blade smithing classes, but am thinking that maybe it's about time to do so. Being somewhat hard headed, (ask my wife :) ) almost everything I know about blacksmithing/blade smithing is from the school of hard knocks, and what I read on the web and going to hammerins. Ok, for the more knowledgeable bladesmiths, can you please offer some tips on the feather pattern welding? (That before I drain a Scottish distillery) Thanks in advance, John

Before you stick it on a blade, make sure the moisture content is on or below 10%. I'd be happy to relieve you of the burden and even pay for shipping to Oregon. :) Nice find! John

Thanks all for the comments. Much appreciated! The handle on the hunter is dyed and stabilized box elder w/buffalo horn. It's the first time I've used buffalo horn, and it's a little too soft for my liking. I would have used ebony otherwise. The client liked the piece and was happy to write a check today. :) Made me happy too! I recently purchased some studio lights to document the blades and will try to post pics as time is available. I'm playing catch-up on pics. Thanks again for looking. John

Hello to All, Just some pics of new blades made from pieces leftover from larger billets, except for the hunter (oal 9.5", blade 4 5/8"). I'm trying to be better at documenting the work. Comments and suggestions always welcome. Thanks for looking. John

Thanks for the wip. My suggestion is to work only the vertical axis and to tighten up the grind lines a bit. Also, you could probably use a little more 'meat' in the billet. Forge thick, grind thin. Please keep posting pics. Thanks. John

Have you tried sealing it with several coats of super glue, then polishing? You'll probably need to clean any oily residue off with denatured alcohol or lacquer thinner. John

I don't know about that Thomas. If the knife is washed and dried, and lightly oiled prior to storing, a handle like bocote will last a long time. Steve's right about the stabilizing even if it isn't all the way thru. I'm just thinking about all those old kitchen knives with no protection, you find in garage sales that have non-stabilized walnut handles (supposedly a no-no among the gurus) that have been around forever, and are still fine except folks get tired of them because they have a patina and aren't shiny and new. I have a neighbor who is the consummate garage sale person on the lookout for old kitchen knives that I use as patterns. John

Way to go Steve! Good on you. Nice job on the blade guys and thanks for posting the pics. John