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I Forge Iron

My first 1095 knife with mokume gane guard.


Jim Erickson

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So I put the nice steel I ordered online, and used my new anvil I purchased this weekend to work.  Was my first try at mokume and still working out the kinks in my heat treat process.  Overall I'm pretty happy with the results.  I got a million questions, I just haven't ran across the answers in my reading of the knife making classes yet.  I'll find them eventually.  Hope you all like.

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The guard almost looks reversed to me - you want more in front than in back. Mokume gane is a bit advanced for a second (is that correct?) knife IMO. What was your heat treat? Can we get a better picture of that tip? And how much is forged to shape, how much ground? What's the handle material, and what's the finish on it? 

All these questions are a good sign - I am intrigued and want to know more :)

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I started with a stack of 8 quarters in 2 pieces of mild steel bolted together to squish them.  It had some inclusions in it but what i ground down was the best part of what came out.  Im still collecting tools I need to make knives.  I figure one thing out and it turns out I need 4 different tools to do it how I want.  Slowly but surely I guess.  A drill press is next on the list I know that. 

 

The handle is maple with just some stain and a light wipe of linseed on it.  Its all I had in the garage at 8pm on a Sunday night. 

 

I forged most of it, but I still do grinding after it is done. Grinding clean bevels is something Im having trouble with too.  I made a jig, but my HF cheapo belt grinder didn't like it much.  Needs a better porch for the jig to sit on.

 

Now with my heat treat, I used clean motor oil that was heated to around 120 deg.  I get the blade to past non magnetic, I'd say orange, not bright orange, but above red, and let it soak for about 5 minutes.  I quench in the oil, pulling it out a couple times, and with up and down motion, not side to side.  Wipe it off and into oven at 425 for an hour.  It doesn't seem to be hard enough, but I just need to try more.  This was the 3rd one Ive HT'ed.  

 

All this takes lots of practice.  I'm just happy being out there working, even if things don't work right.

 

Ill get a better pic of the tip for you Theo.

 

Thanks!

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