RedNeckLeftie

Mr. Baz, If the stone grits you are asking about are CAMI (US) standards, then #500 will not be highly effective for setting bevels. I have Orange-EDM sticks in #120, 220, 400, 600, etc., US. I can easily adjust a knife-sized bevel (<1 hour) with the 120-220 sticks, but the 400 or 600, forget it! (I use baking-soda water as lube.) If you are talking Japanese (JIS) numbers, #500 JIS is approx. equal to #240-320 US, so should work okay. The top end depends on the level of polish you want on the edge. To get close to a mirror polish, anything above #2000 US (~4000 JIS) will work. Thanks, Brian K.

Wieland, If only I could do half as good a blade as you...there is no way to properly finish that statement...I am in awe of all of your work! Brian K.

Hey John, Congrats!!! You have a fine shop-helper-to-be there. Excellent name, too! Brian K.

Hi Sam, Keep in mind I am a rogue amateur (read: I couldn't do near as well as you), but a comment on the wrap: The wrap looks good (for a western blade), but I would want more symmetry in the diamonds. Maybe it's the curve of the handle throwing things off, but it looks like the obverse diamonds are not all "square." The reverse diamonds look better. Maybe my well-calibrated eye is off, too... Regardless of wrap, the blade looks like it could do some real damage, nice piece! Thanks, Brian K.

Well executed (and big) blade! If you don't mind me asking, how did you get the antiquing on the blade? Boy, it sure looks sharp, too... Thanks, Brian K.

Another place to try is Fry's Electronics. They usually have a lot of circuit-board, soldering, and component supplies. I bought a 1-liter bottle of concentrated PCB etchant there...I bet they have a web site too... Brian K. Edited to add: "Rat-Shack" has taken a beating in the electronics component world. With competition from the web (Digi-Key and Fry's, etc.), they have a hard time filling a profitable niche. I can only hope they keep selling the odd-ball batteries I often wind up needing. They are closing stores and trying to focus on cell phones and "helping" people (For those of us versed in the electronics world, this is a real BIG joke--those poor kids don't even know what a transistor is...).

Well folks, it's time I put some stuff "out there." My first "blade" was done in high school, ~1990. Unfortunately, at the time, I did not know or realize that the Ag. dept. scraps were mild steel, or that there were even different carbon steels. (The blade looks real bad as I have since used it as thermal ballast in my kiln): It was intended to be a hunter/skinner/survival-type knife. My holy grail is to repeat this blade in real steel. Along the way, I have tried some other things, letting the pieces of steel tell me what kind of knife they "want" to be. Items 2 and 3 are not shown, but item 4 is the last blade I did before realizing my heat treatment sucked: That last piece was done in Admiral 1050 (1/4"), with ash handle and sheath (lined with a felt-like material). The schmutz at the joint of the blade and brass guard is oil I did not catch before taking pics. Thanks to these very forums, I discovered that my hardening lines (hamon) were exactly following the clay (= BAD), because I was not soaking the blades nearly long enough before quenching. So, I forced myself to intentionally quench-crack some test pieces, and figure out a process (took several months). In my kiln, it turns out, 1/4" Admiral 1050 needs about a 3 min soak at 1450F, and Aldo's (3/16") 1060 needs about a 2 min soak at 1440-1450F. My latest item is another attempt at my grail piece, in Aldo 1060. Unfortunately, the saw on the back is too narrow to work right. The handle is a crappy cedar place-holder--a real handle will ultimately follow: (Yes, I room-temperature, water-quenched that blade, saw-back and all without an interrupted quench--no cracks!) Comments/critique most welcome... Brian K.

Hi Doug, I am also "young" in the blade game, using a bench grinder then files/sen to refine any bevels. From my own personal experience, I would not even consider trying a hollow grind. It just seems more natural to me to have a flat or convex grind. Without getting into a discussion over the pros/cons of a given grind, I suspect it takes some skill or equipment to do up a good hollow grind, probably not with a bench grinder. I believe most of the folks use a belt grinder with a contact wheel to get hollow grinds. Most likely, some kind of jig is employed to maintain a steady approach, but I'm sure somebody out there readily "wings it." Thanks, Brian K.

...And some of us nearly take off fingers without talking or distractions...got the band-aids to prove it Thanks for the vids John, it's always nice to see and compare how others approach the process. One question, do you end up with more of a sashikomi or hadori style of polish? Thanks, Brian K.

Even easier for me to remember--same day as Don's! Happy Belated Birthday, Cap'n Don! Brian K.

Hi Guys, I do not use the stainless HT foil often, only when it's a pain to coat in satanite for normalizing. But this stuff is expensive, and to some degree, rare. I hate to use it and throw it away. Does anyone know of anyone who recycles this stuff (Ticronic--Titanium, Chrome, Nickel foil) ? Thanks, Brian K. Sorry Folks, this should have gone under "Tools and Toolmaking," I guess. Those with more power, feel free to move this thread as appropriate.

Hi JC, Sorry to hear of the loss! I guess, though, you figured out nix on the brine... From everything I've read, seen and experienced, brine is too harsh for most all decent blade steels (I know someone out there will swear by it of course). I have not done any edge-quenching, but have done a boat load of water quenching. I do not believe water (or brine) is a suitable edge-quenching medium. There's just too much trouble with the formation of a vapor jacket, which will inhibit the quench effectiveness and uniformity--it may not even harden. Those with more experience please chime in. For edge-quenching, oil is the only medium I have heard of, other than perhaps the polymers (Parks 50?). And by oil, I mean fine-grade mineral oil, vegetable oil or tranny fluid--not the leftovers from the last oil change. For full-submersion water-quenching, I use normal, garage-temperature (softened) tap water, ~60-88F. BUT, the one piece of 1095 I did got quench-cracks, and 1095 is very roughly comparable to W1. More recent info suggests one should use ~120F water and an interrupted-quench with the higher-carbon stuff. Oh yeah, the heat before quench: 15-50F above non-magnetic should be fine. Thanks, Brian K.

Hi Dan, I haven't worked with O1 or with forging, but I'll take a stab at this fer ya. As long as you haven't let the "magic sparks" out of the steel, you can repair the grain growth (but not decarburization) by normalizing and/or by quenching. Generally, forged blades need some grain refinement before final quench. A couple possible paths to take: A. Normalize (heat to at least critical*, then air cool) 3 times, then heat and quench; B. Just heat and quench 3 times. You could also try mixing and matching, but it should not be necessary to normalize thrice before each of multiple quenches. The normalizing essentially does the same thing for grain size as quenching (just not as strongly, IIRC). If I understand the chemistry right, scale is basically "burnt" steel--another form of oxidation (rust). I would guess during normalizing it can only grow thicker, not sure that it offers true protection. I believe it ought to be removed before any further forging, as pounding on it will drive it into the steel, leaving pitting. I am sure I missed something. Thanks, Brian K. * - Some folks go well above critical, some stair-step down to it, some hover right around it...you'll get more preferences than threads on the forum! Different methods, experiments, and experiences are why. To some degree, we each have to experiment for ourselves.

Arthur, You have my deepest and sincerest condolences. While it is true one should know the laws before carrying, the laws should at least be grounded in some common-sense reality. It is clear to me that the gov't there is composed of nothing more than third-world, pansy-arsed commie sheep, who are at best, unfit to breed. The gun laws suck, the knife laws suck, hell they even regulate the "power" of BB guns! Not an educated or useful society, by any means. (No intent to insult anyone who frequents this forum, for any such individual has already demonstrated exceeding character and virtue). I think it all stems from a bogus notion of "we have a RIGHT to FEEL safe." No one has EVER had a right to feel or be safe. Safety is, at best, a tertiary concern, which only private individuals can attempt to obtain within their own limited sphere of influence. In other words, we each are entitled by God to be armed and informed. "Armed" does not necessarily imply weaponry; it could just be sensibility. Okay, okay, enough soap-box. I'll shut up and hide for a while... Thanks, Brian K.

Glad to hear your experiments went well, despite some of my advice in the other thread . Turns out, I was re-reading Verhoeven the other night, when Lo, and Behold!, page 86 has a big, bold note: The ASM diagrams use As for A1, and Af for A3 (~ AC1 & AC3). So, I was wrong when I said As = Aust Start and so forth. You want to Austenitize above ~A3, but I think you figured it out...Congratulations. I want to see some broken steel! Thanks, Brian K.

Hi Shane, Some other resources to try include ls1tech.com and afbforums.com. The '98-'02 f-bodies pretty much all use the same aftermarket "parts" (e.g., brakes, suspension, etc.), so if you find out for one, the others should be the same. And no, you cannot have MY '01 WS6 springs... Thanks, Brian K.

I was going to say I prefer a lot less ricasso, but dammm! if you can mostly hack through 2.5-3" of limb, that's one helluva blade! Brian K.

:lol: :lol: Brian K.

Folks, I was kind of an idiot when quoting the chart. Bruce, thanks for clarifying the details of the lower temp, longer soak (among other critical details). Thanks to Owen on the temp comments. I quoted an AS (Austenite-Start) temp, but not the AF (Austenite-Finish) temp, which is keenly important for the Aust. soak. So, the AS ~1350F (732C), and AF ~ 1480F (804C). However, AC3 ~1500F (816C, at 28C/hr heating rate), so at any reasonable heating rate, soak should theoretically be between 1500F and 1600F (816C to 870C). As Bruce quite eloquently stated, the REAL temp is mighty variable, so test pieces would be the best way to go. I've done a lot of test pieces, and almost no real blades yet... Thanks, Brian K.

Great video! Dumb question, but was the camera's color sense out-'o-whack, or were you mostly forging at a white heat? Thanks, Brian K.

I have no experience with 9260 or S5/S4, but according to the ASM Heat Treater's Guide, 9260 should be quenched in oil/polymers from 870C (1600F). Again, lower temps with longer soaks are usually acceptable, as Bruce said. Looking at the IT digram, you'll want a fast quench (~ 1 second), and AS ~ 1350F. Thanks, Brian K.

Whew, thanks Bruce! That makes me feel a lot better. I was starting to see all kinds of "gray areas," with too much subjective guessing involved. One of these years, I may get a Rockwell tester, but I'd have to get a few real blades under my belt first. Brian K.

Is that hide from the armor shell, or the soft underside? It's been awhile since I seen an armadillo 'round these parts... Brian K.

Wow, you oughta be happy! That is a real looker there. I like the idea of using the tang as handle and koshira (or fuchi, I never can keep 'em straight). Brian K.

Hey Folks, I saw Jesus Hernandez mention hardness testing files in a very different recent thread, and wondered about their use. Specifically, how aggressive and when to do the test? I think I have the same set of files (40-65HRC, 6 files), and have tested mostly polished and etched parts (#2000 wet/dry, ferric etch, then #2000 again--on chisel-like test "blanks"). What I typically find lately: A normal file skates on the hardened part (before polish). Then after polish the 65HRC file definitely bites and scrapes into the hardened part, and the 60HRC file will mar, but not bite into the hardened part. Does that mean I am done, and the answer is 60-65HRC? Or, do I need to go to the 55HRC file (which barely leaves any marring)? Or, am I doing it all wrong? It's the marring that has me cornfused. P.S. - The marrings would need repolishing, back to #900 EDM to clean up properly, and we're talkin' water-quenched 1060. Thanks, Brian K.