Rich Hale

I have one for abouit a decade now And set it up on a HF 3/4 hp motor...I used it in truck when I was shoeing horses for odds and ends needed..I am a custom knife maker and this does not fit into the work at all. The belt selectioon is limited..although you could have some specially made to fit. maybe...and the belt speed is wayyy too fast for most knife work..the contact wheel is too small for a lot of work...If this tool ever gives up i will not replace it. However it is really well made so that may not happen anytime soon.

Time to hit the shop...then you can determine if they will make a blade or not.....Forge then into pieces the rough thickness of the blades you wish to make..If they forge without crumbling you are off to a good start...then cut a small piece from the forging and heat to non magnetic and see if it hardens in air..if not heat again and try warm oil...if not heat again and try water...if not you then will kinow that that steel hardened in this manner will not work as a blade in your shop...A thing to keep in mind..as Ivan said above..they can all be a mix of materials...each may act different when trying to forge or harden...so each piece you for will have to have a test sample of that same piece of steel. I expect to the right cabinet shop they may have enough value for you to purchase some known knife steel and get into the shop and make some knives.

Most epoxies take over 350f or so to let go....I wouild worry about wot happened....

Horn yes, antler no.

You may wish to compute the carbon content in the finished billet..That would require you know the carbon content of the chain. Think of it this way: if the chain has 4 pts of carbon in it and it takes up half the space of the can...The shot blast media you say has 7 pts...those add up to 5.5 pts carbon...right at the bottom end of carbon needed to make a usable blade. the carbon content for the chain is strictly a wild guess on my part to point out how to predict a little bit of wot you may get at the end...

I would have a tough time with the filet knife..I like to lay the entire edge on the cutting board with the edge between the skin and flesh..the projection at the bottom would make that difficult.

You said tempering..the colors from that will clean off fairly easy...If you happen to mean the hardening process, that will leave a layer of surface oxide that will have to be sanded or ground away....You temper after hardening.

Or.. weld a plate on other end you can take off later..it must be perfectly sq with stock..or order some stock predrilled.

Seriously..have you drilled a piece of sq stock length wise? easy task if you have a lathe or as serious drill press and vise...

Post pics as try it!

Buy 1084 or wotever you decide and don't spend the time at the forge...stock removal is easy and there is simply no difference in the finished product...Forging would be needed if you got too large or wrong shapes in the steel you buy. I can bandsaw out a profile and rough grind for heat treat in a real short time...

The knife making lessons on this site also show how and wot files to use.

Maybe I see a different side of this thread. No matter how anyone counts the layers...This man is showing his product from some time in the shop.....Time well spent... Totally agree with Frosty about the descriptive words used to relay to others about our work.

Posted Today, 04:02 AM "Did you cut each billet and grind all the sides that would mate to be welded? or did you fold and let junk stay inside,,/llike scale? Did you do every thing on the billets at welding heat with flux?" I learrned long ago that there aer no short cuts on this process......And after a while yoiu may indeed find a way that works well for you. But in the first answer I posted to youir question I gave you the tips that work...Then you asked if youi should. work billet at welding heat..... Stteve and I have also put a lot of effort into the knfe making lessons on this site and in the advanced lessons we speak about billets...and remember billets are advanced forging..not to get on your case but the information is here if you wish to use And the shop lets you work through the speed bumps along the way.

Sq stock will not solve the problem you have with welded billet.

Did you cut each billet and grind all the sides that would mate to be welded? or did you fold and let junk stay inside,,/llike scale? Did you do every thing on the billets at welding heat with flux?

I prefer sambar stag, fossil ivory, stabilized died wood burls from any kind of a burl with great pattern, fossil walrus ivory. fossil sea cow bone. Fossil mastodon ivory. Mexican ironwood burls. African blackwood, Oosic, staiblized muskox horn. fresh water coral. And,,anything else that I find that gives me wot I want on a knife.

If it is chrome plated see the safety section first.

CAn only help you if we knew wot the steel in you extension really is.......Or try it and see how it works out.

Forge with friends or whoever you can find and see wot you like.

So glad that You are able to forge once again..I remember you telling us ynot long back that health problems kept you from that kind of work.

Did you weld up the billet for this knife?

It was 98 here yesterday i woiuld spread it out in the sunshine......here anyway.

i went to a demo recently of the local Fire departments heavy rescue squad putting one to the test..everything they cut went well and it worked great,,,I know no more about them..next times I visit i will ask about the maintenance on them.

My first thought is to add iron to rose bushes...