Thought it was time to make another knife.

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guzzo

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Skinner4.jpg


I was a bit bored so I thought I would get out the old Forge and make a Rough Skinner. I left most of the forge marks and tried a cord grip. I Quenched it in oil and it was so hard a file would not scratch it. I tempered it to reduce the hardness but it is still as hard as hard....and boy is this one sharp!!!!



Hey Gordo.....made any more????
 
Nice work got a few strings in the bow, drawing, making knives, what other artistic talents have you dabbled in?
 
Looks awesome! I wish I could make stuff.. :( ah well i'll just stick to buying them :)
 
Nice Guzz!

The workshop i used to use has been packed up and no longer have access to any of the tools. So i haven't made a thing. I'm planning on smashing one out when i get to Darwin in my mates shed, hopefully i stay sober long enough to do it.
 
Nice! What sort of steel did you use? Have you got any tips?
 
Waruikazi... read that again.. slowly.... can i steal it for a sig? ;p
 
Nice Guzz!

The workshop i used to use has been packed up and no longer have access to any of the tools. So i haven't made a thing. I'm planning on smashing one out when i get to Darwin in my mates shed, hopefully i stay sober long enough to do it.

I think I will keep forging my knives from now on. There are some great clips on youtube for forging blades.....One of these days i will make a sword.

Nice! What sort of steel did you use? Have you got any tips?

I use 5160 steel which is old car leaf springs. I heat it up to red hot and straighten it by clamping sections at a time in a vice. I then heat it up and let it cool in the ash. It will be in a soft enough state to work with....either file away the bits that do not look like a knife or have a go forging it.

In any case once you are happy with your blade leave the edge about 1 mill thick (helps prevent cracking in the quench)....anyhow get a steel tray and fill it with motor oil (your last oil change will be fine) and then heat up a bit of steel and drop it in to pre heat the oil a bit.

One of the fancy things about 5160 steel is a magnet will not stick to it at the critical temperature which is between cherry red and yellow orange. When it is hot and a magnet won't stick quench it in your oil...(be careful).....then let it cool and clean all the oil off (very important )

Then for this small knife I pre heated my kitchen oven to 200 deg and put the blade in for 2 hours, this tempers it and if you did not clean off all the old oil you will now know why I said it was important (your house will stink)

Now you can put a handle on and sharpen it.....That is it in a nutshell.....if you do some research there is a lot of info available.

5160 if heat treated properly will make one of the toughest blades around....drawback....it will rust so keep it oiled...Good luck
 
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I do everything the same except i buy the spring steel already softened and when i temper i just stick it back into the fire and watch for the colour change. A friend of mine sends his for a professional heat treatment, cost about $30 a blade but his have come back horribly warped and it takes a long time.
 
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