How I build Custom Damascus Folding knives


The first thing I do is get my ideas on paper. You can see the paper at the top of the photo. After having a good idea of ​​where I'm going with the design, I transfer the design to my raw material with a Sharpie marker. These particular knives are made from some of the farrier scrapers of the customer's grandfather. The grandfather was a farrier and my client wanted something with that legacy. I wanted three Custom Damascus Folding knives that were the same, but subtly different.100_2158
After obtaining the designs of the raw material, I use an angle grinder to cut the large pieces and the belt grinder to finish the profile. When they finish, they look like this. I started grinding the bevels on the top one.
Once the knives are outlined, it's time to grind the bevels. These knives are going to be flat terrain most of the way up the spine. Grinding the bevels with a 60-grain belt, then changing to 120 and then 220 to prepare them for heat treatment. When they are ready to treat the heat, drill the holes in the handle. Do not forget to drill the holes in the pins before heating, since the hardened steel is resistant to the bits, if it is drilled at all. I learned it the hard way.
Once polished and polished by machine, it's time to light the forge. My forge is literally a pile of bricks and a bit of coal. The forced air of an air cushion pump is blown under fire through a pipe called a nozzle (tweer). The materials are simple, but practice is required to learn how to control heat.
You can see in the image how the knife shows some color. It looks dark red in the image, but looks more like a red in natural light, or like a dark orange in the night. The simple version of what I do is to take the knife to the non-magnetic and then turn it off in oil. There is more than that, since I normalize at least twice before the cooling heat, and I pay attention not to overheat the blade, especially the tip. When the heat is nice and even through the blade and I see the color I want, I turn off the blade. There are many extinguishing media available, from tapered wax to luxurious cooling oils that cost $ 25 per gallon and more. I use veterinary grade mineral oil, a light and fine oil, and it gives me results that I am satisfied with. For me, my results are better than those available using goop, dirty motor oil or vegetable oil.
When leaving the cooling, the blades are very hard, but fragile. If I had to hit one on the side of my anvil, it would break. In order to take care of the fragility, the knife is tempered. I like to moderate to 450 for two one-hour cycles, firing for a Rockwell hardness in the range of 58 to 60. You will notice in the image that the knives are silver-gray. That color is one of the indicators that the heat treatment went well.
When the knives come out of the oven, they have interesting colors. You may have read about the tempera to a "dark straw" color. The blades in the image are purple. When you wash and scrub the oil from the blades, which you will not forget to do more than once, and put them in the oven with the forging scale still on, the balance retains a little of the oil and darkens the colors. . When you sanding the scales before tempering, you get ... you guess, dark straw.
After tempering, I take them back to the grinder. I daubed the scale with a new 220 grain band and then polished it with 320 and 400. When the 400 grain finish is nice and even, it's time to start sanding by hand. Some people consider that sanding by hand is relaxing and other tedious. Either way, it is the best way to get a good uniform finish. Someone once told me to use sandpaper as if it were free. You will only get frustrated and it will take you more time to use a piece of paper in excess. I like the role of Norton, and the 3M comes highly recommended. The cheap things about Harbor Freight are cheap for a reason. If I took the blade to 400 on the machine, I started sanding by hand at 320. Use WD 40 as a cutting fluid.
That is my brother sanding. You may notice that you are using a block of wood to support the paper. Hard backing makes your paper cut better and last longer. I use 320, then 400, then 600. When you change semolina, change direction. Think of the future so that your final sand runs parallel to the blade. When you get a nice 600 grain finish and even, clean the blade and get a new piece of 600. Run smoothly along the entire length of the blade. This makes a good finish of work without "hooks". Take one side until it is finished before starting on the other side. Cover the finished side before putting it back in the vise, so that

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