I put this post up on BB, but I thought I should share here too 
A thread wqas started last week about an american maker who made a knife in an hour, some were saying that they didn't believe it. So I stupidly said that it could be done adn I thought that I could do it in half an hour. Me and my big mouth
this is the thread:
After making a rash boast in a similar thread about a knife that was made in an hour, i had to put my hammer where my mouth is and have a go at making a knife in about half an hour!
Me and my big mouth!
So today I took the camera with me to work, put a new battery in the clock and prepared teh tools for my sprint! please excuse the poor photos, i was in a bit of a hurry
The aim was to forge a blade as fast as possible, harden it, temper it, then fit a handle and shape it. I wanted to leave the handle at the 120 grit stage, so it is smooth but not completely finished if you like, the handle is not glued in, but that would take an extra 24 hours!
Here we go.
The time (double checked with the clock on my phone) is 10:37 am
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I used a piece of 1/2" BS1407 (I was calling it W2 but found out that the chemical details i was given were, um, incorrect! The steel however is really rather good now that I'm used to working with it ). I used a piece of beech for the handle as that's all I had in the workshop apart form a piece of antler, now that would've bee a quick handle!
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Forge a point onto the bar and flatten out enough to make the knife.
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Then put the bend in it so I don't end up with a banana skinner! Followed by the forging of the bevels.
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Now I chop the bar off with the angle grinder and work on the tang.
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Now I refine the bevels and straighten everything up. The pic was taken while the blade was normalising (only once to keep time down).
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While the blade is cooling I rush over and drill a pilot hole in the block of ash, then mount it on the lathe.
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The blade is almost cool, so I go straight into the hardening process. It's edge quenched into warm oil.
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I now clean the blade witha bit of scrap abrasive paper and draw a temper with a pair of red hot tongs
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Time to fit the handle to the finished blade I use a premade tool to burn the hole open, I use this tool when making knives with the iron age forge, normally I would use a blowtorch andthe actual tang, but this is a little less subtle!
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Once the blade is fitted into the rough turned handle I need to shape it properly using the belt grinder. I also run over the handle with a bit of 120 grit paper to smooth things out.
Here is the finished knife
and it went in straight!
And the finishing time was 11:03 am. the 11am news just finishing on the radio!
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Now that was a rushed knife! I dunno how long it actually took, but with the photos it came to 24 minutes!
You see, I told you it could be done! Now even I believe it
Needles to say, this isn't how I normally make knives. I normally take more time and care over things especially the heat treat and fit&finish! But it was good for a giggle
A thread wqas started last week about an american maker who made a knife in an hour, some were saying that they didn't believe it. So I stupidly said that it could be done adn I thought that I could do it in half an hour. Me and my big mouth this is the thread:
After making a rash boast in a similar thread about a knife that was made in an hour, i had to put my hammer where my mouth is and have a go at making a knife in about half an hour!
Me and my big mouth!
So today I took the camera with me to work, put a new battery in the clock and prepared teh tools for my sprint! please excuse the poor photos, i was in a bit of a hurry
The aim was to forge a blade as fast as possible, harden it, temper it, then fit a handle and shape it. I wanted to leave the handle at the 120 grit stage, so it is smooth but not completely finished if you like, the handle is not glued in, but that would take an extra 24 hours!
Here we go.
The time (double checked with the clock on my phone) is 10:37 am
[HIDE]
I used a piece of 1/2" BS1407 (I was calling it W2 but found out that the chemical details i was given were, um, incorrect! The steel however is really rather good now that I'm used to working with it
). I used a piece of beech for the handle as that's all I had in the workshop apart form a piece of antler, now that would've bee a quick handle![HIDE]
Forge a point onto the bar and flatten out enough to make the knife.
[HIDE]
Then put the bend in it so I don't end up with a banana skinner! Followed by the forging of the bevels.
[HIDE]
Now I chop the bar off with the angle grinder and work on the tang.
[HIDE]
Now I refine the bevels and straighten everything up. The pic was taken while the blade was normalising (only once to keep time down).
[HIDE]
[/HIDE]
While the blade is cooling I rush over and drill a pilot hole in the block of ash, then mount it on the lathe.
[HIDE]
The blade is almost cool, so I go straight into the hardening process. It's edge quenched into warm oil.
[HIDE]
I now clean the blade witha bit of scrap abrasive paper and draw a temper with a pair of red hot tongs
[HIDE]
Time to fit the handle to the finished blade
I use a premade tool to burn the hole open, I use this tool when making knives with the iron age forge, normally I would use a blowtorch andthe actual tang, but this is a little less subtle![HIDE]
[/HIDE]
Once the blade is fitted into the rough turned handle I need to shape it properly using the belt grinder. I also run over the handle with a bit of 120 grit paper to smooth things out.
Here is the finished knife
and it went in straight!
And the finishing time was 11:03 am. the 11am news just finishing on the radio!
[HIDE]
Now that was a rushed knife!
I dunno how long it actually took, but with the photos it came to 24 minutes!You see, I told you it could be done! Now even I believe it
Needles to say, this isn't how I normally make knives. I normally take more time and care over things especially the heat treat and fit&finish! But it was good for a giggle
