My daughter is quite the hunter and needs a good knife for skinning and cutting up game so I made her one out of recycled materials. The handle is elk, the guard and pummel are brass and the blade is forged out of a ball bearing. I triple quench the blade and then temper it at 450 for two 1 hour cycles. This steel is a bear to sharpen with stones so I used my 2x72 belt sander to raise a wire edge then buffed the edge on a razor sharp edge paper wheel. This knife is scary sharp.
Xmas present
- Thread starter Brin
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My daughter is quite the hunter and needs a good knife for skinning and cutting up game so I made her one out of recycled materials. The handle is elk, the guard and pummel are brass and the blade is forged out of a ball bearing. I triple quench the blade and then temper it at 450 for two 1 hour cycles. This steel is a bear to sharpen with stones so I used my 2x72 belt sander to raise a wire edge then buffed the edge on a razor sharp edge paper wheel. This knife is scary sharp.Shanghai McCoy
Member
Fine looking knife. Nicely done Sir. 
horsemen61
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Damn that's beautiful great job!
Zeke/PA
Member
Truly a beautiful looking knife!
bikerdoc
Moderator In Memoriam
You sir have talent.
Respect and admiration to your craftsmanship and attention to detail
Respect and admiration to your craftsmanship and attention to detail
Nice job.
Ball bearing is pretty challenging to work with. What are the details on how you worked the bearing down?
Ball bearing is pretty challenging to work with. What are the details on how you worked the bearing down?
ironworkerwill
Member
52100 is common bearing steel. You're spot on at the 400° temper, someone's done their homework.
Did you hammer it out flat then saw the pattern out?
Did you hammer it out flat then saw the pattern out?
Panzerschwein
member
I REALLY like that blade. Great little old west looking knife.
bannockburn
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Brin
Mighty impressive knife, especially in that you used what you referred to as recycled materials!
Mighty impressive knife, especially in that you used what you referred to as recycled materials!
Hos, you are right, 52100 ball bearing steel is a bear to forge. Fortunately, I have a Kinyon style air hammer and a hot rolling mill. It would be next to impossible to hammer it down by hand. I heat the bearing to 2000 + degrees then work it down to 7/8” thick on the air hammer, reheat, then roll it on the mill to reduce thickness to what I am looking for. Then I work the distal taper in with the rolling mill (the taper from guard to the tip). Finally, I forge the spine to edge taper and finish the blade shape by hand.
Ironworkerwill, I try to forge my blades as close to finish as possible but if I need to cut, I have a plasma cuter. I temper my ball bearing steel to 450 degrees and my file will still skate across the edge. I put the Rockwell hardness at 60 plus.
Ironworkerwill,
A smith wouldn't go to the trouble to forge a bearing out and then resort to cutting the blank when all they need to do is forge it to shape and then final grind it from there. No waste involved and it can be quicker.
A smith wouldn't go to the trouble to forge a bearing out and then resort to cutting the blank when all they need to do is forge it to shape and then final grind it from there. No waste involved and it can be quicker.
The handle made out of the elk antler was found on top of a mountain. The brass guard and pummel is made from the buss bar out of a big 440 volt electric box. The ball bearings came off a steam generator the size of a small house. The black spacer is a piece of a mud shield off a junk car.
ironworkerwill
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