Alex Middleton

Sorry guys. Life has kinda taken me down different paths over the last 6-8 months. Shop time has been near zero, and the KITH honestly slipped my mind completely. Please feel free to extend the deadline however you all see fit. History being what it is, it's kind of expected anyways.............

Ran an 80 acre grass fire at a deer farm this evening. The property manager was grateful for the help.

Sounds like we have a new entry into this year's KITH!

I typically make mine from .070" 15n20, with a full flat grind. If you bring your bevels all the way up to the spine it will make a dramatic difference in the flexibility.

Well, it worked. Sort of..... I didn't get full compression on the canoe before I cut it apart. Unfortunately the text was in an area that didn't solidify all the way. That being said, you can see the outlines of the letters after an etch if you catch it in the right light.

This has really caught my interest. A buddy at work watched the video as well and we decided to put together a little test. He printed a couple of forms to fit inside a stainless steel canoe. I filled the inside of the letters with 1084 powder, and the rest of the canoe with 1080 w/ 2% nickel. We'll see what happens.

Along those same lines, Walter Sorrels has a video on YouTube showing a simple angle iron grinding jig. I use something similar for a lot of my knives.

Damn you! I've been trying not to get sucked down that rabbit hole. That explained it well enough now I want to try it!

Ha! I saw a roasted chicken!

Managed to sneak out to the shop this evening for a couple of hours. A sneak peak of the gun barrel blade I've been working on, fresh off the finish grind with a quick etch. I had a tiny warp after quenching that I decided to surface grind out instead of straighten. I didn't think it was going to be enough to throw everything off center, but apparently I was wrong. That being said, it's still close enough that I'm pretty dang happy with it.

Assuming you're working with a gas forge, try working the blade in and out of the forge. Leave it in for 5-10 seconds and then pull it out for 3-4. This helps to keep from overheating the thinner spots by letting some of the heat disburse. You can also watch the decalesence line work it's way through the blade without having to stare into your forge.

Shoot, good idea. I wish id have thought about somethinglike that. Its too late now, I'll have to remember for next time. I want to try one with a rifle barrel. I think the rifling will look pretty cool after the bevels are ground in.

Started out the day working on shaping the handle of a simple hunter. Got a little careless on the grinder. That'll cost me more time than I care to think about right now. Switched gears and decided to start up the next project on my list. A friend at work gave me an old 20 ga Savage single shot shotgun that had been made inoperable. The barrel was bent and the stock broken. I cut the barrel down to just the chamber, and filled it full of 1080 powder with 2% nickel. Got it forged out and did a quick test etch on the end of the billet. After a bunch of surface grinding, I have enough material to make a nice little hunter for him.

Definitely recommend the oven thermometer, and the additional thermal mass added inside. One other thing I'll add in is to not get comfortable setting your oven the same way every time. Sometimes my oven is 50 deg. high, other times it's right on. I've gotten in the habit of turning it on well before I start my heat treat process so I have time to monitor it and adjust the temp accordingly. I've accidentally tempered a couple of blades too high. Hardening a blade you've been working on for hours the first time is nail biting enough. Having to redo it sucks even more.

I enjoy the KITH very much as well. My biggest problem right now is figuring out which idea i want to build. As far as I'm concerned, the last day to sign up is the day before the drawing!