My Arkansas Toothpick

[JeremyBartlett]

Hey guys,

So over on Facebook in a group called the Real Knifemakers of America we had a competition. This was build-off #4 and the design was an Arkansas toothpick. Here is my entry that won 1st place and $1000! As most of you probably know the best time to take pictures of your knives is on an overcast day. That way you don't get any hotspots caused by the sun. Well on the last day of the competition I had to get pictures to send in and it was starting to mist...hence the water drops on the blade!

I know it's hard to tell from the photo, but this dagger has an 11 inch blade, so it's a little larger than it looks!

 

[Jon Buescher]

That is beautiful! What is A203E? I have ever heard of it

 

[KenH]

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/a203e-who-has-tried-it.1582692/

203E is steel with around.20% carbon (or less) and 3% nickel. It was made for reactor shells and other pressure vessels, and is very tough. It was popular in making damascus at one time because it made a very bright contrast. But since a blade of 203E and 1095 ends up with around .60% carbon content, I think most switched to 15N20 ... which has nearly the same nickel content but .75% carbon.

203E is still used in san-mai and in some high contrast damascus that is not for a cutting edge.

 

[Dennis Morland]

Congrats on the W!

 

[Randy Lucius]

Very nice and looks to be well deserving of the win! Real Knifemakers of America looks like a good Facebook group. I submitted a request to join. Thanks!!

 

[opaul]

Wickedly beautiful!

 

[Mark Barone]

Wow that is beautiful.

 

[Sean Jones]

Very nice! Beautiful craftsmanship

 

[BossDog]

Nice.

 

[Self Made Knives]

Congrats again Jeremy. I already had that $1000 earmarked for a Tippmann sewing machine dang it!

 

[JeremyBartlett]

Congrats again Jeremy. I already had that $1000 earmarked for a Tippmann sewing machine dang it!

Thanks brother...I'm planning on trying to find a mill! If I can't find one, I'm gonna get the equipment to do some hot bluing I wish more people would have finished...you included, that hamon looked sweet!

 

[JeremyBartlett]

Thanks for the nice comments guys!

 

[izafireman]

Lovely knife

 

[opaul]

What’s is the steel and the Hamon technique?

 

[JeremyBartlett]

What’s is the steel and the Hamon technique?

So this is a san mai billet that I forged. Think of it as a steel sandwich. a203e steel on the outsides and 1075 in the middle. The a203e has a high nickel content so it etches light and the 1075 is high in manganese, so it etches almost black. I etched in diluted ferric chloride for a short time, and then did a 30 min hot coffee soak.

 

[opaul]

So this is a san mai billet that I forged. Think of it as a steel sandwich. a203e steel on the outsides and 1075 in the middle. The a203e has a high nickel content so it etches light and the 1075 is high in manganese, so it etches almost black. I etched in diluted ferric chloride for a short time, and then did a 30 min hot coffee soak.

Thank you. You did a great job!