Hammer in portfolio WIP

[Faye 114]

1 hour ago, billyO said:

Is someone else getting addicted to pattern welding??

Oh, most definitely. I'm saving up for a power hammer so I can start making damascus in my shop. 

[Joshua States 1,782]

6 hours ago, Faye said:

The blade is still a bit oversized, especially the ricasso,

This is normal. You should be forging slightly larger so you have some material to remove to get to the final shape. 

The rule of thumb I was taught and still abide by, is within 1/8 inch of finished profile. 

My technique is to lay the template (which is the desired finished shape) on the anvil face and scribe around it with a soapstone. Then I forge until the workpiece covers the soapstone drawing. This gives me a little extra mass to remove and get the final finished profile. The only part I intentionally leave more room on is the ricasso length (front to back). I want to be able to really dial that in after I heat treat and am doing the finish grinding.

Edited March 17 by Joshua States

[Joshua States 1,782]

The only other suggestion I will make for your forging is to make the shoulders at the back of the ricasso much smaller. Don't neck down so much in the ricasso/tang transition. Ideally, there is no reason to have more than 1/8" shoulders (after grinding) to butt the guard against. So the forged transition looks something more like the center blade here.

 

[Faye 114]

It's pretty much ready for heat treat, everything is ground to 320 and I'll paint it before HT to minimize scale.

I did run into a small delamination in my fish mouth weld, but it didn't go all the way through so I got it ground out. However, that ended up making the spine taper a bit sharper than I would have liked. 

The weld line is also still clearly visible, even after normilazing and thermal cycling. I plan to do another round of thermal cycling before HT in hopes of getting rid of the fuzzy white line.   

[Joshua States 1,782]

That tang is begging for a frame handle........

[Faye 114]

19 hours ago, Joshua States said:

That tang is begging for a frame handle

That's funny you should say that. 

I decided to use some giraffe bone for this handle, but that means I have to do a frame.

I think I'll use a 15 layer twist for the guard, and for the middle part of the spacer. I don't have any stainless or silver pins only brass. So I was thinking of sandwiching the twist spacer with thin peices of brass or maybe african black wood, but it seems like spacer packages on this type of knife steer away from wood.

The frame will also be from the twsit damascus and will have five 1/16" brass pins in it.

I added a little more shape to the handle, but I've never really done one like this before. Is there any rule of thumb for spacing between the guard and point?

In addtion to all design critiques, please feel free to weigh in on any handle material ideas.  I want something classy looking, like a knife handle you might see on sharp by coop's facebook page.  

[Joshua States 1,782]

Funny thing is, I just completed a frame handled Bowie with Giraffe bone scales. Mine are dyed and stabilized so they are very easy to work with. You will need a respirator when grinding them. Bone dust is very hazardous and can be toxic.

 

4 hours ago, Faye said:

I want something classy looking, like a knife handle you might see on sharp by coop's facebook page.

My first suggestion is to look at lots of frame handles and make notes of everything. Pin placements, spacer packages, guard shapes, etc., and look at them with an eye towards relationships to other elements.

 

My second suggestion is that you draw what that handle looks like from the bottom and/or top. Then do a quick sketch of how it all will be held together while you grind it. Visualize the handle in an exploded view. 

 

Question: Do you have access to a surface grinder?

 

 

[Faye 114]

10 hours ago, Joshua States said:

 

Question: Do you have access to a surface grinder?

Yes. It is two hours away, but I need to go visit some people anyway.

[Joshua States 1,782]

If you plan to make the frame and/or the spacer or guard out of Damascus, you will need to use the surface grinder to prep them. Unfortunately, you will need it twice. Once when you make the rough frame and transfer the pin holes, and once after you HT the pieces and are ready to shape everything. You will also need it before drilling the blind pins for the spacer and possibly after heat treating the spacer. You may be able to do the final surfacing on a granite slab by hand after HT.