I have always been somewhat of a collector of knives ever since I remember. I own a fair few now and never know which one to use. Well since im into all this homemade crafting and survival stuff, and from reading heaps and looking at the photos of other peoples knives, It was time for me to try my hand at it. Jindydiver (Mick) was of GREAT help and a big shout out to him for coaching me through it. Its always nice to be able to recieve valuble info in such a nice manner.
Not having a linisher or a bench sander, all the sanding was done by hand which took along time. I had to use a 4" grinder to make the edge which was quite difficult as the angle kept changing. I finished it with a file though which made it look reasonable. I had a few problems with hardening the blade. The first time I tried quenching it, it didnt come out hard enough. So I requenched a few times but still soft. Not knowing what was wrong I turned to Mick for advice.
Well he named a few things that could be the problem so I made sure I did everything he said. The problem wast he quenching medium. Turns out the file steel is W2, so a brine quench was needed. I made a 8% salt brine in a 15 litre bucket and tried that. It worked but warped my blade. I didnt think it would as the steel is 5mm thick, but I guess it shows we are always learning. So using a hebel offcut from my forge, I started straighting out the blade by heating it up until it was soft and hitting it with the back of an axe. I eventually got it straight and all was good, until I cleaned it up. The hebel being porus left all these indents in my blade. Again, didnt think of that I was going to have it polished like a mirror, but my plans were altered. I temepered it in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour. Doesnt look to bad, makes it look kind of old and used. Its a 6" blade and a 4.5" handle.
It is a basic knife with a not so good bevel. Next knife I will try to have two bevels or a flat grind if I manage it with the grinder.
The handle I think is made from red ironbark, its what we use for firewood. Sure was a pain to sand it flat by hand, and its definetly not near perfect. Its sharp but not shaving sharp which I dont mind as long as it holds its edge.
First Knife From a Nickleson File
Moderator: Moderators
- stringnstik
- Posts: 1106
- Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:09 pm
- Location: Cranbourne
Re: First Knife From a Nickleson File
thanks for that Dylan, Im still working on my first and there is a lot to learn Its been an interesting series of "ohh darn how do I recover from this misshap" :lol
All I can say is keep at it
All I can say is keep at it
"I am the arrow..the arrow is me...together as one...I fly to thee"
"the stick maybe crooked and the string hath no form,
then married by bowyer, transforms when first drawn"
"twang....thud"
"the stick maybe crooked and the string hath no form,
then married by bowyer, transforms when first drawn"
"twang....thud"
- clinton miller
- Posts: 889
- Joined: Mon Feb 02, 2009 2:51 pm
- Location: in the hills south of Stanthorpe, Qld.
Re: First Knife From a Nickleson File
just curious......when you said the blade warped on you. did you dip it in the quench sideways? if you did it warped because one side was cooling and thus contracting before the other. i've never made a knife or anything but if i had a long, thin piece of steel that i wanted to cool down quickly without warping it i would dip it in point first so it cools down evenly relative to the centre line.
The degree of satisfaction gained from the accomplishment of a goal is directly proportional to the hardships and challenges overcome in order to achieve it.
border black douglas recurve 70# & 58# HEX6-H BB2 limbs
brigalow selfbow with rawhide string
border black douglas recurve 70# & 58# HEX6-H BB2 limbs
brigalow selfbow with rawhide string
Re: First Knife From a Nickleson File
Thanks stringstick and yeah, there was plenty of
Clinton I did dip the blade tip first straight down but I was lowering it slowly which was the problem. When I dunked it in fast then it stayed straight.
Dylan
.stringnstik wrote: "ohh darn how do I recover from this misshap"
Clinton I did dip the blade tip first straight down but I was lowering it slowly which was the problem. When I dunked it in fast then it stayed straight.
Dylan
Re: First Knife From a Nickleson File
Dylan that looks really good. What sort of forge have you got?
Mick.
Mick.
"One has been a bad spectator of life if one has not also seen the hand that in a considerate fashion - kills." Nietzsche.
Re: First Knife From a Nickleson File
Its a gas forge that uses hebel and a venturi burner. I did a small write up about how I went about it not too long ago. Its in this section somewhere
Dylan
Dylan
Re: First Knife From a Nickleson File
Crikey I wish I'd seen that before I started mucking around with the head beads.... lol.. well done again.DylanK wrote:Its a gas forge that uses hebel and a venturi burner. I did a small write up about how I went about it not too long ago. Its in this section somewhere
Dylan
Mick.
"One has been a bad spectator of life if one has not also seen the hand that in a considerate fashion - kills." Nietzsche.