DW 2021 KITH Project

[Doug Webster 80]

I was thinking of starting with a 1.25" ball bearing.  Then I got the idea to go low layer Damascus twist with a few raindrops.  Here's my progress from yesterday.  I'm feeling a Tanto is the direction I go next if I don't find any delaminations.

[Doug Webster 80]

Two bubbles of delamination showed up in the blade.  

[Doug Webster 80]

I went back to 1.25" ball bearing of 52100 and have a good start on a hidden tang.

[Alan Longmire 3,136]

That first pic with the reflections in the bearing is AWESOME! 

[Charles dP 534]

Yeah, very cool.

[Doug Webster 80]

It was a little phantasmic watching that bearing heat up.  Maybe I found my inspiration 

[Brian Dougherty 1,264]

Way cool pic.  I'm also contemplating the ball bearing thing

 

[Robert D. 106]

I second the reflection pic, thats awesome.... 

 

[Doug Webster 80]

I forged the 131 gram bearing into an 85 gram blade.   I am in the middle of draw filing the spine.  Next up is the edge bevel.   

I also salvaged a Kogatana from the delaminated Damascus.   

[Doug Webster 80]

Here's the direction I am thinking of going 

[Doug Webster 80]

I have always had difficulty annealing blades and the 52100 is really difficult.   I set a 3" pipe inside the forge and on a low fire can hold it at sub critical heat.   I'll try annealing for an hour and see if this helps?  Open to any suggestions. 

Edited August 3 by Doug Webster
52100 not 5160

[Alan Longmire 3,136]

That will probably work fine. You could even go up to 1300 F and not cause problems

 

[Joshua States 2,049]

You are annealing at this point? Can I ask why?

[Doug Webster 80]

I don't have a belt grinder.  I'm annealing to make it easier to hand file and sand to 320 grit.     Soaking at 1100 to 1200 F helped but it was still pretty hard.  If I try this again, I might pack the tube with vermiculite.

[Joshua States 2,049]

If that bearing is 52100, you won't get a true soft spheroidal anneal without some serious heat control. Try normalizing by bringing it up to around 1600*F and letting it air cool two or three times. Maybe step down to 1475 on the second go and 1300 on the third. That will get it in better shape than the vermiculite.

 

Do a Google search for "Kevin Cashen + 52100"

It will tell you this:

 

One of 2 steels in the 5XXXX series listed by AISI that contains 1% carbon or more, for use in applications requiring high hardness. Knifemakers using this steel would be well served to study the special considerations in using hypereutectoid steels in dealing with the challenges these carbon levels pose.    

 

Recommended Working Sequence For 52100

 

Forging:  Heat to 2100 °F (1150 °C) maximum, and do not forge after temperature of the forging stock has dropped below approximately 1700 °F (925 °C)

 

Normalizing: Heat to 1625 °F (885 °C) and cool in still air.

 

Annealing: For a predominately spheroidized structure which is generally desired for machining, heat to 1460 °F (795 °C) and cool rapidly to 1380 °F (750 °C), then continue cooling to 1250 °F (675 °C) at a rate not exceeding 10 °F (6 °C) per hour; or as an alternative technique, heat to 1460 °F (795 °C), cool rapidly to 1275 °F (690 °C) and hold for 16 hours.

 

Hardening: Austenitize from 1475°F to 1550 °F (845 °C) and quench in oil. Lower austenitizing temperatures may be used depending upon the previous thermal treatments and resulting carbide conditions. If higher temperatures result in excess carbon in solution, retained austenite can become problematic.

 

Tempering:  As-quenched hardness as high as 66 HRC. After quenching, parts should be tempered as soon as they have uniformly reached near ambient temperature.

 

[Doug Webster 80]

I'm getting close to completing this project. 

What is our deadline?  

 

Sheath is required, correct?

[Alex Middleton 675]

Looking good Doug!  I think the "deadline" was set at October 1st.  I don't think that there was any mention of a sheath being a requirement.