Sunday, August 20, 2006
Menees Knife #4 (Final)
This is the final version of Menees Knife #4. I included two left views of the knife to show the way different lighting angles affect the appearance. It's really hard to take great looking knife pictures. They never quite capture the coolness of seeing the knife in person.
I finished this knife today at Bob's. I did a little more belt grinding to remove some of the scratches on the tang, and I did a lot of buffing with the green and white compounds. Several times after "finishing" the buffing I noticed some other scratches, and I had to go back to the belt sander to get them out. Then it was back to the buffer for more green and then more white compound.
It turned out to be a pretty nice first knife, and I'm extremely grateful for all of Bob's help. It's a way better knife thanks to his mentoring than it would have been if I'd just started grinding away at stuff. I learned a lot making this one, and I can probably make the next knife quicker and better. However, I'll be back in my shop with just my tools, which aren't nearly as cool as Bob's, so that will work against my "quicker and better" goal.
Bob made the sheath for this knife, and as he worked he explained the entire sheath-making process to me while I took notes. He did the whole thing in about an hour, and it would have gone faster if I hadn't kept stopping him to ask so many questions. For my next knife I'll make my own sheath, and we'll see how it goes. Bob gave me lots of tips on completing the fit and finish of a sheath so it will look very professional with only a little bit of extra work.
Bob sent me home with some D-2 tool steel to work on, so I hope to start on another knife soon. My knifemaking hobby will have to slow down in September for some martial arts stuff, and I also have to finish my book: The Road To Shodan. After that I'll be diving back into knifemaking head first!
Material: ATS-34 steel with cherry Dymondwood handles
Blade Length: 4 1/8"
Overall Length: 8 3/4"
Started: July 9, 2006
Finished: August 20, 2006
Labels: Knifemaking
Jens
I heat treated it at Bob Levine's (my mentor). He's got his own EvenHeat oven. I've forgotten the exact ramp up time, but we got it up to 1900 degrees and held it there for about half an hour. Then we oil quenched it. Then I did two 1-hour drawback treatments at 300 and 275 degrees in my home oven.
Bob also has his own Rockwell tester. After the main heat treat the blade was at RC 61, and after the drawback it ended up between 58-59. Hopefully, it will hold a good edge. It'll shave hair right now, but I haven't taken it out for any hard use. I want to keep my first knife shiny. :-)
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