August 5, 201213 yr I decided to make the knife and practice grinding while doing so. I am learning it is not so easy and you will make mistakes however if you continue to try you will start getting better. I am a long way from where I want to be but a fair distance from where I started. This is brass guard and butt plate silver soldered, spacer material and an Ostrich leg bone as the main handle, held with epoxy. The metal is a leaf spring hammered down then heat treated (1650 for 20 minutes quenched in olive oil, tempered at 350 for 2 hours once.) Used stock removal, hollow ground with 8 inch wheel. I hop this is set right for the pic. thanks RD
August 5, 201213 yr Nice looking knife. You might want to check the hardness though, at a 350f draw the 5160 (what most modern leaf springs are made of) is still much to hard. You are doing great, the clip point is my fav blade and that one has a nice profile.
August 6, 201213 yr Author Haven't sharpened it yet. I hope it will hold the edge will but not be too hard to sharpen. I'm stuck with the temper now that I have the handle on it. Hopefully it will be ok. Thanks RD
August 6, 201213 yr Darn good job there! I used to temper 5160 at 350 degrees and it usually is fne. It is a bit hard and the tip may be a bit delicate because of that. Bump the next one to 400 and you'll be good.
August 6, 201213 yr Nice! I am not fond of clip points but that's a nice knife. Do any of you "break the back" on your forged knives? Or do yo just temper in oven?
August 6, 201213 yr That's a mighty nice utility knife. Does breaking the back mean using a torch to bring more of a temper into the spine? I do if I know it'll be used for chopping, but otherwise I find the oven will bring it to a good overall temper.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.