If there is any silver lining to the grey cloud called Covid-19 that we have been living under for the past 16 months, it is that I have been able to spend much more time enjoying my hobby in the workshop than in the previous few years. Followers of this blog will have read about some of the results. Here follows another.
Although knife number 9 did not actually happen because the blade broke as a result of being too brittle, I am keeping it in the register as a learning experience, which makes this one number 10. I studied a bit more about heat treatment to learn what went wrong the last time and it comes down to the fact that I was over-zealous, making the blade much too hot in the forge during the hardening process. I estimated that it went up to around 950-1000°C (1740-1830°F), where I should only have taken it to around 800-830°C (1470-1530°F) before quenching. This time I paid more attention and got it much closer, monitoring the magnetic transition and watching the colour change.
The blade profile has a sharp edge along the bottom (obviously!) and also half the top edge, making it quite a lethal weapon, if one wanted to use it for that purpose.
This blade is O1 steel again, the guard is polished aluminium and the handle is Walnut. Dimensions are:
Blade - 190mm long, 45mm wide, 5mm thick (7.48", 1.77", 0.2")
Guard - 93mm tall, 30mm wide, 6mm thick (3.66", 1.18", 0.24")
Handle - 110mm long, 47mm tall, 30mm wide (4.33", 1.85", 1.18")
Overall length - 306mm (12")
The handle is treated with lemon oil polish, which gave it a rich, dark brown colour without losing the beautiful grain. What the photos don't reveal is the smooth, tactile feel of the wood ... readers will just have to take my word for it when I say it feels wonderful!
Enjoy the photos!
First shaping of the blade, using my home-made bevel jig.
The blue colour is "steel blue", which allows marking the lines without damage to the steel.
Both bevels roughly shaped.
Rough shaping of the guard and handle.
Basic shape smoothed off.
Handle curves roughed out.
All assembled, handle smoothed and polished.
