I had been working all day yesterday on some art pieces for an upcoming show and toward the end of the day I just had to make a blade. It starts as a 1" x 3/8" bar of W-1. (shown on top in the photo) This is where I got to after about 65 minutes of forging. I still have to clean up the plunge cut area and shape the tang for a stag handle.

It's nice and helpful to see the pre finished blades from some one who makes beautifully finished blades. Thanks for the inside look and can't wait to see it finished. 

Good to see one of mine looks a wee bit like it at this stage (albeit with cleaner beaten-in bevels!). Can't wait to see it done!
You guys are inspirational.

Thanks Das, I will try and make this a WIP and show pics as I go along. I'm a part-time maker, and right now most of my free time is being spent getting ready for an art show in November. So this knife could take a while to finish.

Frozen, I am not the greatest when it comes to forging skills, not even close. So it wouldn't surprise me at all, if your bevels were A LOT cleaner than mine!

That would be great Cliffrat. I think it's helpful to see in progress pics. Take your time, I'll keep an eye out, and I appreciate it Thank you.

This is getting really frustrating. It wouldn't let me post with text between the pics. Then it wouldn't let me edit the post and insert the text. now it won't let me post the text separately.

Edited October 30, 201510 yr by cliffrat

I'll try again tomorrow.

I'll try again tomorrow.

please do! Am enjoying your WIP, as well as a peak into your shop. Always enjoy seeing what tools people use and how it's arrainged.

 

Mitch

For some reason, I cannot reply with the full info I had for these pics. There is a lot of normalizing thermocycles before any grinding occurs.

The first pic is surface grinding to get the faces parallel and smooth. The next is scribing the profile from the template. Then profiling the shape. Lastly I blacken the edge with a Sharpie and scribe a center line.

Full text attachment

Stage 1..docx

Looks great! Only suggestion is to wear a respirator.

Rough ground the blade today, but before I post the next round, here's another peak into the shop for Mitch......

The forging area.

Rough grinding is done on the 2x72. First I straighten out the spine and clip areas at 120 grit. On the faces, the first passes at 60 grit to remove all hammer marks. Second pass at 120 to remove all 60 grit lines and establish the edge. Grinding close to the scribed line but leaving the edge about the thickness of a nickle.

Then the disc grinder at 120 grit to flatten the faces and remove all previous 120 grit marks.

The blade is now ready for heat treat. I will wrap in paper and stainless steel foil for one last stress reductiuon heat at 1200 for an hour soak and clay the blade for hardening. Harden out of 1450 and two tempers at 450 for an hour each.

The clayed blade.

 

 

The last pic is when the rough grind is completed.Sorry it got missed the first time around.

Rough ground the blade today, but before I post the next round, here's another peak into the shop for Mitch......

The forging area.

Thanks for that!

Still got a want list to make life easier....

enjoy seeing other shop layouts, see how I might get better.

look forward to this project pic's!

 

Mitch

Post HT. The Hamon is clearly visible.

Looking good sir,  I'll keep my eyes out for pics once it's finished.

Also is that the Wuertz surface grinding attachment?  How do you like it?  How is it's precision?

Thanks, Justin

Love that Hamon CR! Do you have a home made/old timey claying recipe to hand or do you only use a commercial one (I'm a bit cheap!)?
To clarify my earlier post, I was glad my rough forging was approaching yours - but your bevels are neater than mine, not the other way round!
Thanks for the photos, it's really helpful to have the visual step-by-step.

6 hours ago, Justin Carnecchia said:

Also is that the Wuertz surface grinding attachment?  How do you like it?  How is it's precision?

Thanks, Justin

Yes it is, and it works wonderfully! You can shave .0005 off a piece with this thing. I take bites around .0025 each pass.

4 hours ago, Frozenthunderbolt said:

Love that Hamon CR! Do you have a home made/old timey claying recipe to hand or do you only use a commercial one (I'm a bit cheap!)?
Thanks for the photos, it's really helpful to have the visual step-by-step.

The "clay" on this blade is nothing more than Rutland Furnace Cement available at most home improvement or hardware stores in the US in 10 oz caulking tubes for about $6 US.

Glad you are enjoying it. I sure am!

OK, so I completed the finish grinding and hand sanded to ~1200 grit (9 micron). Now I'm waiting for the loose silicon carbide powder to arrive for polishing. I am kind of impatient though. Anyone know any other methods for polishing to get the Hamon to show?

Ferric chloride. Not a polish but it will show the hamon. Acid, fine steal wool, clean, repeat, then polish with mothers.

looking great so far! look forward to your handle selection and hardware.

 

Mitch

TJ, I've done the ferric and the Hamon shows up well, but any abrasive makes it disappear. Steel wool is too coarse at this point, even 0000 leaves scratches. I just spent an hour and a half etching and rubbing with 2000 grit wet silicon carbide paper. The Hamon is visible, but not too much contrast. What's also strange, is how the Hamon spread out from where it was after HT.

Looks really good

I hesitate to suggest this but I've had some small result with Bon Ami in the past.

1 hour ago, Charlotte said:

I hesitate to suggest this but I've had some small result with Bon Ami in the past.

Never hesitate to suggest anything! Thanks, I'll look for some and try that out.

Well I was getting nowhere fast so I decided to take TJ and Charlotte up on their suggestions. I didn't have any Bon Ami, but I have something very similar for cleaning SS pots & Pans. So, with a fresh pad of 0000 steel wool, a little Simple Green for lube, and a shake or two of the scouring powder, I went after it. I mean, what did I have to loose? Anyway, after spending too much time trying to get this right, I have decided it ain't good enough. So I'm scrapping it and starting over.