Recent content by Taz575

I got some GatorPiss a while back. I was using diluted Ferric Chloride, but wanted to try something different. I usually take my blade up to 800-1500 hand rub before acid etching for damascus. With Gator Piss, I can get visual contrast quickly, but the steel surface is still smooth and shiny...

I leave the mill scale on the blades during the HT and the first tempering cycle (I do a 300-325 snap temper on everything after the quench/cryo). Then I straighten, clean up the blades and do the rockwell testing and re temper as needed, all before grinding bevels. The mill scale ensures that...

Ken, I sent you a PM with the Excel Spreadsheet cut and pasted into the message. I couldn't upload the actual Excel file here. If anyone else wants it, let me know!

$1200 roughly. I have an excel file somewhere, need to find it!

Bark River uses a loctite glue and activator, that may be faster?

Sometimes adding hardener doesn't speed up the cure time, depending on the epoxy. If adding heat, I would not go over 100 degrees. I have had epoxy fail when I got it too warm before. Most epoxies are 150-212 max temperature, so 120 degrees is pretty close to the lower end.

JB Kwik Weld sets up pretty quickly. It's a bit more than 5 minutes, but I usually start shaping the handles around 30 minutes later. It will set up quicker if it's warmer, so I often put the knives in the bathroom with the bathroom heat running to help it harden up faster. Even without the...

Very nice!! Wharton Taylor makes nice stuff!

Yeah, I built a 27" long, 7" wide, 6.5" tall chambered oven with a WiFi Ramp/Soak PID, element kill switch, door shut off switch, etc for around $1200, not including my screw ups! Here are some pics of my build list. I went with RedBeard's wiring method/schematic and Jarod Todds design using...

Yeah, the ones in the picture on the blog are poultry sized. I have done some with 5" long blades and others with 18" long blades for cows. These are 18" x 2" blades in 1/16" Magnacut, 62 HRC, 24" OAL. Customer wanted heat treated and rough ground blanks for his buddy to finish off and do...

And remember, if we use a lower austentizing temperature, we have less retained Austenite. The RA adds some toughness to the steel as well. Using a higher Aus. Temperature means higher hardness, but more RA which the sub zero helps reduce. If I'm going for 62 in magna cut, I can get there...

With the speed rail, they usually have some gaps in the welding of them, so they're not watertight. I'm not sure if they'll be much practical difference with a dry ice slurry immediately after the blades get to room temperature, or liquid nitrogen, or liquid nitrogen over dry ice. I dont know...

Yeah, I did my first heat treat batch on October 17th, and I picked it up a day or two before that. When I was at work, I saw the dewar in the dumpster, so I was able to snag it out and just needed to buy a foam core for 20 bucks on eBay for it. It's a Wharton Taylor xt18 and it's rated for I...

Yeah, I was doing some Shechita that were from 2" bar stock and they weren't close to fitting in! Plus the blades are 18" long, too long for the dewar. Big blades can be a PITA sometimes!!! Lots of my kitchen knives are around 2.25" wide or a bit longer. People don't realize that the...

Yeah, Even small dewars have a neck to them that a foam core plug fits loosely into. This helps it not splash out and is loose enough that pressure can't build up inside. Most dewars have a 2" neck opening and 2" wide kitchen knives typically don't fit. Some guys get a small LN Dewar and then...