Another big knife I made

The handle looks awesome! I would have thought it was kirinite or something because of how well it came out.

Thanks. Its from a lump of burl off a birch tree. Its basically a tree tumor, so the growth patterns get really wild and make for a pretty dramatic looking material.
 
Did you just grind out the sreel, or did you forge it? What was your heat treat?

I do a bit of forging, on smaller blades mostly. But working on the grinder is just way faster than forging on these big blades. Unless you have a power hammer, which I dont. So yeah, this is all stock removal, apart from a bit of forging on the tang because I had cut it too straight, and realised later that I wanted a bit of a downward curve on the handle.

As for heat treat, I normalise three times in the forge, then water quench, followed by three tempering cycles in the kitchen oven.
 
That's really cool, man. Thanks for sharing.

How long does it take to make the blade alone?
 
That's really cool, man. Thanks for sharing.

How long does it take to make the blade alone?

Quite a few hours. I dont really know. I dont start these and continue until I'm done. I do a bit here and a bit there over days or weeks. I work fairly slow, being a beginner. If I charged by the hour, this would be one damned expensive knife, which is why I dont sell my stuff.
 
I do a bit of forging, on smaller blades mostly. But working on the grinder is just way faster than forging on these big blades. Unless you have a power hammer, which I dont. So yeah, this is all stock removal, apart from a bit of forging on the tang because I had cut it too straight, and realised later that I wanted a bit of a downward curve on the handle.

As for heat treat, I normalise three times in the forge, then water quench, followed by three tempering cycles in the kitchen oven.
Stock removal?
<DisgustingHHH>
 
Excellent craftsmanship. So much better to put your time and effort into making a beautiful knife than burying an ugly one in someone's chest.
 
Excellent craftsmanship. So much better to put your time and effort into making a beautiful knife than burying an ugly one in someone's chest.
Thank you. No plans to bury any knives in any chests though, beautiful or not.
 
I've never used D2. It one of those really good steels that is very demanding with regards to correct temperature and soak times. I wouldnt be able to heat treat it properly with the equipment I have. It has a fair bit of chromium in it, which should make it stain resistant at least, while plain carbon steel like I use, rusts and patinas quite quickly. I havent played around with forced patinas like vinegar, beer or mustard soaks yet, but I plan to.
I forced a patina on a gayle Bradley in d2 using mustard. It turned out pretty good. Not as good as some of the patinas I've seen online though.

Anyways. Very nice work again.
 
I forced a patina on a gayle Bradley in d2 using mustard. It turned out pretty good. Not as good as some of the patinas I've seen online though.

Anyways. Very nice work again.

Cool. Did you feel that the D2 needed patina for rust resistance, or was it mostly for the look of it?
 
Cool. Did you feel that the D2 needed patina for rust resistance, or was it mostly for the look of it?
Purely aesthetic reasons although I did EDC it for a few months prior and it held up pretty well.

I'm not exactly hard on my blades though.
 
More than one way to skin a cat, I forge all my knives but in end all my knives are stock removal. Way more important things in a knife than if it was forged vs stock removal

@Einar another great knife

Thank you. And yeah, I think heat treatment is probably the most important thing, next to steel quality. (and proper shaping, bevels, etc) That said, i think there's a good chance that makers who forge their blades will on average also be better at heat treating than stock removal makers. I dont have any data to back that up, its just a feeling I have.
 
Thank you. And yeah, I think heat treatment is probably the most important thing, next to steel quality. (and proper shaping, bevels, etc) That said, i think there's a good chance that makers who forge their blades will on average also be better at heat treating than stock removal makers. I dont have any data to back that up, its just a feeling I have.


Have you tried any damascus stuff?

My fear with getting into a knife making hobby would be spending stupid money on sites like this
https://nicholsdamascus.com
 
Have you tried any damascus stuff?

My fear with getting into a knife making hobby would be spending stupid money on sites like this
https://nicholsdamascus.com

I dont know all that much about damascus prices, but that seems really expensive to me. You can buy finished high quality pattern welded blades from guys like Owen Bush for less than the price some of those damascus billets.

Edit: no, I've never used damascus.
 
I dont know all that much about damascus prices, but that seems really expensive to me. You can buy finished high quality pattern welded blades from guys like Owen Bush for less than the price some of those damascus billets.

Edit: no, I've never used damascus.


I know a lot of custom knife makers will use Nichols stuff. Specifically his boomerang pattern.
 
Thank you. And yeah, I think heat treatment is probably the most important thing, next to steel quality. (and proper shaping, bevels, etc) That said, i think there's a good chance that makers who forge their blades will on average also be better at heat treating than stock removal makers. I dont have any data to back that up, its just a feeling I have.
No worries. Yeah agree that heat treats the most important aspect, only reason I forge is that I find it fun. Makers who forge being better on average at heat treating I can sorta see that. They are spending more time using and getting to know their forge and starring at hot steel, never really thought about it though. That said stock removal makers at the top I'd say would be on par with makers how forge at the top I reckon

And yeah some of that Damascus seems pricey. I got given a fair bit of cable that I want to give a go forge welding but want to build a separate forge first just for Damascus, don't want to fuck the lining in the forge I've got now
 
That said stock removal makers at the top I'd say would be on par with makers how forge at the top I reckon

Yeah, i agree with that. And yeah, forging can be a lot of fun. I hope one day to be able to make my own damascus, and learning to do proper, clean forge welds is really the only road to achieve that.
 
I think I'm gonna start a new knife here this week. Thread has inspired me to make a new one or two.
 
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