First knife

[Derek H]

Hello everyone,

 

I finally got my hands on a few pieces of high carbon steel. I have made two knives out of it so far, but this is the only one that survived.  The first one was actually nicer than this one but it broke when I tried to harden it. I was using water even though I knew better. I had enough of that first piece left to forge another blade. So here is my result so far. The blade is 2 1/2 inches long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s not perfect, but I am very pleased with the results, especially since this is my first one. The edge is slightly off center but that’s ok. I used a crappy 6 inch bench grinder to rough it in then finished with sand paper up to 800 grit. I used peanut oil to quench in and it seems to have worked fairly well. I had it tested at work and the reading was 54 rockwell.  I know it’s not ideal, but it works. And it will shave hair. Darn thing cut me twice before I even sharpened it. I havn't decided if I want to pollish this knife any farther than it is now or leave it. I am going to do a little more work on the handle but not too much as it is going to be covered up. I am fairly happy with the blade as is so I may just leave it. 

 

  I still need to make a sheath and handle for it. I have an old rifle stock that is made out of black walnut that I am thinking about using.
 

Let me know what you think.
 

And thanks in advance for any advice you can give me for the next one.

 

 

 

 

[kyler]

Looks good! I think a black walnut handle would look good!

[Rich Hale]

Did you temper it?

[Derek H]

Yes. I used a soldering torch to run the colors from the spin to the edge. Quenched it again when the sraw color reached the edge.