Benton Frisse Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Forged this knife from a concrete drill bit. It's quite the ugly blade. It was intended to be a work knife for my work bench, but then I ended up playing with the handle... and I like it! If you find yourself wondering why the blade is so crude looking, that's why. I do think I tempered it a bit soft, though. That was before the tempering knowledge that I have now. Handle is red oak with a Tru Oil Gun stock finish. I gave it the hair removal test... it passed. The sheathe was one of the knife kits from Tandy bit I did the tooling and the staining. I prefer to do my sheathes from scratch, but I got three of those kits as a gift so I figured "might as well!" Made the blade and rough mounting back in January. Re-did the handle and completed the sheathe this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Please note that the "hair removal test" has been passed with a bent over and flattened aluminium beer can that was honed by A.G.Russell. Was this a carbide tipped drill for drilling concrete? if so the "body" of the drill is more likely not to be high carbon; but medium. If you have any extra from that bit you might experiment with a faster quenchant and of course the standing suggestion that when someone works with scrap materials they work out the heat treat *before* putting in the time making the piece---I lug around the pieces of a very nice bowie knife forged from an old buggy spring to emphasize this---and remind myself...do it right next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benton Frisse Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 It did have a small tip of a different type of metal that heated differently. So far everything I've made from this stuff hardens very nicely. But I think you may be right, some of them that I have hit with the grinder didn't spark too much. This one did, however. Scrap metals are a gamble. I usually try to stick with things from jackhammers, etc. They seem to be pretty good steel usually, though never a guarantee until tested, i agree. I hope this one doesn't break! Thanks for the advice, Mr Powers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Jackhammer bits are usually a medium carbon steel. Getting above the eutectic starts allowing for carbides to lengthen sharp time---such alloys also tend to be fussier about forging and heat treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benton Frisse Posted June 25, 2014 Author Share Posted June 25, 2014 I had assume they were tool steel, figured they had to be pretty hard to put up against all that concrete! I'm glad I now know what they most likely may be. After they're annealed even, they feel like you're hammering a brick. Are there any materials you prefer to recycle, Mr. Powers, that have a decent carbon rating? I've of course heard all about leaf springs, which I acquired about 14 feel of this weekend. But they usually have stress fractures in them, correct? People use saw blades, plow discs and tines right? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Good files are very high carbon; the old Black Diamond's were 1.2%! In concrete drill bits the drilling is usually done by a carbide insert and so the stuff holding it needs to be tough and gooey and the carbide is the hard part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Old files. Old chisels, old drill bits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Benton, High carbon steel that would be very good for knife making is often much cheaper than you might think. If you read more of the past posts, you'll likely notice that there's a range of acceptable steels depending on what you want to do with the knife. A knife intended for rough use would be very dangerous if it were too brittle. Just about anything used in a high impact/shock environment will tend towards toughness rather than hardness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccustomknives Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 I would consider myself the king of recycled materials. I have tons (and I aint joking) of saw blades (round and band), springs, cable, files and various bearings. All can make excellent knives. But they aren't all the same. Files can be from case hardened to very good (the Black Diamond mentioned). Saw blades can be just ok to excellent. Car springs can have stress fractures and the older ones not as good. If you don't mind spending a lot of time learning the experience can be gold. One good truck leaf spring can make many knives. All that being said, like the others have said; steel is pretty cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhartironwerks Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I think you're on the right track, but suggest you work with known carbon steels, and if you buy new steel, you'll feel a lot better when you make a good blade. I've been and sometimes still am where you are, ie, I'll forge just about anything. That being said, when I want to make a serious piece to sell, I buy new steel. I tend to practice on unknown steel and save the known for the good blades. It feels better if I blow a blade of unknown steel as in nothing ventured, nothing gained.Fwiw. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Smith Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 From a fellow evansvillian I like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benton Frisse Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Thanks, guys. I don't really plan to sell any of these pieces, and realistically they'll never leave the sheath (I can see myself being a hoarder.) From a fellow evansvillian I like it Matt do you have a shop in town? What side of town?! Are you an IBA member? We must have a rendezvous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Smith Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Matt do you have a shop in town? What side of town?! Are you an IBA member? We must have a rendezvous! No unfortunately no real shop yet just my backyard I was a In a member but due to my work and schol schedule I never could make it to meetings. I plan on rejoining when I get more free time. I would love to go to a hammer in with the swIN meteorite mashers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Rusty Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 That is a nice little rustic knife ...... Sharpen it up, and that rabbit or squirrel you clean with that knife isn't going to care one wit ...... The metal you used in that blade was probably much better steel that they had available in the 18th century ...... and they staked their lives on their knives everyday to feed and protect them. Enjoy the knife you made ...use it in the kitchen too ............ You don't need a million dollar super vanadium-chrome-moly 1000 layer damascus knife to cut up game and vegetables. You'll get more pleasure from that one you made than one you bought ...... Ohio Rusty ><> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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