Looking for a good fixed blade

[cubby]

I found that out the first time I was grinding carbon fiber. I had black boogers forever.

i always start with good intentions... wearing my mask like a good boy.. after a few hours, i find myself with only eye pro on......

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

Soooo....IM gonna be doing the heat treat on my own.

Called my "heat treat guy" and he quoted me $150 for one stinkin blade.

Eff that....

God bless
-Shred

Shred - that's NUTS. Texas Knifemakers Supply will heat treat for a LOT less
http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/privacy.php#services

Never used them - but $150??? Holy carp!

 

[cubby]

Texas knife supply does good work.'I used them for years.

 

[Sirshredalot]

Um...yeah...

I have a dual filter respirator, face mask, face sheild, and full goggles....I do alot of welding/grinding/auto body/fiberglass/fabrication work as a hobby....and I build locomotives for a living...Im used to the black boogers....lol.

Actually Im building a 57' bel-air drag car as we speak(another story).

Wow..$15 a piece for heat treat is more along the lines of what I was thinking.

Heat plates?...DO TELL!
Just clamp on some extra steel to keep the blade straight before quenching?

Sounds like a scar waiting to happen.
Even though this knife is really heavy and thick, I still dont want it to warp

So how about heating methods? Oxygen/acetylene....MAPP, or propane...Charcoal, rubber, and oak?

You guys rock!...thanks for all the feedback

God bless
-Shred

 

[Lead Head]

There are many, many fixed blades to choose from and I won't recommend any certain brand or model. I would encourage you to find one that fits YOUR hand.

It's trial and error can can get expensive but if this is a self-defense weapon, how it fits means everything. Even just learning some basic knife fighting skills, even if you won't ever use them, requires a lot of rapid movement. Dropping it defeats the whole purpose.

Also, try some 10-12" total length knives. Smaller than that just never seemed useful to me except for a boot knife, etc. A longer handle and a shorter blade is a very useful combination. Look on the web. There's a few available in your price range. My hands are average size and fixed blade knives under 8" usually have a shorter handle to match which diminishes it's usefulness except for direct stabbing.

If you tried out some knives already, think about how they felt in your hand. Even just for camping, a fixed blade knife should feel balanced and not slip out of your hand when wet. Sweat also affects grip.

 

[Chuck Richards]

Shred,

I found your post and I think I may be able to help a bit. By the way great job so far, for a first blade you are doing quite well. First off you probably have 5160 steel, though it could be 6150, 1095 or a few others. This is one problem with using found steel is you cannot tell what it is easily. It requires a spectrograph which can be cost prohibitive unless you have a large quantity of the material. This can cause problems for a heat treater since each steel requires a different procedure to get the optimum performance and not crack it.

So far as HT is concerned, If you want to do it yourself you can try an OA torch, mapp and propane do not get hot enough. You will need to bring the blade up to just above non-magnetic, around 1500f then quench it in a good oil. For your purposes a gallon of canola oil warmed to 160f will work though not the best. If you want to send it off there are not too many who will want to do this since you do not know what the material it. Texas Knifemakers Supply only did air hardening tool steel last time I checked. Also the plates mentioned are used for air hardening steel also. There is so much more involved in the HT but it can be done. Here is one procedure.

Heat the blade to 1450-1550f hold it there for 5-10 minutes.
Quench edged down into your quench medium, agitate gently, kind of like a sawing motion not a circular one.
remove and put it into an oven at 400f for 2 hours, remove cool and repeat the 400f for 2 hours.

This is a very simplistic version. I would recommend a couple of normalizing cycles also, bring it to 1500f and let it air cool, repeat.

Here is an offer I will present. You can send it to me and I will do it for you for the cost of shipping. NO guarantees but I will treat it as I do my blades. If you are interested you can send me an email, chuck@woodchuckforge(dot)com You can get my phone number and address as well as see some of my work at WoodChuck Forge

Take care and good luck in you endeavors.

Chuck Richards

 

[Sirshredalot]

Thanks everyone for tuning in.

Mr. Richards...I appreciate your offer and in no way am I underestimating your abilities, but really I am a "do it yourself" kinda guy....always have been...much to my own tribulation.

I built my own forge, heated the blade to non-magnetic and quenched in used motor oil(all that i had at the moment).

The blade is currently baking in the oven at 400 degrees and I will report soon on how the quench and heat treat went...

I did a quick "file check" on the spine of the blade and it didnt want to cut...so thats good...just kinda rubbed the scale off.

As soon as I find out where my wife hid the camera I will post pictures.

God bless
-Shred

 

[Sirshredalot]

Ps: After heat treating the current blade...I dropped two more blanks into the forge to normalize.

One more piece of leaf spring and a thinner saw chop saw blade....more to come I guess...they must put crack cocain in "bladesmithing" cause its all I wanna do right now.

Still gotta get that damn car going.

God bless
-Shred

 

[drbarnes]

Looking forward to the pics! and the finished project.

 

[Sirshredalot]

Here its is after the heat treat....looks like damascus but its not...dont know why it looks like that...was perfectly smooth before heat treat...oh well...just more time sanding it smooth again.

God bless
-Shred

 

[drbarnes]

Lookin good! personally I think it looks really cool the way it is, just get an edge on it and some handles.

 

[Sirshredalot]

Yes...its does LOOK cool...but the fact of the matter is that now it has a very uneven texture and the darker portions of the pattern are actually depression in the metal...so I sanded it all back down.

Now Im gonna "soft" epoxy the handles on and see how I like it.

I put an edge on it and will cut loose paper with ease, although I cant shave with it.

I might have to spend some time on the stone straightening out the cutting edge....it has a slight wave to it after hardening.

I'll get the handle glued on and post some pictures later tonight...after miller lite provides some motivation...still gotta finish sand the handles.

God bless
-Shred

 

[Sirshredalot]

Heres the finished knife with the handle glued and setting up on one side...

Still thinking about dura-coating it black or OD, and redoing the grips in all green...

Dunno what I was thinking with the yellow...kinda like it...kinda dont.

God bless
-Shred

 

[drbarnes]

OD blade with black handles or black blade with OD handles would look pretty sweet

 

[grunt soldier]

it looks real good brother. i love the knife minus the finger grooves. they are cool for grip in only one position. if you switch it around at all and go reverse grip or any other they dig into your hand and make it very uncomfortable. it looks good though.

i bet you have changed your mind on what it would cost to make a knife though with the amount of time you have invested

 

[cubby]

your having a blast, aren't you!?

 

[Sirshredalot]

Absolutely having a blast!...Wanna do a few more.

and yes....I have changed my mind on the price of a custom, hand made knife.
But a mass produced, machine ground knife should still not cost more than $120...they all start with some elses" blanks.

Ive got a few 5" and 4" blades in the works...hold out for them....gonna have me some fun!

God bless
-Shred

 

[Bradsknives]

Absolutely having a blast!...Wanna do a few more.

and yes....I have changed my mind on the price of a custom, hand made knife.
But a mass produced, machine ground knife should still not cost more than $120...they all start with some elses" blanks.

Ive got a few 5" and 4" blades in the works...hold out for them....gonna have me some fun!

God bless
-Shred

 

[tradertator]

 

[Sirshredalot]

Alright alright...enough with the rolly eyes things...

What I meant was...Im sure kabar doesnt handcraft each blade from individual pieces of choice steel...

Im sure they have a steel supplier furnish them with "blanks" that are cut to their specified dimension and then theyre finished in house...IE: they might start with a .25" x 10" x 2" blank of 4195 they they chuck it in a cnc machine.

Jeeze...pffft...rolly eyes....

God bless
-Shred