The Gun Counter

Please forgive the fuzzy grainy dark picture. It is dark here and I don't have a light box.

Steel is 50100-B also known as 0170-6 by knife makers. It is basically an "improved" 1095. Scales are desert ironwood. They have a lot more figure than shown in this poor picture.

The knife is heavily influenced by Bark River Knife and Tool's Canadian Special. I created it as a user, so I didn't mirror polish it. You can see a few lines from the sharpening/finishing process. The edge is a half height convex to sharp.

I think that is nicely done.

CByrneIV wrote:

Bullspit wrote:
Steel is 50100-B also known as 0170-6 by knife makers. It is basically an "improved" 1095.

It's also what Cold Steel called "Carbon V" at one point ("Carbon V" has changed over time). Very good knife steel.

It was really Camillus steel and knife back before they shut down. Camilus made the knives for Cold Steel, and after they shut down Cold Steel had to switch to SK-5. Hence that explains why the older Cold Steel's were made in USA and suddenly stopped.

Kabar is still using it under the name 1095 Cro-van

Sorry, my knife nerdery had to come out there for a second.

Really cool knife, It looks really ergonomic and the scales look excellent.

Bullspit wrote:Please forgive the fuzzy grainy dark picture. It is dark here and I don't have a light box.

Steel is 50100-B also known as 0170-6 by knife makers. It is basically an "improved" 1095. Scales are desert ironwood. They have a lot more figure than shown in this poor picture.

The knife is heavily influenced by Bark River Knife and Tool's Canadian Special. I created it as a user, so I didn't mirror polish it. You can see a few lines from the sharpening/finishing process. The edge is a half height convex to sharp.

That is a class act. Bravo.

Chris - O-1 is a forgiving steel to work with, within it's limits. I used it to make machining tools from O-1 long before I got into knives.
It moves OK under the hammer so you won't wear yourself out too much flattening it. You will still expend a lot of energy getting round bar into a flat billet.
Leave at least 3mm on the edge before you quench so it doesn't crack. You probably want to normalise a couple of times first.

The blank started life as a Camillus OVB Fisk Bowie blank. A bunch of these came on the market after Camillus went out of business and I picked up some.

I've made one previously that I had professionally heat treated but I heat treated this one myself.

CByrneIV wrote:Nice... what did you start with as a blank?

I just picked up a nice rod of 1" O1 for a couple of projects.

I snagged 36" of it, and I'm thinking about taking about 4" of that and doing a bit of forging. I haven't forged anything since 2003, and I'm desperately out of practice.

The nice thing about a rod is that you can forge in an integral bolster if you like.

CByrneIV wrote: (I'm making a couple custom large diameter taps).

That's the sport of kings - at least it's easier than making small diameter taps. But not much

I have a crapload of W-2 here just waiting to be used, it cost me $$$ but it's a good honest steel which is suitable for differential hardening.

i covet. well done lad, well done.

'nuff said.

CByrneIV wrote: That's actually part of the point. I want to make a folded billet. I haven't done one since... 1996 maybe?

But I have no problem singlehanding a 4.4lber without getting overtired if the billet will take it. Big arms, big shoulders.

The welding process doesn't take much effort. It looks pretty dramatic but thats mostly from the flux spraying out.
Your biggest problem is that low carbon steels weld at temperatures which are close to burning high carbon steels - there is a small window for you to work in. It is VERY easy to screw it up.

Another tip that you may or may not be aware of is regarding blacksmiths tongs. Fuck those things, just weld some rebar to the piece you are working on.

How much force is needed with that weight? I would think some kind of air-hammer would make sense.