[Cake_14N]

I asked Mr. Harsey if I could begin a post here to solicit feedback during the creation of my first knife. With his permission, I will begin.

Some of the basics:

1. Knife will be made from a piece of 1/8 x 1 x 9 inch CPM 154 stainless steel. Lesson learned allready, this steel eats hacksaw blades. Two blades dulled just making a cut across the piece of steel.

2. This knife will be made using hand tools only, no bench grinder or other powered grinding tools. I know this sounds foolish, but I was taught that before you can appreciate using modern technology you need to learn the basic mechanics behind the tool. I know I will regret this decision as I have started using a file to remove excess metal from the bar to shape my blade and it is going to take a very long time.

3. Blade shape is a simple, slightly pointed blade, 3 13/16 long with a 5 3/16 full tang. I started with a 9 inch long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick piece of steel. I actually measured the blade in one of the pictures in a magazine and worked out the ratio of blade length to handle and used that conversion factor to scale my knife to the piece of steel I had to use. I guess us Intelligence types make things difficult using math in public.

Stuff I still need to figure out/acquire:

1. I need to come up with a way to heat treat. I have a book by Mr. Wayne Goddard that shows how to make a gas forge using firebricks. I just need to get across ABQ and stop into the ceramics store and buy what I need to make the forge. Then I need to figure out temps and times.

2. I purchased a few pieces of wood to make the handle, but I think I ordered the wrong thickness. The wood pieces I bought are very thick, off the top of my nugget, I believe they are 5/8 inch thick and polished on both sides. This will take some filing to get them to the size I need for a comfortable grip.

3. I need to acquire the sandpapers necessary to finish the blade. I do have a dremmel, so I will most likely use that for the final polishing, but I still need to hand sand before that.


Enough for now. Thanks for the opportunity to share this project.

I will update this posting soon and add pictures.



Cake