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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 10-09-2015, 06:32 AM
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mcarriganphotos mcarriganphotos is offline
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Starting My First Knife in Iraq

I've got all my materials and starting my first knife. I have to send a super big thanks to Alex Talley. He offered up a piece of 1085 for free and said he would put together a care package. Usually when I think care package over here it has candy and treats. Well, it had treats all right, it has the basics of about everything I needed to get started on this first knife. Heck, about the only thing he did not send was a belt grinder HAHA.

So i have the knife blank cut from the steel, all by hand with a hack saw. I was real excited until I realized I did not use any padding between the knife and vise that left some divots in the steel :-( I am planning a chisel style blade so one whole side was not going to get touched. I planned it out the best I could with my file and cleaned it a little but they are still there. Oh well, live and learn, this is my first. Rain has me delayed on the shaping plus I think I need to hit it again with the hack saw on a few areas to save some filing.

I did find a grill, charcoal, and a fan to heat treat, now just the oil. Not sure how I'll temper yet.

I'll keep this up to date as I go.

Knife Raw steel by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr

Knife Cut by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr

Knife mistake by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr

Last edited by mcarriganphotos; 12-01-2015 at 06:51 AM.
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  #2  
Old 10-09-2015, 06:38 AM
Ed of all trade Ed of all trade is offline
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Cool looks like you are on your way. Ed
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  #3  
Old 10-09-2015, 07:48 AM
damon damon is offline
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off to a good start.

tempering..... in Iraq this time of year......
just leave it outside between 14:00-16:00, and that should about do. *tease

spent some time there myself back in 2004.
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  #4  
Old 10-09-2015, 12:20 PM
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Hunter10139 Hunter10139 is offline
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Good start and good looking design. Don't worry too much about those dimples in the steel, you can work them out if you want by taping down some sandpaper on a flat surface and using that to sand down that side of the knife. If you have access to any kitchen oven or toaster oven you can temper in that.

Keep posting man, I'm excited to see how this thing turns out!


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  #5  
Old 10-10-2015, 03:32 AM
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mcarriganphotos mcarriganphotos is offline
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Thanks Damon but I am way up north and we are around 95 for our highs and getting ready for our short rainy season. Yesterday we woke up to a sprinkle and 63-deg.

So here is a little working on the handle and starting in on the blade flat. I cut in a little too deep where my index finger will go but it works.

Handle by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
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  #6  
Old 10-10-2015, 06:05 AM
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Blade flat is cut in. I did not get as straight of a line at the top of the flat as I had wanted but it works. I still have some file marks but it is finished to 120. Need to drill my holes for the scales and a thong then I think ready for heat.

For anyone looking to do a knife with a file, let me give you a few tips. #1 good gloves! I'm using Mechanix Wear MPACT and love them. The heavy rubber on the knuckles allowed me to use my hand as a guide while draw-filing. #2 Good bright light, I was in the sun and it helped me see my filing so I could see my high and low spots. I would draw-file then switch and cut across the blade, this change the cut lines. Then when I went back to draw-file the sun was hitting the cut lines and I could see where I was hitting showing me the lows and highs.

Ready for heat by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
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  #7  
Old 10-10-2015, 07:05 AM
Ed of all trade Ed of all trade is offline
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Looking good, can't wait to see more. Ed
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  #8  
Old 10-10-2015, 05:39 PM
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toolmkr20 toolmkr20 is offline
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Looking good so far.
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  #9  
Old 10-11-2015, 03:28 AM
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mcarriganphotos mcarriganphotos is offline
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Heat treat seemed ok, got it to nonmagnetic and quenched in Veggie oil. Sanded as much junk off the blade and went on to temper. Not sure how temper will turn out, hard keeping a grill at a consistent temp, may have gone too hot
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Old 10-11-2015, 08:07 AM
jmccustomknives jmccustomknives is offline
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What did you heat treat it with? It is possible to temper with a torch, it's a little tricky but with practice you can really manipulate the hardness across the blade.
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  #11  
Old 10-11-2015, 12:21 PM
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I heat treated in a grill with the pile of coal up near the vent hole and had a fan blowing into the hole. Worked like a charm. Then to temper I spread the coals out to dissipate some heat while I sanded the blade. Unfortunately I did find after further examination it did warp at the thin point in the blade. I've decided to go ahead and sand down from the tip to correct for the warp. It is taking some real elbow grease and a bit of my 120 grit paper but I am almost there. In the pic you can still see ruff dent left from the warp right by the edge. I'll just have to reshape the tip some once complete. The picture makes the edge look much worse than what it actually is. Good news is because of the extra work I have sanded off all of the marks from my mistake with the vise :-)

Warped by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr

Last edited by mcarriganphotos; 10-11-2015 at 12:29 PM.
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  #12  
Old 10-11-2015, 03:25 PM
Ed of all trade Ed of all trade is offline
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Looks Like a good one. great work. Ed
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  #13  
Old 10-12-2015, 10:02 AM
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Keep it up man, love seeing these progress pictures!


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  #14  
Old 10-12-2015, 05:01 PM
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ATalley ATalley is offline
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Hi Ya Mike!

Looks like your putting that stuff to good use, I like the design and I love your enthusiasm! I'm excited to see how it develops!

A lot of so called "sins" can be forgiven by hand sanding. Like alot if guys, I've found that if you wrap the sand paper around a stiff board wrapped in leather and sand one stroke at a time in the same direction, it keep the scratches in line and is easier when you change to finer grits. I use the stiff edge of a piece of metal, wrapped in a few layers if tape, to sand to the plunge line and clean it up.

I like it!

Stay safe and keep your powder dry!

Alex


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"We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
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Last edited by ATalley; 10-14-2015 at 05:21 AM. Reason: Clarified a sentence and corrected typos
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  #15  
Old 12-01-2015, 06:41 AM
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mcarriganphotos mcarriganphotos is offline
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Well it has been a little while. I've had a few delay of games but I am finally finished. I, of course, notice ALL of the imperfections but over all I'm super happy and it works! It works so well that it has already played an integral role here in Iraq with the Peshmurga (Kurdistan Army) in the elimination of the terror threat of ISIS within their boarders. Yeah, we were loading some gear on their trucks and I cut up some strapping material for them HAHAHA. So here are some of the final pics...

Knife by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
The tip is super thin from trying to get the warped spot out of the blade. This is why the edge appears to tapper as it goes towards the tip. Couldn't even out all of the scratches either.

Knife by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
Sheath put up a good fight. I used a heat gun to form it and just shot from the hip in forming and holding it. I think I got it too hot and this is why it took on a glossy sheen.

Knife by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
I WAY over heated the belt loops trying to stretch them a little to get a little more width out of them.

Finished knife by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
you can see a spot where I chipped the micarta putting one of the pins through.

Finished knife by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr

Finished knife by Mike Carrigan, on Flickr
The tip is rounded off from while I was trying to fix the warp, the tip got so thin I dropped it by mistake and it just popped right off.

Last edited by mcarriganphotos; 12-01-2015 at 06:50 AM.
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art, back, belt, blade, design, file, first knife, flat, grinder, hammer, hand, handle, heat, heat treat, kitchen, knife, knife blank, leather, man, materials, package, steel, surface, temper, vise


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