1776

1 minute ago, Frosty said:

I'm not a bladesmith guy but you have to plan farther ahead, ASAP shouldn't apply to heat treatment. Next time make sure nobody's going to need the oven before hardening. OR save up a few bucks and buy a garage sale toaster oven and oven thermometer. I do my tempering in the shop toaster oven. Handy thing in the shop toaster ovens, a cold day often makes a boy want a hot lunch. 

Frosty The Lucky.

I agree with you. I should have planned this one ahead. It was a case of bad communication I guess.

 And yeah, I've been looking for a used toaster oven, just can't find one. When I do though, I will dance for joy. Tempering in the oven is getting old.

Hey guys,

 I just started heat treating my first knife today.

 Got it quenched, put it in the oven at 400 for an hour. Once done, took in out and shoved it a pail of water (as stormcrow told me to do), put it back in the oven again. Once done I took it out again and shoved it in the pail of water. About this time the oven needed to be used for some thing else besides "baking" knives. Sooo.... a couple hours later, a few dozen cinnamon rolls and a couple loaves of banana bread later, I get the oven again.

 But, the knife has been sitting on the counter for a couple hours. Does this effect the tempering process? Should I just continue as if there was no halt in the tempering process? Or has this couple hours of sitting in the process ruined my chances? Should I just stop now?

 Thanks guys, I would greatly appreciate prompt responses, as I don't have much time tonight.

 Thanks bunches guys!

 1776

Looks nice. Etched in black coffee? Looks like the etching turned out nice to. Why did you use black coffee? If I may ask...

22 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Not that I know of he's been supply a custom knife business in Mexico with pretty much all his output and so doesn't need to "advertise".

I see. Well, thanks.

9 hours ago, Chinobi said:

Rob Thomas and Chad Nichols are household names in the custom knife community for high quality Damascus purveyors for stock removal knifemakers.

George Palagonia of American Metal Xchange sometimes has Damascus or Timascus/Mokuti available.

Tru Grit Inc has a section for blade steel stock that includes a selection of Damascus products

dont hold yourself back from buying pattern welded blade stock to start with, it's a little more expense up front and a little more heartache when something goes sideways but otherwise it's just steel.  Get the HT instructions from the supplier or tell your HT vendor what it's made of so they can do it right.

I'll look into those, thanks.

8 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

If you were down this way I'd suggest Pep Gomez in Las Cruces.

Does he have a website?

Thanks guys. Any one you would recommend buying the Damascus from?

3 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Leather.  

Yeah. I've done those many times. Really easy. Just finished making one for my Natchez bowie. And you really don't need that many tools. I bought to many, lol. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask me all the questions you need.

So... not up to making my own Damascus, and kinda had this idea in my mind for a while.

 Question 1: Has anyone bought Damascus,

 Question 2: Have you made a knife out of Damascus you bought?

 Question 3: Is it a good idea to buy Damascus billets for knife making if you can't make your own Damascus?

 Yep. Thats the run down. Any answers?

 Thanks,

 1776

On 2/28/2017 at 10:54 AM, Daswulf said:

Now I have to make my first sheath.  

Isn't as hard as it may seem. Kydex or Leather?

Welcome!

So... it stabbed into the concrete floor? Wow. Thats a good tip.

Wow. Takes my breath away.

Beautiful. I look forward to the day I can do Damascus...

So... Talked to Mr Helm, aka Stormcrow. He was very nice, and understood everything. He wanted to see how my knife turned out, and gave me the names of the people he was also inspired by. So, going to be heat treating this thing once I get over my cold.

 Stormcrow is an awesome guy!

13 minutes ago, Buzzkill said:

Good deal.  At the very least if you are posting a picture of work done by someone else make sure you specify that it isn't something you did and give credit to the creator to help avoid confusion.   I'm looking forward to seeing your finished blade.

Thanks. I'll make sure to follow your advice. 

 I'm looking forward to seeing my first finished knife too.

31 minutes ago, Steve Sells said:

Not so much forum law, as just common curtsey to get permission from the owner .  also it by posting in a place like this people assume it is your work.

Okay. Sorry, I didn't know. I just messaged Stomrcrow asking for his permission.

5 hours ago, Buzzkill said:

1776, I saw the pic before it was removed.  That blade was made by one of our forum members here - Stormcrow.  I can't speak for him, but it would have been better to ask his permission before posting his work.  He may be (or may have been) willing to give you some pointers if you were to ask. FWIW you did pick a good blade to try to emulate though.  I just hope it's for personal use and not for sale if you're basically copying another smith's work - at least not without his permission.

I see. I didn't know I couldn't post pictures of anything but my own work. Sorry.

 Yeah, I'm not selling this one. This is my bushcraft knife. I'm not good enough to sell knives anyways. Not yet...

 But yeah, I thought Stormcrows work is awesome. He really inspired me. I vote his knives hands down most awesome blades I've seen yet!

 Once again, sorry. I didn't mean to violate the forum laws. Didn't know. Sorry.

16 hours ago, wonkydog said:

if you need any help I'm near by in Hayden ID

 

Thanks man! I may take you up on this generous offer if get stumped. Thanks!

Beautiful knife. I love the wood handles on a folder. In our modern time to many folders are made with G10, and you can never find anything made with wood like this beauty. Wow, wonderful.

 How does the iron wood wear? And how easy is it to work with?

Thanks guys. Just wanted to make sure I was going to be doing the process the right way.  Wanted all of you to reassure me.

 Almost got the rough grinding done, so I should be heat treating soon. Wish me luck! I'll be sure to post pictures once I've got it done. It should end up like this, if I do everything right.

 Thanks again for the help!

PHOTO removed please post only your own work here

41 minutes ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Yes, it can be a hazard, but so is the infrared exposure to our eyes from the fires we use, or the contents of the coal smoke we generate.

Oh.

 I don't have a coal forge, so I guess I don't need to worry about that. But what about the infrared? I only wear some safety goggles to protect my eyes from flying objects. Should I wear some anti-infrared glasses too?

Wow. My breath was taken away. First time huh? Amazing.

Just got a large, tanto, bushcraft knife forged to shape, made out of 5160. And I'm almost done with the rough grinding. So up next is heat treating.

 I've read The Complete Bladesmith: Forging Your Way To Perfection, and The $50 knife shop. So I've got the general method down for carbon steels I think. I hope.

#1: Normalize the blade by bringing it up to non-magnetic, and than letting it air cool in still air. Do this three times to relieve stress.

#2: Heat your oil to some where between 90-140 degrees Fahrenheit ( really don't have any idea why, just doing it). Heat your knife blade slowly and evenly to non-magnetic, once there quench the blade in the oil. Let sit until the oil stops agitating.

#3: Temper your blade by heating the oven from anywhere from 350-450 degrees Fahrenheit (what temperature depends on what you would rather have more, edge holding or toughness). Place blade in oven, leave it there for an hour. Pull out and let cool to room temperature. Do this three times.

So... Do I have it right? I just want to make sure, because I've spent a lot of time on this knife, and don't want it to go wrong. The only other thing I've heat treated before was a rail road spike tomahawk. It was kinda "eh". Now I have some steel that I know what it is, and have forged it out. Just want to make sure I'm going to do the heat treatment right.

 Please help.

 Thanks!

P.S. Why am I supposed to heat the oil?

Wow. That is beautiful. I have only seen stock removal swords done. That is awesome that you made it the traditional way.

 I understood every thing you said btw. Did you make the Tsuba your self? 

Man, those are some seriously beautiful pieces of art!

On 2/12/2017 at 6:49 PM, JHCC said:

You're much more likely to get sued over a knife that breaks under stress than you are to be sued for a knife being used in a crime.

Agreed. That was what I was going to say.

 I would look into liability. Become a LLC, I duno. But it is better to be safe than sorry. "Be prepared and you shall not fear".

 Just my two cents. I always like to error on the side of caution.