billyO Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Hello all, hope the summer treated everyone well. Got a new well pump yesterday so have water for showers for the first time (at my weekend home) in a few months, so I decided to celebrate by spending the day at the forge, a first in about 6 1/2 months. I decided to forge out a piece of a Damascus billet from I made a while back following what I remember of Dave Lisch's demonstration at the NWBA annual conference in April, and here's what I came up with, 1095/15N20 quenched in Parks 50 followed by 3- 1 hour tempers at 375-400F (my oven isn't the most accurate). Also my first blade I did completely on the belt grinder. Not finished yet, but close (I left my 800-2000grit sandpaper down in Longview, so won't finish it until next weekend, most likely) Comments/critiques are always welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted September 19, 2016 Author Share Posted September 19, 2016 As I was shaping the handle, I noticed that the handle isn't that long, but the butt fits in my palm pretty well and I'm wondering if this is a flaw due to my lack of planning or is this an OK design feature for a knife? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 and here it is, etched and ready for the handle and final shaping... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 20, 2016 Share Posted September 20, 2016 That's a very pretty little blade. If the handle fits your hand and is comfortable to use, it's a good design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted September 20, 2016 Author Share Posted September 20, 2016 Thanks JHCC, I hope to do more of these in the near future, playing around with the Damascus pattern. Here it is, pretty much finished, handle wet sanded to 2000 grit, I may go to 5000 to see if that helps. I'm a bit upset I scorched the handle around one pin as I was cutting it off, feel free to provide other critiques/suggestions as this is my 4th knife On a mildly related note (as it has to do with this knife...) I was planning on giving this to the guy at the mill who gave me my stack of 15N20 saw blades this upcoming Monday, when I have a day off work, should I feel obligated to supply a sheath for it? Is this good enough to give as a gift (to hopefully get more saw blades in the future...)??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 quick question-what did you etch it in? it turned our really nice! Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 A sheath would certainly be nice, but even the knife by itself is a fine gift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted September 21, 2016 Author Share Posted September 21, 2016 Thanks, guys, I hope to do more soon. 1 hour ago, littleblacksmith said: quick question-what did you etch it in? it turned our really nice! Littleblacksmith 50/50 mix of distilled water/Radio Shack PCB etchant (Ferric chloride). 2 -15 minute dunks with a good scrubbing with a firm bristled toothbrush between the baths to remove any oxides and get a deeper/more uniform etch. Was planning on doing 3 but was able to feel good topography with my fingernail after the second so I decided to stop there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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