Knife Making

[whittlinwit]

I posted two more photos in the knife making series, only one photo left, the finished knife.

[Butch]

Re: Knife Making

Good looking knives Ric. Really like the different woods you use.

[whittlinwit]

Re: Knife Making

Thanks Butch,
I posted the finished pictures of the knife today.
www.picturetrail.com
Type CARVERS-R-US in the box

[STEVE]

Re: Knife Making

GREAT WORK RICK

[whittlinwit]

Re: Knife Making

Thanks Steve, as long as you learned a little about making knives I'm happy.

[hi_ho_sliver]

Re: Knife Making

Rick, what do you shape with, a grinder? file or ? and how do you determine the right heat while tempering? Do you do the last temper after you have shaped and polished? Only have about 100 more questions

[whittlinwit]

Re: Knife Making

I do most of my shaping, grinding, and sharpening on my 'Burke Sharpening System'. I also have an old grinder that I use a little. To get the curve where the blade meets the handle, I use a dremel with a 1/4' sanding drum.

I determine the correct temperature for heat-treating with a 'cow magnet' NO! it doesn't attract cows! It's about a three inch long magnet shaped like a small hot dog. It is fed to cows to collect wire etc. The hard part is getting them out of the cows. When the metal is heated enough that the magnet will not attract it, then I have the correct temperature.

I usually put a good finish on the blade before tempering it with the torch, I temper shortly after heat-treating the blade.
The final sharpening and polishing is done after tempering.

[Bandaid]

Re: Knife Making

Great looking knives Rick. Thanks for sharing your technique.

[hi_ho_sliver]

Re: Knife Making

OK 'cow magnet ' (just happen to have one LOL) for heat treating, how do you determine temperature for the final temper?

[WHITTLINWIT]

Re: Knife Making

Usually, I temper by color, but when I am tempering several blades, I do use a Toaster oven with a good thermometer

Held at these temperatures for about 45 - 60 minutes (for most small tools).  I try to stay between 400-425 degrees

approx. Rockwell C results.
350  deg. F  62/64
400  deg. F  61/63
450  deg. F  60/62
500  deg. F  58/60

[hi_ho_sliver]

Re: Knife Making

Thanks Rick, excellent information. I am going to have to try my hand at it I guess! Curiosity! Always have to try something out and see if I can do it! Oh well, makes life interesting.

[Captain_Bandaid]

Re: Knife Making

Beware! Making carving knives is addictive! Today I forged a small scorp. This was not as easy as it looks. Forging and forming the blade is fairly straight forward but sharpening it is a real booger! :P

[Kenny_S]

Re: Knife Making

Rick, they are prettiful(as my Darling GDaughter would say)!
Thanks for the info and pictures. You may have answered this but what is the wood on the blondish knife?

Thanks again for sharing.

[whittlinwit]

Re: Knife Making

From the top, the first handle is maple, the second is monkey wood, the third is maple burl.

In the second picture, the left is spalted holly, and on the right is juniper.

In the the last 3 pictures the handle is quilted maple.

[whittlinwit]

Re: Knife Making

For anyone looking for knife handle wood, Ebay has a good selection. I just bought (36) 1' x 1' x 4' pieces of African Blackwood for $21.00 + $10.00 shipping. That's about the cost of one good knife. I have already made one handle from it, and it turned out very nice.

Blackwood is a very dense black wood with gold/brown streaks running through it. If linseed oil is applied to it, it will turn pure black. It finishes as smooth as a piano key and appears to have visible depth to the wood.

It could present a problem with being too smooth for a good grip. I have considered turning a set of carving tool handles ftom blackwood. That will give me an excuse to buy more wood!