Recommendation? I have a couple questions I'd like to ask knifemakers...

I start every person I teach on a 7.5" drop point hunter. 3" blade, 4.5" handle. It is, IMHO, the best knife to learn on.
 
I see you're in DC, but if you have any family members or other contacts in parts of the country with logging operations, ask them to visit their local sawmill and see if they can get some broken saw blades. Out here in the PNW, I know of a couple mills where they regularly have a large stack of broken saw blades intheir recycling/trash bins that are .070 and .094 15N20.
 
I don't think I can post a website, but if you google DC knife patterns, there's a bunch of free downloadable patterns that you can print out.
 
One of the best pieces of advise when I was a noob was from the Late Mr. Bob Loveless . At his shop in Riverside Ca, he had an open door Sat, for anyone that wanted to stop by. Use belts as if they were Free! Many times we try to get one more knife or finish etc out of a belt and they produce a lot of heat and won’t cut evenly etc.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I highly recommend 1084 if you are going to do your own HT. If sending it out, I recomens AEB-L or 15N20.

The path to success is filled with both successes and failures. I still have blades that break, shaped that don't come out right, and screw-ups when grinding. My first knife was terrible by my current standards, but I thought it was as good as Jim Bowie's knife when I made it nearly 60 years ago..

The best way to avoid errors is to make a complete plan for the knife before starting. Plan everything from the steel type to how you will profile it to sanding/grinding, HT, handle, sheath, etc.

Draw every knife out on paper in full size.

Look at lots of photos of knives from well known makers. The "gallery has lots of great photos.These can show you what works and what doesn't.

Avoid the temptation of a new maker to invent a new shape/style. Trust me, if it was good, it would already be in use.
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I have to ask why you recommend 15n20 to be sent out? It was the most reliable for me to heat treat with just my forge. I was getting 63Rc with a 300 deg temper and 62 with 350. It would be my first choice to recommend to a new maker. Is there something I am missing?
 
Storm W said:
I have to ask why you recommend 15n20 to be sent out? It was the most reliable for me to heat treat with just my forge. I was getting 63Rc with a 300 deg temper and 62 with 350. It would be my first choice to recommend to a new maker. Is there something I am missing?
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When you buy it, was it already pretty hard? I tried to use it a couple of times, and it was almost impossible to drill holes before heat treating. Plus, two guys I made knives for said they turned black and corroded, probably something I did wrong, and a little embarrassing .
 
kmf600 said:
When you buy it, was it already pretty hard? I tried to use it a couple of times, and it was almost impossible to drill holes before heat treating. Plus, two guys I made knives for said they turned black and corroded, probably something I did wrong, and a little embarrassing .
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That's probably the reason for it not being a beginner's steel. I got mine from the NJSB and it drilled like butter but I have heard other places it comes harder.
 
The reason I don't call it a beginner's steel is the HT requires a pretty tight austenitization temp (1480-1500F) and a soak for 5 to 10 minutes. You can't do that with a simple backyard forge. Sure, lots of guys heat it to a red color beyond magnetic and dunk it in the il and it gets hard. But, the best part of the steel's abilities may be left out of the final knife edge.

As said by others, it often comes in a work-hardened condition from its previous like as a huge bandsaw blade from a lumber mill. Filing/grinding/drilling will be more difficult in that state. Annealing isn't as simple as 1084.

A 350F temper gets around Rc60-61.
 
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