brickman Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Still working on this, but onto hand sanding and finish work at this point.. Here are some WIP photos.. I'm pretty proud of this as it's my first, but critique is welcome as it will only make me better! I'm dumb and realized in the last 2 pictures the guard was put on upside down.... When i'm back at home i'll have to retake them, the handle matches up with the actual front of the guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 typically I would say that hidden tang knives are more difficult, just to get them all straight and fitted together tightly and that a full tang knife is a better/easier first knife, but yours looks good so far! What steel did you use? handle wood? Looks like maybe oak? Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 17 minutes ago, littleblacksmith said: typically I would say that hidden tang knives are more difficult, just to get them all straight and fitted together tightly and that a full tang knife is a better/easier first knife, but yours looks good so far! What steel did you use? handle wood? Looks like maybe oak? Littleblacksmith Good eye, it's an oak handle =] have a handful of it laying around and it's a decent hardwood so figured i would use that until i can justify buying more exotic woods.. I've done a fair amount of carpentry / woodwork in my life so i wasn't super worried about doing hidden tang because the skills to line holes up and such correctly for furniture building is essentially the same as when putting these together.. I used an tool steel for this, i think ~1050.. So edge retention wont be amazing but it should be pretty durable, which is more what i was going for.. I think this weekend i'm going to make a decent sized viking seax in 1065 and then start a skinning knife out of 1095 i also have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Good to hear, I just finished a hidden tang, I don't think I will be doing much of them, cause in my mind they are more work than it's worth. Sure you can do some more interesting and cooler things with a hidden tang, but it is also not as strong, and you can do cool things with full tang knives also. But, if you get good at hidden tang knives (though you already seem like a "natural") they will become easier than full tang, though for me I can do a full tang quite quickly, or at least quicker than hidden tangs, but speed comes with time. Not the most happy with the fit, but oh well. Mesquite handle from the firewood pile. I had never done a hidden tang, and had never had the end of the handle angle like how I did on this one. I found it is quite a bit more comfortable with it angled for when holding it as if you were going to stab down at something. Here is the one I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 That's a very nice knife you made there though, it just looks comfortable! what finish did you put on that handle?? I plan on doing lots of full tang knives with a bolster / guard and thread and tap the tang and bolster to really seal down for a strong construction, plus i love the look of the guards and bolsters on the knives. I think the bronze and such really makes the wood stand out! Really nice damascus also btw!! I havent done any forge welding yet, but cant wait to try it out. I've got 1095, 1065, and 15n20 to work with on my first damascus try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Thank you! For the handle I just hand sanded it, buffed it, and then a coat of boiled linseed oil, I understand there is better, but it is what I got right now. I really like the look of the gaurds to, Like you said, the brass makes the wood stand out well. I ain't ever done any threading and tapping, so, that isn't on my plate yet, but would like to do it in the future, I think it would make things just much more stable and tighter. I would like to do an integral bolster. Thank you! it was just pallet strapping, band saw blade, and the middle layer that you can kinda see is cable Damascus, 113 layers. The pattern looks much better in person. This was before the final weld, just took a fuller, made the "waviness" then took my piece of cable damscus, and put it inbetween the two halves, smacked it, and had it follow the contour of the fullering. Then I tack welded it together, and of course went to forge welding it. Then there is a picture of the Damascus before I forged it into the knife and heat treated it. It is amazing what heat treating did to the color of the Damascus. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted June 3, 2017 Author Share Posted June 3, 2017 do you have a power hammer or press to put together the damascus? or do you do it by hand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 3 hours ago, brickman said: do you have a power hammer or press to put together the damascus? or do you do it by hand? Oh boy, I wish I did! no, I don't, I just do it all with a hand hammer. It really isn't too bad, at a welding heat the steel moves like it was nothing. The only reason I did a hidden tang, was one, I had never done one, and thought it would be good to do something new, and two, I didn't have enough steel for a full tang. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 3, 2017 Share Posted June 3, 2017 Brickman: I'm not a bladesmith guy so I don't have a lot to say about blades. However I do know metal working and doing stock removal by hand isn't as much work nor time consuming most folk think. So your Frosty metal shop 101 technique ramble for Saturday is: Use your wire brush more! Scale isn't soft at forging heat and gets driven in, you do NOT want that kind of texture. Use a flatter or set hammer to dress the hammer marks until your hammer control improves enough to not leave hammer marks. BEFORE you touch it with sand paper use files or better yet start with a "Sen". A sen is a scraper like a draw knife for steel. A web search will tell you all you need to know to make one and it's an excellent exercise in blade making and heat treating. Draw file it close to finished then heat treat. You can flux it first and minimize or prevent the scale. When you stop the draw during tempering by dipping the hot blade in water it will remove the melted on borax. Hmmm? When it's tempered is time to start with sand paper or stones. It isn't as fast as using a belt grinder but it's a LOT faster than you'd think. By the way, that's a pretty decent looking blade. Well done. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickman Posted June 4, 2017 Author Share Posted June 4, 2017 Thanks for the tips frosty!! 20 hours ago, Frosty said: Use your wire brush more! Scale isn't soft at forging heat and gets driven in, you do NOT want that kind of texture. Use a flatter or set hammer to dress the hammer marks until your hammer control improves enough to not leave hammer marks. I actually have 2 big butcher block brushes and a flatter, but the person i'm making this for wanted a very "hand forged" look so i kept it very rough as it i s:P.. If i was making it for myself i probably would have cleaned it up much more.. When i hammered in the bevels i had some heavy handed blows that kind of hurt my look too though =/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.