parsha Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Hi all, I am working on a T-handle push dagger. i made a handle from aluminium bar but didnt quite like it cos it didnt look good with the blade. so i made a rough handle from a cardboard strip. planning to do the final handle with a strip of brass (if i manage to get one ) ..or if that is not available then mild steel. does this look good , or do i need to go for something else . comments ,critique and suggestions are welcome Thinking of winding a leather strap in place of the red electrical tape in the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serge Panchenko Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 That does look better parsha SERGEKNIVES.COM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 4, 2009 Author Share Posted August 4, 2009 That does look better parsha Thank you for the feedback Serge. now the only thing thats stopping me is getting a nice solid strip of brass.. spent the day searching for one but didnt find one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJDForge Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 You can order brass from Jantz Supply. Matthew DempseyArchangel Bladesarchangel.knives@gmail.comIronworkCustom Knives https://www.facebook.com/archangel.blades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 9, 2009 Author Share Posted August 9, 2009 (edited) Hey MJD , checked out the jantz supply website but i dont think they ship orders to India I finally managed to get a nice strip of brass 2 feet long x 1 inch wide x 2 mm thick I know some brass dosent bend easily and it will simply snap off if you try to bend it.Tested for bending on my strip and after bending about 45 degrees it snapped . how can i make it workable ? i am going to bend it a lot for the handle , so cant have it breaking . HELP !! Edited August 9, 2009 by parsha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEzell Posted August 9, 2009 Share Posted August 9, 2009 Hey MJD , checked out the jantz supply website but i dont think they ship orders to India I finally managed to get a nice strip of brass 2 feet long x 1 inch wide x 2 mm thick I know some brass dosent bend easily and it will simply snap off if you try to bend it.Tested for bending on my strip and after bending about 45 degrees it snapped . how can i make it workable ? i am going to bend it a lot for the handle , so cant have it breaking . HELP !! It needs to be annealed. The way to anneal most ferrous metals, including brass, is to heat it to a dull red and quench. Be very careful heating it, brass contains zinc, which is toxic... do not breathe the fumes! I like your design, very unusual. Reminds me a bit of an Indian weapon called a bagh nakh... George Ezell, bladesmith" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."Buffonview some of my work RelicForge on facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 9, 2009 Author Share Posted August 9, 2009 You are right George, this blade was inspired from the "bagh nakh" but i decided to have a single large claw instead of 4 or 5 smaller claws usually seen in a bagh nakh Here is a shot of the blade after the clay quench, i made the clay from some fine red clay and wood ash in equal proportion.Quenched the blade in water. This is my first try at a hamon , hope i get at least a visible hamon Now going back to polishing the blade with sandpaper and water stones, and then etching in white vinegar. keeping my fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 facing a setback here ..... checked the hardness with a file it seems the edge has not hardened properly . looking back i remember that the clay was quite thick near the edges maybe that caused this issue . so i will be doing a clay quench again. One question though , what will be the effect on the hamon now .....will i get two hamons ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guarnera Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 facing a setback here ..... checked the hardness with a file it seems the edge has not hardened properly . looking back i remember that the clay was quite thick near the edges maybe that caused this issue . so i will be doing a clay quench again. One question though , what will be the effect on the hamon now .....will i get two hamons ??? Parsha, What type of steel are you using? Some steel won't give you a hamon. You probably knew this, but if the clay was to thick near the edge it may of held the heat and annealed the edge. From what I'm told an 1/8th inch is thick enough. Tony G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 11, 2009 Author Share Posted August 11, 2009 Hi Tony , i am using old file steel here and i suppose it is W1 or W2 because it hardens really well after a water quench. Ok , now pardon me cause i am going to ramble a bit here ... i coated the blade with clay again, this time applied a very thin coat of clay near the edges and made a nice pattern in the clay as shown in the picture below when i quenched the blade in water , about 2 seconds later some of the clay fell off..i was thinking oh my god there goes my hamon .. then i proceeded to polish the blade with sandpaper and what do i see , a beautiful line had formed on the blade which almost followed the pattern of the clay i had applied on the blade.. i was sooo happy so now after poilshing and cleaning the blade with a strong detergent , i proceeded to the etching. i immersed the blade in white vinegar and left it there for 4 hours all the while imagining how beautiful the hamon would look after i removed the blade and cleaned it ... i was shocked. no sign of the beautiful hamon line. so i polished the blade again and thot maybe i put it in vinegar for a long time , so this time i warmed up the vinegar and put the blade in for 30 minutes. this is what i got after that now i am wondering why the hamon turned out like this , if u call it a hamon in the first place. do i need to use something stronger to etch the blade? why didnt the clay pattern line show up after etching? questions questions and more questions one good thing is the edges have hardened very well now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Hi All, now this is turning out to be a very difficult project. The brass strip keeps cracking every time i try to put a tight bend in it. First time i annealed the strip and tried to bend it cold. It bent to a U shape and when i tried to make the U smaller it broke. so in the second attempt i decided to work it hot but still no luck. now i have made some changes to the handle design and hope to complete it this weekend . Wish me luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake cleland Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 brass comes in a lot of different alloys - some are ductile (soft temper), and some will crack if you bend them (hard temper) and cannot be annealed. have you considered copper? as for the hamon, when you first take a blade from the quench, the clay will have reacted with the steel in a number of ways, and there will always be a surface pattern which follows the clay pretty exactly. you have to grind through this to get to the actual hamon. from looking at yours, the fact that the clay blew off in the quench may have been a factor, but it was more likely uneven heating - too hot at the tip and too cool at the ricasso Jake Cleland - Skye Knives www.knifemaker.co.uk "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Hi Jake , Thanks for putting some light on what may have gone wrong here . i guess i need to control my forge temperature better so that i dont have uneven heating. Right now i am using a Lively style wash tub forge with a house vac for air source, and find some good clay which will not fall off in the quench. so i think i will have to let go of a nice hamon this time. as for the handle material , i choose brass firstly because it is a bit tougher(harder) than copper and secondly because a piece of copper would have costed me at least thrice as much as the brass strip i have the brass cut to shape and will be bending it soon Keeping my fingers crossed. hope to complete this one in 3,4 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Colwell Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I have only done the hamon thing once. It worked really well, though. Take the clay and put on 1/8" thick where you don't want hardening. Put thick layer everywhere and scrape off what you don't want. Leave an abrupt transition between the clay/no clay regions. Looks like a cliff in miniature. Slowly brind blade up to temp, let soak for about a minute, then quence in heated water or oil. I did not interrupt the quench, just put it in. Then sand and polish with scratches going lengthwise, and work up to between 1000 and 2000 grit. ic please visit my website http://www.professorsforge.com/ “Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” E. V. Debs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Hi All, I have finally finished work on this project. Was really busy with other things so i really had to squeeze out time to finish this . the brass needs to be polished and some more work to be done on the leather ...will be posting pictures soon ... definitely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Hi guys, here is the completed knife.I went for an antiqued finish since this blade looks like it was picked up from a museum I will be polishing it up some more with brasso. I am not sure whether i should call it a "bagh nakh" or claw dagger or "Katar" .....any suggestions? comments and critique are always welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragoncutlery Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) that works Edited September 11, 2009 by dragoncutlery Brandon Sawisch bladesmith eagles may soar but weasels don't get sucked in to jet engines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Parsha, that is beautiful! Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEzell Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Great job man! Glad it worked out. I bet it does feel good and secure in the hand.... is that leather on the handle? I have no idea what to call it, either, but I like it.... George Ezell, bladesmith" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."Buffonview some of my work RelicForge on facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted September 13, 2009 Author Share Posted September 13, 2009 Thanks a lot for taking a look Sam and GeZell really appreciate your comments. You are right GeZell that is leather on the handle, from the sole of an old shoe. It does feel really solid and secure in the hand. initially i had not attached the leather and it felt a little uncomfortable in the hand, so i glued up the leather on the back with araldite. Thanks again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parsha Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 bump! no more inputs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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