My first blade

[Neiltoo]

This is my first knife attempt, its a little clumsy but im pretty pleased with it for a first go.

I'm posting this in the hope of some advice for my second attempt. The blade is 01 ground flat stock from Cromwells - the heat treatment seemed to go ok - I made a 2 brick kiln and used a mapp blowtorch. The last 1.5 inches of the tang didnt get hot enough - is this a problem?
I tempered the blade in a domestic electric oven to about 450 deg F ( I think!) how long should the blade stay in the oven to be sure its reached the right temp. I didnt see the colour change that I expected so im not sure if this worked out ok. This has been an experiment and I dont expect this first knife to get much use but I still dont want it to snap on me.
I didnt anneal the back or the tang of the knife. Im a bit confused as to whether this is essential or not - there is so much info on the net but some of it is contradictory to say the least!
Finally as you will see, the grind is neither straight or even. I appreciate that this takes skill which I will have to learn. but if anyone has any tips they would be gratefully recieved.
Im using a cheap (rexon) bench grinder 40 and 60 grit wheels and a 6 inch belt sander. I find it very hard to see how much of the blade is in contact with the belt which is why (I think) the grind wanders all over the place.
Thanks for any input.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c332/neiltoo/Firstknife017.jpg

 

[Ogri the trog]

Hey Neiltoo,
If only my first attempt was as clumsy as yours.
Thats fantastic!

Ogri the trog

 

[Kepis]

Looks pretty good to me mate, hope my first attempt comes out as well as that when i eventually pluck up the courage to have a go :You_Rock_

 

[Neiltoo]

Thanks - dont get me wrong i am pleased with it but the camera is concealing quite a few flaws

 

[spoony]

Well done hoping to do my first knife soon, hope it looks as good as yours

 

[running bare]

hi nieltoo

you could have put the belt sander upside down in a workmate and run the blade across, it would give you a bit more control.. but on the whole a very impressive first

tom

 

[Shing]

Good first knife. dosen't matter about the tang not getting hard, better really for toughness. 450F sounds about right, 2 hours at 450, take it out and let it cool to room temp than another 2 hours. Should go a light yellow colour if the blade has been sanded back to bare metal after quenching. Annealing the tang is needed if it was harderned and annealing the back would make the whole blade tougher but really needs a wider blade for that to work well. I use a cheap 4x36 belt sander for grinding blades, works OK.

 

[Neiltoo]

Thanks for the feedback Shing - just what I needed. As I thought I didnt leave it in the oven long enough. i'll know for next time. What make is your belt sander? the one that im using is kind of big and old - it belonged to my dad. The belts are 6" by 50" and I think its maybe too big for anything delicate.

 

[dtalbot]

As Shing says yellow colour, about that of fresh straw, is about right. I've managed to get it on EN42 with 2 30 min bakes at 200C
Cheers
David

 

[Shing]

I use something similar to this. http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=060615005&r=2126&g=116.

I split the belts in half to make them 2 inches wide and stick a piece of glass 2 inches wide by 6 inches long in the middle of the platen to work against.

 

[dtalbot]

Or for a bit more money this one is well thought of by the Britishblades crowd:
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/F31462||@cDisc%20and%20Belt%20Sanders@b|0|user|1,0,0,1|10|

 

[Neiltoo]

Thanks for the info - the fox sander looks a lot like the one that I have.
I guess I just have to learn to use it properly

 

[chrisvreugd]

hi,
looks very nice!! I just got some O1steel, and have some questions...
1) how did you saw te blade?? (pretty hard ehj!!)
2) is it 4mm??
3) where did you find that sample, or did you made it yourself...

greets from rainy holland

 

[Neiltoo]

Hi Chrisvreugd,
Its 3mm 01 stock.
I used a hacksaw - 18tpi bi metal blade, it takes a little while but not to long. I havnt got any jigsaw blades that would cut it and I dont have a metal cutting bandsaw.
By sample, do you mean the design of the blade ?
If so I didnt come up with it myself ( I havnt an artistic bone in my body!)
Its pretty much based on pics that you will find here http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=40.
Hope this helps. I found pretty much everything I needed to know either on this forum or British Blades.