I made my first knife by stock reduction

[bikerdoc]

Apologies to all you real knifemaker for displaying my first effort with all its wart and imperfections. but it was fun!

Made from a piece of old file by stock reduction. Grinding and filing, then polishing by hand. Started Small on purpose, just to see if I could do it.

Thanks to HSO for telling me to stop early on and grind some wood to get the "feel" of it. After 2 dozen wooden knive I resumed grinding the knife and it was easier.

Why the paracord? Cause I can not master peening and ruined two pairs of great looking scales. Waiting for corby bolts to be delivered.

3 1/4 overall, 1 3/8 blade. I made a small sheath that clips to a belt loop.
Handy little knife, for small chores.



It slices paper, makes great curls and batons small stuff.

View attachment 431325

 

[7X57chilmau]

Looks like a neat lil' knife, Doc! May I ask how you heat treated it?

For rivets (yup, they're a pain sometimes), your very small scales are working against you.... Like driving spikes inline with the grain, it tends to split out.

I wonder if it may have helped to put a tiny countersink in the scale, for the rivet head to go into? I've had pretty good luck using copper or brass wire/rod to make rivets to affix spear hardware, but there's no risk of splitting there...

Congrats on #1!

J

 

[bikerdoc]

Heat treat was 3 one hour sessions in the oven at 400 degrees

 

[3pairs12]

Cause I can not master peening and ruined two pairs of great looking scales

Does that count the scales your grand daughter gave to the dog? Good looking first attempt. I have been mulling over the idea of trying to make my first.

 

[7X57chilmau]

Bikerdoc, that's the temper..... Did you do a hardening heat to red and quench first? If not, she's not likely hard....

J

 

[bikerdoc]

Does that count the scales your grand daughter gave to the dog?

No wiseguy that was a different knife (Big grin)

Did you do a hardening heat to red and quench first

Hmm, No, must of not read that part ( Hangs head in shame)

 

[7X57chilmau]

See if the lil knife will hold an edge by using it a bunch before putting permanent scales on it..... If it does whatcha need, go with it! If it disappoints, we can get'er uhh, erm.... Stiffened up for ya...

J

 

[bikerdoc]

j

I worked it hard and ate up a bunch of belts, does that make a difference?

 

[7X57chilmau]

Nope....

IIRC, when you started out, you were working a still-hard file, and it cracked.... And this lil knife is the result of one of the remaining pieces, which you "annealed" by either heating red and allowing to cool, or simply by heating past blue temper colour (that's not really annealing, but tempering very soft)......

So, your knife should now be at what is "soft" for O1 steel, probably in the low to mid 50's Rc.....

The idea with hardening and tempering is basically this:

First the blade is heated to the transition temp.... This is usually a red heat, about the point where the steel is no longer attracted by a magnet. At this temperature, the structure converts to a different crystaline structure. Quenching the blade now in oil (the O in O1 means oil hardening) locks that new crystaline structure..... But also leaves the blade very, very, very hard and brittle, not unlike the file was to start with....

So, we go to the oven and temper it, which is heating to a relatively low heat. This allows some residual stresses to come out of the steel, and allows a partial change in the crystalline structure. We loose a bit of hardness, but gain LOTS of toughness....

However, even "soft", the O2 steel should be pretty danged hard. Better than a typical 420 stainless blade, I'd think... So use it and see if it needs to be harder... If it does, it's not such a big thing.

J

 

[Mokwepa]

Looking good doc. Whats next on the agenda? Got any ideas?

 

[Valkman]

If you saw my first one you'd laugh yourself to death so that is not a bad effort. Get on to #2!

 

[bikerdoc]

Thanks Valkman

Looking good doc. Whats next on the agenda? Got any ideas?

Ya next one will be a little bigger 2 1/2 to 3 inch blade. 1095 steel

 

[maskedman504]

Good work bikerdoc; you are taking the steps that I aspire to in knifemaking. (getting started)

When I do get started, I plan on getting my knives heat treated by Paul Bos from Buck Knives.

Paul Bos heat treating

 

[Todd A]

Not bad Doc.

Handy size too.

 

[Valkman]

I get my knives done by Bos, but he does not do oil hardening steels. I do them myself as they are easy to do with a one or two brick forge and some propane or MAPP gas.

 

[Aka Zero]

Since this started out as a file, and then annealed it a bit. Does it need a re temper. Should be plenty hard still.

 

[bikerdoc]

it was tempered,It remains to be seen if it needs heat traetment