For a fellow Trag Gang member.
Blade is 10 inches of 1084, the handle will be interior mammoth ivory......thru tang, coffin, probably with some checkering. He wanted lean and mean with a long sharp clip..... Here's a pic of the blade ready to heat treat and the handle block.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6090368_zpseb523522.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6090368_zpseb523522.jpg.html)
Darcy :campfire:
Coooooooool :) .
Jeremy
Awesome!
That will be a super Bowie.
Oh yea, I know that one is gonna be an eye popper... :campfire:
That is impressive!
Now that's going to be a winner.
Now that's a blade! Looking forward to the finished knife.
Yeah, I like that. Wonder who it's for :D ?
Is it going to Michigan?
Ill be watching this one Darcy.
:bigsmyl:
That's great. I love the long, relatively straight clip like that on a bowie.
Matt
QuoteOriginally posted by killinstuff:
Yeah, I like that. Wonder who it's for :D ?
Some crazy guy who likes to run down bears.......... :D
Sockrsblur,
I'll be posting some detailed threads with this one and a couple others in progress to show how I do the finish work on these thru tangs........in the very near future. Stay tuned.
Thanks guys.
Darcy :campfire:
Thanks Darcy, I appreciate you taking the time to do that! :thumbsup:
Just a quick pic of the heat treat of this blade. Soaking at 1500*F just before the oil quench. Hand sanding tomorrow if all goes well.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6120369_zps02899cb7.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6120369_zps02899cb7.jpg.html)
Darcy :campfire:
That's a mighty pretty color Darcy.
Got some work done yesterday on this bear perforator.
I Finish ground it and drew the spine back to a spring temper. Then I beat the snot out of it. I didn't take any pics of the testing since I have posted quite a few blade torture photos before, but I did a fair bit of wood and cardboard cutting, chopped some moose antler and goofed around throwing it at a piece of OSB up against the woodshed. It shrugged off all the abuse and was ready for more. You can see some of the smudges on the blade here as it's waiting to get hand sanded.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170377_zps9714fe10.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170377_zps9714fe10.jpg.html)
This blade penetrates very well. When throwing it at the 3/8 OSB, it was generally sticking out the backside about an inch and a half :scared: You don't want to slip and fall on it. And with that in mind, lets discuss sanding safety. As you can see from the photo, I have the blade clamped to a board, with very little of the tip past the end of the board. This will minimize the depth of cut if I happen to poke myself on the blade. Never leave a blade in a vise or clamped with the tip exposed and walk away to do something else. If you forget(or someone else comes along) the consequences could be very serious. I have used these knives to finish off big game that was spine shot(generally with firearms) and the ease with which you can sink the blade to the guard in even a fairly heavy skinned beast like a moose is eye opening. When you see in the movies someone plunging a blade into something(or someone) with great force, like it takes a strong blow to do it, that's just Hollywood bunk. A very light 2 finger grip will sink this blade to the hilt in a deer's chest cavity.........now imagine someone walking into it when it's clamped immoveable in a vice. :scared: As bowhunters we all know the deadly efficiency of a sharp blade, lets be very careful with them.
OK. safety lecture is over. Time to hand sand this blade. I should mention, at this point, that my blade finishing is usually not exhibition grade. I love the look of an almost glow in the dark, 1500grit, satin finish as much as the next guy, but it pains me to see them scuffed and scratched. Since I make blades to be used, my philosophy is to make the finish so that it continues to look good even after much use. Too that end, I prefer a coarser satin finish or (more commonly) an etched finish for durability. So this sanding session will reflect that philosophy.
I use wet dry paper(rhinowet in this case) and usually start with 220grit. I cut the paper into strips with a pair of scissors dedicated for this purpose. Tip, don't use the spouses good sewing scissors. :knothead: For a sanding block I just use a piece of mild steel barstock. Sometimes I use a block of softwood for the final sanding because it has a bit more give and, for me, results in a nicer finish. I generally only sand lengthwise with the blade. I find this keeps the blade flatter and also blends all the scratches the same direction......some guys alternate sanding directions so they can see the previous scratches better. This is probably preferable if you are attempting the super high grade, glow in the dark, satin, but I don't normally do that.
I also vary the sanding stroke length. Sometimes nearly full blade strokes and then sometimes only a half inch or so, but changing every few strokes. This minimizes the little cloudy spots you get when the paper changes direction.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170378_zps1ef078ed.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170378_zps1ef078ed.jpg.html)
I just use water on the blade to help float the sanding dust away and keep the paper from clogging up so fast. I still use a lot of sandpaper. Trying to use the same piece as long as possible is false economy, like sanding belts on the grinder, use it like it's free. The work will go faster and the finish will be more consistent. Every time the sandpaper stops cutting well, I advance the strip of paper around the block to expose some fresh grit. At this point I wipe the blade clean with a paper towel, and add a few drops of clean water........and continue.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170379_zps4737926f.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170379_zps4737926f.jpg.html)
After the vertical belt scratches are gone. I will start to pull the sandpaper from the plunges to the point only. Up to this point I sand lengthwise in both directions, but from here on it gets slower. Any sideways wobble will show up as an ugly crocked scratch, and it seems like it takes 30 good straight passes to clean up one bad one, so take care to pull straight. I find lighter pressure helps with control at this point.
While I am thinking of it, try not too hang onto the sanding block like it's trying too escape. That will cramp your hands up very fast. And to hand sand a blade this big, you'll be at it a while......anything to help reduce hand fatigue is a boon. Use just enough grip to control the block......not a death grip. If you are like me, the harder you are concentrating the tighter the grip becomes, so I have to remind myself to relax my grip fairly often.
Here is the first side done to a fairly clean 220 grit finish. The clip, spine and ricasso still need to be done.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170381_zps19b57f6d.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170381_zps19b57f6d.jpg.html)
Here I have flipped the sanding board around, and clamped the blade so I can hand sand the spine........you can see the blue color from drawing the spine still.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170382_zps3ec344b1.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170382_zps3ec344b1.jpg.html)
Often it's helpful to shoe shine the spine and especially the ricasso with narrow strips of sandpaper or shop roll. I should have taken a pic of this, but didn't. Because my ricasso's are rounded over like the spine shoe shining works well for this area. Basically the strips are held at the ends and worked back and forth across the area you are working on. If the paper is strong enough you can cut it into strips and use as is. But if you are using most wet dry type papers, they are not strong enough to hold together long used in this manner. Simply take some duct tape and tape it to the back side of the sandpaper. Then you can cut this into long strips and they will be much more durable.
OK. I only took this blade to 220 since I am going to rust the stink outta it anyway!
Here're some of the weapons to do the next step. Not shown is the bleach.
Sockrsblur, recognize the little blade hiding back there behind the bowie ;)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170383_zpsfdd96233.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170383_zpsfdd96233.jpg.html)
I give the blade a good cleaning with the alcohol in preparation for cold blue.
And then blue it.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170384_zps5af609d6.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170384_zps5af609d6.jpg.html)
And then into the bleach tank. This is made from ABS pipe. I hold the tang with the grip clamp and make sure the whole blade is submerged in the bleach, right back to the guard shoulders and up the tang a little way.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170385_zps6813cf3c.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170385_zps6813cf3c.jpg.html)
After about 10 minutes I take the blade out and sand all the crust off with 1500grit. Often it takes a bit of sanding before the bleach starts to bite properly. Look for the orange lines, notice here there is a patch of the blade that is not etching much yet. Sometimes if the bleach is not fresh it will not do a good job. Fresh bleach works better.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170386_zps40941015.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170386_zps40941015.jpg.html)
After sanding the crust off and another etch session........getting better.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170387_zps370b6624.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170387_zps370b6624.jpg.html)
And again.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170388_zps2578d4cd.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170388_zps2578d4cd.jpg.html)
After I get the degree of etch I want, I sand the blade with 1500 grit until I am happy with the look. Then boil for about 10 min in water to neutralize the etch.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170389_zps01edd9b3.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170389_zps01edd9b3.jpg.html)
After that, I dry the blade well and oil it with mineral oil to prevent further rust from forming.
The result.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170390_zpsc50a7dbe.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170390_zpsc50a7dbe.jpg.html)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/45stomp/P6170391_zpsa1301cf5.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/45stomp/media/P6170391_zpsa1301cf5.jpg.html)
It's hard to tell from the pics, but the blade is actually quite smooth and moderately glossy. But with that super tough etched finish, it will continue to look good(in my opinion) even with lots of use.
Fittings are up next, but I will begin a new thread for them separate from this one. Stay tuned.
Darcy :campfire:
:bigsmyl:
Looking awesome. And I really appreciate the detail you go into with your posts. The first time I tried this etching method after you showed it on here once before, I think it took me 30 minutes to convince myself it was a good idea to dunk a perfectly good blade in bleach.
Matt
Thanks for taking the time to post this Mr.Darcy!
Really like the finished look you went for with this knife.
That...is...awesome... :) . Can't wait for the fittings.
:campfire:
Jeremy
Thanks guys.
Matt, it really looks scary when you first take a perfectly good blade out of the bleach eh? :scared:
Fittings will be fun. I am thinking a slightly s shaped guard and I can't help but put some copper in there somewhere. Between the fairly light colored ivory, and the dark blade a splash of color is going to look pretty cool I think.
All I got done today was some preparation for fittings......cleaned up and threaded the tang. And got another blade almost ready to ship way over to the eastern seaboard........
Darcy :campfire:
Thanks for posting this Darcy.
Todd