Forging knife blades for hunting knifes on Safari

[Solitaire]

I'm not in the forging process, otherones are doing so well ! A best friend of mine does my blades from the damascus he forged. He worked +40 years in the metallurgic industrie as an engineer.
I began 6 years ago for my own use, and now I sell 10 to 12 pieces a year for friends.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

If you are using the bearing races that are 52100 then this might be of interest C&P fro Blade Forums

52100 is one of those steels that gets a lot of discussion. It can make a great knife, but the HT for it is not simple. It can make an OK knife with simpler procedures.
I will tell you the metallurgical way to do the HT for 52100:
The steel has 1% carbon and 1.4% chromium. This means that it is hyper-eutectoid steel with a fair amount of alloy to form chromium carbides. You will have to do the HT in such a way as to allow those elements to form the proper structures. To do this you will need a HT oven or forge that can be held at a controlled temperature for ten minutes, and a quench oil that will harden the blade. The oil should be a medium speed commercial quench oil, but Canola will do if nothing else is available. Forget about motor oil and ATF, etc.

Forging - Forge 52100 HOT. It is forged between 1700°F and 2100°F, and should not be forged in the lower red colors.
Normalize ( stress relieve) - Heat to 1650°F and air cool.
Annealing is tricky for 52100. The best way without really good equipment is to do a sub-critical anneal. Heat to 1250°F and cool to black. Then quench in oil. Do this a couple times.
Cycling the steel - This is one of the Triple Treatments often mentioned with 52100. It will get the steel ready for its final hardness and produce a fine grain. Start by heating the steel to 1650°F and quench in oil. Re-heat to 1350°F and quench in oil. Heat again to 1250° and cool to black, then quench in oil. Now the steel is ready to harden.
Hardening - Heat the steel to 1500-1525°F and hold for ten minutes. Quench in oil.
Tempering - Immediately temper at 400-450°F for two hours, cool in running water, and repeat the temper.
Cryo/Sub-zero treatment - 52100 can gain from cryo if you have the ability. Do a snap temper at 300°F and them immerse in a sub-zero bath at
-100° or in LN at -325°F. (An overnight stay in the home freezer won't do anything metallurgically.) After the sub-zero/cryo bath, temper as normal.

Thank you Von Gruff, I studied this technical info as well, will in the near future purchase a ceramic pirometer to be able to do the heat treatment ...if possible purchase a heat treat furnace/oven

 

[nztimb]

This is a reference to the same steel but he says to air cool to black instead of quenching for the normalising series. Do you have a means of guaging tempereture for heat treat - that is do you have gas forge or electric oven to controll temps which you will need to sucessfully HT this steel
https://knifedogs.com/threads/52100.34686/

 

[nztimb]

This is a reference to the same steel but he says to air cool to black instead of quenching for the normalising series. Do you have a means of guaging tempereture for heat treat - that is do you have gas forge or electric oven to controll temps which you will need to sucessfully HT this steel
https://knifedogs.com/threads/52100.34686/

Ha, you posted that while I was typing the previous post.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I'm not in the forging process, otherones are doing so well ! A best friend of mine does my blades from the damascus he forged. He worked +40 years in the metallurgic industrie as an engineer.
I began 6 years ago for my own use, and now I sell 10 to 12 pieces a year for friends.

Solitaire, you are fortunate..here is my country a Damascus billet is extremely expensive, even when making a knife from it to sell you will not get people who is willing to pay such a price for a hand made knife...

 

[Solitaire]

Solitaire, you are fortunate..here is my country a Damascus billet is extremely expensive, even when making a knife from it to sell you will not get people who is willing to pay such a price for a hand made knife...

You're right, that's why I choose this way, I prefer to work on a few knives and to take time to do the best I can to deliver a beautiful and practical tool.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Here is a photo of a knife with a handle I am trying a new technique to get a nicer look at the grain from olive wood

Notice the wholes drilled into the Olive wood/Olien hout stump..I used the hole saw to get the wood for making the handles ...there are still a lot of finishing work left but this photo already gives and indication of how nice this technique makes the wood grain stand out...

These are two experimental knifes I am making for out 1885 Era Black powder hunt kitchen utensils...

 

[nztimb]

Are you still getting to grips with your hammer technique Gert or are you deliberatly deep scoring the blade to give it that look. The brut de forge knives show evidence on the flats and left as it comes but they are only showing the usual flatting marks rather than the deep scoring you give your blades.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Garry, these knifes are forged for the 1885 Black Powder hunt...I need to try and get it to fit into the era we are re-enacting ...when forging modern type of knifes I will use a total different approach..at this stage I learn more about forging techniques while making items for our 1885 Era Black powder hunt camping chest...I already made some folding chairs as well...I want to commence with semi-stock removal/forged blades using N690 stainless steel that according to Bohler company the steel is good for forging..if it turns out to be correct , I want to use a similar scoring technique on these Stainless steel blanks..I need to do the hardening/tempering at the Bohler company...Garry I am focusing on forging better bevels onto blades ....I think I am getting there...would like to see if I can get better quality forging hammers from the USA..since here in SA you only get hammers in the hardware shops...

 

[nztimb]

Lots of good videos on youtube on how to make hammers yourself

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Lots of good videos on youtube on how to make hammers yourself

 

[mdwest]

Ive got a couple of 2" thick crotch walnut pieces that have some really nice figuring in them.. I was planning on cutting them into boards to be used as scale type handles on full tang knives.. I might give your hole saw technique a try and work on some hidden tang knives.. the mix of woods and metal you have done look really nice and the contrast in grains from different parts of the wood stands out in a neat way as well..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Ive got a couple of 2" thick crotch walnut pieces that have some really nice figuring in them.. I was planning on cutting them into boards to be used as scale type handles on full tang knives.. I might give your hole saw technique a try and work on some hidden tang knives.. the mix of woods and metal you have done look really nice and the contrast in grains from different parts of the wood stands out in a neat way as well..

Great mdwest, go for it ..it seems to me a good way to display grain in wood..

 

[nztimb]

Here is a photo of a knife with a handle I am trying a new technique to get a nicer look at the grain from olive wood
View attachment 343513

These are two experimental knifes I am making for out 1885 Era Black powder hunt kitchen utensils...

I take it that they are a peened tang Gert. That is a really nice technique.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I take it that they are a peened tang Gert. That is a really nice technique.

Von Gruff, I do have several options, one will be to thread the last 10mm of the tang and screw a nice ornamental brass nut on....next one will be to counter sink a 10mm hole to screw the nut on and insert a mosaic pin...this is what I am doing with the long kitchen knife handle....the other option is to fit a brass plate onto the end of the handel inserting two small brass pins to secure the brass plate with epoxy as well.. or leave it as is with the tang end visible ...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I am curios to see how the piece of buffalo horn is going to buff ...I believe I will get it to be glossy..I am currently building kitchen cupboards and will shortly continue with the knifes...it is still a while to fit all the items I want in the kitchen,...getting it to look like a real old vintage kitchen.I made progress with the second stage of the kitchen, fitting two large panels as table tops , will upload photos tomorrow..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I am contemplating incorporating a knife exhibition in my kitchen...will clad the gas stove with panels as well

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Making progress with the wood fire barrel oven in my vintage kitchen

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Members here is a photo of how thick the walls of this wood fire barrel oven is..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

More progress: