To fuller, or not to fuller.

[Daswulf]

 

Ok. So

 

I was working on other stuff tonight then I found a nice piece of 3/4" coil spring I had straightened out and felt like "trying" to make a dagger. spark test told me it was high carbon but I didn't really trust it. So after shaping it out I had a chunk left over and decided to hammer it out to about the thickness I would be quenching at and heated my peanut oil to around 440 degrees F. And quenched it. Well a file ( actually several) skated off it. So I think it hardened well.  Now I'm thinking of fullering the center of it and have some axle stock to make a good fuller tool. Would a dagger be better sort of diamond shaped or fullered? And if you see anything else wrong with where I'm at now please feel free to mention it. I'm probably missing details but at the moment I can't think of it. 

[ThomasPowers]

The answer to your fuller question is Yes a dagger would be best fullered or diamond shaped.  They came both ways; fullering helps cut weight for width and thickness; however cleaning up a fuller can be time consuming by hand---do you have a sen with the size and curve of the fuller you envision?

[Daswulf]

I have nothing but sand paper and files Thomas. Well and lots of tools other then the right stuff. Well maybe other tools  what is a sen? I'm not afraid of spending hours sanding or whatever  and ok  I'd prefer a fullered blade  my initial question/statement is kind of vague and I deserve it  

I am having having trouble with tempering tho  at least the test piece.

so after hardening the test piece in peanut oil heated to 440 deg. F. tried two tempering a in the oven at 450 degrees F then again around 500 degrees F. with the test piece and it just snaps with no bend  tho the file digs in a little better then after hardening. I'm trying a third temper now. Not sure what I'm looking for other then a little bend before breaking.

 

Tempering a were at an hour each

[ThomasPowers]

You are looking for the properties YOU want in the blade; if you want more toughness and less brittleness then a hotter draw point; shoot for throwing spears I generally only normalize; for a razor I'd barely draw the edge to straw but draw the spine back much further.

as for Sen please google ---using a sen to fuller blades---It's sort of a drawknife for steel used by japanese sword makers

[Frosty]

What kind of steel are you using Das?

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

Thomas, I found info on the Sen. Wow that's all over the place on Google if you don't add related terms. I have only heard them called scrapers. That is an option. 

I may have to draw the test piece further. What I'm looking for is a little flexibility before it breaks. I'm thinking of making a couple more test pieces to see how it reacts to different heat treatment. 

Frosty, I'm using 3/4" automotive coil spring from a pre 80's vehicle. From what I can find it should be either 4063 or 5160. 

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Yes I noticed that Senator Fuller was well represented, so I experimented on getting a better search string and posted that. I have a very small contact wheel for my bader now but well remember wrapping SiC paper around dowels and spending a long time working on fullers.

[Daswulf]

Aside from just cutting in the fuller I would like to forge it in for a start. I'm now leaning away from a spring fuller and thinking of making a hinged fuller for more control and uniformity. 

I'm no stranger to spending hours filing or sanding by hand. I've never done the scraping tecnique tho.