some projects
- Thread starter koyote
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Some WIP photos.
Alaskan (camp knife challenge) in an XL size, with a companion knife.
SAVAGE! :thumbup:
:thumbup:Awesome work my friend, even better then I expected.
Can't wait to see the sheath set up.
E-mail to follow.
Big Mike
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Okay, there's actually a story to this. Several of the last knives, including this full convex, are being done with a new method. I'm inching into it:
At the Visalia Hammer in, the visitng ABS Master gave me some advice on savng time. He suggested that on the thinner blades (3/32, 1/8, the 1/16 kitchen stuff) I move to not doing ANY edge grinding until after heat treat, so I don't have to do it twice. He also suggested plate quenching, which I'm working on.
He uses copper plates, which I have finally found this week, but it's about $180 to get them. I have aluminum plate and I *know* that works on stainless, but am not sure it's fast enough for 1080 or 1095.
anyway, the finish on this EDC is a "very light" forge patina on the area near the tang, which fades into the 400 grit convex finish. The whole blade will get hand rubbed and stropped out with various compounds and will be purty shiny. The whole full convex was ground AFTER a quench and initial heat treat - I drew down the spine for a differential gradient after grinding.
At the Visalia Hammer in, the visitng ABS Master gave me some advice on savng time. He suggested that on the thinner blades (3/32, 1/8, the 1/16 kitchen stuff) I move to not doing ANY edge grinding until after heat treat, so I don't have to do it twice. He also suggested plate quenching, which I'm working on.
He uses copper plates, which I have finally found this week, but it's about $180 to get them. I have aluminum plate and I *know* that works on stainless, but am not sure it's fast enough for 1080 or 1095.
anyway, the finish on this EDC is a "very light" forge patina on the area near the tang, which fades into the 400 grit convex finish. The whole blade will get hand rubbed and stropped out with various compounds and will be purty shiny. The whole full convex was ground AFTER a quench and initial heat treat - I drew down the spine for a differential gradient after grinding.
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plate quenching is quenching by taking the blade at above critical and sandwiching it between two plates of material. If he material can dissipate the heat fast enough to get you past the "nose" of cooling quickly enough, you have full hardness.
In that, it's not much different from an oil bath quench. You may or may not end up with a better quench- a more consistent and total conversion- but it's going to be at least as good.
Main advantages to a maker seem to be about the same as the main advantages to Gillette - which apparently mechanized the process for mass production of razor blades.
1: cleaner operation. (no oil all over the place, no flare ups)
2: skipping the interrupted quench phase for ensuring trueness of blades - note that this and the plate quenching method is only being applied to flat profile blades, it's ot something I can do on a forged and full convex ground 5160 bush beater. Or the warthog!
3: ensuring the trueness, especially in thinner materials, of blades as quenched. Now, you still need to normalize and make sure that the steel "wants" to be straight, especially is doing a differential temper.
This is combined with the profile only pre grinds, so that you have full contact with the plates for the quench (instead of leaving the edge dangling in the gaps)
So, there may or may not be any advantage in terms of the performance of the steel. The primary advantage lies in reducing the number of days it takes to put 12-16 blades through a profiling, heat treating, and edge grinding process. Like, potentially, from 5 or 6 to 1 long day for the main part and another day for the edge grinds.
Doesn't cut down on the handle and finishing work, and certainly doesn't cut down on the sheath work (unless you have waterjet or pattern cut profiled blades and machined handles so that a model of knife is identical from one to the next. I don't do that) - but it could keep my time on the regular leuku, LBK woodsman, and smaller EDC blades down enough to not feel such a need to bump prices to keep the family going. I'd rather pull out 5 leuku bushcrafters in a week at $160-$175 each (handles still matter in this) than push 3 at $225. I like getting the knives out to people
In that, it's not much different from an oil bath quench. You may or may not end up with a better quench- a more consistent and total conversion- but it's going to be at least as good.
Main advantages to a maker seem to be about the same as the main advantages to Gillette - which apparently mechanized the process for mass production of razor blades.
1: cleaner operation. (no oil all over the place, no flare ups)
2: skipping the interrupted quench phase for ensuring trueness of blades - note that this and the plate quenching method is only being applied to flat profile blades, it's ot something I can do on a forged and full convex ground 5160 bush beater. Or the warthog!
3: ensuring the trueness, especially in thinner materials, of blades as quenched. Now, you still need to normalize and make sure that the steel "wants" to be straight, especially is doing a differential temper.
This is combined with the profile only pre grinds, so that you have full contact with the plates for the quench (instead of leaving the edge dangling in the gaps)
So, there may or may not be any advantage in terms of the performance of the steel. The primary advantage lies in reducing the number of days it takes to put 12-16 blades through a profiling, heat treating, and edge grinding process. Like, potentially, from 5 or 6 to 1 long day for the main part and another day for the edge grinds.
Doesn't cut down on the handle and finishing work, and certainly doesn't cut down on the sheath work (unless you have waterjet or pattern cut profiled blades and machined handles so that a model of knife is identical from one to the next. I don't do that) - but it could keep my time on the regular leuku, LBK woodsman, and smaller EDC blades down enough to not feel such a need to bump prices to keep the family going. I'd rather pull out 5 leuku bushcrafters in a week at $160-$175 each (handles still matter in this) than push 3 at $225. I like getting the knives out to people
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- Joined
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here's a few more that are being worked on. This is not all my photos, but I've got a pile that are... less than pretty.
anyway: first, here's a leuku that is going up for sale shortly, I have to let the linseed oil finish drying and then polish the edge, then it's going up-
anyway: first, here's a leuku that is going up for sale shortly, I have to let the linseed oil finish drying and then polish the edge, then it's going up-
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- Mar 29, 2007
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And this is a different knife.
This is the one that I'm working on because of all that's not to my taste with the gerber guardian.
This is a WIP- it's not finished. like, the handle is at 120 grit and all.
OAL is about 7 inches, blade is 3.
It's 1 inch broad and 1/8 thick and has a really good convex geometry, and a comfortable handle.
grind is a partial double "almost full" convex edge. I left just enough room for a little bit of choking up with the thumb on one side. Might filework it a bit.
This is the one that I'm working on because of all that's not to my taste with the gerber guardian.
This is a WIP- it's not finished. like, the handle is at 120 grit and all.
OAL is about 7 inches, blade is 3.
It's 1 inch broad and 1/8 thick and has a really good convex geometry, and a comfortable handle.
grind is a partial double "almost full" convex edge. I left just enough room for a little bit of choking up with the thumb on one side. Might filework it a bit.
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2007
- Messages
- 5,846
Time to close this thread and put up a new one. It's getting awfully long. new thread is here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=725092
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=725092
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