Here is the finished product. Hard to get a good picture of the grain of the scales. Just wouldn't show up great. In the end, I did my own heat treat and temper. Brought it up to non-magnetic and held it there for 10 minutes before quenching in canola oil I had warmed to about 130°f. Then I tempered in the oven at 450°f for 2 hours, twice. I did drill out the handle to even out the weight a bit as well... All in all, my best one yet by far! I did put an edge on this one and boy is she sharp!! Going to put it into kitchen duty for a while and see how the edge holds up... Thanks for all the encouragment everyone!
Thanks guys! I am really getting into this. I really want to spread my wings a bit and start trying a few more things, but at the same time I don't want to get ahead of myself. I would really like to make my own chefs knife, but I want to go with a Japanese style so I will need to learn about building a partial tang and how to fit them etc. Also, going with such a large, flat grind blade I am worried my little 1x42 grinder will make it tough to control such a large amount of real estate and keep it even and attractive. I might just have to give it a go anyways but maybe do a few smaller practice versions first to get a feel for it...
That looks like it will make a slick little paring knife! Do you have the specs (bar thickness, grade, wood, etc) for us dummies, or a link to another thread for the build?
The steel is 1/8th inch1095 carbon steel purchased by the inch from knifemaker.ca and the pattern is my very first attempt at designing and drawing my own template. I cut out close to the shape with a hack saw and then ground to the final shape and did the profile on a cheap small 1x42 belt grinder. It sized at just under 7 inches long with the blade being 2 7/8th inches from tip to plunge line. I then drilled the pin holes and several handle lightening holes then heat treated and tempered very scientifically (complete sarcasm there lol) by using a weed torch on propane and heating to non-magnetic and holding it there for 10 minutes before quenching in canola oil warmed up to 130°f. Then i fired it in the oven at 450°f for 2 hours, removed and let it cool, then back in the oven again at the same temp for another 2 hours, then went to work cleaning up the blade. The wood is some figured walnut I stabilized in Pentacryl. I pre-epoxied the burnt orange spacer material to the walnut and rough shaped, then drilled the pin holes to match the knife and final shaped the front shape before epoxying the blade and handle together and inserted the pins. Once set I peened the pins and ground and profiled the rest of the handle, finishing it up to 600 grit than to 0000 wire wool and mineral oil. From then on I use a mineral oil/beeswax mixture I make myself and rub it into the wood once in a while to keep it fresh and give it a bit over protection from water... Probably more of a story than you were looking for but there ya go! Here is the thread I started before on it... http://www.canadianknifemaker.ca/index.php?threads/knife-4-underway-first-solo-design.1508/
