kevin (the professor) Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Hello Everyone, thanks for letting me on the forum. I have been watching for a month or two. I am a Forensic Clinical Psychologist and college prof by day. However, I grew up a Texas farmboy, and I missed making stuff with my hands. So, true to my geeky nature, I researched how to forge for a year (I made tools, including knives by stock removal when young and working on farm). I grew up in a culture of self reliance, so I was doing things like making knives and reloading ammo when really young. I am attaching a few pictures of my first forged knife (I could not get the gallery and thumbnail process to work, so any advice is welcomed). They show the sequence. You will notice that after the first assembly, I ground the mokume to fit, and the heat shrank the leather on the handle. As soon as a make a couple more, I will be able to convince my wife to let me buy some nicer handle material. Also, the knife has a slight "clip" to the point because I burned the original point off with my grinder! I think grinding is going to be a lot harder for me than forging. On the bright side - I am hooked, and the knife is much better than any factory knife I could buy. Knife stats: 1095 (started with 1inch x1/4inch x5ft bar from Admiral Steel 10 3/4 inches oal 6.25 inch blade 1/8 inch thick @ guard 1/16 inch thick @ tip Convex grind Thanks for all of the information you guys have given me. I have read this forum, and the books by JPH and Wayne Goddard, and they also were very helpful. Take care, Kevin:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blafen Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Kevint hat looks much better than any of my first attempts, and you cant get much better than 1095 for knife steel BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 I forgot the heat treat - I practiced watching colors and testing magnetism for about 5 runs (3 used to normalize). Then, after the last heat, I quenced in somewhat heated motor oil (if you notice the guard was colored by heating and dropping in oil, which heated my quench a little). Tempered for 2 hours at 350 degrees. I was amazed at how HARD the knife seemed, as judged by trying to file it. Even as rudimentary as this is, its better than the knives I had been buying from factories. If you know of any opp's to view bladesmithing in CT or New England, please let me know. ANY AND ALL ADVICE IS WELCOMED! Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nc_cooter Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Way to go Kevin. Not bad for a first forged blade. Just keep banging steel. I would suggest that you get rid of the motor oil and get a couple of gallons of canola cooking oil for your quenchant. It has a high flash point, smells better and gives a faster quench than motor oil. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 OK, thanks. I really want any input you guys are willing to give. I will try the lighter oil. It has to smell better. I really enjoy looking at the functional art you guys can turn out. I have always had a fascination with edged tools (knives, swords, axes and arrows especially). keep the advice coming. If there are any gatherings or teachers in New England, please let me know. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ross_lad Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 canola oil = cooking oil, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Yes, Canola is a kind of light colored cooking oil. It is also pretty healthy for people, as well as evidently good for blades. kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 canola oil is lighter. i use non-foaming hyd. oil(is what i have) but i cut a drive shaft down so i can put it by the forge and heat it up while forging. but remember it can catch on fire so have a plate ready to smother it out. i never used 1095 but some 1080 normalize 3 x harden, shine up and then temper@ 350-when the wife is gone...for 2 hrs. check with a file if too hard retemp @ 375 then check with a new sharp file.they tell me that a new chain saw file will "bite" at about a 58/60 hardness.all hear say but it works- hope this is as clear as mud, have fun, be safe.and good luck.jimmy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nashdude Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 First of all, congrats on forging your first knife! I'm still at the "one-brick forge" stage myself, so I've yet to attempt the ol' hammer and anvil, but it's coming, trust me :cool: Now then, I do have to take issue with one point...As soon as a make a couple more, I will be able to convince my wife to let me buy some nicer handle material. Ummm... why? Maybe it's just me, but the whole point to being a blacksmith/bladesmith these days is to turn trash into functional treasure. ANYBODY can buy a blade, but only someone with a heart for the art can MAKE their own blade. This is the challenge---to make something that is COMPLETELY YOU. So if you reached into those raw materials and dug out a blade that you're proud of, why would you "buy" the handle material to complete it? See, "nicer handle material" is all a matter of perception. In reality, that bar of steel was just a bar of steel, but you PERCEIVED a blade within it. Use that same perception on the world around you, bro. Become a scavenger!!! Check out the trees in your back yard, or the fallen limbs at the local park. Go to yard sales, looking for old wooden trophy bases. Go to the junk yard, looking for old tires. Heck, rip up some old blue-jeans, apply a little Bondo, and make your own Micarta! (Click link for tutorial) The point is, NEVER think that you have to "buy" something to make your blade look good. The materials, in large part, don't matter! What matters is the HEART that you put into the knife, and from looking at your first attempt, you at least got that. Don't sell yourself short by "buying" the end result ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Hey Nashdude, thanks for the comments. I get where you are coming from - this knife is made from a bar of steel, some old leather and a stack of quarters. I just always wanted to make a knife with a really cool wood handle, and I don't feel like waiting for the wood I have to dry. I have scrounged a lot of local wood and I am carefully drying it in my basement. I just plan to buy wood until I can get what I have to dry (I tried microwaving and almost started a fire, and soaking in linseed oil but don't like the result). thanks for opinion, kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulpius Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Salve frater! Good looking piece of hardware and I very much welcome the tip on the cooking oil, having tried motor oil myself (and after that first terrific pall of smoke drifting through the backyard thought the beter of that). Is that temper 350 Celcius? Kevin, if you cut your wood into a shape slightly larger then the handle you want to make, it will dry well in relative short time. The wood is exposed to the air for most of its surface, the thing that makes drying wood slow is the distance water needs to migrate to the surface. Thicker the log, longer it takes, so cutting it up pronto saves much time drying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Messerist Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 :):)Don't you feel bad about using leather washers for a handle material. You are in good company. Many famous knifemakers used leather washer handles i.e. Bo Randle, Bill Scagle. I think it is a very durable and inexpensive option for a knife handle. Keep at it and enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin (the professor) Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Messerist, Thanks. I was actually practicing to make something like an early Randall. I want to make a knife for a colleague and friend who is a collector of edged tools and a Viet Nam vet. He accidentally let slip that he liked the Randall pattern, so my first knife was practice to try to eventually make one for him. Besides, I like the style myself. The Randall website as much as dares you to make your own. Check out this linkhttp://www.randallknives.com/construction.php thanks for the encouragement, Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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