What's On Your Bench...

Saw a thread like this on another forum and hate to steal the idea but I thought it was a good one. I thought it would be nice if some of you guys popped in here every once in a while and shared a few pictures of what's going on in your shop, what you're working on.

I have been pretty busy lately and was able to go part time at the real job and close to full time in the shop. Still working out the kinks but I am figuring it out. Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on lately...

These have all been heat treated...



Experimenting with different finishes...









And finally figuring out the etcher. It was driving me nuts...



What's on your bench??

What's the finish on the top knife? I like your blades, the look awesome.

toothlesrooster said:

What's the finish on the top knife? I like your blades, the look awesome.

Click to expand...

Thank you! That one had a dremel attack it and then was forced aged. I am going to keep that one and see how it does.

i'm loving your work Steven
specially the design of the 3rd picture, and the finishes too
would love to know how you got them

will share couple of pics of my WIP too soon

some of these are finished or almost finished now
there are more...somewhere, i keep discovering stuff i started

Thank you SHOKR!

You have been one busy man. You have some great designs in the works. Thanks for posting them.

Here is my finishing process for the "forced aged" look.

I owe a lot of this to Shawn Hatcher for always posting tips and tricks on achieving a finish like this. I religiously followed his posts and pieced together his process while experimenting and finding out what worked best for me.

Tools and supplies needed:

- Harbor Freight 18lb. vibratory tumbler
- Ceramic media from McMaster Carr
~ Coarse, Triangular 22 degree, 7/8"x7/16" #4918A918 (10lb.)
~ Coarse, V-Cylinder, 7/16"x7/16" #4918A911 (10lb.)
- Silicone Carbide grit (46/70)
- Tumbling soap
- Muriatic Acid
- Birchwood Casey Super Blue (Liquid Gun Blue)
- Bleach
- Penetrating Oil
- Steel Wool

The Process:

- Sand / grind the flats and bevel to at least 400 grit
- Wash knife with a degrease type soap
- Tumble for around 25 minutes
- Wash / clean
- Place in muriatic acid for 10 to 40 minutes (temperature greatly changes the time needed to be submerged)
- Spray with Windex and rinse
- Tumble for 15 minutes
- Wash with warm water and dry
- Apply Gun Blue with a dauber
- Immediately lightly scrub with steel wool
- Let sit for 30 seconds
- Rinse with warm water
- Submerge in bleach for 1 minute to 4 minutes
- Rinse
- Spray blade with penetrating oil and scrub with steel wool (remove all of the rust)
- Wash with soap
- Tumble for around 15 minutes

*Repeat all steps except for the muriatic acid until the desired finish is achieved.

I am still experimenting but have gotten pretty good results with this process so far.

Stephen, you said you finally figured out your etcher. Do you have any advice you would like to share? I'm just about going crazy trying to get a good etch.
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any help you can offer.

Jim Moenck said:

Stephen, you said you finally figured out your etcher. Do you have any advice you would like to share? I'm just about going crazy trying to get a good etch.
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate any help you can offer.

Click to expand...

Getting better but still have a few kinks to work out...

Check out this thread... http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?35098-Etching-Question-Problem

Rudy Joly has some great tips in there.

I got rid of the marker that came with it and hooked up an alligator clip in its place...



I use a cotton ball instead of the etching pads...



I also use salt water instead of electrolyte. Mix salt in water until it doesn't dissolve anymore.

- Thoroughly clean the blade
- Hook your ground wire as close to the area to be marked as possible
- Get the cotton ball well saturated with the salt water
- Blot out all excess moisture on the cotton ball and make sure it is just damp (barely leaves a mark on a paper towel when pressing down)
- Experiment with the lowest setting on your etcher and increase as needed (I started at a high setting and burnt up 2 stencils)
- Slowly move the cotton ball over your stencil (you will feel and hear a light buzzing)
- Do this 10 to 15 times starting with "etch" and then "mark"

I have been doing this before finishing the knife because I always get the ghosting around my mark. After etching, I just sand over it a little to clean up the outside of the mark and then glue the handle on and finish the knife.

The result...



Hope this helps and I will be sure to add anything I figure out when marking my next blades.

Some beautiful work, Steven and SHOKR... you guys have been busy, my bench is bare in comparison.

Just finished these two up and will be shipping them to Finland tomorrow...

8" and 11" fillet blades in ladder and migration era patterns, 1084, 15n20, and w1.

This one is almost handled now, same steels...


Two of these, the biggest one and the middle one, are finished, the rest are waiting... same steels, plus some wrought iron...

Thank you Steve. I don't have a variable power unit. I have used a Q-tip but never thought about a cotton ball. You have good info here, and I need to try it.
Thanks again.

I finished up these little Kiridashis. I have made tons of these little guys. People seem to really like them. They really aren't your traditional style of dashi. I put my own spin on it and came up with this design. I have been using 52100 because I get great results with my heat treating. I am able to get a very keen edge. They end up being surgical sharp. I decided to hollow grind both sides and try to thin them down a bit more. I like the look of it and it should cut like a laser. Let me know what you guys think.









Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

These are ready for heat treat

taylormadeknives said:

I finished up these little Kiridashis. I have made tons of these little guys. People seem to really like them. They really aren't your traditional style of dashi. I put my own spin on it and came up with this design. I have been using 52100 because I get great results with my heat treating. I am able to get a very keen edge. They end up being surgical sharp. I decided to hollow grind both sides and try to thin them down a bit more. I like the look of it and it should cut like a laser. Let me know what you guys think.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I recognized your work before I saw your name! Congrats and awesome to see you here!

Steven Long said:

Getting better but still have a few kinks to work out...

Check out this thread... http://knifedogs.com/showthread.php?35098-Etching-Question-Problem

Rudy Joly has some great tips in there.

I got rid of the marker that came with it and hooked up an alligator clip in its place...

I use a cotton ball instead of the etching pads...

I also use salt water instead of electrolyte. Mix salt in water until it doesn't dissolve anymore.

- Thoroughly clean the blade
- Hook your ground wire as close to the area to be marked as possible
- Get the cotton ball well saturated with the salt water
- Blot out all excess moisture on the cotton ball and make sure it is just damp (barely leaves a mark on a paper towel when pressing down)
- Experiment with the lowest setting on your etcher and increase as needed (I started at a high setting and burnt up 2 stencils)
- Slowly move the cotton ball over your stencil (you will feel and hear a light buzzing)
- Do this 10 to 15 times starting with "etch" and then "mark"

I have been doing this before finishing the knife because I always get the ghosting around my mark. After etching, I just sand over it a little to clean up the outside of the mark and then glue the handle on and finish the knife.

The result...

Hope this helps and I will be sure to add anything I figure out when marking my next blades.

Click to expand...

Steve where do you get your stencils?

GHEzell,

Very nice designs. My favorite is the top one in the last picture. Looks quick.

Thanks for sharing.

Jim Moenck said:

Thank you Steve. I don't have a variable power unit. I have used a Q-tip but never thought about a cotton ball. You have good info here, and I need to try it.
Thanks again.

Click to expand...

You are most welcome.

taylormadeknives said:

I finished up these little Kiridashis. I have made tons of these little guys. People seem to really like them. They really aren't your traditional style of dashi. I put my own spin on it and came up with this design. I have been using 52100 because I get great results with my heat treating. I am able to get a very keen edge. They end up being surgical sharp. I decided to hollow grind both sides and try to thin them down a bit more. I like the look of it and it should cut like a laser. Let me know what you guys think.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I think these are very nice, man. I have been seeing them on Instagram and like your take on the design. Beautiful handles.

Thanks for posting up some of your work.

Looking good, Keith! Can't wait to see them handled.

killingerBlades said:

Steve where do you get your stencils?

Click to expand...

I got my most recent ones from Ernie.

http://www.erniesknives.com/knifemaker_stencil.html