New Member, First Knife(s)

[mwilson]

Hello Everyone,

I have been reading this and many other sites extensively as I worked on my first knife. I apologize in advance for being long winded as I explain my progress.

I started off following the instructions set out by a pdf that I had found entitled 'The Absolute Cheapskates way of Making Knives" by Scott Jones.

I have adapted or changed some of the instructions as recommended by the forum discussions I have read.

Using 5/32"x 1-1/2" 01 Tool Steel, i have made my first two knives.

The Credit Card shaped one is 2-1/2"x1-1/2" with a 1-7/8" chisel edge. I heat treated this one first so I could figure out the pitfalls of the HT process. It didn't require much filing work, so I was less worried about it should I ruin it. I was lucky and I did not ruin it.

The second one was actually my first design, but as I said above, I didn't want to ruin it, so it came second. Dimensions are 5"OAL with blade length at 2-1/4". The scales are 1/4" oak that I was able to get at my local Home Depot. One question I have been unable to find a definitive answer to is how to finish the handle. Some of what I have read has recommended mineral oil, though I am unsure and welcome any and all suggestions.

I included a photo of the refractory brick furnace I built to HT with a propane torch. Once the furnace was hot, I was able to reach critical temp(with a magnet) in roughly 15 min. Quenched with peanut oil and tempered in my oven

Linked below is a dropbox folder with photos matching all the above.

Let me know what you think and a very BIG thank you for all the information posted on this site. It had been a huge help

Cheers
-talphik

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gf0l6ybkfyhhls3/pvRJo0CjCG

[Ray Rogers]

Welcome, Talphik! Looks like you're off to a good start.

But, there are things you could do differently. First, O1 is a great blade steel but you don't really get your money's worth from it unless you can do the heat treat properly and you can't with a forge. To get the best from O1 you need to hold a specific temperature for an extended length of time - not non-mag, not cherry red, or any other guess work and it needs to stay steadily at that temp for about 15 or 20 minutes if memory serves (I think I use 1475 F). Can't be done with most forges by most people without a ton of experience. So, in the future, save some money and buy 1080 or 1084. This is not to say your knives won't function - they will, and they'll probably do fairly well. It just won't be all that the O1 is capable of.

As for the wood, it's oak from the hardware store. They have all kinds of stuff for finishing wood at that store. Somebody may come along with specific help on that but the store can tell you as much as we can about that. I'm lazy, I use stabilized wood because it looks great and doesn't need any finishing beyond buffing. Products like Dymondwood are incredibly inexpensive and are inherently stabilized.

Beyond that, don't try to make your first knives fancy because you won't want to risk hurting them - you already said that yourself. Problem is, unless you hurt them - maybe even destroy the first few - you won't know if the heat treat is good or not. So, make them simple and work them very hard. Nothing like a few hours cutting, slicing and chopping with a knife to show you what works and what doesn't. You'll learn an encyclopedia's worth about blade geometry and handle ergonomics when you use that knife that hard. Otherwise, all you may have is something that looks like a knife and that might fail you when you need it most ....

[mwilson]

Thanks Mr Rogers for the reply and all the information. I used the 01 because that is what I could get locally, so thanks for the information on it, I'm learning more all the time.

I'll look into the dymondwood for sure!

You give good advice on hard use. After writing that first post I came across another thread in which you gave the same advice, and I will certainly do just that.

I'm hooked for sure, so I know that this will not be a one-off situation. A couple destroyed knives in the name of science and inquiring minds need to know are a small price to pay. Besides, the photos never go away.

"One never learns anything by doing it right"

Thank you