Any knife makers in here?

One of the first I've made this decade...

6" overall length with black walnut used for the handle. Steel is 5160 from a leaf spring.

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The blade was buffed out to a mirror finish a couple of days ago. I also had to do a good amount of sanding on the handle (on the side showing) to get the finger grooves added. It also took a bit more work than I had expected to put the lanyard hole brass tube into the blade. I was able to get that in once the handle was profiled more. Of course, the inside edge of the tube was a bit sharp, so I touched it with a countersink to bevel the edge.

Handle was treated with layers of shellac that was then sanded between. The final sanding, before a last (very thin) coat was with 1500 grit wet/dry paper.

I'm making the sheath for it tonight and will make sure it's damned sharp before it's bedtime. ;)
 
Here's the steak knife I made for myself... Been using it for the past few days. Works a LOT better than any of the other eating knives I have (even those that claim to be steak knives).
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This started off as a section of coil spring. Also with black walnut handle material. I applied a couple of coats of shellac on this, before sanding it down (removing the excess) by hand and then applied a little butcher block 'oil' (combination of mineral oil and beeswax IIRC) to the handle. I can see how this one will last for a long time.

I did look at a blade I had made back in the mid-90's that I think was for the same use. This newer one is a lot better. I'll probably end up tossing the old one, since it's just sitting on a shelf right now, in a closet.

I did some more forging on Saturday. Working on what will either become a 6" chef's knife (for mom), or a Bowie knife (for another customer). I also put another straightened section of coil spring into the forge (about 4" long) and forged that to rough shape for another blade I want to make. It's ready for the grinding to start on it. I'll post up pictures of that later, once I've made some progress on it...
 
One of the first I've made this decade...

6" overall length with black walnut used for the handle. Steel is 5160 from a leaf spring.

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Having "commissioned" this knife, I can attest that it is a well-made, solid knife and it is damn sharp! Every aspect of the knife was well thought out and executed.

Golddiggie has another project in the pipeline that I'm eager to see how it turns out!
 
Finished... Made a leather slip sheath as well as a kydex sheath for belt carry...
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This is the first of the style, so any made in the future can/will be at least slightly different. Lessons learned on this one will be applied to those made in the future.
 
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A save from a busy street a couple weeks ago
 
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Just tossing this out there...

Any knife makers here know of a place that sells quenching oils within reasonable drive distance of Pelham, NH?? I'm looking for some Parks AAA to replace what I've been using. Or something with a nickel ball time range of 9-11 seconds (good for the alloys I'm using). I'd rather not spend ~$212 to get a 5 gallon bucket delivered (my current quench tank has 4 gallons of oil in it, but can hold just over 5 gallons).

I have found a place in RI that looks like they might have something. I'm just not ready to drive that far to pick something up, when I can get it delivered and not drive ~2 hours each way (not what I call a reasonable drive). Basically, looking for someplace not more than about 45-50 miles from where I am. I see that McMaster Carr has something listed that matches the spec I want, but I have NO idea on what that shipping would be. I suspect they'll want more in shipping than the other online supplier I've found (USA Knifemaker).

I might check at the grocery store later today to see how much ~4 gallons of peanut oil will cost. I just would rather NOT get something that can go rancid on me. I also don't want to have to drain the tank between each use in order to prevent it from going rancid too quickly.
 
minininjer came to mind [laugh]


That's a sword for mininijer... [rofl2]

BTW, I'm looking at making a large blade very soon. Something at least short sword/sabre sized... Just waiting for my finger to heal a bit more from getting kisses by the bandsaw (while trying to split some handle material on Monday morning). Hopefully it will be good to go either towards the end of the week, or next weekend (since I should be starting a contract on Monday).
 
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