not another knife thread...

[Rick]

Very nice. How do the square edges on the handle fit your hand? I like the character of the blade!

[crashdive123]

Very nice! I like the look with the pitting.

[canid]

thanks rick. the edges are only square [well, finely radiused] on the top, and it's actually quite comfortable.

i liked the handle aesthetically, but i wasn't sold on it til i felt it in my hand.

thanks crash. i noticed that the pitting on this piece went deeper than on the first, so naturally, i kept more of it intact. i'll get more pictures later, you can see on the other side that it even shows still on two places in the blade bevel.

i tried a vinegar patina [almost 3 hours at room temp] on one piece and i notice this steel is quite stain resistant.

i've still got a few things to do with this blade. i need to do the finishing on all the flats [as well as fix a few of them; you can see the two different grinds on the false edge along the back if you look]. i've got to even out the bevels on the water stone, fix the spot where the wood is sanded down to the tang and probably lastly, to apply a few coats of spar and wet sand to 1500.

[canid]

i slapped myself around for about half an hour this morning, after learning an important lesson which should have been self evident:

don't fall asleep with acid on a blade. i didn't ruin it, but i did create myself another couple to several hours of work, and made the pitting on the blade 3-4x deeper. if this steel had not had any corrosion to begin with, it would actually just be a beautiful, dark patina with an attractive blued look. instead, it's an irregular pattern of that look, red rust and blackened pitted areas, themselves surrounded by red rust.

the rust cleans off easily enough, but will return any time the pitted areas hold moisture again. this blade will have to be kept oiled between use.

[canid]

i did make an important realization:

while i've heard a few knifemakers recommend using a wrap of vinegar soaked paper, instead of immersion for forcing a patina, which is certainly useful for doing the proceedure on blades which have already been fitted with a handle; it occurs to me that this is actually a stronger etch. as the vinegar evaporates from the paper, it's acidity rises as acetic acid evaporates at a higher temperature than water [it is actually solid below 62f].

this should make the proceedure more effective for staining higher chromium alloys, if also making it more corrosive, and possibly leading to a more irregular etch/patina in the even of any residual oils on the blade.

this may be a leap of logic, but it seems to be sound, and backed up by how strongly this steel stained with this method, compared to the almost non-existant patination observed with immersion in 3% solution [which was plenty for the two sgian dubh blades i processed].

[canid]

photo of part of the collection, showing the patinas:

[Rick]

Those sure are nice. You did a nice job.

[gryffynklm]

Nice looking knives.

I don't know if this will work on steel.

So
For a patina on brass I do fuming technique with ammonia. To antique brass hinges and such I clean any old finish or oil with a solvent like acetone. I use a container that will allow the part to be suspended by a wire hook with out touching the container. In the bottom I put some ammonia, the amount depends on the container size, about 1/2 inch and cover the top. I usually do this in the summer so the container can be put outside in the sun. I check every two hours until i get the patina I want. I rinse off the items and use a past wax to finish it off.

[crashdive123]

They look great. Very nicely done.

[hunter63]

photo of part of the collection, showing the patinas:

Very nice, nice to see tham done.
Good job

[pocomoonskyeyes]

Very Well done Canid!! Yours look so nice!!

[canid]

i think i'm happy with the santoku blade, so these might be the final images before it gets a handle. i would like to refine the bevels, so they are symetrical, but honestly, the overall angle is just fine, the blade is thinned well enough to be a good slicer, and as they say; if it ain't broke:

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i just love the blue patina this steel takes.

[canid]

except for the portion towards the tip, it's an almost flat grind on the un-notched side, and since i slice with my right hand, this puts the notches on the proper side, and the bevel there should further aid slicing [e.g. food being sliced should not stick to the knife].

it is slightly distally tapered in addition to the flat grind. i'm sure my next attempt will be executed still better. it began as rather thick stock for a santoku, but this leaves it plenty of mass for light/fine chopping of soft food without much effort [too much force against such a steep blade edge would be detrimental].

overall; i'm happy with the knife, and hope the handle i decide on to do it justice.

[Camp10]

I havnt seen you make an ugly handle yet!! It looks great Canid, as usual.

[canid]

you aren't looking closely enough

[canid]

when it comes to tempering; i keep forgetting something important:

the lady's grandmother was into ceramics/pottery. there is an old electric kiln sitting in the corner of the workshop.

i should fire it up and see what it's temp range is.

[Rick]

In other news.....Central California was hit with a blackout when the power grid was suddenly and unexpectedly melted from granny's kiln being fired up.

[Camp10]

when it comes to tempering; i keep forgetting something important:

the lady's grandmother was into ceramics/pottery. there is an old electric kiln sitting in the corner of the workshop.

i should fire it up and see what it's temp range is.

I can tell you that the kiln I use to heat treat was designed for ceramics and will get to 2100 F! I can heat treat all steels, stainless and carbon in it and the results are great! Dig it out and fire it up!

[Rick]

Just be aware of the electric costs for running it. They aren't cheap.

[canid]

yeah; i'm betting this one gets hot too. it draws a looooott of current. it's on it's own 240 circuit on the breaker panel