The Amatuer Crafter: Project 3.0: First Design - Even More Continued!

Well after quite an interesting and hectic summer and a tumultuous fall beginning, it looks like that I may actually be back at it! So, where am I so far with this design? Well, the template is complete. That was made from 1095 2" x 3/32" steel. It's not been heat treated and I don't plan to put any holes for pins or lanyards into the handle. I've got a hole in it now but that's just to hang it up on a wall. I plan to mount a peg board on a wall or in a cabinet somewhere (if I have space) to hang all of my blade designs.

So, to cut the same design out of 5/32" material I first tried hack-sawing the blanks by hand. And from my experiences in the United States Air Force as a general purpose vehicular mechanic, as well as my machine shop experiences in custom manufacturing, I can definitely say that based on my technical expertise, this really sucked ass.

It's necessary to use this method to cut the overall barstock into smaller lengths because of space. I don't have enough room to setup this inside the shop so I have to mount the barstock onto a piece of milled 1 x 4. I use the clamps to keep it secure while I saw through it.

One cannot see the epic heavy breathing, the sweating, and the muscle tremors from the photos from sawing away. Despite the fact that the material is only 5/32" thick, cutting this with a hacksaw by hand is definitely not efficient. It may be time to rethink my process.

Enter Mr. Power-Hacksaw! As per my philosophy, or maybe just my impatience, there's always room to have more power tools in your shop! Modern technology to the rescue!

AWW YEAH!

>:D

This is what the blade looks like after quite a bit of power-sawing.

Even though the saw cut edges look worse than a bag of armpits, the pieces are now much easier to manage.


And now for some template use and some marking.

Duplicating the pattern to get the most out of the material.

After the process I showed from previous articles, this is the result.



From the photos one can see that I'm nearly done with the profile of the blades. I've been experimenting with different tools and techniques to get into the finger choil area along the handle. I managed to get some heavier duty grit on the oscillating drum sander, but those drums I purchased are aluminum oxide. One can tell this from the distinctive brown coloring on the drum. Sanding belts are the same way. Note the orange color on the belt on my Grizzly from this photo.

This orange color is a sign that the abrasive material embedded into the belt is ceramic. A blue belt indicates that the abrasive is silicone alumina. Aluminum oxide is alright for lighter duty applications such as wood or plastics. But it doesn't have an aggressive cut with the 1095 steel. I may look around to see if I can find any ceramic drums or silicone alumina drums. Those should cut better.

As with the template, I had to complete the choil area with files and sandpaper.

One can see the corrosion (rusting) literally moments after rough cutting the profile. Doesn't take carbon steels long to rust once exposed.

Using a dowel with the sandpaper to finish the choil area. A dowel can be of any size and of nearly any material. I'm using a scrap work piece a student had thrown away because it was machined out of tolerance.

The blades now have finished profiles and I'm almost done with the rough cutting. Now I need to produce the grind. As noted from previous posts, there are many different grinds available for a knife. One of the best for skinning is the hollow grind and that particular grind I've used in my two completed blades so far. However, this grind also takes some practice and I've not yet mastered the techniques to cut it into a blade. This is one of the reasons that I made five of these blades. It'll give me opportunities to practice cutting the grind. It's at this point where I can either go ahead and cut the grinds or wait until after heat treating. I'm going to go ahead and cut them now. I may pay for this later because the thinner material might allow the blade to warp easily during the heat treating process and from what I've heard 1095 is prone to warping. If the technician who is heating the blade is aware of this and knows what he/she doing then they may be able to correct it as it's cooling. I've decided to send my blades to a company called Texas Knifemaker Supply. I've heard good things about them and I can't seem to get much help from a local company that actually does some bulk heat treating for knife making companies. We'll see. But it'll be awhile yet before I send the blades to heat treat, I want to build up an order and send all of the blades to them at once. This will lower the cost a bit to have them heat treated.

Up next, a grinding I will go!

The Amateur Crafter: The Time Has Come (Hopefully)

Well it sure has been quite a challenging start of the new school year this semester. To start with, a decision was made to replace all faculty/staff computers in the short time frame from the end of the summer semester to the beginning of the fall semester (basically about 3 weeks). This decision was not made by the folks in IT and I imagine some tried to argue against it. But, that alone was enough to cause a lot of issues. Software updates for existing curriculum-specific programs had to be installed as well as installing software that didn't come with the new computers added to the time needed to replace all computers. And of course let's not forget the hardware. For example, my dept uses CAM (Computer-Aided-Manufacturing) software that requires a security dongle, however, the security dongles that we have at this time use the older printer parallel port. So, this detail was not considered when replacing the computer in my office. Therefore, I had no working printer because my printer was setup with the parallel port cable. I can temporarily deal without CAM but the printer is really needed! This caused quite a bit of problems because with the recent registration for the fall semester, I couldn't print out a new student's schedule and registration bill for them. I had to refer them to other people.

In addition to the new computers, a software program that faculty/staff use on campus was revamped completely. This program is used by faculty for a number of things but one of these uses is registration. But since no one had informed any faculty of the new software, very few actually knew how to operate it with the new changes. These changes also had an additional unforeseen effect on registration. Because the software was completely changed, many of the local restrictions on classes we had placed were now removed. For example we have a long 6 credit hour course split into A and B sections of 3 credit hours each. Students first had to take the A section before he/she could register into the B section. That restriction was removed with the changes and we had no less than 7 students signed up for the wrong course. But the problems didn't end there. Because we changed the curriculum the A section was no longer running. We were only running the B section to help students that had already taken the A section to complete the entire course. So 3 of those students when changing to the correct, new curriculum courses had to pay for an additional credit hour, because the new course has 4 credit hours. The other students had individual issues because they were trying to substitute a course for one of the state required courses.

The fun didn't stop there! The bookstore on our main campus had changed management and practically all of our fall semester textbook orders for my particular program were not made. This meant that nearly all of our courses started the semester without any textbooks, and some still are without them despite our third week into the semester.

And wouldn't you know it, that's not the last of it either! Because we had lost a part-time instructor to another college. A community college further west had a full-time teaching position available in machine shop and one of our part-time instructors applied for it. I can't really blame him, in fact, I'm glad that he got it. He was not working anywhere else and had no benefits or insurance. I told him that I wish I could lie to him and tell him that he's needed more in our program than theirs but I couldn't do that and he would be a fool not to take that position. So, with the loss in personnel I've had to take up two additional courses this semester. Hopefully I'll get some more help but I'm guessing that this coming spring might be even more difficult to deal with. We'll see. 

This is the main reason why I've not posted anything in awhile. I was just too busy to keep up anything on the blades I'm making. Overall, I'd say that this has to be the most difficult semester starts I've ever seen, and I'm including all of the time I had taught part-time starting in 2001. It has, thankfully slowed down just a bit. So, this should lead to more posts and progress updates on the blades.

But, all of this hasn't stopped my desire to learn more about knifemaking! In fact, I had enrolled into another 4 day course at Montgomery Community College - much to the dismay of my boss who knows that I'm now behind on much (if not all) of my administration. This time I took a custom folding knife course. This covered the required steps and materials needed to make a custom folding (pocket) knife. The course was setup so that a person with a minimum amount of power equipment could complete a folder. And to the instructor's credit, that's exactly how I made it. The only equipment that I used that I don't currently own is the heat treat furnaces and the anodizing tank. But everything else can be done with a minimum of equipment, most available in most homes. The exception is the knifemaker's grinder. I own a Grizzly but I suspect that most average home owners don't have something similar.

The instructor was fun and knowledgeable and I had a good time learning his methods. But he's also full of shit. I'll explain. We were finishing up a step about midway through the process when it became very obvious that we've either skipped a step or performed it incorrectly because some of the pieces are not fitting together at all. All students' knives with one exception were just not fitting together properly - including the instructor's wife who is also a knifemaker. In fact, everyone's knife pieces were fitting together incorrectly in the exact same way. We eventually learned what was done wrong but we still had a chance to correct it and it was an internal piece so the change wasn't going to affect the final project. But according to the instructor, we must have not listened to his instruction. This step was important to the fit of each piece but we must not have followed his instruction - according to him. To which I replied, "Your full of shit!" He tried to defend his position by saying that he had 24 years of knifemaking experience and wouldn't tell students to do that. Which I again replied, "Your full of shit." I didn't really mind that a mistake was made. In fact, often I have to push some faltering students into attempting a project just so that they will make a mistake and learn from it. A student afraid of making mistakes doesn't benefit from hesitating when learning. What bothered me was the assertion that we (the students) deliberately tried a different method of completing the steps - despite the fact that no one (except the instructor's wife) had any experience. As if all other students (none of whom had any knifemaking experience) would've said to themselves, "I see the instructor's methods but I'm going to apply my own." The instructor could tell that I got angry at him and he recanted what he said and eventually stated that it's possible that he misspoke his instructions to the class. But the rest of the class went without any more of this and I had a lot of fun.

So the folding knife is a custom design with bolsters. The blade is ATS-34 steel. This is a stainless steel developed by Hitachi in Japan. The bolsters are 440C stainless. And the scales are black linen micarta. As one can see from the photos the overall length (unfolded) is approx. 6.5" and the length of the blade (from the bolsters) is just shy of 2-5/8" with the thickness at 3/32". Closed length is almost 4". The liners are titanium and the back spacer is 440C.

From these photos, it may be possible to see the jeweling I did to the inside of the titanium liners.

Micarta leaves a beautiful, random layered pattern when ground away.

The thumb-stud is easily accessible despite having ran out of time to grind into the handle a relief cut to allow better engagement.

There is some noticeable blade play at the tip when opened but the lock up is solid.

The lock up is a liner lock cut into the titanium liners. The liners were also anodized after everything was completed to them, including the jeweling. It's also worth noting that we put a ball detent into one liner and a divot into the blade that will "pull" the blade fully closed with tension. This works quite well.

I put a slight bevel along either side of the spine of the blade.

Damn I'm good!

These photos show the file work I did to the thumb rest area along the spine of the blade. I used small needle  files (sometimes called jeweler's files) to cut this pattern. This is known as the vine pattern. I'm quite pleased with the result.

One can also see the discoloring of the titanium liners from anodizing. I chose a dark gold color.

Just barely fits inside my hand.

Technically the project isn't quite finished yet. I've got to grind out a section to expose the liner lock and make it easier to operate. I also need to adjust the pivot screw hidden underneath the bolsters because of the blade play - but this is minor and may only require a bit of lubrication. And, the edge isn't really that good - and it was done by the instructor! So, it still needs a few minor tweaks but otherwise it's ready for use as it is now. This was a really fun project and nearly everything done to this knife can be done at most homes. I'm really excited about future blades! I fully intend to get back into my unfinished fixed blades that I was working on and then go straight into some more folders. I just really hope that the semester will smooth out a bit and allow me the time to focus on my knifemaking. We'll see!

The Blackbear First! (Of Hopefully Many!)

Sorry I haven't written any articles lately. One reason is because at our school we were finishing up the summer semester and preparing for graduation. But the main reason is because afterwards, I took a little time off for a knifemaking class! The class was held at Montgomery Community College in Troy, NC. It was a bit of a drive for me to have to commute so I decided to stay in a hotel near Albemarle, about 20 minutes west of Troy. Troy is located in Montgomery County and a large section of the county is federal forest - the Uwharrie National Forest; part of the Uwharrie (Yew-are-ee) Mountains. I've lived there for part of my life in the Uwharrie Mountains (in Randolph County) and despite the heat, it was a pleasure returning. The Uwharrie Mountains have beautiful rolling small mountains, many rivers and lakes, loads of trails, and a lot of other opportunities for the outdoor enthusiast. Unfortunately, I was really busy during my class so I was unable to take much time off and photograph anything during my stay. Oh well, maybe later I'll go back and take some photos for another video slideshow. I'm actually about to leave tomorrow for a short stay up in the Appalachian Mountains for a bit. I sincerely hope that it'll be cooler there than it has been around here. These Southeastern summers are brutal and I don't deal with them very well.


So the class was Intro to Tactical Knifemaking taught by Barry and Phillip Jones of Jones Knives. The two brothers have more than 20+ years experience making knives. There were eight people in the class. Most were from NC but at least 2 came from Chattanooga, TN. The instructors were very knowledgeable and helpful.


The first day we started right off cutting the material and shaping the overall knife. The second day was spent mostly putting the grind on our blades and preparing them for heat-treating. We started working on the handle scales on the third day and finished up the fourth day on our knife edges. I think that the most challenging part about this process was putting the grind on the blade. I kept messing up the grind at first but practice and a little patience improved my technique. The next day I was able to finish up the grind and catch up with the rest of the class. I wished that I had taken my camera for some pictures of the process. A fellow student was doing that and he said that once he gets them edited that he'll send me some. Hopefully I'll get those soon.


Anyway, here it is! The first ever completed knife I've made. The blade is made of 440C 2" x 5/32" stainless steel and it is a full tang knife. Note that this is not the design I had been working on in my shop prior to the class. The overall length is 7-1/2 inches and the blade is 3-1/4 inches. Because of the integral blade guard, the handle just barely allows for a full grip of my sized hands. The design is Barry Jones' (I think). Even though we were supposed to make tactical knives (which I don't really care much for), I envisioned a small game skinning knife with this design. We heat-treated the blades first at around 1880 degrees Fahrenheit. They were then air quenched (basically left to cool on their own) and then we tempered them at about 350 degrees. My blade was one of few that actually came out of the furnace from the first heating in a pretty good state. Its appearance on the blade didn't change very much at all. The handle scales are black linen micarta. And the pins are brass. Some of the imperfections in the blade have been left because I want to make sure I learn from those mistakes I've made. Still, overall I had a good time and I learned a lot. Not bad for a first completed attempt! Not sure what I should name it yet. Any suggestions?

The Amateur Crafter: 3.0: First Design – Continued

Let’s grind some metal!

After rough cutting the profile it’s time to finish it up smooth so that I can get a “feel” for how it fits in the hand without scales. First I used a 60 grit 2 x 72 belt. The photo shows the distinctive orange color that the Norton Blaze belts are known for. It was pretty easy, with one exception. The finger choil area. 

The smaller 1 x 30 belt sander. Although this sander seems to be really cheap, it did do a good job of roughing out some of the portaband saw cuts. However, I didn’t have a way to get into the finger choil area without taking more material off than needed along the lower part of the handle. I will also have to modify this belt sander as I could really use the rounded section of belt around the upper wheel. This would be useful for getting into curved areas that the Grizzly cannot reach but it also means removing a safety feature for the sander, in this case – a guard.

I tried switching to my Grizzly oscillating drum sander. This method could be much easier, but the heaviest grit I had available was 180.Not enough to really make a difference in finishing up the handle tang. I would need either a heavier grit drum or a different method.

Here one can see that I’ve mounted the template between some 2 x 4 pieces leftover from my Wen 10” Sliding Compound Mitre Saw table. The wood blocks allow me to use the vise to hold the blank without marring the surface. This allowed me to access the finger choil area and the rest of the bottom of the handle with a half-round bastard file. Not the easiest method, but it gave me a lot of control over the material removal process. Plus there were some “high spots” along the lower handle area from grinding where the belt couldn’t reach. This took longer than expected but the final result was a smooth finger choil area and a smooth lower handle section. I’ll post in a later article how I finished this with a method called draw-filing. 

The file I used to finish up the handle area. It produced a bit of a rough texture but with the smaller jeweler’s file similar to this one I was able to improve the finish.

The final template. I’ve since drilled a hole at the end corner of the handle for hanging on pegboard. This may turn out to be the same location for a lanyard hole. We’ll see. I didn’t want to add pin holes just yet as I may decide to use a different size pin in the future or I may even decide to use screw construction to mount the scales instead of pins. We’ll see.

The template and how it fits in my hand. The actual blade will probably include some jimping along the spine of the blade near the handle for greater control. Also, the blade will be 5/32" thick as opposed to the template which is 3/32" thick.

So what have I learned so far? Well, I’ve learned that despite the headache the Grizzly belt sander gave me, it works great. I especially love the Norton Blaze 60 grit 2 x 72 sanding belts. Those belts cut right through my 1095 steel like butter. I’ve learned to give a bit of extra material for those belts. Believe me, they won’t have any problems cutting extra material down. For future reference, I’ll remind myself to allow the belt to do most of the work for me and not try so much at cutting the blank as close as possible to the design with the portaband saw. I’ve also realized that in order to reach the gully of the finger choil, I will probably need to invest into more abrasive grit belts for the 1 x 30 as well as more abrasive sanding drums. There’s nothing wrong with switching over to a more time-honored method of material removal like hand filing, but if I wish to complete the profiling of the blades in a shorter amount of time, it would pay to have power tools and accessories that can help me accomplish this. Looks like I get to go shopping for more shop stuff!

Up next – a short production run!