I'm working on a few knives today and thought I'd take a few shots along the way so you could see what I'm doing. This is the "embryo" of a hunting knife blade. It's damascus but you'll see I have to do more work to it.
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You can see the blade is somewhat shaped, but too thick yet and the tang is just a thick stub.
Cool Lin. Thank you for taking the time!!
Cheers
I'm liking that one already. From seeing your past knives, I have a picture of the finished knife in my mind. Now it's going to be interesting to see how close I am :)
Thanks
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Getting it up to heat. It will be much hotter and then I flatten it and finish forging it. By the time the grooves are worked out, it's should be ready to grind.
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The blade is hardened and drawn once. It will be drawn one more time and tested. You can tell that the pattern will be fine.
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Love your ladder pattern, Lin!
I forgot to point out that this is with the scale on, before any clean up. :) I guess you knew that, but it will look better soon. I cant work on it much today. Not sure yet. I'll post pics as I get em.
No doubt, it will be a masterpiece... much like all your knives! Anxious to see it finished.
You know how much I love your knives, Lin. I have to say that I am already excited about this one.
Allan
Hey Lin you need to start building knives with yer eyes closed to make it more challenging! :)
Thanks guys. The blade is in pretty good shape, nice and thin. About 1/8 at the ricasso. I'll probably file a clip in this one since it's not an order. The ladder pattern really shows up well in a clip. It's about 4 inches give or take a sixteenth. I was working on it yesterday in between some other pressing projects. It will be ready to show soon.
Lin, after you press/file your grooves, do you do any forging at all?
Matt, I cut the groves in with a side grinder and clean the ridges up with the edge of the platten. Then heat the zig zagged blade almost to welding heat, almost, then flatten the entire blade. Since it has some geometry already, I have to, more or less, take the kinks out. Notice that the general profiling has been done prior to the grooving and flattening (the embryo), so that means less distortion for the pattern as long as you just concentrate on working the grooves out.
This requires planning ahead for the flattening. Number one, the blade embryo has to be thick enough to allow the loss of the material that goes away with the formation of grooves. Number two, the major profiling should be done at the embryo stage, so no (not much anyway) profile changes have to be done. There will be some spreading and legthening of the blade during the flattening stage.
I achieve this pattern different than most. Most use fullers, then grind.
What an interesting and effective technique. That's going to be yet another fine blade. Thanks for sharing the in-progress photos of your work. Those help a lot. :)
I filed in the clip yesterday. Diamond needle files come in handy for breaking the crust on the tempered steel. Then a good regular file will bite if you hold it right. I have the blade 80% finsished but will finalize the hand sanding and the etch soon. The blade length is full a 4 inches.
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By the way, the stag is just a spacer/washer to soften the push of the clamp. It wont be a part of the knife.
I just really, really love the way ladder looks on the spine.
One of my favorite views.
She's gonna be sweet, Lin.
I like the idea of the spacer to keep the rear of the guard undamaged while seating the guard.
Yes, the ladder pattern really does show well on the spine and especially the clip.
What are the steels that went into this one, Lin?
The blade steels are 1084 and 15N20
Nobody makes a prettier knife than you do, Lin.
Allan
A very cool blade Lin, think I'd call that one the Goblin blade, lots of little critters in there looking out at me.
Thank you my friends.
Here is the finished knife fresh off the work bench. I took the pics with my cell so they dont flatter the knife much. But you get the idea.
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That knife doesn't need flattery. The ladder pattern really reaches out to me. The ironwood's not exactly shabby either!
Nice, well balanced design.
Love it. Very beautifull clip point hunter. I hope the recipient gets it bloody. Some people will claim a knife to pretty to use.........I hold the opinion that knives like this are too nice to pine away in a glass case. There is much satisfaction to be derived from using beautifull tools for their intended purpose. After all, when was the last time you heard someone say "this bow is too purdy to hunt with"?
Top notch work as always Lin.
Darcy :)
Darcy, I can assure you that knife will be properly blooded - hopefully this year. Probably only once, though.
I really should be carrying one of my own knives, but Lin is one of my knife making heroes and I wanted one of his knives in my hands.
This knife will be a benchmark for me to work toward. Lin has the artistic talent to go with his technical skills. This is a knife I am going to be very proud to show off.
Ron
Ron, Stop by my booth sometime and show that baby off to me. Lins work sure is nice.
CTT
Very, very nice. The perfect size IMO.
Thanks for taking the time to show us the progress Lin. I really like the size and shape of the blade for a hunter. Man it's purdy :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
The Rhea hunter is definitely a modern classic. Another great on Lin, your ladders are about as good as it gets IMHO.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bladepeek:
Darcy, I can assure you that knife will be properly blooded - hopefully this year. Probably only once, though.
I really should be carrying one of my own knives, but Lin is one of my knife making heroes and I wanted one of his knives in my hands.
This knife will be a benchmark for me to work toward. Lin has the artistic talent to go with his technical skills. This is a knife I am going to be very proud to show off.
Ron
Good to hear it will see action. Congrats on aquiring such a fine blade. :thumbsup:
Darcy :)
It is a very beautiful hunter. Great work Lin. Congrats Ron. I will say I am a touch jealous.
Chris
That is a beautiful knife.
Rob
Chris, don't be jealous, do the same thing I did :)
I'm not really a collector, in the usual sense of the word. I don't own anything I won't use - gun, bow, or knife. I own very few knives by other makers.
As an amateur knife maker, I can make a very serviceable knife and prefer to carry one of my own. I will use Lin's knife at least once to get a feel for it. Then I'll put one of my own back on my belt, clean Lin's and put it where I can see it often.
I bought Lin's knife for the same reason I own a couple from other makers. He is a master craftsman with obvious artistic talent. It gives me something to admire and a probably unreachable benchmark to work towards. I raided our savings to pay for it and will sell guns or bows as necessary to replace the money. They will be guns or bows I don't really need. The knife will be something that I will pass on to my sons and they will know where I got it and why.
We're really lucky to have a master smith, so generous with his knowledge and time on this forum. I look forward to each new post. Better than a centerfold when you're my age :(
I agree, I hold values much like your. I also feel very fortunate to have Lin here to share his knowledge. He is very helpful and generous with his time and talents. Enjoy it and please share pics when you do use it.
Chris
Lin
To fully understand the zig zag creation process I'm wondering if the side grinder is vise mounted and you push the blade against it to have more control? Or do you do the opposite?
Thanks guys.
Ray, I just use a hand held side grinder. You can get different effects by using thicker or thinner wheels. The trick to this is to grind the right depth so you can forge it out and end up at your desired blade thickness.
so you use some sort of 'stop' on both side of your blade to insure you dont go too deeply?
I guess I'm showing you why I'm not the 'sharpest tool in the shed', huh???
Ray,
Good question. I dont use a stop because the blade is tapered and beveled. Any set depth would only be right for part of the blade then quickly be too deep for the thinner areas. I eyeball it and just try to concentrate on getting it right and adjust as I grind. I start shallow and deepen where I need to.
Very elegant knife Lin! It looks like there is a shelf all around the tang. I understand why you would do this. But I wonder if you still use a pressure fit for the guard to keep it in place? Did you solder or epoxy it on before you attached the handle?
The fit is tight but not enough to deform the material around the slot. So, it has the mechanical fit along with the JB Weld or whatever sealant I want to use. The JB is to hold the progress I've made whaile installing the handle.
Very cool! Did you make the Damascus?
Yes, If damascus is on my knife, I made it.
Thanks
If that's not a masterpiece I don't know what is! Love your build alongs!
Mr.Peeks,the owner of this fine knife, was kind enough to stop my booth this weekend at the Kalamazoo expo, and the pleasure was mine to meet him.
He did indeed bring this knife to show me like I had asked and I must say that the knife really is something to look at and hold. The detail and craftsmenship that Mr.Rhea put into this knife is amazing. I can say that I have never seen or held such a nice knife in person. To me, it was a perfect set of proportions that felt very fine in my hand. The materials and details in the finished knife are really something.
I really like to see the work you knife guys put out. There is some mighty cool knives displayed on this site and I thank you for sharing them.
This one I got to hold, and so I thank and congratulate Lin and Ron.
What a beaut'
CTT