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Complete knife #4 goes to my FIL. A bench-sized Wharnecliffe:

Man I wish I had a squish. Maybe someday. This is a cool WIP, thanks gor sharing!

I’m now outside the original scope of my thread, but I think this is a worthy & important addition. I have a Jet 1100 canister dust collector for my shop. I used it with a temporary hookup to my 2x42 grinder I was using before building this one. It makes a significant difference in the amount...

I think you are correct across the board here, with respect to my small blade. I agree there really isn’t an advantage to using mild steel as cladding, aside from me not wasting good HC steel if I botched the billet. But I’m genuinely interested in your thoughts on what the possible...

I’m far from an expert, but my understanding is it was primarily due to material scarcity, but perhaps an unintended consequence was the added mechanical properties of flexibility and toughness. I’ve read that traditional san mai long blades are far more likely to bend rather than break...

Happy to answer. Like I said, it was my first attempt at a full san mai billet, and first time I’ve forge welded an entire billet together. So a big part was just proof of concept vs my ability to hand hammer a laminated billet into something that is usable. -Can I keep the core straight...

I’ve never seen these guys you are referring to that claim the things you are claiming, but you obviously got beef. Maybe consider directing these questions squarely to the parties that have offended you instead. You might help educate some maker, or at least hear his reasonings and have a...

Regarding san mai, the use of mild steel, wrought iron, or lower carbon options are correct in traditional construction & offer the desired mechanical characteristics for the blade. Making san mai out of three layers of hardening steel results in the mechanical equivalent of a monosteel blade...

Thank you, Ken. Like you, I seem to spend more time on “shop improvements” than making blades, but it’s all in the spirit of making more blades better! The Chinese VFD must’ve shorted internally. A bright flash and accompanying “POP” came from inside while running at 80% doing some simple...

I beat 0.330” of mild & 15N20 down to 0.090”. That was a lot of work! Then cut this little Ko-Bunka out of my results:

Just a little update. I smoked my chinesium VFD, so I upgraded to a KBDA-27D. I also disassembled everything and gave everything a protective coating of paint. Reassembled everything and put on a new adjustable height work table. I really dig it.

Thank you for sharing this beautiful post & your beautiful blade.

Is there a support group out there, like Handle Materials Anonymous or something for guys like me that find themselves impulsively buying handle materials for hypothetical knives and half-baked ideas of knives in the wee hours of the night?

I dig it! I'm a new guy myself. I like the handle material, but I think I'm correct in saying that is polyester resin handle material and not polyester micarta. "Micarta", both original trademarked and copied versions are resin laminated fabrics like linen, burlap, denim, or paper. Your...

Well with responses like that you leave me no choice. I’m in!

No, but the etch coincides with how the 15n20 took the Ferric Chloride after I mixed it 4:1 back when I was trying to figure that out. I have some 5160 and some 1075 I can try with it to see how that etches out. What are you thinking?

It may not be 1018. It's just flat bar stock from HD or or True Value that I had in my scrap bucket from TIG welding practice. I guess I just assumed that kind of generic steel was 1018. I beveled it so I could see the layers and see if my weld was good. Just a quick & dirty test and grind...

Did my first ever forge weld today. A San Mai test coupon of 15n20 high carbon sandwiched between 1018 mild steel. It etched exactly opposite of what I expected!

Are there classes or divisions for this? Like as a newer maker I am confident I can make a nice knife that I would be proud to share and have critiqued, but I’m not yet capable of delivering a “@Gene Kimme” level of craftsmanship or degree of difficulty. I’d be embarrassed to receive a blade...

I just sketch my plans on 1/4" graph paper. This way I'm not directly copying, but rather can be inspired by another's design(s). Sketching by hand makes it personal, and it's probably the most relaxing part of the entire process for me. It may be that I just find graphics software beyond...