Rich Hale

DAniel C I believe youi are spot on...And I am guilty of doing just that...Seems I have tried to change a bit lately and as I have read these kinds of things recently i try and give some helpful hints when i know them...and just not respond at other times...My fear is that like in this case, we have someone that does not know how to seek information,,,We can likely and have, helped with that..and it may just be he will not return. A very common problem is when foiks do not list their location..perhaps admin here could make that a suggestion and tell why it would help when they enter the site the first time.

I have made a lot of struck tools from H 13....The books or charts do not mention wot I do. i will share and if you like you use and see if it fits wot you do. I do the same thing for S 7 Forge to final shape. Heat to non magnetic and put in a bucket of vermiculite overnight to anneal. Next day finish the piece as you wish ,,grind etc. Then heat the working end to non magnetic in a coal forge...lay it out of the way until it cools...If youi lay the hot end on anything it will lose its heat fast...You can put other end in a vise or lay off edge of bench etc. If it has a hole you can hang with wire .

All of wot Thomas said

Wot you describe is not a ricasso

Mick that is a fine piece of work...

A smith from long past on another forum sstrted out with muzzle loading rifle kits..he would make replacement parts for all of the piece in the kit, except barrel,,from his own pattern welded steel. If youi did similiar you would have a piece in hand to reproduce in your shop...Would not have to buy a kit..can get hammer or anything else on line I bet.

This will not start a trend..I am not going to look up the material I spent so much time putting on this site. HOwever Bounds seems to have hit a wall. Easy way to get that good fit is to make sure the wood fits the tang,,,perfectly...hold it up to the light and look for gaps. Only thin can you expect that a good fit will remain a good fit. Clamp the wood to the tang..I uswe little c clamps...then drill from the tang side down through one scale....Youi rubber blands to hold it to tang like in the lessons. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> That shows a hidden tang but use that process. Each hole i drill I put one pin in. and before the second hole i double check for movement. Tap with small hammer to tighten gaps if needed. When holes are in the scale and puns are in remove clamps and check fit..if it is not right now it will not get that way. when I am ready I use thin colored paper and make a spacer that will show on all sides of the scale and at the guard area. I fold the paper..I use black almost all the time...Then I add epoxy to tang,,lay paper in and epoxy that,,I mix some black powder in the epoxy..not much....then I sharpen ends of pins and push two in from the other side of the tang a bit,,through the paper and to locate the scale. I push the scale down tight and clamp it. When I get the first two clamps on I add other pins.....I use four clamps...The epoxy I use has a long set time..afetr an hour I pull the pins out...and let dry over night. Next day i clean all epoxy off other side of tang..and clamp the other scale tight checking gaps..then drill throuigh first side with second scale clamped. the epoxy add paper etc like first one...dry another day and complete finishing. That empties my ammo bag for this problem...If it does not work do it again ,,,maybe twenty times until it does.......Not trying to be nasty about this but knife making is about trouble shooting anything not working well and being persistant until you gain the skills.

No

Classy

I thought I saw the blade was beveled all the way to the handle end..that would not allow a ricasso.

Dave a thought: take one of the pins to a local welding supplier..tell and show him or her wot you need..they may have it right there,,buy a sample lot and field test it.

Patternwelded steel looks different after etching when it is either hardened or not..I prefer the look of an etched heat treated blade as there is more contrast. So I never edge quench a blade. Your blade has a lot of sanding scratches on the blade....A way to help with that is to finish the surface so that in a bright light you can find NO scratches at all before etch. Maybe even up to 1200 grit..if you find scratches back down to coarser grits until they are gone then back to finer. For a low layer count blade I like to etch for a lot of topography...long etch times..You can see and feel the depth of texture. For this blade you could use more..I do not measure how much,,just keep in mind That after etch you want to sand only the high spots...not in between..Use a steel . copper or brass backer for the fine paper. The will stop you from sanding the low spots. If you make the cuts for ladder pattern closer together it will make it easier to stay out of the low spots. That sharp corner is aproblem..You can fix it with a diamond file and be done with it..covered in knife making lessons; The knife needs a ricasso...How to in lessons. JKs thought on a curved line where your forefinger will touch blade is spot on. You have a good start...hope this helps.

One method is to over size the holes by ten thousands or so...hold wood tight as you can and drill with pin size bit..then remove wood and enlarg the hole in the tang,.then space around the pin will leave room for epoxy....must clamp tight towards the guard for this to work.. Pics in the knife making lessons. .

If you would like some comments on that pm me..

I wondered why anyone would want to paint a blade when I saw the title,,,,now I wonder if it was meant to be in another area.

Every now and then someone posses a question in the forums,,starting off with,,i am new to all this,,,,don't have any tools or patience and then asks for technical assistance with an advanced shop project. Most times that is answered soon by someone that could be of help..until the person says they are being picked on or bullied or any number of issues. Most of the time it sorts itself out pretty soon. Most of the time they will not answer any questions they are presented with. If they are just doing this as a prank call kind of thing..I hope it is as much fun as they thought it would be. Guess I just wanted to vent a bit...If they are trolls. I can perhaps give them gps coordinates for a nice bridge ti reside under.

Try this: Get as suggested above a bunch of 5160. Quarter thick by one inch or so will work fine...cut it into specific lengths for knife blanks.for at least 50 of them and develop muscle memory and basic forging skills along with fire control and general shop work. Sounds like too much I bet?...Sords are so much more to consider and develop than knives it will give you a ground floor approach at the very least. Then sort out all you have forge and pick at least half of them to finish to completion....With aq,,,say 6" knife blank,,if you over heat the tip and ruin that part you can shorten to good steel.....there are ways to tell that point in the heat treat stickies on here and in the knife making lessons. Fit those knives with handles and guards and finish them as well as your skills allow you to...keep toiling away until you can do a blade start to finish including heat treat in a day,,then two a day..completed knife at first one a week...Then two a week,,and so on. If a knife does not look well done at any point,,toss it and move on. And back to your original question...how much steel to order...when you do as I suggest and keep track of start to finish size changes you will answer it yourself. Keep a log of size to start and size when done..even tracings in the log of finished will help. From experience I will tell you now that when you start on first blade, it will not change size the same as when you do the fiftieth or one hundredth one..you will,,we hope,, gain skills and hot metal management to get more for each black with less waste. If this offends you it is not meant to..If you need more help down the road as you spend shop time Post pics and ask in here.I for one will offer all I can. If you post soon with out showing me some efforts. I will not likely offer other progressive thoughts. Many wanna be sord makers ask almost identical questions...So try and see why we are somewhat on the edge here....And if you would like a time frame thought. I have made knives for a long time..forged and stock removal..I have a fully equipped shop and my knives sell well. You can google my name and see my web site. I am not anywhere near ready to start a first sord. Hope this helps.

That is a really well done knife,,,,and as a first piece you must be proud....

I havew no idea wot they are made from...But it is refreshing to see that you gave all the information anyone coiuld ask for in your post including pictures..thank you!

I would be concerned abouit one thing for sure..Anvil faces and the bottom are mostly not parellel. So if he did not mill the bottom first the top may have had material taken of unevenly. those areas may be really thin now..

Just so you keep in mind that bladesmithing is not an instant gratification kind of learning experience. For intance many bladesmiths spend literally hours after forging the blade just to properly prepare the outer surface to be a respectable knife. There are many places on this site that show things folks have made with rr spikes that may suit youir needs and time frome quite well..with the places others have suggest for you to visit..there is hope...Have fun.

I am a knife maker/blacksmith, not in your area at all. I read most of everything new on this forum,,almost daily..There are I bet many folks that only read the sections that are aligned with wot they are involved in...This may have well been posted in the knifemaking section of this site to get more response. That area by the way has a tutorial on how to make knives from start to more advanced.

If you wouid like my thoughts pm ,me....

I have less shop time than I used to....When I do forge I am less intersted in trying new things or methods..I grab wot I keep on hand, for flux it is either twenty mule team or the same with a bit of boric acid in it.. .And I have used JPH's flux,,wonderful stuff. New folks may find the data a starting point to delve into how things work and why...I just like that they do workl.

777 AS Jeremy suggested above. all the moves on that piece are basic to midlevel smithing. Anyone can learn all of them. If you are new it is out of reach for you now but may well be done in your future. Jeremy as I see it can forge anything he can imagine or someone else has done. He started with basics. He built on those to get to this level. If you are new get into a 'smithing group and see wot others do and even better is to add someone on one or group instructions. I do not know if they are available where you live. But there are books on 'smithing that will let you learn alone if you have to. On this site there are basics listed in the pages section that may get you working also.