Jason Fry, Author at BLADE Magazine

Copper Damascus: An Exciting New Way To Make Knives

Knifemaking

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March 20, 2023

Whether You Call It Copper San-Mai, Cu-Mai, Or Anything Else, Copper Damascus Is One The Trendiest Ways To Forge Knives Today.

By now most knife enthusiasts are familiar with pattern-welded steel, commonly called damascus, whose re-invention for use in knife blades is attributed to BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Moran.

The damascus world has since exploded with complicated mosaics, exotic-tiled canister billets, and, more recently, even some interaction between pattern welding and 3-D printing. These new techniques are mind-blowing for sure.

Copper San-Mai

A 2.75-inch go-mai blade with a wrought-iron cladding over an Aogami2 core and a copper shim layer highlights Joe Edson’s frameback straight razor. The frame is copper with a forced patina. The scales are crosscut mammoth ivory on a G-10 backer with a forged-patina-copper-wedge spacer. Closed length: 3.25 inches. (SharpByCoop image)

One of the hottest new trends in damascus is the inclusion of copper into pattern-welded billets. Commonly called copper-mai, copper san-mai or cu-mai, the technique has been brought to near perfection by Coy Baker at Baker Forge & Tool.

In 2019 at the request of a customer, Baker created his first copper damascus billet. Starting with Baker as a one-at-a-time weekend garage craftsman, the business exploded. Baker Forge & Tool now has a 3,000-square-foot shop and 10 employees, and they can’t keep up with demand.

Baker says the welding of copper in stacked configurations has been around for centuries in the form of mokumé gané, aka mokumé. While he’s the first to blow up Instagram with welded copper damascus, he is certainly not the first to attempt the cu-mai technique.

He primarily uses 80CrV2 carbon steel for the cores of his billets, and also various patterns of a damascus of 1080 carbon and 15N20 nickel-alloy steels. ABS master smiths Steve Schwarzer and Jason Knight helped him along in his early damascus-making journey.

How To Forge Copper Damascus

To forge a copper damascus billet, Baker typically uses a core of 80CrV2, a layer of 20-gauge pure copper shim stock, and a cladding of 1080/15N20 damascus.

“It’s important that the core and cladding stay in a 1-to-1-to-1 thickness ratio,” he said. “The copper doesn’t harden, and it’s critical to keep the core centered so that the cutting edge of the knife will be hardenable steel.”

He hasn’t experimented with copper alloys other than pure copper, though he has used some bronze and nickel with good results.

It’s no surprise that there are trade secrets that Baker didn’t volunteer, and I was polite enough not to ask. Copper stacked in a billet oxidizes quickly, similar to stainless, and so the welding must be done very precisely. For the welds to stick, the surfaces being welded also must be exquisitely clean, with not even a trace of oils or fingerprints.

The Different Types Of Copper Damascus

Baker did reveal that there are two basic versions of the process. In one, the layers are welded around the perimeter as in canister or stainless welding, and then the entire billet is welded at once. In this method, the temperatures are enough to liquefy the copper, and the perimeter welding keeps the liquid in.

In the other version, the billet components of core, copper and clad are stacked together and held at brazing temperature. This is Baker’s preferred method, as the copper doesn’t liquefy and so performs more consistently when it comes to thickness. Such exact brazing requires precise temperature control, as a 10-degree variation in either direction from the proper brazing temperature can produce failure.

While there are no doubt smiths who have attempted and maybe even successfully welded copper damascus by hand, Baker acknowledges that the aspiring smith is much more likely to be successful using a press or power hammer to set the weld. Precision temperature control also gives increased chances of success.

Dion Damascus

A 10.25-inch blade of NBC san-mai, black ash burl handle with an ebony bolster and a white G-10 spacer help complete Andrew Mochado’s kitchen model. Overall length: 16 inches. (Eric Eggly/PointSeven image)

While Baker is the best known and most common source for copper damascus, another variation is available from Dion Damascus. Florida knifemaker Andrew Mochado recently made a knife from a bar of Dion Damascus that included brass, copper, and nickel clad over a core of 52100 carbon steel.

“It is my take on a gyuto-style chef’s knife,” he said. It has a box elder burl handle with an ebony bolster. Mochado heat treated the blade in a gas forge. “The outside layer of the billet was nickel, so it was very difficult to get it all up to temperature,” he explained. “The nickel buckled up a bit and I thought I had a failure. I was able to successfully grind off all the buckling, and the blade was still perfectly forged together.”

Baker pointed out that the melting points of copper and nickel are above the heat-treating temperature of carbon steel. However, in a forge, the outside layers come in contact with a forge atmosphere that’s well above the desired hardening temperature, thus causing problems with the non-ferrous layers.

How The Copper Affects Knifemaking

Jordon Berthelot is a Texas maker known for kitchen knives and intricate carved and sculpted blade plunges. He’s also made dozens of blades with Baker’s cu-mai. He has been Coy’s “guinea pig” for testing new patterns for months. When Baker develops a new pattern, Jordon builds the prototype.

“I’m pleased with how the cu-mai grinds. You might expect the copper to be gummy or soft or to grind differently when you sculpt it, but it pretty much grinds the same as steel,” Berthelot observed. “You always have to pay attention to get the carving right, but the copper poses no problems.”

Makers will notice the copper being softer if they hand-sand it aggressively, but overall the copper layers are no more difficult to finish than regular steel.

When it comes to finish work, Berthelot recommends sanding to at least a clean 600 grit prior to etching. “Regular” ferric chloride doesn’t perform well, and etching copper in it will leave a copper tint on standard damascus steel blades later. Instead, Berthelot prefers a 20/20/60 mix of ferric chloride, muriatic acid and distilled water. The addition of the muriatic acid keeps the copper from looking blurry, and keeps the material out of the solution for future etching. After the etch, Berthelot buffs with “black magic” rouge so the copper will “pop” nicely.

Forged in Fire season 1 episode 2 “OG” winner Chris Farrell of Fearghal Forge in Austin, Texas, took advantage of the bold copper line in his piece of Baker Forge damascus. The copper makes a dramatic, bold statement, and so do the curves and lines of Farrell’s fancy faceted fighter.

“People see my faceted handles and think they’re kinda funny until they pick one up and realize how well it fits their hands,” Farrell said. He is fascinated by innovations in the knife industry and is always looking for his own ways to innovate. He’s experimented with forging Baker’s copper damascus bar stock: “It can be done, but you really have to be careful. It’s real easy to mess up!”

Copper Damascus Around The World

Australian maker Adam Fromholtz crafted a cake knife of copper damascus from the Japanese steel company Takefu. Takefu steel can be hard to find in the USA, but there is a reliable Australian distributor. Adam’s knife is copper, nickel and brass clad over a V-Toku-2 carbon core. Handle: Tiger myrtle. Blade and overall lengths: 9.25 and 14 inches. His list price for a similar knife: $1,800. (SharpByCoop image)

The cu-mai trend is not limited to the United States. Australian knifemaker Adam Fromholtz of Canberra crafted a cake knife of copper damascus from the Japanese steel company Takefu. Takefu steel can be a challenge to find in the USA, but there is a reliable Australian distributor.

Adam’s blade is copper, nickel and brass clad over a V-Toku-2 carbon core. Regarding the steel, Fromholtz noted that it was near impossible to forge due to the differences in ductility between the materials. Because of the softer cladding, he noted that the blade tends to gall a bit, so makers should take note of this when fitting a slotted guard on a blade of such a material. Overall, the steel is simple to finish but shows handling marks easily.

How Do Copper Damascus Knives Perform?

Is copper damascus all flash and bling or does it perform? Copper does not harden the way steel does, which makes you wonder how it impacts knife performance. First of all, copper damascus is used with a monosteel—that is, one layer of steel—or a regular carbon damascus core.

Using a steel core makes it where the copper has absolutely no impact on the blade’s cutting performance, edge stability or toughness. Baker said he knows of two makers who have used his cu-mai material to complete American Bladesmith Society-style performance tests of rope cut, 2×4 chop and 90-degree bend.

When it comes down to it, the copper layers are very thin. Considering that the final weld-up of clad/copper/core/copper/clad may be as much as 2 inches thick, and that the copper starts out roughly .03-inch thick, the overall final billet has very thin layers of copper. It’s enough for a dramatic pattern but not enough to impact knife performance in a negative way. “I made a knife with it then beat the hell out of it,” Farrell said. “So long as it’s heat treated properly, it’s good stuff.”

Availability Of Copper Damascus

The 9-inch blade of Jordon Berthelot’s chef’s knife is Baker Forge & Tool auro-mai damascus with a core of 80CrV2 carbon steel. “It has my carved ridge that adds great weight reduction and a nice ergonomic flow, and decreases the drag coefficient,” Berthelot wrote. “It also allows me to alter the pattern.” Overall length: 14 inches. Maker’s price for a similar knife: $1,700. (image courtesy of Jordon Berthelot)

If you’re a maker looking to capitalize on the copper damascus trend, get in line. Baker Forge releases approximately 70 billets a week to the public, in addition to what it produces for commercial use. The billets “drop” Saturdays on Instagram and are usually gone by the end of the day.

Most billets are 2-2.5 inches wide and come in thicknesses from ⅜ inch all the way down to 3/32 inch. Pricing currently runs up to $25 per linear inch, but as in all things post-pandemic manufacturing, the supply costs for raw materials keep increasing.

As for consumers, check knife shows, magazine stories such as this one, and Instagram and elsewhere on the Internet. Cu-mai knives are out there—you just might have to do some digging to find them.

Read More

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The Many Moods Of Mosaic Damascus
Feeling Good: 4 New Handle Materials

Veronique Laurent Is Winning In A Man’s World

Jason Fry

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November 17, 2022

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Veronique Laurent Has Become One Of The Most Accomplished Smiths In The World Even After Fighting Against Prejudice In Her Native Belgium.

I come from Texas where a knifemaker is more likely to wear boots and a cowboy hat than a suit and tie. In many parts of the world, it’s commonly assumed that a knifemaker is a man.

This past March I caught up with American Bladesmith Society Master Smith Veronique Laurent at BLADE Show Texas in Fort Worth, Cowtown, USA. She had no boots or cowboy hat and her accent isn’t “Southern,” but she’s sure enough a bona fide knifemaker.

Veronique comes from Brussels, Belgium, where French is the spoken language. Now, I don’t speak French, so out of respect I asked her how a non-French-speaking person should pronounce her name.

Over here she’ll answer to the Americanized Veronica Lawrent, but the correct answer is more like Vehr-o-NIK-eh Law-ron, with the rolled R’s in the middle of each. In Belgium the people use the last name first, so she’s often just called “Laurent.” Now that you can read her name in your head in a beautiful French accent, let’s move on to the interesting part of the story.

Veronique found her first career as a clerk at a Belgian TV station. She did cold metalworking as a hobby. While on holiday in France in 2004, she attended a knifemaking and blacksmithing event similar to a U.S. hammer-in. She later took a one-day knifemaking class with the Belgian Knife Society and never looked back.

She became involved with the Society and learned more about knifemaking from the members of that community. The group eventually broke up but not before Veronique was well on her way.

In 2010, again in France, she attended a hammer-in that included ABS Master Smiths/BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® members Joe Keeslar and Jay Hendrickson. In Belgium and France, a woman is not commonly accepted as a knifemaker. So it was that Veronique was pleased and surprised by the hospitality that Joe and Jay showed her, particularly with the respect they gave her as a craftsperson.

For while a female knifemaker is a bit of an American rarity, being female isn’t an automatic gale-force headwind in the American knifemaking journey. In Europe, however, things are quite different. Veronique struggled to sell knives in Europe even as her skills advanced.

“When a man came to my table and picked up a knife, he would ask me who the maker was,” she recalled. “When I said that I made the knife, he would then ask the person next to me who made the knife. Once he knew I was the knifemaker, he’d put the knife down and walk away. In Europe they don’t want to buy a knife from a woman.” She made it her goal to be a full-time maker, and her American contacts became even more important.

Becoming An ABS Master Smith

Laurent Blade Show — Veronique (left) makes a point as her fellow panel members—from right, ABS Journeyman Smith Lora Schwarzer and knifemakers Grace Horne and Abie Lyons—listen during the Women’s Bladesmith/Knifemaker Panel class of BLADE University at BLADE Show ’22.

After her contact with Keeslar, she journeyed to the 2013 BLADE Show and gained her ABS journeyman smith certification. She then began corresponding with ABS Master Smith John White, who encouraged her to learn to build takedown knives.

“In 2015 I built my first takedown knife, and that same week I received the ABS email notification that John White had passed away,” she recalled. “I built all of my master smith test knives as takedowns in his memory.”

Veronique pretty well blew away the crowd at the 2015 BLADE Show and gained her MS stamp. After the show, she and ABS Master Smith Jean-Louis Regel of France spent three weeks in Brazil learning advanced damascus techniques from ABS Master Smith Rodrigo Sfreddo.

“After I was a master smith, I began to ‘exist’ in Europe,” she noted. “I became a full-time knifemaker shortly after that.” Even with American renown and credibility, the headwinds of bias still were a challenge in her home country. “People were rude, and it made me think ‘I will show you!’ Their bad attitude became my motivation,” she said.

She began to work with Jean-Louis more and more (Jean-Louis also earned his MS in 2015). Because of bias, it was often assumed that he did her work for her, that he made her damascus or that she worked only in his shop. This was not the case.

Though to Americans it makes sense that the two French-speaking master smiths must be connected, the real story is that Veronique and Jean-Louis each have their own shops in their hometowns. Their shops are roughly 375 miles apart, with Veronique in Belgium and Jean-Louis in France. The journey between them takes about eight hours.

Even in Texas, where we measure trips in hours, not miles, an eight-hour trip is a “long haul” or a “far piece.” While the distance was significant, they covered it about once a month depending on workflow. Veronique says that she has better grinding and finishing tools in her shop, while Jean-Louis has a bigger shop with better damascus-making equipment.

Veronique and Jean-Louis attended the International Custom Cutlery Exposition (now BLADE Show Texas) in Fort Worth in 2018, and each won multiple awards.

“In all my trips to America, only one time has anyone set my knife down rudely like in Europe,” she noted. They joined The Knifemakers’ Guild on that trip also and spent a week learning bladesmithing from ABS Master Smith Rick Dunkerley.

Covid got in the way of travel plans and so Veronique and Jean-Louis were unable to return to America until this year’s BLADE Show Texas. As an American, it wouldn’t cross my mind to visit France regularly to try to sell knives, so I was curious why Veronique keeps coming back. She explained that “Europe doesn’t like to ship big knives. It is very complicated and expensive. Sometimes you can ship a small letter opener or something, but it is very difficult.”

Rather than fight the restrictions, it’s easier to travel over here and sell her work where it is in high demand. Another thing she does is make a “junior baby” model of each major piece. If she makes a dagger, she makes another small one. If she makes a big bowie, she makes a similar hunter. These smaller pieces tend to sell better in Europe than the big works.

Veronique Laurent’s Knives

Laurent bowie — Based on the Musso Bowie, Veronique’s Big Boy Bowie won Best Fighter at BLADE Show Texas. It has a 13-inch feather damascus blade of O2 and 45NCD16 tool steels with a riveted brass back. Parts of the guard are mirror polished, parts are stippled, and parts are engraved with raised flowers. The handle is ancient walrus ivory. Overall length: 18.5 inches. (SharpByCoop image)

Veronique had a good variety of knives at BLADE Show Texas that showcased her skills and versatility: a large brass-backed bowie, a few elegant hunters and a folding dagger.

“It was an honor to be asked to make a big bowie,” she observed. “It’s a man’s knife and it took many years for a man to trust that I could build a large bowie.”

While she doesn’t build knives “to order,” she does keep a list of customers who are looking for a particular type of knife. “I don’t take orders. I want to be free!” she explained. She’d been asked to build a big bowie and did her research and came across the Musso Bowie. She built the Big Boy Bowie and it promptly won Best Fighter in Fort Worth.

Big Boy is highlighted by a feather damascus blade of O2 and 45NCD16 tool steels with a riveted brass back. The guard is O2 also. Parts of the guard are mirror polished, parts are stippled, and parts are engraved with raised flowers.

“O2 steel is good because you can finish it many ways and it works well for the engraving,” Veronique explained.

The handle is ancient walrus ivory. Also on her table was a fine damascus folding dagger that won the show’s custom judging award for Best Folding Knife. All the fittings, engraving, jewel settings, and display box are by Veronique.

So where does one go next when you’re already known worldwide?

“I want to focus on engraving and filework,” she said. “I am also learning to make automatic folding knives from Rick Dunkerley.”

Veronique is a strong woman and plays well at what is often a man’s game. She doesn’t take orders but builds a few major pieces in several categories each year. She prefers email communication from Americans because it is difficult to hear and translate over the phone. She’ll be at the major shows, but you’d better get there early as her work is in high demand.

For more information about Veronique Laurent and her knives e-mail her at whatsonthebench@gmail.com.

Read More

The Rise And Growth Of Women Knifemakers
The Many Moods Of Mosaic Damascus
Young Knifemakers: The Future Is Now

Keepin’ Those Day Jobs: Knifemaking Side Hustle

Knifemaking

Jason Fry

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October 7, 2022

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For Many Makers, Knifemaking Isn’t A Full-Time Job. Here’s How Some Fill Their Days When They Aren’t Sharpening Steel.

One of the more memorable henchmen of the James Bond series is the stout little fellow Odd Job, played in Goldfinger by Harold Sakata, and a popular character in the Nintendo series of Bond video games. He has a hat with a razor-sharp brim that decapitates a marble statue in the movie and guarantees an instant kill in the game.

He’s a master of body paint, a capable golf caddy, and can crush a golf ball with his bare hands. He’s a chauffeur capable of skilled pursuit and evasion in the inevitable Bond car chases. In the end, this man of many talents meets an untimely death by electrocution in the vault at Fort Knox.

Many who make knives choose not to make it a full-time career but a mega-hobby or part-time job instead. There are many of us, both known and unknown, who work “regular” and “boring” jobs to fund our knife passion. Though I write and make knives, I’m a behavior analyst in my day job. My brother Travis is a knifemaker and accountant—boring! I bet you’ll be surprised at some of the unusual talents that support some knifemakers in the daytime so they can pursue their blade craft on nights and weekends.

Michael Quesenberry

ABS master smith Michael Quesenberry is well known for his intricate integrals, precise damascus and meticulous attention to every detail. He’s a professional engineer in his day job but not one of the calculator-and-pocket-protector types; he drives a train. He’s been a full-time locomotive engineer for the past 27 years with the Union Pacific Railroad. Meanwhile, whenever knifemaking starts coming with medical, dental and 401(k), he promises to switch careers.

Ricky Bob Menefee

Ricky Bob Menefee describes himself as a “dog catcher.” For the past 24 years he’s been a full-time trapper for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sometimes his job is predator control, setting foot traps, snares or poison for calf-eating coyotes or lamb-snatching bobcats. Other times he hunts crop-destroying wild hogs via a helicopter or uses dynamite to blast out beaver dams.

“I’ve been lucky my whole life,” Ricky says. “The only thing I’ve ever done was hunt, fish and make knives. Knives have allowed me not to have to find a ‘real job’ because my federal job has good benefits to go along with bad pay.” Ricky specializes in fixed blades and slip joints well suited to outdoor tasks, and his tiny tapered tangs are legendary.

Jason Floyd

After 20 years in the golf course business, Jason Floyd says he’s a “professional grass grower.” He started as a turf expert and ended up as a golf course superintendent. Now he works as a forge and blacksmithing tool fabricator for Well Shod Farrier Supply and supplements his income with knifemaking. He says knifemaking is better than watching the grass grow. Jason specializes in forged and damascus fixed blades.

Kelly Kring

I learned a new word from Kelly Kring, who used to work as a “diener” or autopsy technician. He was responsible for moving and cleaning bodies, assisting the pathologist with autopsies and collecting evidence. After that he became an occupational therapy technician in a hospital burn unit. Now he describes himself as “a full-time blacksmith who happens to teach smithing classes at a local college.” He says, “I’ve made knives for many, many people, but don’t call myself a knifemaker.” Kelly is well known in blacksmith circles for being an excellent hands-on instructor.

John Thunert

All the bugs and creepy-crawly varmints better watch out for John Thunert, a self-described “killer for hire.” John works full time as an exterminator. When the pandemic shut down his business, knifemaking took up the slack. John is a Forged in Fire runner-up from season six, episode 18, and has been making knives for four years. “I’ve gotten bored with the other hobbies I’ve been proficient in. Knifemaking and the challenges it presents should see me through another 20 years,” he observes, “and I still won’t accomplish all the things I want to do.” John prefers making fixed blades and forges his own damascus and san-mai.

Josh Howard

Many knifemakers know how to weld. Josh Howard of Deerlick Ridge Forge can beat that—he teaches robots how to weld. In the daytime, he works for Polaris Industries in the factory where they manufacture the four-wheeled side-by-side Ranger robots and the three-wheeled go-fast Slingshots.

He writes the programs that drive the automated welding robots, placing precise welds at critical structural points on the vehicles as they are assembled. Josh is a Forged in Fire competitor from season six and specializes in damascus kitchen and hunting knives. He says “Deerlick” is the name of the creek down the hill from his shop, and that nobody actually licks the deer.

Jason Wilder

The apostle Paul was a tent maker and did enough of that work over the years to support his ministry. Jason Wilder is a Church of Christ minister and supplements his work with knifemaking. After all, the Bible does say “the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword.” Jason admits that he may occasionally carry a sidearm and a knife in the pulpit and on pastoral hospital visits.

“Nobody goes into church work or knifemaking to get rich, but my family gets by on the combination of the two,” he notes. “My ministry schedule allows me to make knives, and my knifemaking supports my vocation as a minister.” Jason makes Sunday-go-to-meeting-quality fixed blades, both forged and stock removal.

Terry Vandeventer

In addition to forging impressive fixed blades, ABS master smith Terry Vandeventer is an expert snake handler. Terry has enjoyed a long career as a professional herpetologist, an expert in reptiles and amphibians. He started out with snakes as a zookeeper, and eventually built a business breeding rare and unusual snakes for zoos.

While he says he’s past his prime in the snake business, he still has “only” about 75 snakes in his current lab. Terry continues to make knives as a source of stress relief, and says “When the knife business gets stressful, it doesn’t serve its purpose for me.” I don’t know about you, but I’d find the North American pit viper collection a bit more stressful than knifemaking.

Bryan Borton

Where do birdbaths come from, anyway? Besides, were birds dirty before people started making birdbaths? Do baby birds prefer baths and older birds prefer showers? My friend Bryan Borton has spent nearly 30 years in the concrete-sculpture-casting business with his wife Kristy. He claims to have made thousands of concrete birdbaths, and his most unusual casting jobs include giant mushrooms, his brother-in-law’s headstone, and some great big soda bottle replicas.

He began making knives seven years ago, learning first from me and then from Travis Payne and some members of the Texas Knifemakers’ Guild. His knives are popular among the rodeo and ranching crowd, as you might suspect given his West Texas location.

Robert George

Robert George is an electrical engineer. Boring, right? Not at all. Robert was the chief architect at AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) for the computer chips used in the Playstation 4, PS4 Pro and PS5 video games.

If you’re a gamer, you’ve probably used his work and didn’t know it. Robert describes himself as a “100 percent bladesmith” because he enjoys the artistic expression of forging close to the final shape. He studied with ABS master smiths Jim Crowell, Timothy Potier and J.R. Cook at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing in 2010 and has been passionate about knives ever since.

The List Goes On And On

There are some lists that will always be incomplete, and this is certainly one destined for deficiency. I didn’t have time or space to include BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member James Batson the rocket scientist, Les Adams the bomb squad technician, Jeremy Spake, who builds armatures for stop-motion animation films, or Grace Horne, who builds custom lingerie. I

also left out a bunch of knifemakers with exotic hobbies like ABS master smith Jordan LaMothe, who performs in musicals, Ryan Breuer, who does ballroom dancing contests, and I’m sure I left out plenty of great stories about people I haven’t met yet.

You and I may have different vocations from each other, and surely don’t have the same jobs as some of these knifemakers. Even so, one thing that joins us all together is our appreciation for knives. Handmade or user grade, for display or cosplay, for vegetable cutting or whitetail gutting, our love of knives brings all of us together in our occupational diversity.

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The Soft-Backed Blade

Jason Fry

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July 9, 2022

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For Maximum Toughness Without Sacrificing Edge Performance, Consider A Soft-Backed Blade.

For centuries, smiths from various cultures recognized the necessity of blades that do the job without critical failure. Some Eastern cultures specialized in differential hardening, particularly the Japanese. European cultures tended to forge weld a hardenable edge to a softer spine. In each case, the end result is an edge hard enough to cut well and a spine tough and resistant to breaking.

One of the measures of a modern knifemaker is the willingness and ability to successfully navigate the certifications processes of the world of knives, such as the American Bladesmith Society’s (ABS) journeyman and master smith certifications. Similarly, one measure of a knife blade is its ability to perform various tasks that put its edge geometry and heat treatment to the test.

If you’ve been around the knife industry any time in the past 40 years or so, you’ve no doubt seen stories of blades that demonstrate edge holding ability that also have the strength and flexibility to bend without breaking. The key to this kind of performance is for the blade to have a hard edge and a soft back. Pardon the pun, but let’s break that down a bit.

First things first—a knife must cut. One key to premier cutting performance is a well-hardened edge. A properly hardened edge comes from the use of steel with adequate carbon, brought to the proper hardening temperature, quenched in the proper quench medium, and tempered to the proper hardness.

Each of these variables has an impact, but at the end of the day if the maker does things right, the edge of a well-performing blade will be hardened and tempered martensite in the 58 to 60 HRC Rockwell hardness range, plus or minus a point or two depending on geometry. If the edge is left too soft, the blade will not cut as it should.

Shawn Ellis originally learned the edge hardening process from ABS master smith Jim Crowell in the early 1990s when Jim—here at the grinder—demonstrated edge hardening using an acetylene torch. (Jay Morrissey image)

But what about the blade’s spine? Does it need to be as hard as the edge? The answer is “it depends.” Hardness as a metallurgical property is directly opposed to toughness, in that the harder the blade the more brittle it is. At the same time, an unhardened blade of annealed steel is very difficult to break but won’t hold an edge. If the maker hardens the blade fully from edge to spine, the knife will be more likely to break under chopping or bending loads.

Let me talk about “more likely” in this case. Are you more likely to be struck by lightning or bitten by a shark? As it turns out, you’re about 7.5 times more likely to be struck by lightning than bitten by a shark, but the odds of being struck are only 1 in 500,000. Either way, neither is very likely. I state that because while it is empirically true that a fully hardened blade is “more likely” to break than a blade with a soft back and hardened edge, if the maker does the heat treatment properly and the user uses the blade properly, either will perform very well with a very low risk of catastrophic failure.

Soft-Backed Bennies

Even if the overall risk of breaking in normal use is small, it still makes sense that some makers want to chase that last bit of performance by taking advantage of the strength of the soft-backed blade. So what does a soft-backed blade do? What are the benefits? By hardening the edge but intentionally softening the spine, the blade is more resistant to breaking when subjected to extreme force. This remains true whether the force comes to the blade parallel as in chopping or perpendicular as in bending.

ABS journeyman smith and past Forged in Fire champion Shawn Ellis is a proponent of the soft-backed blade. He originally learned the edge hardening process from ABS master smith Jim Crowell in the early 1990s when Jim demonstrated edge hardening using an acetylene torch.

He heated the edge only, quenched the blade, and then used the torch to draw the temper back. To temper, he started with the torch at the spine and used a wet rag to keep the edge cool. When he was finished, the edge was a light bronze and the spine was blue.

Even though that was quite a few years ago, the method Crowell taught Ellis remains viable. Heating only the edge leaves the spine soft and annealed but transforms the edge into the tempered martensite required for cutting performance. Using the torch afterward to “blue back” the blade relieves any internal stresses that may result from heating only the edge to the critical temperature, that is, to a non-magnetic state.

Ellis found that heating the blade at least a third of the way from edge to spine resulted in better performance. Subsequently, he switched to heat treating in a forge, and then later in an oven.

While it’s possible to edge harden with a forge or an oven, the methodology changes. Edge hardening in this way results in a martensitic edge and a spine that retains the microstructure it previously had. If the blade was forged and normalized, the spine would be soft pearlite. If the blade was ground from bar stock, the spine would be spheroid carbides.

Another way to achieve a hard edge with a soft back is to quench the edge only. You can bring the whole blade up to temperature in a forge or oven, and then place only the edge of the blade in the oil for hardening. This is the method currently taught at the ABS schools.

In this case, you need enough oil volume to cool the steel properly, so you can’t just fill your quench tank with oil to the half-inch level. Instead, use a limiter plate to keep the edge at the right depth while allowing the tank to have an increased volume of oil. You rock the blade in the oil in such a way that the edge is quenched properly while the spine cools slowly.

The slow cooling of the spine results in a pearlite microstructure, while the quenching of the edge results in martensite. The result is again a hard edge and soft back, and a “blue back” draw is again recommended. Blades that are edge hardened are resistant to breaking, though the soft spine may bend and stay bent.

The final way to achieve a soft-backed knife is the most difficult but results in the highest performance. In this method, the blade is hardened completely, with the whole blade up to critical temperature and the whole blade quenched fully. After regular tempering in the oven, the blade is then torch tempered on the spine.

In this scenario, the spine is pushed past blue all the way to gray, but not to the point where it starts to show heat color. Essentially in this case, you’re applying differential tempering rather than differential hardening, adding heat in the 650-800°F range to the spine only, resulting in highly tempered martensite. Since you’re working with higher temperatures, extra care must be taken to keep the edge cool by keeping it immersed in water or wet sand.

ABS master smith Scott McGhee’s Mamba damascus fighter features forge-finished flats with bronze fittings and a koa wood handle. He prefers 1075 carbon steel and uses two propane torches to draw the spine evenly, keeping the edge cool in wet sand.

ABS master smith Scott McGhee teaches the Introduction to Bladesmithing class at Haywood Community College in Haywood, North Carolina. Students learn from McGhee how to make a knife that will pass the ABS performance test using a full quench and a torch draw. He prefers 1075 carbon steel and uses two propane torches to draw the spine evenly, keeping the edge cool in wet sand.

STRUCTURAL RESULTS

I asked metallurgist Larrin Thomas for insight on the structural results of the different edge hardening approaches. According to Larrin, “When it comes to Rockwell hardness, torch tempering a fully hardened blade to 650-800°F results in hardness in the Rockwell hardness range of 45 to 55 HRC, depending on the steel and the time spent at the tempering temperature. Slow cooling the spine by quenching the edge will result in soft pearlite similar to air cooling during normalizing and grain refining. This puts the spine in the range of 20 to 40 HRC, depending on the steel. Some steels have such high hardenability that they will partially harden during air cooling, such as oil quenching steels O1 or L6, and may even reach 60 HRC if the cross section is thin enough.

“The softer the spine, the more resistant the blade is to breaking but the more likely it is to take a “set” during bending. In other words, less bending of a softer spine would be required for the blade to stay permanently bent. The ideal condition would be one where the steel has sufficient hardness to avoid staying bent but sufficient toughness where it will not fracture. This combination of properties is best achieved by a full quench and a spine torch temper.”

For many years now the certified smiths of the ABS have demonstrated competence at these processes. If you want to climb the ladder of knifemaking skills and certifications, or if you want to climb the ladder of high performance hard-use knives, the heat treatment of a soft-backed knife is a skill you’ll want to master. If you’re the kind of knifemaker or the kind of knife buyer who wants 100 percent of the toughness a blade can offer without sacrificing edge performance, consider a soft-backed blade.

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Hall-Of-Frame Handles

Jason Fry

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June 15, 2022

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Frame Handles Remain Just As Useful In Making A Knife Today As It Was Centuries Ago.

Frame handle construction for knives has been around for centuries. Historical examples of many Eastern styles like the kard, khyber and yataghan often feature ornamented frame handles. Nineteenth-century knives attributed to James Black and some of the early American bowies also had frame handle construction. Though it’s been around a long time, the frame handle remains a viable modern construction method for today’s custom knifemakers.

There are many ways to crack the nut/skin the cat on frame handle construction. This article will walk through the frame handle process and point out particular problems and potential solutions for those who wish to pursue building a frame handled knife.

Why You Should Build A Frame Handle

Frame handle construction is best defined as using a wrap-around “frame” to conceal the tang of a hidden tang knife. The first question many people ask regarding a frame handle construction is, “Why would you want to do it that way?”

My first thought goes back to the earlier days of the internet when forums were at their peak, and fine makers like ABS master smith Bruce Bump took the time to document “work in progress” (WIP) threads. Bruce had a fine frame handle WIP on the KnifeDogs.com forum in 2013, and the consensus at the time was that you build a frame handle for quite a few reasons, though the first one is “because you can!”

An exploded view shows an ABS journeyman smith Karl Andersen frame handle construction knife before assembly. (Karl Andersen image)

A frame handle is a much more complex build process than your standard full- or stick-tang knife. However, in addition to the show of skill by the maker, frame handle construction has a few distinct advantages that make the complexity worth the effort:

1. A frame handle allows for the look of a full tang, but with the guard-fitting techniques of a stick tang. For a forged stick-tang-knife design that needs a guard, a frame handle allows the use of full-tang-style handle construction;

2. A frame handle is a good way to use scales or slabs on a stick-tang knife. If you have a good set of stag or mammoth slabs, or if you have stabilized wood slabs that might be too fragile for through-tang construction, the frame handle allows you to use the materials on a stick-tang knife; and;

3. The use of a frame handle gives the maker another area to embellish the knife. Some frames are great for engraving, while others may highlight a damascus pattern. Either way, the frame makes the embellishment stand out in ways that are harder to accomplish on a full-tang knife.

How To Build A Frame Handle

At a basic level, the frame of a frame handle is a piece of material, usually metal, that wraps around a stick tang and mimics the look of a full-tang knife. This presents some challenges that have resulted in a few different creative solutions.

•Challenge 1: The tang must fit inside the frame. Some makers insist on precision so there are no gaps and the fit is tight. Others concede that the handle will be held together with mechanical fasteners and sealed with epoxy, so a precise fit between the frame and the tang is not necessary.

•Challenge 2: All parts of the handle must be securely fastened together. I sat through a class with ABS master smith Mike Williams in which he admonished the students, “Don’t trust in the magic of chemistry” by putting your faith only in the strength of glue. Likewise, veteran bladesmith Jerry Fisk challenges makers to think ahead to what their knives might be like in 100 or 1,000 years, and recommends a mechanical connection that won’t fail over time.

One way to address this challenge is to use pins. If you pin the scales to the frame, pin the completed handle assembly to the tang and follow up with glue, there’s no opportunity for failure. Some choose to make all the pins visible as an artistic element, while others take advantage of hidden pins for all but the one through the tang. Another way is to use a threaded fastener.

Bladesmith Salem Straub recently illustrated the technique on a frame handle WIP on his Instagram feed. Salem used a threaded fastener in an internal slot in the frame to mechanically lock all the parts together tightly. The handle material is relieved on the inside to accommodate the fastener.

Another way to use a threaded connection is to thread the end of the tang and use a fastener on the handle butt. An advantage of this approach is that the fastener itself can become part of the embellishment.

•Challenge 3 is the complex fit-up between all of the knife’s elements. Frame handle construction naturally doesn’t excuse a poor guard fit, but it also provides other places for gaps and misalignment. Once again, there are several potential solutions to alignment problems.

One is the use of alignment pins to make sure everything is secure. Pins on the end of the frame go through any spacers and into holes in the back of the guard so that each part indexes the same during assembly. Some makers, including Bruce Bump in the aforementioned epic WIP, advocate for leaving metal tabs on the end of the frame and fitting the tabs into similar holes on the back of the guard

. In both cases, there’s a mechanical connection that prevents the guard, spacers and frame from rotating out of alignment around the center axis of the handle. Either way, when you build a frame handle, the construction will require you to assemble and disassemble the knife repeatedly, so you’ll need some mechanical way to keep things lined up.

Another fit-up challenge is the overall requirement for clean-fitting joints with no gaps. It sounds simpler than it is, but two surfaces that are dead flat will join together without a gap. The challenge of a multi-piece frame handle with a guard and a few spacers is that you are creating a multitude of surface joints, and every single surface must be dead flat.

At a minimum, you’ll have a joint between the guard and frame, and also between the frame sides and the handle material. Any bump or wiggle on any surface and you’ll have a gap in the final product. Flatness comes in degrees. You can get a fairly flat surface on a platen, flatter on a disk, and still flatter on a surface plate or surface grinder. You have to make the joints as flat as you can with the tools you have available if you want a gap-free fit.

I tend to prefer the look of a tapered tang on a full-tang knife, so I’ve started tapering the frame of my frame handles as well. Others stick with a full thickness frame, where the thickness closely matches that of the blade at the ricasso. Some add spacers between the tang and handle material, while others choose to go with the frame and handle slabs only.

ABS master smith Mike Quesenberry used frame-handle construction on his dog-bone bowie. (Eric Eggly/PointSeven image)

Another fit challenge is presented by the frame itself. In order to adequately finish the visible surface of the frame, whether by simple polishing, bluing or etching, or by engraving, the frame must be 100 percent at final-grit finish prior to final glue up.

Many makers learned to make a full-tang knife by finishing the front edge of the scales, gluing the knife together, shaping the scales down to the exposed tang, and then polishing the handle and the tang at the same time. That method will not work for a frame handle that needs to be blued or etched. Personally, I tend to use dummy pins to fit the entire handle assembly together, then grind the scales down to the frame. In his recent Instagram example, Salem Straub used small screws to hold the handle material to the frame.

With regard to the relationship between the handle material and the frame itself, some choose to leave the material slightly proud of the frame for a “museum” or “heirloom” fit. Others prefer the material to fit flush to the tang. Less commonly, some makers round the frame and leave it slightly proud of the material. Whichever you choose, it is important that the fit be maintained consistently all the way around the frame, from the joint at the guard on the top all the way down to the joint at the guard on the bottom.

Once the profile is set, I polish the handle and the frame together down to final grit, and then apply any surface finish to the frame itself. Once all parts are 100 percent complete, they can be glued together as a final step.

When To Make A Frame Handle

So when should you try making a frame handle? In my mind, if you can make clean full- and stick-tang knives, you could be up to the challenge. If you have slabs of exceptional handle material that deserve more than a simple full-tang knife, a frame handle is a way to step up and put the materials on full display. If you have a knife in mind where the frame and guard need to be blued, damascus or engraved, a frame handle is the way to go.

A frame handle knife has its advantages, but the complexity of the construction presents plenty of challenges. As a skilled maker, you may choose to rise to the challenge of a frame handle just to show that you can.

Jason Fry

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