Page 299 – BLADE Magazine

9th ABS Knife Exposition Update By James Batson, ABS President and Chairman

Knife News Wire

November 13, 2011

From the desk of James Batson, Chairman and President of the American Bladesmith Society

The 9th ABS Knife Exposition is a full fledge knife Exposition with close to 100 tables of forged blades. There will be knife making classes, venders, ABS Stamp judging, a banquet, a raffle and auction. There will be a makers choice award for the Best of Show. And above all outstanding forged blades will be available for the descriminating collector as well as using knives for the sportsman.

To make this an outstanding and memorable event, I am asking the table holders to make a special knife or knives of their choosing to be made especially for the 2012 San Antonio Exposition set for January 27-29, 2012. The knives will be pictured and described by the ABS bladesmith in a special Album in the ABS Forum Gallery. Each maker will describe the knife and provide pictures, still or moving, of the knife and how it was made. In addition, these pictures will be posted by the table holders on the various forums so that the collectors may have a sneak preview of the Expo.

To get this idea started I am in the process of recreating two knives from the past for the Expo. The first is one of the largest antique Bowies that I have had the honor of holding. It belongs to William Myers.The blade is nearly 14 inches long and belonged to Thomas Wells of Nashville, TN. Thomas was born in 1802 in Virginia but was raised near Nashville. He trained as a druggist and aphothacarist and early in his career became a respected and successful businessman who counted among his weathy clients, Andrew Jackson.

This knife was described in a Butterfield & Butterfield auction catalog as a:”Rare Silver Mounted Bowie Knife American, Circa 1835, The 13 5/8 inch clip point blade with bevelled sharpened false edge and Spanish notch. Silver mounted hilt inscribed T. Wells on pommel cap and
Nashville on ferrule. Silver quillons and chain knuckle bow, incised carved ivory scales. The original silver scabbard with delicate engraved wavy lines and festoons on either side’ Inscribed near the throat T. Wells and Nashville. The reverse mounted with belt loop.”

The second knife is a rare American front opening lockback dirk folder made by Samuel
Jackson of Baltimore, Md. This exceptional example of the early American Cutler is owned by Mark Zalesky.This 5 inch long closed ivory mounted pocket knife is like no other that I have seen. The blade and spring are 1/4 of an inch wide. It is a lift front opening lock without a lock bar. The spring is also the lockbar. The rear spring support is silver wire inlayed horn. Samuel Jackson made knives from 1833-1870.

Thank You,

James Batson, MS
President, American Bladesmith Society

Original Big Bowie Pictures

Knife & Sheath

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Handle

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Clip

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Bottom View

Original Jackson Folding Dirk Pictures

Right side view

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Left side view

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Top view

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End view

How to Forge Damascus

Knifemaking

Rick Dunkerley

November 13, 2011

Today there seems to be a damascus maker on every corner, and the opportunity to learn to forge damascus is available to almost anyone. In 2005, the American Bladesmith Society slated seven damascus classes at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing. The Sierra Forge and Fire School held several classes, one taught by yours truly. There are numerous “hammer-ins” around the country and most have forging damascus on the agenda.

Be warned that forging damascus is addictive. I once heard Daryl Meier, who I consider the greatest modern maker of damascus steel, say, “Making damascus steel is a disease for which there is no cure.”

In my own shop, I try to keep things simple. By eliminating as many variables as possible, I am successful at making good forge welds. I have developed a routine that I go through with each forge weld, and by not altering what I know works, I’m confident that my welds are going to turn out good.

First in the process of forging damascus is the selection of materials to forge. This is an area that I feel strongly about and I recommend 1084 and 15N20 as the steels to combine when forging damascus. Devin Thomas suggested these materials to me almost 10 years ago and I feel they have been instrumental in my success. First, 1084 is simple steel with .84 percent carbon and .9 percent manganese. The manganese defines it as deep-hardening steel and turns it darker after etching, allowing for more contrast with the lighter 15N20.

As for 15N20, it is basically 1075 with 2-to-3 percent nickel, which results in extra toughness and gives it the quality of resisting etching, resulting in a silver layer almost as bright as pure nickel. This combination of materials welds easily and can be manipulated extensively. Blades made of 1084 and 15N20, if heat-treated properly, cut extremely well and are tougher than nails.

As with my philosophy on knifemaking, I like my forge to be simple—one burner with a small blower to provide air. The forge must be capable of reaching 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is no problem with a properly regulated propane forge.

I use ceramic fiber insulation in my welding forge, which is coated with refractory cement to help resist flux and also to protect the ceramic fiber from damage. Cast-able refractories work well for insulation also. They take longer to heat up, but hold the heat well and shorten the re-heating time of the billet during the forging process. There are many good forge designs out there and my advice is to find one you like and buy or copy it.

For about 12 years I have been using a hydraulic press to make damascus. The hydraulic press has several advantages over a power hammer. For the beginner, the press is much easier to control, and dies can be made for the press that encapsulate the entire billet, making the forge weld much easier. For those with less than understanding neighbors, the press is quieter than a power hammer.

The ability to change dies quickly can be handy at times. The press I currently use was made by Jeff Carlisle of Great Falls, Mont. I have employed a good number of presses over the years and have not found one that I like better. Dr. Jim Batson sells plans for a press similar to the one that Carlisle markets. If you decide to purchase or build a press, I would recommend that it be at least 20 tons and have a good quick-change die set up.

Power hammers embody the traditional blade smith tool and have been used to make tons of damascus. I have used hammers ranging in weight from 25 pounds to 500 pounds at hammer-ins and friends’ shops over the years. Hammers are more fun to run than a press once you get the hang of them. They also distort the patterns or figures in steel billets less often if the operators have good control of them. Bars can be drawn down more quickly with hammers than with presses, and power hammers tend to knock forge scale off rather than forge it into the billets as presses will do.

Whether you choose a press or a power hammer, remember these machines can be dangerous. Combine all the mechanical power with steel that is 2,300 degrees and serious injuries can occur. Always think safety first when operating a press or power hammer.

In preparing a billet for the first forge weld, I stack alternating layers of 1084 and 15N20 to get the desired number of layers in the billet. This may be as little as three or as many as 25 layers for the initial weld. The layer count is tailored to get the desired effect in the finished blade.

I always keep the thicker of the two materials on the top and bottom of the billet, which helps to hold the heat and aids in decreasing warp as the billet comes up to welding temperature. The 1084 comes with light mill scale, which I do not clean off, and 15N20, as I buy it, has no scale and is used as-is.

After the initial forge weld, the billet is reheated and drawn out into a rectangular bar. The size of this bar is dependent on how many layers are desired in the finished billet and the finished size. The bar is then ground clean of forge scale on the surfaces that will be welded during the second sequence. The bar can be hot-cut and folded onto itself during the drawing out process to double the layer count. I have had better success with the grinding and cutting process, but use whichever works for you.

The second weld will progress just like the first, and the number of layers will dictate whether a third, or more, welding sequences are necessary.

These forge welds can be accomplished by using two different methods, namely welding with flux, referred to as a wet weld, and welding without flux, which is a dry weld.

The steps to be followed for a wet weld are:

1 Start with a 19-layer billet consisting of 10 layers of 1/4-inch-by-1-1/2 inch-by-6-inch 1080, and nine layers of 1/2-inch-by-1-1/2-inch-by-6-inch 15N20, which are stacked in alternating layers with the thickest material on the top and bottom of the stack;

2 Clamp and weld one end and then weld a handle on that end. Weld one corner at the end opposite the handle;

3 Place the billet into a forge that is preheated to 2,300 degrees and soak until the billet is dull red. At this time apply anhydrous borax as flux;

4 Allow the billet to reach welding temperature, which is indicated when the flux is bubbling rapidly. Rotate the billet to make sure it is heating evenly;

5 Weld the billet using a press or hammer. If using a press, use dies that are longer and wider than the billet to weld in one squeeze. If using a hammer, weld from the handle end outward to allow the flux to escape;

6 Use a wire brush to remove the flux and scale. Reheat the billet and forge into a rectangular bar, reheating as many times as necessary to reach the desired length and width;

7 Allow the billet to cool and grind any scale off of the billet. Cut the billet into as many pieces as required to reach the desired number of layers; and

8 Repeat the welding process and draw the billet out to the desired dimensions. The process may have to be repeated again to get the required number of layers.

By creating an inert, oxygen-free atmosphere, forge welding can be accomplished without flux, known as a dry weld. This will usually result in a cleaner and stronger weld. This oxygen-free atmosphere can be created several different ways:

1 Make a sheet metal box that the billet is placed into, and then weld the box closed. Spray a small amount of WD-40 inside the box, or place a small piece of combustible material inside, to burn off any oxygen inside the box;

2 Weld all exposed seams of the billet to seal oxygen out; and

3 Use square tubing of an appropriate size to contain the billet.

Forge weld as described in the wet welding sequence, omitting the flux. After the billet is drawn to the proper dimensions, the box or tubing must be ground off of the steel. If it becomes necessary to cut and restack the billet, there are three options. It can be put into a box, the seams can be welded to do another dry weld, or flux can be used to do a wet weld.

The desired visual effect and the pattern will be factors in the number of layers in the finished bar. I prefer a predominantly black-looking damascus, so I like the 1084 layers to be approximately twice as thick as the 15N20 layers. Because of its nickel content, the 15N20 layers do not compress as much as the 1084.

As the layer count increases, the initial difference between .25-inch 1084 layers and .075 15N20 layers becomes much smaller. This initial size difference seems to balance out to the effect that I like at 200-300 layers. Some experimentation with different thicknesses will teach the beginner how best to achieve the desired effect.

The damascus pattern applied to the blade will also be a factor to be considered in the layer count. In my view, random patterns seem to look best with at least 200 layers. Twist patterns do no need as many layers, as twisting the bar tightens them. Fifty to a-hundred-and-fifty layers work well to achieve a twist pattern. For a ladder or raindrop pattern, 200 to 300 layers are ideal and, with a good etch, will give a holographic effect to the blade.

These are by no means the only methods for creating damascus patterns. It is my hope that you will take this information and come up with your own ideas. These methods are meant to be building blocks, and by combining them or modifying them, you may come up with something truly unique.

Once a blade or bar of Damascus has been forged, it must be prepared for heat-treating. The first step is three thermal cycles to relieve stresses imparted while forging the damascus. The thermal cycles consist of heating the bar to non-magnetic and allowing it to cool for several minutes.

This is repeated two more times, and after the third heating, the bar can be allowed to cool to room temperature, which is a normalizing step. This process greatly reduces the possibility of the blade warping during the hardening process.

The blade or bar of damascus is then ready to anneal. It is again heated to non-magnetic and placed in vermiculite to slow the cooling process. After approximately six hours, the steel is annealed and can then be drilled and ground easily.

After drilling any holes needed and grinding to a 120-grit finish, the blade is ready to harden. If the forging was uneven and required grinding one side of the blade more than the other, I recommend several more thermal cycles before hardening.

The hardening process for bars forged of a combination of 1084 and 15N20 goes as follows: heat the blade to 1,500 degrees in high temperature salt; hold for two to three minutes; quench in preheated (120-degree) oil; and the allow the blade to cool until it can be handled comfortably bare handed.

This should result in a Rockwell hardness of 62-64 Rc. Two tempering cycles of one hour each at 400-425 degrees should produce a blade with a Rockwell hardness of approximately 58 Rc. If high temperature salts are unavailable, the blade can be heated to nonmagnetic and quenched with similar results.

This same heat-treating recipe will work for other combinations of simple steels. The tempering cycles should be at a lower temperature (350 degrees) and raised 25 degrees incrementally until the desired hardness is obtained.

The hardened and tempered blade must then be finish-ground and hand sanded so that it can be etched to reveal the damascus pattern.

I grind my blades to a 320-grit finish and begin hand sanding with 400-grit wet and dry paper. The sanding is done perpendicular to the 320-grit belt marks until they are gone. Then 600-grit wet and dry paper is used to remove the 400-grit scratches.

How to Create Damascus Patterns

Knifemaking

Rick Dunkerley

November 13, 2011

How to Make Basic Patterns

The layer counts are only a starting point and you may find that you prefer more or less. In specialized damascus patterns, such as radials or jellyrolls, far fewer layers are needed. It is also possible to forge weld sections of high- and low-layer bars into one billet and get a high contrast through patterning.

Patterning of the flat laminated billet can be accomplished in many ways. Random pattern needs little explanation. The layers remain relatively flat and some distortion usually occurs during the forging. The distortion causes the flat layers to bend and results in a flowing, organic look to the material, especially when the edge bevels of the blade are finish-ground.

Twist patterns are similarly self-explanatory. A bar of the desired number of layers is forged into a square and the corners are forged down slightly. The bar is heated until it is close to welding temperature, and then twisted. The twisting can be gradual or tight for varied effects. The center of each twist gives a star effect. Twisted blades should be left a little thicker than other patterns as grinding deeper makes the star effect greater and the overall look is more pleasing.

Ladder patterns are accomplished by pressing or grinding grooves across a damascus bar. If the pattern is pressed into the blade, it should be approximately double the thickness required in the finished bar. The grooves are pressed in with dies made of round rods, and stop blocks can be used to insure the proper thickness of the finished bar.

After the grooves are pressed into the bar, it is ground flat, removing all the high spots. The bar is forged to the desired blade shape and the ladder pattern becomes visible. If the ladder designs are ground or milled into the bar, they should be approximately one-third the thickness of the bar. After the grooves are ground, the blade is forged to shape with all the grooves forged out of the bar, resulting in a distinct ladder pattern. Whether pressed or ground, the ladders should be staggered from side to side.

Creating the raindrop or pool-and-eye pattern is essentially the same process as forge welding a ladder pattern, except that dimples are pressed or drilled into the damascus bar instead of grooves. The resulting pattern will look like bull’s-eyes or raindrops on a pond.

These are the most basic damascus patterns and the same patterning techniques, and several others, are employed for more advanced patterns. Before moving on to more advanced patterns and techniques, the damascus steel maker should become adept at the forge welding process.

How to Make the “W’s” Pattern

More advanced patterns include the “W’s” design, and mosaic damascus. With the “W’s” pattern, the initial billet is stacked just like a flat-layered billet, and welded. Then, during the drawing process, the billet is rotated 90 degrees and forged into a rectangular bar with vertical layers. This bar is then ground free of scale, cut into pieces and restacked.

When the second weld sequence is complete, the layers remain vertical. This bar is then cut again and restacked for the third weld sequence. If the ends of these pieces are etched, they will reveal vertical layers that are distorted and starting to form the “W’s.” The third weld sequence will distort the layers even more and make the “W’s” much more dramatic. Any layer count works well on this pattern, and any of the patterning techniques, including twists, ladders, raindrops and even accordions, help to further expose the pattern.

The next level of advanced pattern welding is the making of mosaic damascus. The patterns in mosaic damascus are visible on the ends of the bars, yet what truly comprises mosaic damascus has never been clearly defined. At the BLADE Show in 1999, I questioned some of the best damascus makers on hand as to their opinion on this topic and each one had a different definition for mosaic damascus. Since there seems to be no clear definition we will refer to all end-grain patterns as mosaics.

How to Make Basket Weaves, Spider Webs and Radial W’s

The basket weave or parquet is a relatively simple mosaic-damascus pattern and makes for a good first mosaic project. To begin, forge weld a low, 5-to-9-layered billet and draw it out into a 1-inch square bar. Cut this bar into four pieces and stack them into a 2-inch-by-2-inch square, with the horizontal layers in two opposing corners, and the vertical layers in the other corners.
Forge weld the stack and draw the bar out, keeping the bar square by forging evenly on all sides. Several series of cutting and re-welding as described above will give a nice basket-weave pattern, a design that works well for background filler in complicated mosaic projects.

The spider web or grid is another simple mosaic pattern. It is started with squares of solid steel, such as 1050 or 1095. Cut four squares of the steel and stack them into a square billet. Add shims of contrasting steel, such as 15N20 or pure nickel, and then forge weld and draw the billet down into a 1-inch-square bar. Cut the bar into four pieces, stack, and re-weld until the desired size grid is achieved. The grid may be intentionally distorted by forging on a bias to create a spider web-like effect to the pattern.

Another mosaic-damascus pattern is the radial. The radial design is started with a low-layered billet of flat laminates. The bar is cut with a die, which compresses the center layers. The halves are then cut into four pieces, stacked into a square and then forge welded back together. This gives the effect of the layers radiating out from the center of the square.

The radial technique applied to a “W’s” pattern bar accomplishes a spectacular design. As with all of the patterning techniques, you can try them with any billet that you like. You never know when you will come up with a great new pattern.

Four-Way and Nine-Way Forging

For the best effect in the finished blade, it is often necessary to incorporate more than one radial or one jellyroll in the pattern. A bar can be cut into four pieces, stacked into a square billet of two rows of two pieces, and forge welded. This is referred to as a “four-way.” The bar can also be cut into nine pieces and stacked into three rows of three pieces, or a “nine-way.”

These four- or nine-way billets may be repeated several times to accomplish the desired effect. The size of the blade to be made will dictate the number of the original elements in the finished bar. For large fixed-blade knives, I like at least 16 of the original elements, and two four-ways will accomplish that number.

For small fixed blades or folders, I use 36 or 64 of the original elements in the bar. To achieve 36 elements requires a nine-way and a four-way, while a billet of 64 elements is accomplished with three four-ways. These numbers are only recommendations, as personal preference will dictate how each blade smith uses the material.

Single patterns or several different patterns can be combined in four-way or nine-way combinations, resulting in extremely interesting patterns with high contrast. There is no end to the possibilities for creating patterns with these combinations.

After combining and forge welding the desired number of elements, there are several ways to expose the pattern that is on the end of the bar. Twisting the bar and then forging to shape will expose the pattern along the edges of the blade. As with any twisted bar, the edge should be left fairly thick so that more grinding is required because the pattern is better near the center.

To expose the pattern, the bar can also be forged into a rectangular shape and ladder patterned either by pressing the ladders into the bar or grinding them in. And although I have never used it, the raindrop patterning technique should also bring the pattern to the surface of a rectangular bar just as well as the ladder pattern method.

The Accordian Method

The accordion method is my favorite way of exposing an end grain or mosaic pattern. I like the appearance of movement and flow that is created by the accordion technique. There are several different methods that can be used to open a bar like an accordion, and I use one suggested to me by Don Fogg.

The damascus bar is forged to final dimensions and annealed. The bar is then cut on a band saw, removing triangles of material from alternating sides of the bar. After all of the cutting is done, the sharp corners are rounded off on a grinder. The bar is then ready to flatten. While flattening the accordion, the bar should be worked at a welding heat. If the bar tears at the bottom of the cuts, apply flux and gently weld them closed. I can usually flatten the whole bar in one heat. The bar is then forged to final dimension.

The cut-out-triangles accordion method has worked so well for me that I do not use other accordion methods. This method is more labor-intensive, but at this stage, the damascus bar is valuable to me and I do not mind a little extra work to help maximize the material that I obtain from the bar.

The Loaf Method

Another popular method of exposing end grain patterns is the loaf method. The loaf method is accomplished by forge welding several blocks together side by side and then slicing blades off of the loaf. It is helpful to surround the blocks with sacrificial material like damascus or plain carbon steel. The seams can be welded shut and the billet dry welded. Having the blocks fit together nicely will simplify the weld. The loaf method works well for patterns or figures where no distortion is desired.

Cutting tiles off the bar, dovetailing them, then forge welding them together is one more way to expose patterning and produce blade material. This is a difficult forge weld and I do not recommend it for the beginner. The tiles are usually tack welded to a sacrificial plate, which is ground off after the forge weld. This method also does not distort the original pattern.

The Plug Method

The final method of exposing end grain patterns to be addressed is the plug weld. The original bar can be turned or forged into a round bar and plugs are then cut off. A hole is drilled into a blade and the plug is fit into the hole. A good, tight fit is desirable, and the plug should be slightly thicker than the blade.

The blade and plug combination are heated to a welding heat and welded in one press or hammer sequence. Several plugs can be welded into one blade if desired. This is another method that does not produce distortion.

There are times when distortion can be used to enhance a pattern or even create a new pattern. By forging a square bar on a 90-degree bias, the pattern in the bar will be distorted. The distortion continues as the bar is forged on the bias until it is square again. This can then be used as is, or incorporated into a four-way or a nine-way.

How to Make the “Persian Ribbon”

A pattern that is not so spectacular can be brought to life by using distortion to your advantage. The squares in a four-way will be triangles after a 90-degree bias forging, and can then be oriented on the next four-way to create diamonds in the pattern.

This is the technique used to create the pattern I call “Persian Ribbon.” Four blocks are stacked in a square with borders of contrasting material between the blocks. These are then forge welded and turned on a bias, with the borders now creating an “X” across the bar. The bar is then opened up using the accordion method and the Persian Ribbon pattern is created by the “X.”

Creating Custom Images

Beyond damascus patterning is the topic of creating figures within the damascus steel. Placing pictures in damascus has now become commonplace, as I have seen bird-hunting scenes and the outlines of mammoths, shamrocks, dragons and countless other objects in blades. The use of powdered steels has made creating these figures and pictures much simpler.

Prior to the use of powdered steel, an EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) machine could be used to cut a figure from two blocks of contrasting steel, and the male parts were interchanged. Forge welding resulted in two bars with the same figure, one dark and one light. This method was very expensive, and although intricate details could be cut, distortion was still a problem with uneven forging.

When using powdered steel, one block can be cut on the EDM machine and the figure is then removed and the hole filled with contrasting powdered steel. The male part can be placed in a square tube with one end capped, filled with a contrasting powdered steel and forge welded. This yields two bars with the same figure for half the cost of the EDM work.

A second method for making figures or pictures in steel is to cut plate material and stack the plates. The plates can be cut by laser or water jet less expensively than with an EDM. The plates are stacked in a square tube, and the cut-out figure is filled with contrasting powdered steel, and forge welded. I suggest that the first weld be on the ends of the stack to weld the plates to each other and prevent the powder from sifting between them.

The billet is then forged out into a square bar with the figure on the end. This method provides great detail for a fraction of the cost of the EDM, and materials are more readily available.
Figures can also be made by forming pure nickel sheet around cut-out molds. I have cut out wooden figures of birds, fish, shamrocks and many other figures to form the nickel around. This is obviously inexpensive and requires no outside work like using the EDM or laser cutting does. The nickel form is placed in a square tube and powdered steel is used to fill the tube. Special shapes may also be forged and placed in these billets, using whatever it takes to get the desired effect.

When using powdered steels, you must compact the powder as much as possible before sealing the tube. Vibrating the tube works well to help the powder settle and become as dense as possible. These billets feel soft during the initial forge welding, but after the billet has been reduced by about one-third, it will begin to feel solid.

Certain powders move at different rates while being forged, so experience is critical in forging billets with little distortion. Start with something simple and pay attention to how things move inside the billet and it will not be long until the results will be predictable.

Powdered steel has not been used in damascus steel for long. Steve Schwarzer pioneered its use in the early 1990s, and in 1999, I acquired some powdered steel from Devin Thomas and Ed Schempp, making several knives with powdered steel damascus for the BLADE Show that summer. Since then, its use has become widespread and the impact on the Damascus steel world has been tremendous. In my opinion, we have only scratched the surface and the possibilities for its use are limitless.

Conclusion

If the damascus bug has not bitten you at this stage, you must be immune. If you are infected, I welcome you to a wonderful world.

The information shared here has been gathered through personal experience and sharing with some of the world’s greatest blade smiths. I can never fully express my appreciation to Fogg, Schwarzer, Thomas, Schempp, Daryl Meier, Hank Knickmeyer, Al Dippold, Rob Hudson, and the three other original members of the “Montana Mafia,” Shane Taylor, Barry Gallagher and Wade Colter. Each one has contributed tremendously to my success as a blade smith, and without them I am sure I would not be writing this article.

Out of respect to the above-mentioned blade smiths, I ask you to take this information and build upon it. Share what you learn and give credit to those who help you along the way.

How to Make a Basic EDC Knife – From Start to Finish

Knifemaking

BLADE Staff

November 13, 2011

by Wayne Goddard

The One-Brick Forge

The one-brick forge I created started out with one brick and proved to be incredibly useful. As I learned more about working with soft bricks and found a better torch, what I call the “Extendo Forge” evolved. The Extendo Forge employs one and a half bricks to gain a longer chamber.

The main thing is that the bricks have to be of a soft, high-temperature type. A BernzOmatic-style propane torch furnishes the heat for the little forge. This little forge is not just a novelty item; mine gets used almost every day. It has replaced my medium-sized Dragon Breath forge for many heating jobs. Typical uses are for forging blades, annealing, heat-treating blades and occasionally tempering with the soft-back tempering jig. The photo shows the Extendo Forge with the JTH-7 hose torch.

To make it, you’ll need two types of ﬁrebricks—one or two of the soft, high-temperature type, and two or three of the hard, low-temperature bricks that help hold the soft bricks in position. If you don’t have any bricks, lying around you will ﬁnd them in the yellow pages under “Refractories”. If that doesn’t get results, call a brick mason to ﬁnd results, call a brick mason to ﬁnd out where he gets ﬁrebricks.

The common hard bricks will not work to make the little forge. The high temperature bricks, sometimes called “insulating bricks” are absolutely necessary. The temperature range for the soft bricks is 2,800-3,000 F.

There is only one brand and model propane torch that I recommend. It’s the BernzOMatic JTH-7 “hose torch.” It’s named a “hose torch” for the 4-footh hose with a torch tip on the end. There is also a regulator valve on the bottle.

A regulator valve is necessary because it allows the temperature to be adjusted. The hose torch runs extremely hot on the high end but can be adjusted back to run cool enough to use for annealing and hardening small parts. When running on the high end, you’ll like the extra heat because it makes for quick heating of the chamber.

The ﬁrebrick forge with the JTH7 torch will easily heat 1/4-inch-by-1-inch bar stock to forge blades from 4-6 inches long. Most other torches can only be used “on,” without any way to regulate the heat. The photo shows the project blade being heated.

Test your one-brick forge by placing a piece of 1-inch-by-1/4-inch bar stock in the heat chamber. Fire up the torch and see how long it takes to bring it up to forging temperature. It shouldn’t take more than 5-6 minutes to get 3 or more inches of the bar up to the forging temperature.

It’s important to have a safety holder for the 16-ounce propane bottle. The small, propane torches can be dangerous if dropped or knocked off of a workbench. The valve unit can break off and the propane will be quickly released causing a dangerous situation. The safety holder is made from a large-size juice can that is mounted to a plywood base. The holder is then held to the workbench with a wood screw.

A safety holder for the torch would have saved a roof that partially burned off a house in our neighborhood. A bicycle fell against a workbench and knocked a propane torch off and onto the ﬂoor. The torch wasn’t running but when it hit the cement ﬂoor the torch broke off the bottle, releasing the gas. The escaping gas was ignited by the pilot light on the water heater. The ﬂames went up the wall and into the attic through the access door that had been left ajar.

To make the mini forge, carve the 1-inch-by-1-1/2-inch heat chamber hole lengthwise completely through the brick with a junk knife blade. Or drill it out with an old drill bit and then scrape it out to make the rectangular hole. The 1-inch hole in the side is named the “ﬁre hole;” it goes in only far enough to reach the heat hole.

You want the ﬂame to wrap around the bottom of the work so as to heat it more uniformly. The line on the brick shows the bottom of the heat chamber. Don’t put the torch tip directly in the heat hole, keep it an inch or so from the opening. Experiment with your torch to see where the ﬂame is aimed to get the most heat.

The heat chamber doesn’t need to go all the way through the length of the brick if you are forging only small blades. A half-brick that is drilled partway through is positioned at the back end of the forge. With the open end of the half brick against the heat chamber, blades as long as 10 inches can be heated for forging or quenching. The solid end of the half brick is butted up against the end of the heat chamber when shorter work is being heated.

Carve a notch in the side of a soft ﬁre brick to make a cavity large enough for heating parts that are larger than the hole in the mini-forge. This works for straightening out coil springs or other curved pieces. The part to be heated is held in the recess where the ﬂame can wrap around it so that it is being heated from all sides.

Oxygen/Acetylene Torch

The oxygen/acetylene (A/E) torch is an excellent source of heat for the quenching process and one that I used for many years. I have used it to harden 3,000 or more blades. I stopped using it once I started building my homemade gas forges and using the one-brick forge. The only disadvantage to using A/E is the cost of the gas. Propane, when compared to acetylene, gives four times or more heating time. Although propane won’t get as hot as A/E, it is more than hot enough for our use.

The A/E ﬂame is over 5,000 degrees F, but it is easy to learn to manipulate the torch and blade to get an even heat. It is wise to practice getting an even heat on a junk knife blade or piece of scrap steel.

The A/E torch is perfect for an edge-hardening quench in which only the edge portion of the blade is heated to the hardening temperature. The back of the blade remains at a temperature where it does not fully harden in a quench where the whole blade is submerged in the oil. Blades that are edge heated with the A/E torch can be edge quenched or fully quenched.

The Regulator Block for Edge Quenching

When it is desirable to do an edge quench in oil, it is good to use a regulator block. I use a heavy chunk of steel adjusted so that the edge of a blade placed on it is about half an inch under the surface of the oil. The oil is heated to 90-140 F. The blade is heated and placed in the oil, point down, at about a 45-degree angle, and then rocked down on the regulator block. The blade is then rocked quickly back and forth a few times to be sure that the whole edge gets the “fast cool” that is necessary. The regulator block can be raised or lowered to adjust the amount of hard edge created in the quench.

Tempering

Tempering is a low temperature heat cycle or cycles necessary to soften (temper) the martensite a bit, and at the same time relieve the stresses developed in the quench. The ﬁnal form of the steel in a ﬁnished blade is tempered martensite. Tempering of knife blades made of carbon or carbon alloy steel is in the range of 375-500 F.

It is important to have the correct degree of hardness as a result of the tempering process. In the case of a knife blade, it is essential to have a ﬁne grain structure. A weak, coarse-grained blade may be the result of over heating during forging or heating for the quench. A blade with a ﬁne grain structure will always show superior strength to one of the same hardness that has a coarse grain.

In supervising the American Bladesmith Society journeyman smith and master smith cutting, chopping and ﬂex-test activities, I’ve noticed that the few broken blades all had a coarse or questionable grain size. Blades fail because of poor quality heat-treating; it’s usually not the fault of the steel itself. Poor steel with good heat-treating can make a superior blade when compared to one made of good steel with bad heat-treating.

You’ll need a toaster oven for tempering the freshly quenched blades, or else use the house oven. It’s important to temper immediately in order to relieve the highly stressed condition of the martensite formed in the successful quench. I used the oven in the house for many years and the family didn’t like the smell if I didn’t get all the oil off of the blades. It was good when I ﬁnally ﬁgured out I could do my tempering in a toaster oven kept in the shop. Any oven that will give a uniform temperature over the range from 325-500 F will work.

A $4 oven thermometer is mounted to the rack as a visual indicator of the temperature. Do the following to test your oven before tempering any blades: Turn on the oven and set the control at 375 F; allow 20 minutes for the temperature to become uniform; put a freshly ground piece of steel into the oven; leave it for 45 minutes; remove the steel; let it cool; and note the color.

The hue of carbon steel should be somewhere between straw color and brown. It should be of a uniform hue over the length of the steel. The color that appears is oxide formed by the heat, and the hue is a fairly accurate indication of the temperature within the same types of steel.

You might need to put a piece of steel between the heating element and rack if it appears that one part of the blade got hotter than the rest. Adjust the heat control so that you are getting a dark straw or brown color. You should be able to cut into the edge with a ﬁle.

I’m now using a Farberware Convection oven for tempering carbon and carbon-alloy steels. (That is anything up to 550 F.) I purchased the Farberware oven from a thrift store for $5. It has a large capacity, and since the heat source is outside the chamber, the heat is uniform.

An alternate tempering method is to use what I call a tempering jig. See the photo. The jig is made of copper but could be stainless steel or mild steel. Mild steel will scale away and not have as long a life as copper or stainless steel. The copper sides are 3/8-inch-by-1-inch by 5 inches. The gap for the blade is 1/4 inch, or as wide as the thickest blade you want to temper with the tempering jig.

The tempering jig must be heavy in order to hold enough heat to do an adequate selective temper on larger blades. An extension on the spacer of the blade is necessary as a place pinch with tongs or pliers to take the blade and jig in and out of the forge. With practice, a nice selective temper can be achieved. Practice with it before using it on a hardened blade. As said earlier, most of the skill used to make a ﬁnished knife is only developed by practice.

The tempering jig is made small enough to ﬁt into the heat chamber of the ﬁrebrick forge. The jig is heated to an orange color, pulled out and placed on a ﬁrebrick. The back of the blade is set into the jig.

The blade is kept in motion by drawing it back and forth in the slot, with more attention given to the ricasso area. The point, being thinner, will overheat if you are not careful. The idea is to get a blue color on the back of the blade and a dark straw color, not more than brown, at the edge.

You should have a pan of water handy to cool the edge if the color moves towards the edge too fast. The edge should be cooled with a very quick dipping in and out of the water. Don’t just stick the edge in and leave it, the thermal shock could start a microscopic crack that will cause a failure at some future time.

Annealing

Annealing is a heat-treating process that results in steel being in the softest condition possible. It can then be more easily worked with ﬁles or shaped by milling and turning. New steel as it comes from the supplier is usually in the form of rectangular bar stock. It would be in the hot-rolled, annealed (HRA) form. Hot rolling and annealing was the ﬁrst step in the heat-treating process, and as such, the steel is ready to be worked by the stock removal process.

Heat-Treat Sequence for the Project Blade
1. Have the tempering oven on and running with sufﬁcient time for the heat to be steady;

2. Have the quenching solution close by and ready to go. No time can be wasted getting the hot blade into the quenching solution. If you waste a few seconds full hardening may not be accomplished;

3. Heat the blade for the quench using the one-brick forge, or whatever source you have. Heat slowly and uniformly until the blade no longer attracts a magnet touched to it;

4. Quickly quench edge-ﬁrst into either warm oil with a regulator block or a pan of goop. Be sure to get at least a half-inch of the full length of the edge into the quench as soon as possible. I use the goop quench exclusively for single-edged knives. (The formula for goop is found in the materials section.) Double-edged blades need a tip-ﬁrst, straight-in quench in oil, deep enough to cover the whole blade and tang.

5. Keep the edge in the quenching solution until the back of the blade shows no color. As the goop melts, I will often quickly lift the edge out and make another track in the goop. This is necessary to keep the cooling rate steadily coming down;

6. Keep the cooling of the blade going until the blade can be handled with the bare ﬁngers;

7. Wipe the residue from the quench off of the blade, testing the edge with the corner of a worn ﬁle. The quench process is a success when the ﬁle does not bite in but only slides on the steel. I have a container of sawdust and a stiff wire brush to clean the excess oil or goop from the blade. Throw the blade in the sawdust and scrub it around real good, then give it a good work over with the wire brush. The light gray area of a freshly quenched blade indicates the hard section. See the photo. A blade that does not exhibit this color at the edge may not have responded to the quench process;

The Brass-Rod Test Setup

8. Quickly sand down one side of the blade to the bare metal, and place it in the tempering oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave the oven running but take the blade out and place on a rack to cool to room temperature. When the blade is cool enough to handle with the ﬁngers, place it back in the oven for another temper cycle of at least 45-minutes;

9. Turn the oven off and take the blade out when it reaches room temperature;

10. Test the edge with the ﬁle used previously. The ﬁle should bite slightly but not too deeply; and

11. Complete the ﬁnish-grind on the blade and give it the brass rod test.

The Brass Rod Test

Glue a piece of 1/4-inch-diameter brass rod onto a piece of hardwood, or hold the brass rod in a vise with the top half above the jaws. Apply the edge of the knife to the brass rod at the same angle used for sharpening, which is approximately 15 degrees. Apply enough pressure so that you can see the edge being deﬂected by the rod. If applied similar pressure to the rod while it was on a scale, you would ﬁnd the “pressure to deﬂect” to be 35-40 pounds.

A good light source behind the test area is necessary so that you can see the deﬂection. If the edge chips out with moderate pressure on the rod, the edge will most likely chip out in use. If the edge stays bent over in the deﬂected area, it will more than likely bend in use and be too soft to hold an edge. The edge of a superior blade will deﬂect on the rod and spring back straight.

The brass rod test can quickly determine if the blade has a good balance of ﬂexible strength and hardness sufﬁcient to hold an edge. The test is intended for knives in the hunting knife class. Thin ﬁllet knives or thick camp knives will not respond to the test in the same way.

The brass rod test as I present it is not intended to replace a hardness test to determine that a blade was fully hardened. You might think of it as a substitute for a Rockwell tester. The brass rod test is only a comparison test to determine what is, in my opinion, a hardness that will hold up in normal use. I started using is about 27 years ago and still think it is the best non ﬁeld-use test I’ve found.

Finishing the Blade

There are a variety of ways to ﬁnish the blade once it has been hardened and tempered. The project knife was worked down to a 240-grit ﬁnish with a ﬂexible disc and then hand ﬁnished to about an 800-grit ﬁnish. I then gave it a ﬁve-minute etch cycle in ferric chloride to bring out the temper line. The gray color from the etching process was left on the blade because it gives it a slight oxide layer of protection from tarnish and rust.

The temper line was highlighted with a quick hand rub with 2,000-grit 3M polishing cloth. My best photo does not do the blade justice in bringing out the beauty and ﬁne detail of the complex temper line.

Following are some of the many ways to ﬁnish blades. Each different ﬁnish gives the blade a distinct personality. Experiment with the different ﬁnishes so you will have the most suitable ready when the right blade comes along.

Hand-Finished Blades

Japanese sword makers who did their work 300-plus years ago had no power equipment. They forged the blade close to shape, and then used a sen (scraper) to level it. After heat-treating, completely with handwork, they brought the blade to a high degree of polish. All the abrasives used were from stones found in nature or made from oxides of metals.

I was amazed when I ﬁrst observed such a high degree of polish and was told it was all done by hand. My power grinding and polishing equipment was not getting me anywhere close to the hand-ﬁnished sword blades. Hand ﬁnishing, when done well, results in a crisp and clean deﬁnition of the surface. It gives a true appearance to the grind lines and elegantly deﬁnes the blade shape.

The reﬂections from the surface of a mirror-polished blade can cause a distortion of the lines and can reveal that the surfaces are not usually as ﬂ at and true as ﬁrst believed. A well-done, hand-rubbed ﬁnish is the ultimate treatment for a blade.

A hand-ﬁnished blade starts out with a belt or disc ﬁnish to at least a 320-grit ﬁnish. The ﬁrst step is working out the machine-made, 320-grit scratches with either a 320- or 400-grit wet or dry paper backed up with an ergonomic push stick. The photo shows the style of push stick I use for hand ﬁnishing.

The ﬁrst hand sanding is done in line with the length of the blade, and that will be at a 90-degree angle to the machine ﬁnish. You may ﬁnd some ripples in the ﬁnish that are caused by a platen that isn’t ﬂat or by stacking of the grit on the belt. You’ll need to drop back to a 240-grit paper to get rid of them if they don’t quickly come out with the 320-grit or ﬁner paper.

Work under a good light and use a headband type magniﬁer to check your progress. Once the ripples are out, you can go back to the 320-grit paper and get back on schedule. It’s not so much what speciﬁc grits you use but that the changes in grit sizes between steps are not too great. For example, it would be a waste of time to go from 120- to 320-grit paper.

When all the scratches are worked out, switch to 600-grit paper and sand at 90 degrees to the 400-grit surface. Then use 800-grit paper at 90 degrees to the 400-grit ﬁnish. You might decide not to go any further; it’s your knife and your decision. Or, you might want to keep up the process to 2,000 grit. The ﬁnal rub should be running parallel with the length of the blade. The ﬁner grits of wet or dry paper might not be found in the average hardware store. If not, try automotive paint supply places, or go to one of the knifemaker supply companies.

Abrasive stones are also used for hand ﬁnishing. I use EDM stones purchased from Manhattan Supply Corp. These are available in a variety of grits. I use 240, 320, 400 and 600. At times I use medium Crystalon and ﬁne India bench stones to level the surface on large blades. I make handles for the stones or epoxy them to a handle of some type. The photo shows two stone holders made of Micarta.

Try this for a super hand-rubbed ﬁnish: Take a clean scrap of sheath leather, just enough to hang on to, put a dab of Simichrome or similar polish on it, and give the blade a rub-down with it. Add polish compound as necessary but do not over do it. This will bring up a shine on the ﬁnal lines left by the ﬁnal abrasive paper rub that is unbelievably nice looking.

Using Natural Stones

Builders of Stone Age weapons were the ﬁrst stock-removal makers. Their only choices for abrasives were natural stones, sand or dirt. The “grinder” of choice would have been any rock that was harder than the object being shaped and ﬁnished. I’ve always thought that there were probably different “schools” of grinding, with some preferring round rocks and others choosing rocks of the square or rectangular type.

When I wrote the BLADE Magazine series, “The $50 Dollar Knife Shop,” I used pieces of broken wheels from old-time, foot-powered grindstones to ﬁnish the forged blade. I had pieces from two different stones, one somewhat coarse, the other a medium-grit size. I measured the grit size with an optical microscope and estimated that the coarser of the two was an 80-grit stone, the ﬁner a 150-grit stone.

The 80-grit stone was used for getting out the scratches left from draw ﬁling. The 150-grit stone was used for the ﬁnish prior to heat-treat. The photo shows a blade being smoothed up on a piece of natural sandstone. These stones are used with water to keep them from plugging up.

Natural stones ﬁne enough for up to a near-mirror ﬁnish will be of the type known as Arkansas stones, which are a grit size of 600-1,000. I don’t like Arkansas stones for sharpening because they cut too slowly; however, they are a good choice for ﬁne ﬁnishing blades. Japanese water stones are available in grits that will take you to a near mirror ﬁnish. Some are natural stones but most of the modern water stones are manmade.

A Quick Hand-Rubbed Finish

A nice ﬁnish for a working knife can be done rather quickly with all handwork. It’s quick because the strokes are all lengthwise with the blade. The quick-rubbing process results in a nice, although not perfect, ﬁnish because there are usually some coarse lines or ripples under the ﬁnal ﬁnish. The trick is to keep the scratch pattern all going in the same direction with the length of the blade. I may take the surface to a 400-grit ﬁnish and then use polishing compound on leather to ﬁnish it off.

Using Wet or Dry Paper

Wet or dry paper is useful because, when used wet, it does not clog up and quit working. Although some applications for it in knifemaking are best done wet, for others it is used dry. Wet or dry paper has silicon carbide grit, which is superior for metalworking. The waterproof paper backing is stronger than the non-waterproof, paper-backed sandpaper that is made for woodworking. All types of sandpaper are more economical when purchased in a 50-sheet sleeve.

Here is my procedure for preparing a sheet for use in blade or handle ﬁnishing. Fold it in half lengthwise and you have it ready to clamp to a steel plate for hand ﬁnishing a ﬂat surface. The photo in the section on blade ﬁnishing shows this operation being employed to smooth the ricasso on the project knife. By keeping the paper folded while in use, the abrasive side that is down helps to keep it from slipping out of position on the backing surface.

Fold another sheet of sandpaper lengthwise and then cut it in half along the fold with a sharp shop knife. Fold that piece again lengthwise and cut. Fold that piece but don’t cut it, and the wet or dry paper will then be ready for hand sanding. If you folded and cut right, you’ll have a folded piece as long as the 11-inch sheet and it will be 1 1/8 inches wide.

Build yourself a cutting jig as illustrated earlier to make 1-inch-wide strips for hand sanding. When you want to form a radius on edges of a knife handle, the strips are not doubled but used as-cut to width. These are used with a backing layer of masking tape to keep the paper from tearing from the pressure used. To apply the tape to the sandpaper, lay the paper over your vise, grit side down. Tear off a piece of masking tape that is near the same length as the sandpaper. Apply the tape in the center and work it down and around, following the gentle radius of the top of the vise.

This will form the sandpaper into part of a slight circle and will help to keep it from wrinkling when pulled over the rounded surface being ﬁnished. When sanding rounded surfaces, it is good to work the paper by pulling it back and forth over the surface. The action is similar to polishing shoes with a strip of cloth.

The Mirror Finish

Some collector-grade knives look good with a mirror ﬁnish. At one time, a mirror ﬁnish was the ultimate. However, the hand-rubbed ﬁnish is more popular today for high-dollar collector knives. And, it does show a higher degree of skill, in my opinion.

My version of a mirror polish starts out by hand ﬁnishing the blade to a 600-800-grit surface, and then I use a buffer. The hand ﬁnishing gets out all the ripples and leaves a true ﬂat surface to set up the mirror ﬁnish.

Be careful with bufﬁng wheels, they are probably the most dangerous tools in the shop. I run 10-inch-diameter, stitched bufﬁng wheels at 1,750 rpm. Anything faster than that is too dangerous for me. I keep the last two rows of stitches cut so that the face of the bufﬁng wheel is not so hard. There are times when a hard face is desirable, but most of the time a slightly softer bufﬁng-wheel face is better. The soft face is good for getting in the corners where the guard meets the blade.

It will save you a lot of work to have the face of the guard polished prior to attaching it. This also eliminates the danger of bufﬁng it while on the knife. Loose buffs are dangerous for knife work because they have the bad habit of grabbing blades and other knife parts.

I was holding a folding knife blade with my bare ﬁngers one day when the buffer caught it and ﬂipped it to the cement ﬂoor. The blade bounced back up into the bufﬁng wheel and was propelled back down to the cement, then made a second trip up and stuck in my ﬁnger. I wasn’t badly hurt, just enough to draw a drop of blood or two.

I immediately placed two layers of old carpet on the ﬂoor under the buffer. The padded area on the ﬂoor will slow down a ﬂying blade and, at the same time, give the blade some protection from damage. Small blades should be held with ViseGrip® pliers for bufﬁng.

Safety Note

In my opinion it is not safe to have a buffer sitting directly on a table or bench. When a bufﬁng wheel catches a blade, it is propelled at 75 miles an hour or more towards the bench top. The sharp missile can bounce back and then be propelled by the wheel in the direction of the operator.

Mount the buffer on an extension of the workbench that is no longer than the base of the motor. The idea is that there is nothing between the buff and the ﬂoor. Some type of pad should be placed under the buffer so that a blade thrown down by the bufﬁng wheel isn’t damaged, or worse yet, deﬂected back up into the wheel or operator.

Many years ago, I taught a friend to make knives. He got in a hurry and mounted his buffer directly on top of a bench. The bufﬁng wheel caught the guard on a dagger and ﬂipped it down against the bench top. The knife bounced off the table and back into the wheel where it was propelled around and directly through the palm of his hand.

I don’t think he incurred any permanent damage, but he missed a lot of work and had the expense of getting his hand repaired. I have more true horror stories about buffer accidents but will not tell them here. I’ll just state my opinion that I think the buffer is the most dangerous machine in the knife shop.

Bufﬁng wheels should have guards over them. See the photo that shows the way I do it. Even if nothing is ever propelled around the wheel and into your face, it is nice to have the ﬂuff and excess compound projected down to the ﬂoor instead of up into your face.

My bufﬁng-wheel guards are made out of 3/4-inch plywood, then glued and screwed together. My theory is that a knife blade propelled around the wheel might stick into the wood before it gets to me. A lip at the front of the guard can be adjustable so that it can be lowered when the wheel gets worn down. The top of the buff guard is handy for storing compounds and other junk.

The Satin Finish

The most practical ﬁnish for a working knife is a satin ﬁnish. It shows a pattern at a 90-degree angle to the edge and is usually not much ﬁner than 300-400 grit with light bufﬁng.

Here’s how I do my version of a satin ﬁnish. The blade can be ﬂat, convex or hollow ground. I work the blade down to a half-dull, 240-grit ﬁnish, or if you prefer, use a sharp 320-grit belt. I’ve done the satin ﬁnish starting with a ﬂexible disc ﬁnish but it is never as nice looking as when set up with a belt.

Carefully buff the blade with Number SF 300 (satin ﬁnishing, 300-grit) glue-based compound. This type of compound is available from most knifemaking supply companies. I use the compound on a 10-inch stitched muslin bufﬁng wheel that runs 1,750 rpm. This buff will be used for only the SF greaseless compound. It takes some practice to get a uniform scratch pattern. At this stage the blade surface will be fairly open.

The next step is to buff the blade lightly with a medium cutting compound. Easy does it with this step. Once or twice down each side of the blade is enough. Finish the blade by bufﬁng lightly once or twice down each side with a ﬁnish compound like RCH Green Chrome.

Over-bufﬁng with the ﬁnal ﬁnish compound will wipe out the scratch pattern that sets up the satin ﬁnish. The result will be a nice looking, slightly shiny satin-ﬁnished blade. The ﬁnish bufﬁng is done on a different 10-inch, sewn-muslin wheel that runs at 1,750 rpm. With practice, you will be able to get a nice, but not too shiny, satin ﬁnish.

Satin ﬁnishing compound is held together by water-based glue. The SF compound is also called “greaseless” because most bufﬁng compound is grease based. SF compound is applied to the wheel while it is running, but not at full speed.

I turn the buffer on, then off, and apply the compound as the buffer slows down. This process is repeated until a light coating is applied to the whole surface of the wheel. If the compound is applied in a thick layer, the buffer acts more like a ﬁne-grit grinding wheel and it will not make a good satin ﬁnish.

The wheel is left running until the compound hardens. That will take 15 minutes or more, depending on the humidity and temperature. A freshly loaded and dry buff should be broken in by lightly bufﬁng a scrap piece of steel. The object is to dull the satin effect just slightly. This whole operation will need to be practiced to get good at it. Like a lot of other things in knifemaking, it can’t be broken down to a formula that works the ﬁrst time, every time.

Protective Coatings for Blades

Blades made of high-carbon and carbon-alloy steel, and most tool steels, will stain and rust if not kept clean and dry. There are two treatments that I use as protective coatings on working knife blades.

The ﬁrst is Cold Blue. This is the product made for touching up the blue ﬁnish on ﬁrearms. Birchwood Casey makes one called Super Blue, which costs a bit more than the standard Cold Blue but is well worth the money. It is easier to get an even coat of blue with the Super Blue and the blue is a deeper color. Used as directed, it will make a nice ﬁnish that gives the blade a fair amount of protection against tarnish.

The other method I use is an oxide layer developed with mustard. It gives a ﬁnish that makes the knife look like it’s been used for some time. It makes the knife more user-friendly because there is not the constant worry about frequent cleaning and keeping ﬁngerprints wiped free. Blades with the mustard ﬁnish can be handled and then put away in the sheath without much fretting.

The blade being readied for a mustard patina should have a fairly ﬁne ﬁnish on it, 400-grit will do. I’ll usually make swirls and a variety of lines going different directions with 400-grit wet or dry paper. This will help give the ﬁnished blade the appearance of having been used.

Making a new knife that looks like it has been used might sound a bit goofy. All I can say is that my customers seem to like the goofy idea.

I’ll never forget selling the ﬁrst knife onto which I applied an aged ﬁnish. It was 1973, and I was selling my knives at an outdoor craft show called The Saturday Market. The young man who bought the used-looking camp knife made the following comment as he picked it up for the ﬁrst time: “I always hate taking a new knife out and getting it messed up; this one’s already messed up!” I’ve been messing them up every since.

There’s a bit of a trick to applying the mustard ﬁnish. It won’t look right if the mustard is simply rubbed onto the blade. The correct way to do it is to make lots of little drops with your ﬁngertip. The drops can almost touch one another or be spaced out a bit. Let the initial treatment work for four-to-eight hours. Rinse the blade with water and scrub it lightly with the ﬁnest steel wool you can ﬁnd—that is usually coded “00000.”

Next, apply a second and third coat. Finish the ﬁnal mustard treatment as before and seal it with paste wax or penetrating oil, like Liquid Wrench® or WD-40. Use the wax as per the directions on the container. Let the Liquid Wrench or WD-40 work on the blade for a few minutes and then wipe it dry with a clean rag. If you were going to use the knife for preparing food, it would be better to use a vegetable oil to seal the blade. The photo shows a close-up view of the mustard patina.

It’s a good idea to practice on a junk knife blade. Try some combinations with the Cold Blue, and think about testing horseradish, perhaps combining it with mustard. The horseradish will make a black patina with which I’ve only just started to experiment. A knifemaker friend, Richard Veatch, turned me on to the horseradish ﬁnish, saying it came from sword maker Michael Bell.

Getting a Handle on It

BLADE Magazine editor Steve Shackleford once asked me to participate in a point-and-counterpoint article covering narrow-tang versus full-tang knife construction. I told him that the only way I could do it was to argue both sides. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method, and I can make a wonderful argument for either of them.

Nevertheless, after 42 years of putting knives together, I pick narrow-tang construction for the majority of my work. I like the feel and balance with the narrow-tang knives. They will always be lighter than full-tang knives. I don’t want to argue for my position; I’ll just say it’s my way of doing it and I’m comfortable with it.

I like making the Scagel-style bowie and camp knives that require narrow tangs in order to accommodate hardwood spacers and deer antler crowns. For hunting- and utility-sized knives, I prefer the narrow-tang construction that calls for two halves of a knife handle to be carved to ﬁt around the tang. Some call it a mortised handle. I’ve worked out a way to carve the cavity in the two handle halves that makes it fairly simple.

There are several reasons why narrow-tang (N-T) construction is the easiest for the new maker. The N-T requires less steel, which is not an issue if you have 50 pounds of old ﬁles lying around. It can be an issue to consider in making knives of damascus steel that you’ve welded up with your own two hands. N-T construction requires a fraction of the ﬁnishing that a full tang does because there is no steel exposed in the handle. This makes the ﬁnishing much easier for those without power tools.

The full tang, in comparison, requires that the tang and handle material be exceedingly ﬂat, which calls for either a belt sander or a ﬂat-disc machine. A disadvantage of most N-T construction is that it usually requires a knife guard to hide the tang hole. The project knife’s handle style, with the guard and grip as one, solid, integral piece, also hides the tang hole.

Handle Materials

Micarta has been called the steel of the plastics world. I won’t go that far even though it’s a material that will outlast most knife blades. Micarta is an often-used material, very versatile and available in a good assortment of colors. I use it a lot because of the durability factor. Its only real disadvantage is that it doesn’t have the organic feel of natural handle materials. A young man was handling one of my Micarta-handled hunting knives and remarked, “I don’t like it; it’s not organic.”

Antler, both domestic and the imported Sambar stag, are good handle materials but are better suited for knives made after the maker has more experience. Stag is one of my favorite materials to work with but availability is not good. There is currently an embargo on Sambar stag. Elk and deer antlers are not easy to come by and not all are suitable.

Whenever possible, purchase antler and stag when you can pick it out yourself. That is the only way to be absolutely sure you get usable material. If you order stag or antler through the mail, be sure that you have return privileges for any of it that isn’t acceptable.

Domestic hardwoods are an economical source of material. Domestic wood types I like to use are maple, walnut, Osage orange and desert ironwood. Osage orange and ironwood are the hardest and most durable. I’m fairly lucky to have a good source for Osage orange. The pioneers that came to the Willamette Valley in Oregon by covered wagon brought starts with them. There are many Osage orange trees still growing along the old Territorial road north and east of Eugene.

I often use ﬁddle-back maple and walnut, sometimes called “curly”, or “tiger tail.” The maple used for the project has a lot of special memories that go with it. It came from an old-school craftsman named Gillman Keasey. He made bows and arrows, and with them, won the National Archery championships in 1935 and 1936. That means that there will be fond memories every time I see a picture of the project knife.

Keeping Wood and Stag Dry

Western Oregon has a reputation for being wet and it’s well deserved. Our average rainfall is nearly 60 inches. Wintertime here ﬁnds moss growing on everything that doesn’t move. Keeping wood in my shop dry enough to put on knives was a problem until I built a heated storage box.

The box has a 100-watt bulb in the bottom that runs with a thermostat set at 75 degrees F. This keeps wood and stag about the correct moisture content so that it doesn’t shrink when put on a knife and taken into the nice, dry climate of a warm house.

Vents at top and bottom allow circulation of air through the box; the shelves are heavy pegboard as to allow for some air movement. There is a 1-inch air space at the back, from top to bottom. The box works well and has not only solved my problem with wood but gives me a place to store welding rod, which works better when warm and dry.

Handle Attachment Sequence

The procedure is as follows for the handle style where the guard is part of the handle material. Making the mortised-tang handle goes like this:

1. Choose a piece of wood large enough to make the handle that is at least 1-inch thick. Make it a real nice piece of wood. Take time to ﬁnd something distinctive with unique colors and grain, or use something with a memory attached;

2. Take care to orient the handle pattern to the ﬂow and pattern in the wood grain and clamp in place;

3. Use a sharp lead pencil to mark the outline of the pattern. Do not use ink markers as they will penetrate the handle material and make an ugly stain that won’t always come out when the handle is worked into the ﬁnished shape;

4. Cut the outline of the handle slightly oversize;

5. To use the blade as a drill guide, clamp it to the handle material. Be sure it is oriented properly by laying it on the pattern for the whole knife. Drill one hole, place a trial pin in it and drill the other hole. Pin diameter is 1/8 inch (.125) and the drill bit should be a #21 (.128). There will always be an interference problem in the assembly if the holes are drilled with a bit that is the same size as the pin stock. The roughly .003-inch clearance the #21 drill creates will make the job much easier;

6. Mark the centerline on the block and cut in half lengthwise. The grain matches closer by cutting a block to get the two halves;

7. Put arrows (with pencil) on the edge of the handle halves so that the orientation does not get mixed up. From this point on, there will be a front side and a back side. The front side of a knife is the side showing when the point is to the left and the edge is down.

8. Flatten the rough-sawn surfaces by sanding. The ﬁnished handle will have a taper in it but that will be put in after the slots for the tang are ﬁnished. When sanding material, it is important to keep it cool. The surface of a handle slab expands when it gets hot from power sanding, thus causing it to expand and bend into a slight curve with the center being ground more than the ends. Two pieces of material that are allowed to got hot during sanding, when placed together (by matching the arrows), will show daylight in the center with the ends together. Alternate the sanding between the two pieces and cool the resting one by placing it warm-side down on a cool piece of steel. Handle materials will be truly ﬂat if kept cool while being ﬂattened;

9. Put the two handle halves together and check for ﬂatness by holding them up to a light. Then assemble with trial pins and round out and smooth up the surface that meets the ricasso;

10. Finish the radius on the front edge at that point. It’s not easy to do once the blade is ﬁxed in place;

11. Lay the tang on the inside surface of one handle piece, put the trial pins in place and mark the outline of the tang with a sharp pencil. Mark it close to the tang;

12. Measure the thickness of the tang and pencil it in on the inside of one handle piece. Find or assemble a spacer that is half the thickness of the tang;

13. With the handle material in place, bring the drill bit down so that it just touches the handle material and lock the down-feed nut. I use brad point drills that are common in the woodworking world. These drills do not tear out or splinter the wood when breaking through the back side and they make a somewhat ﬂat bottom hole. Care must be taken to feed the drill slowly so that good control is maintained. The ﬂat bottom cut they create is excellent for rough cutting the grooves for the tang;

14. Place the spacer that is equal to half the thickness of the tang under the one handle piece. This raises the handle material to the correct relationship with the end of the drill. If set up correctly, the drill will cut to a depth that is close to half that required to ﬁt the tang into the two pieces when put together;

15. Carefully drill out the wood between the lines marking the shape of the tang. Keep the drill 1/4-inch away from the area at the front of the handle so that it cannot split the wood. This area will be carefully ﬁnished with a safe-edge rasp, ﬁle or sharp chisel;

16. Once both halves are roughed out, use a rasp, ﬁle or chisel to clean up the groove for the tang. To make this type of handle look right, the blade should grow right out of the handle material with no gaps;

17. An alternate method that is quicker and more accurate is to use a jig to hold both pieces of the handle at the same time, giving good control of the handle material;

18. The handle jig is used with high-speed, carbide, drill/mill bits in a milling machine, or a drill press that is set to run as fast as it will go. With this setup, it is fairly easy to completely clean out the slot for a ﬁne ﬁt. Use a vernier caliper or depth micrometer to check the depth, and if it needs a few more thousandths-of-an-inch removed, slip a piece of paper under the jig and mill out the excess;

19. When both sides are ﬁnished, clamp the two halves together and see if the tang ﬁts;

20. If you worked carefully, the ﬁt should be fairly good. If the slot is too narrow, use a ﬁle or sharp chisel to slowly and carefully open up the slot to get a near perfect ﬁt;

21. If the slot is too wide, it can be narrowed up by carefully sanding the handle halves until you have a nice ﬁt. Take an equal amount off of each side so that the glue joint stays in the center of the handle;

22. With the trial pins in place, clamp the handle halves together. Remove the trial pins and check to see if the tang ﬁts and the trial pins line up. It’s time for the glue-up when all is ﬁtted up all nice and ﬁne.

The Glue Up

I use Loctite adhesive products almost exclusively. Loctite Super Glue is wetter, dries faster, sticks better and has more foolproof tubes when compared to the competition. I use Loctite “Quick Set” Epoxy for handle glue up; it is easy to mix, stronger than most (if mixed properly) and available almost everywhere.

Before mixing the epoxy, it’s best to make sure everything is aligned. Assemble the two handle halves on the tang with the trial pins in place. Once the epoxy is half-cured, it becomes real messy when you get into a ﬁght with pins that don’t align.

Always have cotton-tipped swabs, toilet paper or paper napkins and a small container of acetone close by for clean up. You should wear disposable latex gloves during the glue-up process. Too much exposure of bare skin to uncured epoxy and acetone can be dangerous.

Epoxy, for best strength, should be warmed to between 70 and 80 F prior to mixing. If epoxy, in general, or the quick set, speciﬁcally, is mixed when cold, it will not reach the full strength of which it is capable.

The photo on page 61 shows a mixing platform made from a piece of steel mounted on a pivot. The platform sits about 6 inches under a light ﬁxture with a 100-watt light bulb in it. About 15 minutes before it’s time for glue up, a piece of clean paper is put on the heating platform, light turned on, and the epoxy tubes are placed on the paper. This furnishes the heat necessary for heating the epoxy and a place for the knife to sit while curing.

With clamps and trial pins ready and the epoxy warm, mix it carefully as per the instructions. The epoxy is mixed on the paper and the handle halves glued up to the tang held with spring clamps. Work the trial pins out one at a time and clean them with acetone. Dip a cotton swab in acetone and wipe off any excess epoxy that comes out of the holes and from around the blade.

Give the pins a quick acetone wash and insert them back into the handle. Keep the paper you mixed the epoxy on as a witness that the epoxy hardened properly after allowing the allotted time. If you remember it, take time to work the trial pins out while the epoxy is still tacky, it might save a ﬁght with them later.

Epoxy doesn’t cost that much so don’t cut yourself short when you mix. I ﬁnd the Quick Set more than adequate for assembly of most knives; the exception being big knives with narrow tang handles where I want to be sure that all the air space between the tang and handle material is ﬁlled. The slow-cure epoxy found in cans is wet when mixed warm and gives the time element necessary to creep into the deepest recess of a tang hole.

When the epoxy has cured, run a sharp drill through the holes to clean out any excess hardened epoxy. Cut the pin stock to length (slightly longer than the thickness of the handle), rough up the pins with coarse sandpaper and glue them in place with Loctite glue. Use a back-up block when sanding down the excess pin stock, or use 320-grit paper on the ﬂat disc machine. Always take care to not undercut the handle material around the pins or an attached guard.

Finishing the Handle

Handles should be roughed in with 80-grit sandpaper, ﬁnished out with120-grit pager, then 240-grit paper, and ﬁnally, 320-grit paper. From there, the ﬁnish can be done with 00000 steel wool or the ﬁnest available.

Push sticks for handle ﬁnishing are a necessity. It’s necessary to have a ﬁrm and ﬂat surface backing the sandpaper to keep from undercutting the softer handle materials like wood. The shape of the work dictates the shape of the push stick. The stick type is used for handle work and is rectangular, round or with a slight radius. In use, the abrasive paper is wrapped around the push stick, either end-to-end, or around the circumference.

Maple should be brushed down with water and allowed to dry prior to the ﬁnal ﬁne sanding. This raises the grain and will result in a better ﬁnal ﬁnish. In order to bring out the grain in ﬁddle-back wood, it is common to use some type of stain. I used potassium permanganate dissolved in water, which can be swabbed on while the handle is still somewhat wet from raising the grain. It gives a natural brown without the red tinge that most brown dyes have.

The handle is sanded with 240-grit paper while still damp, then 320-grit paper, stained, and then sanded again lightly using the penetrating ﬁnish on the sandpaper. If you don’t have potassium permanganate, you can stain maple with most any wood stain or leather dye, and then treat it with Deft Danish Oil or Minwax Tung Oil Finish.

Any sealer/ﬁnish that is wet and penetrating will work. Maple will absorb a lot of a wet, penetrating ﬁnish. I like to apply the ﬁnish over a two- or three-day period. As it soaks in, I add more. If the surface gets tacky, you should use enough ﬁnish to dissolve it and get it wet again. Use ﬁne steel wool to help get the tacky ﬁnish off of the surface.

When no more ﬁnish will soak into the handle, it should be lightly worked over with the ﬁnest steel wool you can ﬁnd, then rubbed to a high shine with an old wool sock. The ﬁnish should be in the wood and not on the surface. For a high shine, use a wax such as Johnson’s paste wax or similar.

Potassium permanganate can be found at Sears in the department where supplies for water softeners are sold. And, I have no idea what it has to do with water softening. It comes in the form of purple crystals that dissolve in water. This makes a stain that goes on purple but turns brown from oxidation. Potassium permanganate is an oxidizer, whatever that means.

Handle material can be burned from the heat created from dull abrasive belts and bufﬁng wheels running too fast. The heat can cause discoloration, cracking or raised grain in some woods. Excessive bufﬁng will undercut the softer parts of wood. It’s best to ﬁnish wood without bufﬁng.

The Finished Project

The project knife is ﬁnished except for sharpening it. I did the grinding and blade ﬁnishing with my homemade grinder that cost less to build than the cost of three Norton Hogger abrasive belts. The ﬁt and ﬁnish wouldn’t have been much better if I had used my more sophisticated equipment. The point I am making is that the new maker should get started with what they have with which to work. It’s not the equipment that makes a skillful maker, it’s the practice with what they have.

The simple knife is ﬁnished, and for those who want to continue, the following sections have some of the more advanced knifemaking techniques explained. My hope is that the things presented will make the journey to mastering the craft a bit easier.

How to Make Better Bolsters

Knifemaking

BLADE Staff

November 13, 2011

by John Lewis Jensen

First Steps Toward a Beauty of a Bolster

Because my work is so complicated, my first step is to draw and refine everything on paper, working out all of the issues in terms of design and proportions. Once this is done, I make about six Xerox copies of the drawing that will be cut and pasted to material as needed.

In the case of these bolsters, I had Timascus on hand already. It came precision-milled from the supplier in a 1/8-inch thickness. However, as you can see in the accompanying photo, there are some rough tooling marks that should be eliminated. The smoother the contact surfaces are to other contact surfaces, the tighter the overall fit of the knife parts. It is important and critical, to me anyway, that components be “air tight,” and that there are absolutely no visual gaps between materials.

I hand sand the flats. Even though I am technically using the 4-inch-by-36-inch belt sander, I am not turning it on, as that would be a bit too aggressive in this case. The piece is small and would be hard to hold against a moving belt. It could easily get away from me, which could damage the piece and/or my hands! I simply hand sand it with even pressure on a 320-grit sanding belt.

I’m not trying, in particular, to remove thickness, only to eliminate the slightly irregular tool marks. This takes a bit of elbow grease, especially with the material being titanium. I just want to smooth out the surface. I have carefully cut out the bolster section from my overall drawing and double-stick taped this shape down to the topside of the raw material that I want to be my front bolster.

As you can see in the accompanying photo, I have smoothed the surface. You can see the grit marks of the sanding belt, but the bolster material is certainly smooth and flat to the touch and sight. The process is repeated for both bolsters.

How to Make a High-Tech Folder

Knifemaking

BLADE Staff

November 13, 2011

by Allen Elishewitz

There are many methods to build a knife and there is no wrong way to do it. You can use anything from simple hand tools to industrial machines. The method I have chosen for readers to follow allows for a high-tech folder to be fashioned with either simple or large industrial-type machines, the latter of which are like the ones I own.

The fancy locking-liner folder that has resulted from this step-by-step instructional is completely handmade. The reason I choose to build all my knives in such a manner is because it gives me, the knifemaker, more flexibility in my production method. It also allows the knife to take on more of an individual and unique appearance.

Keep in mind that, due to space limitations, there are quite a few small steps that I have excluded. I will do my best to mention them but I will concentrate on the most important aspects of making a high-tech locking-liner folder.

For this project, the knife has titanium bolsters, a carbon fiber handle and a damascus blade. The locking-liner folder integrates a classical handle/bolster combination that, to build it, entails an intermediate level of difficulty. What makes the folder more complicated to build than other plain-handle knives is the introduction of the bolsters. The bolsters add just one more aspect to handle construction, and the alignment of the bolsters and handle material must be constantly maintained during the knife assembly.

11-11-11: Here’s To U.S. Service Personnel Everywhere

Knife News Wire
The BLADE Blog w/Steve Shackleford
The BLADE Blogs

Steve Shackleford

November 11, 2011

Blademag.com, BLADE® magazine and everyone at F+W Media and Krause Publications would like to take this opportunity to thank all American service personnel and veterans for their service to their country.

It goes without saying that without the sacrifices they have made and continue to make, we would not have the privilege of living in the greatest country the world has ever seen. However, we can never say it enough.

Thank you active duty personnel and veterans everywhere!

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BLADE Magazine

9th ABS Knife Exposition Update By James Batson, ABS President and Chairman

How to Forge Damascus

How to Create Damascus Patterns

How to Make Basic Patterns

How to Make the “W’s” Pattern

How to Make Basket Weaves, Spider Webs and Radial W’s

Four-Way and Nine-Way Forging

The Accordian Method

The Loaf Method

The Plug Method

How to Make the “Persian Ribbon”

Creating Custom Images

Conclusion

How to Make a Basic EDC Knife – From Start to Finish

How to Make Better Bolsters

How to Make a High-Tech Folder

11-11-11: Here’s To U.S. Service Personnel Everywhere

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