Fross
Well-Known Member
Not at all, thank you again for your input. Im sure all will end well.
Bow in custom blade, "acceptable"?
- Thread starter Fross
- Start date
Not at all, thank you again for your input. Im sure all will end well.
Drew Riley
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking the best bet in fixing the bow is to heat it back up to it's original tempering (or even slightly less if possible) temperature while clamping (or overcorrecting) to a straight edge of some kind. Granted, this may damage/destroy the original handle which may have to be removed/replaced, but it should allow you to flex/bend the steel straight without as high of a risk of cracking or breaking the steel.
Fross
Well-Known Member
Well guys here is an update, however frustrating it may be.
After SEVERAL emails back and forth I came to the conclusion that I am better off fixing this darned thing myself. After a few emails about how he was going to "fix" it he informed me to send it but his workload was "monstrous". After that email he sends another right after and tells me he has a similar knife that he could just trade for, he sent me pictures and I accepted the offer as it is the SAME design and size with some different scales, pins and a forced patina but was lacking the 4"s of jimping on the blade spine and pommel and a swedged point that mine has. THEN he sends me an email telling me I am going to have to pay for the difference in the knife value of mine and the one he had which was according to him $400 more because it had a mustard patina and some silver mosaic pins. After all of this I am going with "a bought lesson is better than a taught lesson".
I removed the scales(G10) by heating em up a little in the oven to loosen the epoxy(300*F) and clamped the blade to a 1-1/4 steel tube(part of my 2x72 grinder's tool rest) and tempered it @450, this almost got it completely straight, I am going to use some 1/8" shims tomorrow and over clamp it a bit to get it completely straight. I am then going to rework the handle a bit and use stainless 1/4" tube for pins to give it a better look. The maker wasn't refusing to do the work but was pressuring me into getting him out from under another knife he had made for someone else that he needed to get rid of and that alone made me nervous.
I will post pics in the coming days as I get time to play with this project, maybe I can finish some other knives that are sitting in the shop...
After SEVERAL emails back and forth I came to the conclusion that I am better off fixing this darned thing myself. After a few emails about how he was going to "fix" it he informed me to send it but his workload was "monstrous". After that email he sends another right after and tells me he has a similar knife that he could just trade for, he sent me pictures and I accepted the offer as it is the SAME design and size with some different scales, pins and a forced patina but was lacking the 4"s of jimping on the blade spine and pommel and a swedged point that mine has. THEN he sends me an email telling me I am going to have to pay for the difference in the knife value of mine and the one he had which was according to him $400 more because it had a mustard patina and some silver mosaic pins. After all of this I am going with "a bought lesson is better than a taught lesson".
I removed the scales(G10) by heating em up a little in the oven to loosen the epoxy(300*F) and clamped the blade to a 1-1/4 steel tube(part of my 2x72 grinder's tool rest) and tempered it @450, this almost got it completely straight, I am going to use some 1/8" shims tomorrow and over clamp it a bit to get it completely straight. I am then going to rework the handle a bit and use stainless 1/4" tube for pins to give it a better look. The maker wasn't refusing to do the work but was pressuring me into getting him out from under another knife he had made for someone else that he needed to get rid of and that alone made me nervous.
I will post pics in the coming days as I get time to play with this project, maybe I can finish some other knives that are sitting in the shop...
Drew Riley
Well-Known Member
WOW.... $400 difference? I can't even get my knives to sell for half of that, and they're actually straight. I think I'm gonna start using mosaic pins and squirting mustard on my blades.
Glad to hear that you're making progress on what the maker should have fixed in the first place.
Fross
Well-Known Member
Fixed!!!
Well guys I got it fixed. First I brought the knife up to about 280-300 degrees in a controlled oven to loosen the epoxy on the scales and removed them and did away with the clear G10 pins. I then clamped the blade straight onto my tool rest for my 2x72 grinder (1-1/4" tube steel) and preheated the oven to 425 degrees to re-temper the blade. I cooked it for about 2 hours and allowed it to cool at room temp then cooked it again. Running 2 tempers on her seemed to relieve her just enough to allow her to stay straight once cooled then unclamped. Once I did this I took the blade to a medium satin finish using a scotch-brite belt on the 2x72 grinder and then reattached the scales using 1/4" OD stainless steel thong hole tubing and some 2 part epoxy. I then reshaped the handle area dropping the back of it about 1/8" and bringing the belly up a about the same amount to fit my hand better then took the edge off of the finger choil area and squared it off. After this I took it outside the shop and wailed on some dry fire wood I have outside for my smoker(stuff is ROCK hard) and it ate it up with no loss of edge, still shaving sharp. Once I was done with that I cleaned her up and put a forced patina on the blade using a simple yellow mustard coating. It turned out awesome and feels a lot better with the handle area slimmed down and I much prefer the pins that are in it now.
First pic is the knife the day I received it. The rest are the results of my work. Excuse the quality, Cell phone pics
Well guys I got it fixed. First I brought the knife up to about 280-300 degrees in a controlled oven to loosen the epoxy on the scales and removed them and did away with the clear G10 pins. I then clamped the blade straight onto my tool rest for my 2x72 grinder (1-1/4" tube steel) and preheated the oven to 425 degrees to re-temper the blade. I cooked it for about 2 hours and allowed it to cool at room temp then cooked it again. Running 2 tempers on her seemed to relieve her just enough to allow her to stay straight once cooled then unclamped. Once I did this I took the blade to a medium satin finish using a scotch-brite belt on the 2x72 grinder and then reattached the scales using 1/4" OD stainless steel thong hole tubing and some 2 part epoxy. I then reshaped the handle area dropping the back of it about 1/8" and bringing the belly up a about the same amount to fit my hand better then took the edge off of the finger choil area and squared it off. After this I took it outside the shop and wailed on some dry fire wood I have outside for my smoker(stuff is ROCK hard) and it ate it up with no loss of edge, still shaving sharp. Once I was done with that I cleaned her up and put a forced patina on the blade using a simple yellow mustard coating. It turned out awesome and feels a lot better with the handle area slimmed down and I much prefer the pins that are in it now.
First pic is the knife the day I received it. The rest are the results of my work. Excuse the quality, Cell phone pics
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Drew Riley
Well-Known Member
Very nice job! It's a shame the maker wouldn't do the same for you, but chances are you did a much better job any how.