old'un Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 14 hours ago, ditchman said: going to have to think about that one....................... cant see i will need to do that...its not as if i will be making a 12" Bowie............this will be a short maybe 5" blade 4mm spine and full tang....tempered to the same hardness as a blade of a plane......its not as if im going to use it as a tyre lever..........and because it will have a drop point...the tip is going to be strong as well...... Agreed, a blade that small will not need a softer spine, I was thinking more of blades of 6” or longer. Whats the weather like in Norfolk? Will this cold snap stop play? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 8 minutes ago, old'un said: Agreed, a blade that small will not need a softer spine, I was thinking more of blades of 6” or longer. Whats the weather like in Norfolk? Will this cold snap stop play? weather is very cold here again.....nothing to do in the shed...so im doing a little experiment in heat colours..which i might post up later............ a 6" blade to me is a weapon....anything beyond that is a difficult size to manage as a work knife so all my blades will be under 6"....easy to use and useful as general purpose tool for the field... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 So you will not be making one of these….. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 dont care for the blade....but i do like the way he did the handle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Isnt life easy when you have tools for the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 17 minutes ago, ditchman said: dont care for the blade....but i do like the way he did the handle... Yes it is a bit of a beast, so all you need is a old leaf spring and off you go, did you see what I was trying to get at with regards the rainbow temper, think it was about 11.60 into the video and the visual explanation is better than my written attempt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 had a bit of a mess about test on the temp' colour is high speed wire brush with graphite powder is withj silicon grease is with oil is natural finish on linisher then i scrubbed off 4 and 5 and put it back to bare metal for a colour comparison....just really seeing what contamination affects colour which it does......one interesting thing is #3 with silicon grease gives a very even colour....i will experiment further with this...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Yep, that’s what I was saying about oil and how it can give false colour, also was the test pieces GFS or mild steel? What temperatures were you using and how long? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) 230deg.................for 1/2 an hour........not entirley sure what steel it is...but it is a good quality steel cause i know where it comes from....they are off cuts that get dropped off to me now and again.......... what im mostley doing this for is colour...as i havnt got a thermo couple or high temp thermometer....if i can get the colour then i know im there but i need to see and know what the natural colour should be and how the steel needs to be prepared prior to tempering so the colour is very noticable.......... what i have noticed is the steel needs to be in the top part of the oven.....there is a quite a bit of temp difference between the top and bottom............its not a fan oven.. Edited March 17, 2018 by ditchman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 All ovens, even fan ovens have a sweet spot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 i keep looking back over the last posts.............i hope you are not getting board.................i just need to get things right with the equipment i have.....so all this squit is really whats going thro' my mind...sort of thinking out aloud................it may be helpful to people to do the same thing on a budget... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Another thing to keep in mind is tool steel when hardened and polished will also give a different colour to unhardened tool steel, you could try and see if the steel off cuts will harden, this will tell you if its tool steel or bright drawn mild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old'un Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 5 minutes ago, ditchman said: i keep looking back over the last posts.............i hope you are not getting board.................i just need to get things right with the equipment i have.....so all this squit is really whats going thro' my mind...sort of thinking out aloud................it may be helpful to people to do the same thing on a budget... No, not at all, just hope you can understand some of my written explanations, I am not the best person at explaining things, I prefer pictures and a bit of text, guess that’s why I always liked the Beano and Dandy comics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 4 hours ago, ditchman said: i keep looking back over the last posts.............i hope you are not getting board.................i just need to get things right with the equipment i have.....so all this squit is really whats going thro' my mind...sort of thinking out aloud................it may be helpful to people to do the same thing on a budget... I never dreamt there was so much technical engineering goes into making a knife , for donkey years I managed with a boy scout pen knife then when I started work I treated myself to a proper pen knife that was made in Germany , when handing over a ten bob note and getting 2/6d change I thought at the time I hade just spent a fortune , now after reading this thread I now realise how much work went into my 7/6d pen knife Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 im on the blag.....................anyone got any bits of antler hanging around they dont need.....i will be needing them to cut into scales about 4" or so long.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panoma1 Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 2 minutes ago, ditchman said: im on the blag.....................anyone got any bits of antler hanging around they dont need.....i will be needing them to cut into scales about 4" or so long.... Question! Antler is more or less round with a soft core, when the soft core is removed (as it has to be)......how do you make a convex antler scale fit a flat knife tang? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 There is a guy , puts some bits up forsale on here , dont think he charges a lot , i could cut you some scales when i get rid of this chest infection , it has really knocked me , so have been spending more time on here . Do you have a bandsaw or access to one . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 42 minutes ago, johnphilip said: There is a guy , puts some bits up forsale on here , dont think he charges a lot , i could cut you some scales when i get rid of this chest infection , it has really knocked me , so have been spending more time on here . Do you have a bandsaw or access to one . ive got a hacksaw files and a linishing machine............. 45 minutes ago, panoma1 said: Question! Antler is more or less round with a soft core, when the soft core is removed (as it has to be)......how do you make a convex antler scale fit a flat knife tang? just have to be careful...there is enough meat on it.....i put a loverly set of antler scales on a smith&wesson i had many moons ago...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 (edited) I'll have a dig around in the morning see what I have left over, can't promise as I never know what I might find once I start to move stuff about. How about goats horn, do you think you could use that? How wide a handle would it be for ? Edited March 17, 2018 by Walker570 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 If your going for Antler ditchman you could use a Hidden Tang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Appears that much snow ditchy can't get across to his workshop. Talking workshops, just about to brave the wind and sneak across to mine and see if I can find some antler for you ditch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 27 minutes ago, Walker570 said: Appears that much snow ditchy can't get across to his workshop. Talking workshops, just about to brave the wind and sneak across to mine and see if I can find some antler for you ditch. cheers my man.............it is bitterly cold here............im riveted to the fire and shall be until its time for bed with the electric blanket on gas mark 7...........i shall now fill up up on a full english breakfast................. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Same here ..... I have some full pieces of antler, let me know how long you want them cutting, easier to ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted March 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 ooohh................i will have a measure up tomorrow.........off some scale drawing designs ive done..........................JDog has done my head in he jokingly asked for a folding knife...and it got me thinking... so once i get in my stride i shall make a nice lock knife....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walker570 Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Add a bit for adjustment. I have quite a bit of goat and audad horn which makes nice spacers ...polishes up nicely. I'll include some. pm me an address when you know the size. The antler I have is not a big thick piece but for a 'tang' fitting will just fit the hand nicely. Have some smaller bits of Axis(chital) as well. Your welcome to it. Chuck it away if it is no good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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