Making a new hunting knife

[BellR]

So, does anyone else here make custom knives?  Last year I made each of my groomsmen custom hunting knives tailored to them.  I'll have to dig up some pictures of them...I knew we took a few of the finished products. I am about to start up again, since after seeing how nice they came out the wife has made a few comments about wanting one. 

 

The plan is:

Damascus Steel - Raindrop pattern (probably, maybe another pattern)

Blade design will be similar to a "Sharpfinger"

Handle will have a pinky hole

Copper bolsters and pins

Queen Conch shell for the handle

Sheath will be made from gator leather that we just finished tanning

 

A quick sketch of what I'm planning:

Edited July 10, 2015 by BellR

[grampy]

I may be mistaken,but I think you posted some pictures of the ones you did for your groomsmen awhile back. If I remember correctly, they were very nicely done. And I really like your new design, and think these will come out to be just as nice, or even better. Have fun and please post pic's of the finished knives! Or even a step by step series of pic's would be cool!

[BellR]

I'll try to take some pics of the process this time. 

 

For the life of me I can't find the post of the knives, but I also thought I had put some pics in one. 

[dbHunterNY]

I prefer a drop point for field dressing. however, I've come to learn to just support the tip with my index finger.  then know that a trailing point, straight back, or your "sharpfinger" is better for skinning and processing later on to give me less grief.  I know of a guy Ross Tyser that makes great looking knives.

[Water Rat]

Love the looks of a Damascus steel blade.....good luck on your project.

[BellR]

Pretty sure this one is what I am going to make it from as long as it doesn't get bid up to much...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALABAMA-DAMASCUS-STEEL-BILLET-BLANK-BLADE-KNIFE-MAKING-SUPPLIES-150-Thick-/261957726523?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cfde5b13b

 

I love the pattern of it.

[BellR]

Ended up winning the auction.  Steel should be here this week, as well as the copper for the bolsters.  Need to order the pins still and find a conch shell that will work while we are down in the Keys for our anniversary in August. 

 

I'm hoping I can find one with a nice thick, well colored lip that will give me lots of material to work with, but the old ones can be hard to find in good condition in the water.  May have to end up buying one on the way out of the Keys, but that will be almost as difficult since I'm trying to keep the knife a surprise and she may want to know why we are stopping to buy a conch shell.

[landtracdeerhunter]

I experimented forging up some Damascus steel last year for a 13 " bowie. I have yet to cut the blank. Not sure if I got the right amount of carbon in it. At least it doesn't break, when dropped on the floor, LOL.

[ny hunter]

I remember the knives.They were very nice.looking forward to see your next project..

[BellR]

I remember the knives.They were very nice.looking forward to see your next project..

 

So I'm not crazy.  For some reason if I go back and look at my old posts I cant seem to find it.  Oh well.  The steel should be here shortly and I'll finally be able to update with some pictures. 

[BellR]

I experimented forging up some Damascus steel last year for a 13 " bowie. I have yet to cut the blank. Not sure if I got the right amount of carbon in it. At least it doesn't break, when dropped on the floor, LOL.

 

I haven't gotten to forging my own steel yet.  Kind of intimidating and I need to get a good bit of more equipment.  How did it go?

[BellR]

So I got the steel in today. Looks beautiful in person.

I should be able to get 2-4 knives out of it depending on size. Drew out the outline to get it cut out tomorrow using a plasma cutter.

Close-up of what the steel looks like where the blade will be.

[grampy]

Looking forward to seeing how it all goes. I have never done anything like this. I find it very interesting and cool! I'm sure when they are finished, they will be amazing!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Are you using just a "take away " method or are you going to forge it?

[BellR]

Just take away.  Not set up at my apartment to forge and the billet has already been forged and folded to get that pattern. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

figured. Was asking because with the cost of the blank you can cut down on the material loss by drawing some of that out in the blade area. What is you process for treating after you shape it?

[BellR]

I'm doing a bit of research on the idea temp for this mix of metals, but a friend built a small propane forge so I can get it up to critical, then an oil quench and tempering in the oven.  The small forge is basically a propane torch (weed killer type deal) fixed into a small firebrick oven, but it works fine for that part.  I usually quench in used motor oil since I have spoken to some people who know far more about this than me and they recommended it for the higher carbon content.  Not sure if it really makes a difference or it's just something that they believe, but I have it around already so it works.

 

I am debating doing a cryo treatment on it (My wife has access to liquid nitrogen at work) but I'm not sure if its worth the extra effort.

[BellR]

So, with the busy season winding down here in FL, I'm starting to work on this a bit.  I took it into work and cut the blade out of the blank with the plasma cutter.  Holy cow is that nice... I'll post a pic up later but if anyone else is doing this one recommendation... cut it about 1/8" larger than you actually want on all sides and then grind down.  If your hand goes just a little bit outside your lines and you are cutting when you want the blade, there is no going back.  Luckily, I got that advice from the guy who trained me on the plasma cutter and everything came out okay. 

 

I have a dove hunt Saturday, going to the Keys Sunday for lobster and some spearfishing.  Next weekend is the last open weekend for alligator season, so after that I'll be making much more progress on the blade.  Hoping to have it all finished up around X-Mas time, but we will see how that goes. 

[BellR]

Here is the knife and billet after plasma cutting...

And here is the knife itself...

I'm hoping to start cleaning the edges up and starting on the blade grind next week.

[nyslowhand]

After reading this topic, the knifemaking sounds fairly straight-forward compared to all the metallurgy involved. Guess I'll ask the obvious, stupid questions... Isn't there a lot of trial and error in involved in any home or garage shop hardening equipment s/u or methods used? How in the world do you know when your blade is at the ideal (HRC?) hardness? Not to hard & brittle, but just enough to hold an edge and be durable. Not to mention thinking about fabricating a DIY Damascus billet. Boggles my feeble mind how you accomplish this at home!!! Very cool hobby all the same!!!!

[BellR]

Not stupid questions at all. For how to get out to the correct hardness, I figured that out on the last few by I've if two methods: 1) A LOT of research or 2) ask someone who knows better on a bladesmith forum. I think I have finally figured out the right temp, quench and tenpering process for this combination, but I'm still reading to make sure. Damascus is probably the hardest to work with though... Most normal steels and alloys have pretty well known great treating processes, and if you don't have the equipment at home to do the heat treating there are done good places that you can send the knives to and they will hear year for you for about $10 per knife I did ny first few knives that way until my friend built his forge.

I'm still not up to par on making my own Damascus billet... If I had a good forge here at home I "might" try it, but that is complex and for the price, the Alabama Damascus billets on eBay are actually a decent price.

If someone wanted to get started in this, you could buy a blank, grind it down to a working blade, send it out for heat treatment, and then finish it with a good polish and put on the hardware and handle. Basically, you could make a basic knife with nothing more than a belt Sanders and done time.

[Kot2B]

Great looking project. Easiest way to check the correct temperature for hardening is to use a magnet. When the steel is glowing hot if it is the right temperature for quench a magnet will not stick to it. The other thing to look for is the colors to run, you'll see the different lines start moving and when it's all even you know you're good to go. As far as tempering its dependent on how soft or hard you want your edge/knife. A lot of guys temper in a toaster oven. Only need 300-400 degrees.

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[landtracdeerhunter]

How is the knife coming along?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Damascus is hard to do and without a power hammer you had better be eating your Wheaties...lol. There is an enormous amount of hammering involved in folding and forge welding a billet. 

 

BellR---When you bought the billet did they give you an insight or guarantee what the content or original material was that they used to make the billet?

[landtracdeerhunter]

A hammer press is a must. My leg got tired, however. High carbon and low carbon steel layered together.  Three things in good damascus making; clean steel, plenty of Borax, and plenty of 2400 degree heat.