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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 12-19-2016, 02:16 PM
Sgt_Gatr Sgt_Gatr is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 6
Newbie and just completed my first knife!

Hello everyone. Just registered with knife network even though I have been lingering for years. A little background. I am 30 years old and grew up in Missouri. After high school I joined the Marine Corps and ended up in Arizona. Did the college thing for a bit before I decided to get a job doing what I was doing in the Marines. I currently live in Kansas City, MO and I just completed my first knife. The first two I started on went south when I started using a 1x30 belt grinder freehand so I went old school and made a wooden jig like the one Aaron Gough made a video about.

It has its flaws but it cuts stuff so I am happy. I have a question regarding the ivory G10 I used. I am currently using an old sheath for it until I make a custom one out of Kydex. I have noticed that the sheath has left marks on the G10 where the button closure is. I always thought G10 would be a little tougher than that and I am worried that sliding in and out of a kydex sheath will blacken the g10 over time. Will this be an issue?


https://www.flickr.com/photos/142926...n/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/142926...n/photostream/

Last edited by Sgt_Gatr; 12-19-2016 at 02:33 PM. Reason: Add Pictures
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  #2  
Old 12-19-2016, 02:23 PM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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welcome, I don't THINK the kydex will blacken the handle if anything it MIGHT leave little scratches like it would on a mirror polished blade be sure after all the grinding and shapeing is done on the sheath you clean it with water really good to get all the bits and pieces that get everywhere when grinding out of the sheath that will minimize the scratching, on other colors of g10 I haven't noticed scratches but never used the ivory you tend to notice little scratches on shiny things and light colors more than others, put up some pics of the blade when you can I am sure everyone would love to see it, also thank you for the service being a marine!
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  #3  
Old 12-19-2016, 04:19 PM
damon damon is offline
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bottom line..... if you want to keep your knife looking pristine...... DONT USE IT!

if little normal wear and tare marks bother you, just remember this YOU MADE THE KNIFE. YOU CAN ALWAYS REFINISH IT.
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  #4  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:05 PM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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Looks good for a first try.

The blade looks pretty good, you did a nice linear finish on it. I always use leather and I put another layer of thin leather if I have rivets that will slide up against the blade and especially the handle. Use a piece of leather to cover where the back of the snap is. Just use a very small piece of leather or thick cloth, just enough to cover the back of the snap where it touches the handle and simply super glue it there, the glue will work, just use a little bit.

Now for some constructive criticism. I hope those tubes holding the handle on are not full of epoxy as they look like they are filled with ground G10 in the pics? If there is glue in there you can drill it out. Also something else, Hope that helps.

What metal did you use and how did you heat treat it by the way?

Last edited by jimmontg; 12-19-2016 at 06:37 PM.
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  #5  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:14 PM
Sgt_Gatr Sgt_Gatr is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmontg View Post
The blade looks pretty good, you did a nice linear finish on it. I use leather and I put another layer of thin leather if I have rivets that will slide up against the blade and especially the handle. Use a piece of leather to cover where the back of the snap is. Just use a very small piece of leather or thick cloth, just enough to cover the back of the snap where it touches the handle and simply super glue it there, the glue will work, just use a little bit. I hope those tubes holding the handle on are not full of epoxy as they look like they are filled with ground G10 in the pics? If there is glue in there you can drill it out.

What metal did you use and how did you heat treat it by the way?
Hey thanks for the tips. The holes were full of epoxy from gluing the handle. I have since (today) cleaned them out with a bit and they look pretty good. The finishing touch will be to figure out how to get the epoxy off where the handle and ricasso meet. There is also some blue painters tape that is stuck there and I need to get of the decarb on the plunge line.

As for the steel it is 1084. I heat treated using two MAP gas torches. Got it up to non magnetic and held it there for a few minutes then quenched it in heated canola oil. I then tempered for 2 hours in 425 degree oven twice.
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  #6  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:17 PM
Sgt_Gatr Sgt_Gatr is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by damon View Post
bottom line..... if you want to keep your knife looking pristine...... DONT USE IT!

if little normal wear and tare marks bother you, just remember this YOU MADE THE KNIFE. YOU CAN ALWAYS REFINISH IT.
I don't really care if it gets marks but its going to be a christmas present for my father-in-law so I would like it to look decent for at least a little while. I chose G10 because it would be tougher than wood but I guess I chose a bad color for wear and tear.
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  #7  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:31 PM
J. Stewart J. Stewart is offline
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Nice work and welcome!
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  #8  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:35 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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You're using the right steel but the heat treat process you described is something that has almost no chance of getting the optimal result for your blade. Doing it right is only a little more effort than what you did so I hope you'll look into heat treating in more depth very soon. After all, it might look nice for your father-in-law and it might seem to cut just fine but that won't mean much if the blade snaps the first time he tries to do a little light prying with it ...


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  #9  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:39 PM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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I was doing an edit, so ignore my edits
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  #10  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:40 PM
Sgt_Gatr Sgt_Gatr is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Ray Rogers View Post
You're using the right steel but the heat treat process you described is something that has almost no chance of getting the optimal result for your blade. Doing it right is only a little more effort than what you did so I hope you'll look into heat treating in more depth very soon. After all, it might look nice for your father-in-law and it might seem to cut just fine but that won't mean much if the blade snaps the first time he tries to do a little light prying with it ...
Ill take note of that but I have seen and read several individuals getting good results with the method I used. I am not claiming to know it all though and I realize the method I used is less than ideal. However it will be hard enough for whatever me or my father in law plan on doing with it. I would never advise using a blade to pry with, that is asking for trouble. I do plan on making a small forge out of fire brick for the next knife.
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  #11  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:42 PM
jimmontg jimmontg is offline
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To remove the excess epoxy and tape just use a piece of sharpened aluminum if you have any, as a matter of fact you can use a piece of the G10 you used to scrape it off the blade.
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  #12  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:44 PM
Sgt_Gatr Sgt_Gatr is offline
 
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Originally Posted by J. Stewart View Post
Nice work and welcome!
Thanks for that and I am glad to be here.
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  #13  
Old 12-19-2016, 06:45 PM
Sgt_Gatr Sgt_Gatr is offline
 
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Originally Posted by jimmontg View Post
To remove the excess epoxy and tape just use a piece of sharpened aluminum if you have any, as a matter of fact you can use a piece of the G10 you used to scrape it off the blade.
Awesome, I will give that a shot!
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  #14  
Old 12-19-2016, 07:16 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I don't think there is much doubt that the blade is 'hard enough', the question is what has made it hard? There are several different crystalline structures that the steel will take on depending on how the heat is applied. While several of them are 'hard' some of them are not 'tough' - in other words, the blade can be quite brittle. Some are tough but not as hard as it could be. While I agree that a blade is not the right tool for prying that is only one example of how people will use a knife when they have no other convenient choice. Like I said, the difference in what you did and what you could have done is not huge but the result can be.

Skip the bricks and make a real forge. Small is OK but a real forge is easy to build and can be cheap and it will make your heat treating much easier and more reliable...


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  #15  
Old 12-20-2016, 08:05 AM
dtec1 dtec1 is offline
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i agree you will be much happier with a forge. and yeh prying aint the job for a knife but its a test to see if it will break. once I learned to HT I have pryed plenty of things with my knives to test them....never had one break yet....unless I was trying to break it wich you should do on the next knife its the only way to see the grain and see how the HT went
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arizona, bee, belt, blade, chris, christmas, custom, first knife, g10, grinder, grinding, handle, heat treat, ivory, jig, knife, kydex, kydex sheath, leather, made, make, newbie, ore, sheath, video


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