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Chef's Knife - Hand Forged 52100


YuriD

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Hey guys!
Was finally able to finish another knife and a video of the process!

https://youtu.be/SX1Nr2pbgWA

Hand forged the blade out of- 52100 1" stock using my gas forge. Tried to forge down as close to the final shape as possible to minimize grinding, but some profiling was needed...

Heat treated it using a furnace since this steel doest take overheating very kindly.

Used a homemade micarta spacer and hard wood for the handle. Decided to go for an aluminum inlay for the handle pin drilling and used damascus steel for the pin (I bought this, didn't make it).

Really liked the way it turned out, but let me know what you guys think, ideas and improvements for the next ones!

Forged out of 52100 1" round stock:
UsxJDiQkiNnd2k4zBvSUNc4XsWpwv1p-rXPd_W5A

Finished forging:
HwJo07y9DfA_iSeMl3rJeWh3Tq7PmOZSrgz8BRCk

After profiling:
2j1d456S7Wb0-BcUarQxEbiqxn5b1P6Mv_qveX1-

Going into the quench:
oIwyJ2ZXZXIkxbXUAEiMQRqO4g-jeGxOQfYh1O_H

After tempering (and brainstorming on handle shape):
r1vD2L-4HcJwxXeoxETe0r7zqdjy3OzsgpmAa3gr

Bevels ground to 150 grit and handle wood ready:
y9cimWRBHgLbV5ulLbYsYQqZUB-E4LNV4rWo0FqQ

Ready for glue up!
mF8qgJ8kLDwdPbyOZqKWcUHVxrWzUjGcvkB1OSxH

Shaping the handle:
BoGsQWDL93Q2-AmMOFy3HSUSbU_OUw5HcksifknN

Finished knife:
8zXQ0052xoDmmM6D-QhevMdIkkPuVvoJ75gVQ4pb

Much more detailed take on the finish knife on the video. Check it out!

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1 hour ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Where in the world are you located?

I'm currently based in São Paulo - Brazil.
 

1 hour ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Have you read this yet?

I did when I signed up. I didn't think it would be very useful for me to put my location because I'm really far from most users of the forum... Am I violating any other rules?
 

1 hour ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

That is top drawer IMO.

I'm sorry to ask this, but what does IMO mean? LOL
But really, I couldn't find it...

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IMO= In My Opinion  There are several members in Brazil but they wouldn't know you are there without your location in your profile. Other than your pictures are too large. We have many members who are limited to bandwidth and dial up internet and large pictures make loading very difficult for them.

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I am a butcher and currently a chef in a nice Tapas restaurant. I can never be sure a knife suits “me” until I pick it up and feel both the handle and the balance. But I can tell you for sure it is one I would check out if I saw it somewhere. It is a beaut.  A knife that doesn’t feel perfect for me could be absolutely perfect for many others. Nice work. 

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8 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

 There are several members in Brazil but they wouldn't know you are there without your location in your profile.

Updated my profile in general! Thanks for the tip!
I'll export the files on a lower pixel count for future posts!

6 hours ago, horse said:

I am a butcher and currently a chef in a nice Tapas restaurant. I can never be sure a knife suits “me” until I pick it up and feel both the handle and the balance.

Thanks a lot, Horse!
It means a lot to me other people appreciate my work. When you make a piece yourself it is hard to be objective... you end up loving it, no matter what! hahahaha

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Nice job, I particularly like the angled section at the back of the integral bolster.  Any tips on fitting that up would be appreciated, as I can see it being a bit of a chore.  Also, do you use a dedicated integral bolster style belt grinder with small wheel for the grinding?  If so, can you post a picture of the machine?

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30 minutes ago, Latticino said:

Nice job, I particularly like the angled section at the back of the integral bolster.  Any tips on fitting that up would be appreciated, as I can see it being a bit of a chore.  Also, do you use a dedicated integral bolster style belt grinder with small wheel for the grinding?  If so, can you post a picture of the machine?

Thank you, Latticino!

The angled interface was actually surprisingly easy to make. I had never done an integral before and I really wanted to make it angled to stand out. I set my file guide to the angle I wanted and filed/ sanded it flush. Did the same for the spacer. For the wood, I started with a square rectangular piece of wood and marked approximately at the correct angle. After that, using a flat platen square to  my belt grinder I adjusted the angle until the tang lined up with the wood block. From there it was all about drilling/filing that rectangular hole on the wood.

As for the integral bolster, I did most of it using a semi-circular hand file. I made it symmetrical and took it down to almost blending with the bevel and then used the same file as a sanding block to blend the bolster with the bevels. i didn't include that in the video because it is very tedious work, but I could upload some of it to my google photos account for you to see how i did it, in case you are interested.

15 minutes ago, JME1149 said:

Very nice knife, and the video was well done also. I am curious about why you put the aluminum insert into the handle tang. Was this just for ease of drilling the smaller hole for the pin?

Thanks for watching the video!

Yes! The wood I was using is very brittle.
I didn't want to risk chiping the wood.. Better safe than sorry! i guess... hahaha

however, i think i should have gone for a smaller inlay. That one took off way more material than i wish I had.

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