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People expect more from stabilization than it will deliver. Stabilized rotten wood is still rotten wood, same for stabilized pinecones. Some woods is like yes you can stabilize them but why. Osage Orange can be stabilized but remember that it has been used for fence post that last for decades...

The show pushes what constitutes good knife making and some of those strength tests are nothing but abuse of the blades, like chopping Elk antlers or stabbing into steel drums. Also, sooner or later, they are going to have to run out of weapons for the contestants to replicate. Doug

You also need to realize that "stays sharp" and "easy to sharpen" are two opposing forces. You will have to give up a little on one to get more of the other. Doug

Happy holidays to all, and for those who have some of that white stuff on the ground, be safe. Doug

Bless you. Doug

Look at it this way, you probably won't need to get it up to 2000° very often unless you use high alloy steel and , if you do use high alloy steel, then you won't be able to work without it. Anyway, enjoy the heck out of it. Doug

Outstanding, especially for your first "serious" attempts. The stitching is especially even and the stamping nice and straight. I don't know if you sew by hand or by machine but if it is by hand a stitching pony is very handy. Doug

Chris, you're going to love it. Never too much heat control. Doug

Those are a great collection of puukkos, Guns. I really like the one with Scandinavian wrap around sheath. Does the sheath have a wooden core? Doug

Looks nice. Just be aware that if that is North American Osage Orange that those scales will oxidize out to a deep russet brown. I don't know about Argentinian Osage Orange but I think that in may too to a degree. Doug

What super sexy specs would those be? I've only done two knives with bainite. The other one I recall only rises to being a knife shaped object. It bends easily but without any cracking. That said, bainite is pretty much considered the red headed step child of the steel structures. Go for it...

First of all go to ASM International and look up the TTT diagram for the steel that you want to try and get an idea of where it falls into the bainite region. My recollection is that, due to the limit of my oil's flash point, I had to quench at 450° for two hours to get full conversion to...

I tried it with quenching in hot oil (I was out of my mind). Low temperature molten salts would be a lot safer. The steel was 52100 and it held up well in the chopping test and slicing fibrous rope. When I tried to bend it to 90° the blade creaked and popped up to when it broke just a little...

You could try getting a high speed quenching oil, such as Parks 50, which will run you about $225-$250 for a five gallon can, or if that's too rich for you right now you could always try very warm brine solution. Stick the blade in the quench tank or about eight to ten seconds while moving it...

The bottom line is that there are simpler steels that are more forgiving in the austenizing department, such as the `10XX steels, but that said, there is no such thing as too much temperature control for heat treating a blade. Doug

Way too cool!o_O I take from what you said that you first made the crushed W pattern and then overlaid it with a raindrop pattern. Doug

I've only placed one order with AKS and the shipping was prompt. Doug

The computer gremlins are at work again. All I get is the page is not working. Too bad. Doug

I would go with a simple steel like 1075, 1080, or 1084 if he wants a working blade. Like Chris said, if he wants it to be a wall hanger you could use a stainless steel or damascus if he wants something showy. Doug

I made a knife with a Osage Orange handle, the North American species, and it oxidized to a deep russet brown. A very attractive wood. Just coated with boiled linseed oil. Doug