September 11, 201312 yr He better love how many picture you took; you put some time into getting them right. Looks great
September 15, 201312 yr That shoulder transition (maybe wrong term) from blade to tang looks awful sharp. That is the weakest link in a hidden tang. Sharp corners are the place where cracks begin. Nice looking shape, however. I think a drop point (even as subtle as yours) is my favorite blade shape
September 15, 201312 yr That shoulder transition (maybe wrong term) from blade to tang looks awful sharp. That is the weakest link in a hidden tang. Sharp corners are the place where cracks begin. Nice looking shape, however. I think a drop point (even as subtle as yours) is my favorite blade shape It probably wouldn't hurt to take a small round file and radius the tang to ricasso transition just for insurance.
September 16, 201312 yr Author Yeah guys I will round out the blade to tang transition before heat treat I don't want a cracked tang....and dodge,drop points are a favorite of mine
September 16, 201312 yr Author Me too samcro ;) I ordered the stainless for the guard and now I'm waitin for it to get here
October 5, 201312 yr Author I finally heat treated the blade without it warping too bad.I heat treated it 5 times to finally get it to the point that it wasn't warped.i don't know why it kept warping even after 5(yep FIVE)normalizing cycles???
October 14, 201312 yr Next time try an anneal, then 3 normalizing cycles or you can Risk refining the grain to the point that it won't harden. If it's warping after 3 normalizing cycles something is wrong with the procedure, most likely the temps being too high. The wrong quenchant can also cause warps. Next time try that out and if that doesn't work I'm stumped! Lol
October 14, 201312 yr One of my biggest problems with blades warping was simply caused by my inexperience as a smith. I can make a long list but I won't. Major culprits for me were....#1 Bevels not forged/ground even on both sides. #2 Blade thickness not even throughout grind. #3 Not getting blade STRAIGHT into the quench with an even heat.....turning 180 degrees to get to quench can cool one side of blade more than another.....causing uneven hardening....Warps. These are a few of the things I strove to correct. I may also recommend not trying all of these things at once as if you have suceess you may not know what the original issue really was. I hope this helps and I'm not coming off like a guru....I most certainly am not. These are some of the things that I've learned from other more experienced smith's here and from other sites. Forge on and you will get to the bottom of it I'm sure. Keep them coming they're looking good.
October 14, 201312 yr I finally heat treated the blade without it warping too bad.I heat treated it 5 times to finally get it to the point that it wasn't warped.i don't know why it kept warping even after 5(yep FIVE)normalizing cycles??? Next time try an anneal, then 3 normalizing cycles or you can Risk refining the grain to the point that it won't harden. If it's warping after 3 normalizing cycles something is wrong with the procedure, most likely the temps being too high. The wrong quenchant can also cause warps. Next time try that out and if that doesn't work I'm stumped! Lol I'm a little confused here. Not used to seeing quenchant used in the normalizing process. Isn't the idea in normalizing to cool the metal slowly? I understand its not the same as annealing but quenching, as I understand it is to cool as quickly as possible. Also, The term "heat treat" raises questions in my mind. I understand that "annealing", "normalizing", "hardening" and "tempering"all fall in the category of "heat treating", however, when I hear the pros speak of heat treating, they are usually referring to the final hardening and tempering. That being said, I would worry about the integrity of the metal that has been reheated to non-magnetic temperatures and quenched or left to air cool or otherwise, that many times. Invoice for 2¢ in the mail ;) Scott
October 14, 201312 yr I'm a little confused here. Not used to seeing quenchant used in the normalizing process. Isn't the idea in normalizing to cool the metal slowly? I understand its not the same as annealing but quenching, as I understand it is to cool as quickly as possible. Also, The term "heat treat" raises questions in my mind. I understand that "annealing", "normalizing", "hardening" and "tempering"all fall in the category of "heat treating", however, when I hear the pros speak of heat treating, they are usually referring to the final hardening and tempering. That being said, I would worry about the integrity of the metal that has been reheated to non-magnetic temperatures and quenched or left to air cool or otherwise, that many times. Invoice for 2¢ in the mail ;) Scott No, when you normalize you let it cool in still air till a black heat then repeat. It's not usually a good idea to normalize more then 3 times. You can actually make your steel unhardenable by refining the grain to much. What I meant by the wrong quenchant was for the actual hardening process. If you quench a steel like O1 in water.... Warps are sure to happen.
October 14, 201312 yr Author ok guys I will remember that info,I got the blade hardened with minimum warpage so im happy
October 15, 201312 yr A cold breeze, uneven profiles, swirling your blade in the quench or boat oar pulling it thru the quench are all ways to warp a small thin blade. Now I always quench on a still non windy day and cut thru the oil with the blade. Moving it back and forth in a straight line. This advice was given to me by a FAR better knife maker than I. A bending fork ready to go could help you straighten a small bend if done right away. I sent mine in my anvil, turn on the toaster oven, tell the wife I'm heat treating and close the doors. Again advice from a better bladesmith than I am. I hope this helps.
December 5, 201312 yr Author Thanks rich I need to get some pictures in the daylight but after time change its hard to get home from work before dark
December 6, 201312 yr Great job forging that rifle. :) I did not resist. I think that knife should do just fine on a normal hunt.
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