How do I achieve this

[Mark Barone]

This is not my knife. Although I have been keeping the scale blackened look. When I grind the final bevel I end up with a straight bevel line. This blade looks like it’s finished ground on the belt but has that rough uneven line. How is that achieved. And does that mean the bevel grind and or edge is not flat? Also is there a way to get a more blackened scale look, type of steel maybel? It seems like I see some of these knives are really black

 

[J. Doyle]

It's a forged to shape/hammered finish.

There are different ways to get the color. Baking the quench oil on might be one way to keep it black.

 

[Mks]

This is not my knife. Although I have been keeping the scale blackened look. When I grind the final bevel I end up with a straight bevel line. This blade looks like it’s finished ground on the belt but has that rough uneven line. How is that achieved. And does that mean the bevel grind and or edge is not flat? Also is there a way to get a more blackened scale look, type of steel maybel? It seems like I see some of these knives are really black
View attachment 76080

It could be 1084

 

[Mark Barone]

It's a forged to shape/hammered finish.

There are different ways to get the color. Baking the quench oil on might be one way to keep it black.

I use a kiln. should I try a propane torch after quenching or temper it at 400 degrees with oil still on it? Is that what you mean by baking?

 

[tkroenlein]

That's a pretty heavy forge finish. And by heavy, I mean it's been left fairly rough and there's a lot of forge scale on it. The glossier blacker finish is likely a vegetable oil of some sort. My quench oil is grayer and drier looking. But I think that will be really hard to achieve that texture without forging it.

 

[diverdale]

That's a pretty heavy forge finish. And by heavy, I mean it's been left fairly rough and there's a lot of forge scale on it. The glossier blacker finish is likely a vegetable oil of some sort. My quench oil is grayer and drier looking. But I think that will be really hard to achieve that texture without forging it.

I think he's more interested in the fact that the grind line is wavy ... not straight. Not necessarily the hammered look. Maybe I'm wrong though

 

[tkroenlein]

Yes, that too. The uneven line is due to highs and lows in the material. The knife is otherwise ground "straight."

 

[tkroenlein]

Really, it looks like it was finished with a rounding hammer.

 

[Jon Buescher]

Brut d’ forge or something of the sort is what it’s called there are some videos on the misinformation super highway showing how to do it

 

[Chris Railey]

The line is curvy because it is a coarsely hammered blade. Think of it this way, the blade contains a lot of hammer marks, AKA low spots. When you grind bevels you are working with an uneven surface so the grind line is going to wander. If one does not wish to show hammer marks and achieve a straight grind line then they need to grind the surfaces flat before they grind bevels. I use a more traditional approach of using a flatter on all forged blades as a final step in my forging process. More info than you asked for but it gets the point across.

As for the color it can be achieved by applying oil while the blade is hot. Think of it like seasoning a cast iron skillet in your oven. Essentially the same process. I have done this many times on forged pieces but not knives. Normally I put them in a hot forge and rub canola oil on them while they are hot but for blades you have temper issues to worry about. If I were going to try it on the blade I would temper the blade first. Then start trying to darken the scale. If you temper at 400 then I would apply Canola Oil to the blade and bake it at 350 for a while. It may take a few applications to get it how you want but I would think it would work.

 

[Mark Barone]

The line is curvy because it is a coarsely hammered blade. Think of it this way, the blade contains a lot of hammer marks, AKA low spots. When you grind bevels you are working with an uneven surface so the grind line is going to wander. If one does not wish to show hammer marks and achieve a straight grind line then they need to grind the surfaces flat before they grind bevels. I use a more traditional approach of using a flatter on all forged blades as a final step in my forging process. More info than you asked for but it gets the point across.

As for the color it can be achieved by applying oil while the blade is hot. Think of it like seasoning a cast iron skillet in your oven. Essentially the same process. I have done this many times on forged pieces but not knives. Normally I put them in a hot forge and rub canola oil on them while they are hot but for blades you have temper issues to worry about. If I were going to try it on the blade I would temper the blade first. Then start trying to darken the scale. If you temper at 400 then I would apply Canola Oil to the blade and bake it at 350 for a while. It may take a few applications to get it how you want but I would think it would work.

Thanks for the explanation. It does help. Okay I’ll give the baking a try.