Knives

[h-dom]

One I did a few years ago for a project someone was running from Sheffield University. They showed you how to make a knife and you made one and sent it in to them. This was my second attempt and was a tiny pen knife only about 3" long altogether.

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That's cool, here's one I have just hardened and is about to be tempered. I snapped a spring on one yesterday so I'm going to torch temper it so it's a bit less brittle.

I posted in the wanted section for a little dovetail cutter to cut the nail nick because this one isn't the best. I used a stone dremel attachment I dressed to a dovetail shape in the drill press with the blade in the vice but it wasn't very crisp. I should have just used a dremel slitting disc I think. Any ideas?

 

[h-dom]

Etched in coffee for a couple of hours....

 

[h-dom]

Here we go...semi assembled, spring adjusted and opens smoothly to half stop and then to fully open, with a nice snap shut too to this position. Next step is to fix the brass bolsters and then the bone scales. Not even halfway there yet...

 

[h-dom]

And on another note...all finished

 

[pedrobedro]

I snapped a spring on one yesterday so I'm going to torch temper it so it's a bit less brittle.

I do the O1 with a blowlamp, just heat it to cherry non magnetic then quench it in oil and hold it in till it cools then take it out and flare the oil off with the blowlamp. Dip it back in the oil and heat it till it burns the oil off again and it then retains it's spring. I repaired my old pen knife like that and have done a couple of others which are still working fine.

 

[selectedgrub]

Some of these are awesome.
You come a long way since starting.
Who made your makers mark is it a punch type.

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[h-dom]

Some of these are awesome.
You come a long way since starting.
Who made your makers mark is it a punch type.

Thanks, you're right, the first few were awful looking back. I think they are in the bin now.

The touch mark is electro etched, ac and then dc (I think) 24v from a transformer from an old battery charger. I built the etching machine, not much to it and it works to etch. The problem was in the stencil. I designed it (hate it now) but short of get a stencil made from the US and sent over the only real option I could find was laser printing onto some sort of transfer paper and transferring it onto the blade. Once I got a good transfer it worked well but the ink doesn't resist for long, so I couldn't get a deep etch that I wanted.

I've been working on a design for a punched one as most of my stuff is forged now not stock removal and I can get a hardened punch made for around £40-50.

 

[h-dom]

A finished garden chopper/cutter that I use regularly and may have left in the garden a few too many times.

And a resto from a knackered blade I picked up at a car boot for a quid. It looked unsaveable but some electrolysis to remove the rust, a bit of grinding and then re hardened and then grinding again and it is getting ready for a handle now.

 

[Parm]

And on another note...all finished

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Very nice

 

[DAPPH]

I know a few watch this thread so I'll put my question here rather than start a new thread. Have a look at this:

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It is a first go at a "Viking" style folder. You see those three brass pins sticking up proud? Obviously there will be four once I have filled that hole with another.
I want to pein them over. I have tried this once and it didn't go well at all! What are the rules? I thought:

Anneal the brass with heat and water.
Countersink the holes slightly?
How much pin do I leave proud? 1/2/3mm?
Ball pein hammer on a hard surface?
Can I file excess material off?

I am going to do a batch of heat treats tomorrow as the temperature is dropping slightly. I didn't fancy firing the forge up when it is already 30+ degrees!

TIA.

I know it is an old post : -
For the future have you thought of using a top & bottom riveting snap set they will leave you with a nice rounded dome on each pin end . You can always file & buff off what you don't want . Having a shallow counter sink at each end will be even better , annealing the brass is a requirement too . A few practices on the same sandwich thickness of the same but scrap materials will allow you to calculate & write down the pin lengths .
Put rivet snaps into your search engine there are many and there are also dome headed brass pins that might be suitable . or you can make a drilling in some thick steel the same size as the pin diameter, bolt a thick backing plate on the back to the former to make a blind hole , leave a stub sticking out and , anneal the pin tip & use the snap to form the dome head . Take take off the backing plate and use a parallel punch to ease the pin out the former .

 

[DAPPH]

I start sanding right down to 60-80. If you have enough paper to go up through the grits I find it goes rather quickly. The other point is of course, being a tightarse, I cut my sheets into 3x1 inch (ish) and use windex/WD40 or somesuch. Each sheet is only going to give half a dozen good strong grinds before the grit is exhausted and I do swap them out very often. Otherwise once the grit is dull, you're effectively burnishing and wasting valuable time and fingers.

I keep them when they are dulled of course for more general purpose use.

Glue ( I used Evostick out of a tube ) the wet & dry to thin strips of cut scrap wood say 1/4 x 3/4 thick and about seven inches long . Glue on three sides and when the glue is fully cured use them like a file / emery stick from both ends of the stick . Washing a clogged side with WD 40 spray and wiping the wet & dry clean with a soft cloth before it runs off cleans it for a few more goes . Fingers intact and of course all the wet & dry is fully used . I usually have some that I use on my lathe , recently I took the 3/4 drill rod down to allow 3/4 roller bearings to freely slip over the rod ends , so none left to photograph for you .

 

[Screwdriver]

Glue ( I used Evostick out of a tube ) the wet & dry to thin strips of cut scrap wood say 1/4 x 3/4 thick and about seven inches long . Glue on three sides and when the glue is fully cured use them like a file / emery stick from both ends of the stick . Washing a clogged side with WD 40 spray and wiping the wet & dry clean with a soft cloth before it runs off cleans it for a few more goes . Fingers intact and of course all the wet & dry is fully used . I usually have some that I use on my lathe , recently I took the 3/4 drill rod down to allow 3/4 roller bearings to freely slip over the rod ends , so none left to photograph for you .

I buy full sheets of emery and cut half of them into small strips. I prefer to use double sided sticky tape and attach them to whichever profile I may ned for given job. I find ds tape is less likely to create bumps and undulations especially if mounting to something like a surface plate. More often than not I will make a dedicated clip on type holder so I can pop a new sheet in as and when required (which is often). For the bigger stuff I use a spray mounting glue for big bits of wood etc. I don't use WD40 any more and prefer windolene or similar. I think I just posted a recent job where I had to create a bearing fit for some aluminium rollers. I will link the article for you.

 

[h-dom]

Got this elwell chopper at the boot sale a couple weeks ago. Straightened it in the forge, hardened and tempered and done a quick grind on it and refitted the handle. Just need to clean my greasy fingerprints off and oil the handle and it's ready to go.

 

[h-dom]

And I have a damascus billet in the forge as we speak....

 

[Lewis_RX8]

And I have a damascus billet in the forge as we speak....

Damascus , very cool

 

[Parm]

Got this elwell chopper at the boot sale a couple weeks ago. Straightened it in the forge, hardened and tempered and done a quick grind on it and refitted the handle. Just need to clean my greasy fingerprints off and oil the handle and it's ready to go.

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I’ve been look for a chopper like that for ages

 

[Anguz]

I’ve been look for a chopper like that for ages

Thats some chat up line

 

[h-dom]

I’ve been look for a chopper like that for ages

Do you want it?

 

[Parm]

Do you want it?

I will part with some beer tokens, thanks

 

[h-dom]

I will part with some beer tokens, thanks

PM me if you do