First "Real Attempts"

[Chris Martin]

I will James....lol I guess even if I post pics of a cracked blade its still my first go at it. I saw Martin post a pic of a nice big ol blade that cracked on him so I know it does and will happen.

I continue to learn down in the dungeon buddy. I am taking this serious. Maybe when I am 50-60 years young I can fall back on it and not have to climb ladders anymore Just turned 32 in Dec. So I got time2guns

No matter what happens post pics. This will help someone. And it will get you answers if something goes wrong. It is a learning thing and if you ain't learning then you better get out of the shop for awhile. Like I said slow and easy. it will all come togather. We got your back sunshine.

 

[JAWilliams]

I will James....lol I guess even if I post pics of a cracked blade its still my first go at it. I saw Martin post a pic of a nice big ol blade that cracked on him so I know it does and will happen.

I continue to learn down in the dungeon buddy. I am taking this serious. Maybe when I am 50-60 years young I can fall back on it and not have to climb ladders anymore Just turned 32 in Dec. So I got time2guns

You are still a puppy at 32. I promise you will know when you start feeling older.

 

[Chris Martin]

Already feeling it brother. All them years BMXing and skateboarding killed my bones. Lets not forget all my party days....lol Good thing my wife came along and saved me or I would still be killing myself slowlyhuh1 But I still like a beer or 12 every now and then2thumbs

You are still a puppy at 32. I promise you will know when you start feeling older.

 

[Darrin Sanders]

Oughta make one heckuva entry/chopper. Here's a tip that might help with hole alignment on future work. Scribe a line an equal distance from the edge all the way down the blade. Then come back and scribe a short line across the long line at each point you want a hole. After you get all your little crosses marked, center punch each one. Then start drilling. Hope this helps.

 

[JMCNEES]

Man that thing looks mean! Good job!

 

[Chris Martin]

Oughta make one heckuva entry/chopper. Here's a tip that might help with hole alignment on future work. Scribe a line an equal distance from the edge all the way down the blade. Then come back and scribe a short line across the long line at each point you want a hole. After you get all your little crosses marked, center punch each one. Then start drilling. Hope this helps.

Darrin,

Thank you sir. You know I thought about doing that on the next one to make my life a little easier. My eye is not nearly as good as I thought it was. Stupid mistake on my part, but I learned a great deal from it. Good thing its a freebie to a buddy2thumbs

I thought about just using a marker and measure as you stated and then center punch where I mark a dot for drilling. BUT, I do have a scribe now, so maybe I will take that advice and scrap the marker idea!

I appreciate your input friend and thanks!

Chris

 

[Chris Martin]

Big thanks to you Jon!! I like the design and I plan on improving it next go!!

Your name looks familiar, are you on BF or JD?

Thanks again everyone, this is a huge reason I love it here. Its more suggestions on how to improve rather than a beat down rockon

Man that thing looks mean! Good job!

 

[Keith Willis]

Looks good Chris.Something else that will help you when laying out your holes,is to get you a cheap pair of dial calipers,set them where you want and use them to scribe your lines.I have used the same $20 pair,for lots of different things,for 6 years.I use them to lay out holes,mark the edge center,mark the center to split a set of scales,and anywhere I need a mark and can use them.

Hope that helps.

God bless,Keith

 

[Chris Martin]

Keith,

First off thanks for the encouragement.

Second, the dial calipers are on the list of MUST gets. I need a pair anyways to check for thickness etc. For now I will just measure and scribe 2 lines the lenght of the holes to be drilled and center punch each hole.....lol I got in a hurry and it bit me in my arse.

Lets just hope it keeps coming along and doesnt go down the drain. I plan on cleaning it up today, pre fitting some handles then try and HT for the first time.

Wish me luck and thanks again for the feedback and tips!

Have a awesome weekend Dogs.

Chris

Looks good Chris.Something else that will help you when laying out your holes,is to get you a cheap pair of dial calipers,set them where you want and use them to scribe your lines.I have used the same $20 pair,for lots of different things,for 6 years.I use them to lay out holes,mark the edge center,mark the center to split a set of scales,and anywhere I need a mark and can use them.

Hope that helps.

God bless,Keith

 

[M.Olexey]

Hey I just saw this.

Looking good brother! I like it.


2thumbs

 

[Chris Martin]

I was wondering if and when MOB would jump in. Thanks Martin, means a lot coming from you bro! You know I am a MOB fan boy...hahaha

ETA: Yes those are channel lock marks on the but end of the tang. I dont have my forging tongs yet....;-)

Well, I managed to HT yesterday. Good thing is there was no warpage etc of any sort. I tempered 3x's at 420 degrees for 2 hours each cycle. What has me concerned is I took my needle files and they leave marks on the edge. Yeah I know, the "wannabe maker" doesnt have a real file??? No I dont. Anyway, most of the marks are the coating from quench coming off. I took the files and tried filing on the thumb grooves and all that really comes off is the oil coating from quench. But a very fine grain of steel comes off too?????? I noticed I cannot file into the steel like when it was soft. It wont even bite to further along the thumb grooves. Should I be ok, or re HT it? I got it up to a redish/orange, tested with the magnet and did not stick. Put it back in the forge for maybe a min and then quenched.

Here are a couple pics:

Heating up the forge and steel for oil. This was my first murdered blade by the way

My buddies blade: I let it warm up then started rotaing front and back ever so often while pulling in and out the lenght of the blade.

After quenching and cooling off:

Rudy says I found the hot spot of the forge....lol Its pretty obvious from the pic. While tempering I started on my personal EDC blade.

Lots of learning curves here guys

Chris

Hey I just saw this.

Looking good brother! I like it.


2thumbs

 

[Jeff Pearce]

sounds like you did a good job heat treating. keep up the good work and more progress pictures.

 

[Chris Martin]

Thank you Jeff.

I dont think I am out of the woods yet. Even though it takes a lot of effort to dig in with a file, maybe its still too soft? A buddy suggests normalizing it a couple times to make sure all is good. I think I will do as he says, I am a newb to say the least Back to the forge we go2thumbs

I will keep trying, hope all goes well.

Thanks again Jeff!

Chris

sounds like you did a good job heat treating. keep up the good work and more progress pictures.

 

[M.Olexey]

I like the edc!

On the file skating/not skating. With 5160 (I've never tried the 6150....sounds interesting though), I've found that there is usually a little layer of scale and gunk on the edge out of the quench. Give it a swipe on the grinder to knock some of the trash off then try your file test again. 5160 doesn't come out of the quench as hard as some other steels. Out of the quench it is in the high 50's. Tempering doesn't change the hardness much (more of just a stress reliever thing).

 

[Chris Martin]

Martin,

There was most deff. some scale. On the first and second try's. I sanded the blade down better this time so it wasnt as much. I normalized twice this time and think the results are better. I only go tto temper it once tonight, will do a couple more cycles tomorrow and try and finish this thing. I really need to get me some hardness testers here soon.

Thanks for the compliments on my EDC. I think its coming along. I missed my FOS so much I had to come up with something soon. What better time than in between tempering....2thumbs

Thanks again for your input MO. Much respect to you brother.

Chris

I like the edc!

On the file skating/not skating. With 5160 (I've never tried the 6150....sounds interesting though), I've found that there is usually a little layer of scale and gunk on the edge out of the quench. Give it a swipe on the grinder to knock some of the trash off then try your file test again. 5160 doesn't come out of the quench as hard as some other steels. Out of the quench it is in the high 50's. Tempering doesn't change the hardness much (more of just a stress reliever thing).

 

[Chris Martin]

Well, here it is....I think overall it turned out ok for my first knife. I gained a lot from doing this. My finish work needs some improvement.....I left some decarb on the bottom side of the tang.....I could clean it up a little better on the grinder...but might screw the handle shape up. I have a couple gaps between the spacer and tang....My fault...spent a little too much time on the tang side....grrrrrr I only used 2 pins....when I should have used 3 and maybe even bigger pins. I added a slight re curve to the edge to help the misalignment up on the holes along the spine...probably going to take it a bit further.

Very frustrating journey but I had a blast doing it....the next one will be better from what I have gained doing this one. Make sure and square things up before jumping the gun2thumbs

I sent a couple sneak peaks to my buddy....he is thrilled to death he will be getting "My First".....thats all that matters is that he is pleased. I know what I did wrong and I will learn from my mistakes. I just tolod him to beat the thing to death, so it will again let me know what I need to do on future builds.

I will wrap the kydex sheath up this week and call this one done. Not a looker....but a fun experience to say the least!

Thanks to all that have followed my threadrockonworking 1

Chris

 

[Rock]

That's a fine first knife. You may have started running before you learned to crawl, contoured handle, three edges, spacers! Big first effort!

 

[Chris Martin]

Thank you Rock! You are 100% correct. I jumped head first in to this. When I decided I wanted to start making knives I thought....big woop...make a badarse knife and get on with it. WRONG......lol I guess starting this way proved to myself its not as easy as it looks. In fact it is far from being easy. But its fun and I will always enjoy it and learn something new on every blade I design.

Thanks again Rock

That's a fine first knife. You may have started running before you learned to crawl, contoured handle, three edges, spacers! Big first effort!

 

[SPAknives]

DUDE!! THAT IS BAD ASS!! I wish my first was that sweet! Sorry for jumpin in here so late. I don't know how I missed this thread. Dude both of these blades are sweet lookin. This finished one is pretty wicked. I have been wanting to make a big chopper here lately also. If this is your first one finished you did as hell of a fine job. Now Go Make Another!!

 

[Chris Martin]

Shane,

Much respect to you. I have admired your work and coming from you this is a huge compliment.

I cant imagine what you will come up with on your chopper. I will be tuned in my bro!

Thanks for the kind words buddy.

Chris

DUDE!! THAT IS BAD ASS!! I wish my first was that sweet! Sorry for jumpin in here so late. I don't know how I missed this thread. Dude both of these blades are sweet lookin. This finished one is pretty wicked. I have been wanting to make a big chopper here lately also. If this is your first one finished you did as hell of a fine job. Now Go Make Another!!