Making my first knife, any suggestions are welcome.

[teddy12b]

All this talk of heat treating made me wonder if there were small custom shops out there offering the service. A quick search on google and it seems like it's out there, just expensive. I'm not so sure it's have the same personal touch to it if I didn't do it myself.

 

[teddy12b]

I wish I had some kind of progress to give an update on, but unfortunately the steel still hasn't arrived yet. Everything else is here and ready to lay out and get working on. When it comes in, I'll update as I can.

 

[teddy12b]

The steel has arrived, steel has been cut into it's basic shape. I've since been so busy with projects around the house that I haven't had the time to get any further with it. I'm hoping in the next week that I'll be able to get the knife into it's finished shape so I can heat treat it there shortly after.

 

[Gamez235]

Keep at it, need any help.. Let me know.

 

[teddy12b]

Keep at it, need any help.. Let me know.

It's a much longer project than I ever planned on it being, but I've cleaned off enough of the honey do list I can get back on it. I appreciate it the offer. I'm hoping to get this knocked out by the end of the month.

 

[PoolQs]

If you are looking for small piece Heat treaters, let me recommend Peter's or AKS (Alpha Knife Supply). They will do minimum quantities for a very reasonable price.
If you need their info, let me know and I will get it for you.
Troy

 

[teddy12b]

If you are looking for small piece Heat treaters, let me recommend Peter's or AKS (Alpha Knife Supply). They will do minimum quantities for a very reasonable price.
If you need their info, let me know and I will get it for you.
Troy

I'll keep that in mind. About a week or two ago I had a fire going in the firepit that warped the steel tripod I have in there for holding up a dutch oven. I didn't mean too, but I got the fire so hot that the tripod collapsed under it's own weight. I'm not completely sure if/when I'll have that much wood/trash/junk to burn again, but I'm starting to feel better about my ability to get steel hot enough that a magnet won't stick to it. I've got a couple of ideas to try on my own first and if that doesn't work out I'll start looking for help.

This in a little brick oven will be plan "B":

They say it can get up to 3,000 degrees. I'm not so sure of that, but for $20 it's worth it to have around anyway.

 

[Gabriel]

That will probably work in a two brick forge. I just use a regular tip that came with the propane torch and it worked... but I did melt the tip of it. That was a while ago. I send everything to Peter's now (although I'm going to have some one-off prototypes I'll need heat treated later this month, so I'll have to find someone that can do it).


Looking forward to seeing some progress pics.

 

[shaynster]

This in a little brick oven will be plan "B":

They say it can get up to 3,000 degrees. I'm not so sure of that, but for $20 it's worth it to have around anyway.

This is what I have used on 8 or 9 knives and it seems to work. I had someone test the hardness and it was 59 after the temper.

 

[teddy12b]

I got a chance to work on the blades a little bit over the weekend. I was hoping the belt sander would make quicker work of removing the material than it did. Maybe I just need to take some chunks out with a dremel cutting tool and then get back at it.

 

[Gamez235]

Okay, stop by for a beer sometime and lets get you some 101 stuff, because a 4x36 should be taking that off quickly with a 50-80grit belt. I've got a few in process and could at least point you in a better direction. I also have a bad saw, so if you need to cut your blank out, we can do that as well.

-Jahred

 

[teddy12b]

My belt sander is a cheapo 1x30. It put a great polish on it, but didn't take off the material as fast as I'd have hoped it was going to. I'll check with my commanding officer and see when she'll allow me some time for a beer. I need to get out of the house anyway.

 

[Mike Grasso]

Most of the time I work with a heat treated blank, but sometimes, when I don't, I make up the rough outline and grinds, then send it off to

Peter's Heat Treat
Peters Heat Treat Inc.-Precision Part Specialists

Tell them what steel, what Rockwell C you want.
They do a great job.

If you need a small blank that is already treated or not, try

Peter or Aldo @
NJ Steel Baron | Quality Steel for Quality Blades

You can say I sent you, we go used to through tons.
Now we buy direct from the sources.

And keep making knives, it's fun.

If you want to learn more, come to a Grind In.
Grind-In | The BRKCA