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Ok, just wanted to give you guys an update. I got one hard enough to spark using my regular O1 heat program, and quenching it in cold water. There was a huge difference in the time it took to stop "fizzing" in the water vs. the oil. It probably cut 2/3 off the time at least. It went from 1475...

Thank you Kevin! If my next try doesn't work I might take you up on that. Andrew, I think what I'm going to do is have a bucket of water standing by, and try heating my oil to 130 or so and try one striker in each quenchant. LRB, That's a beautiful tinder pouch! For anyone...

Thanks Doug. So my problem then is more likely to be the quench? I'll give water a shot tomorrow and see if that does the trick. I'm not sure about the manganese content as this steel is "1095" from a friend's friend. I am confident that it is actually 1095, but I don't think he'd be able to...

This might seem a bit off the wall but... I want to make some flint and steel strikers from 1095. I have them already cut out (got them laser cut). When they came form the laser company, they were hardened about 1/16" in from the edges from the laser, enough to strike sparks. But, I want...

I was using 1/8" pins and I left about 1/16" extra on either side of the bolsters. I chamfered the end of the pins (I read that helps). Lots of things to consider here. I originally bought a couple of tiny ball peen hammers, a 4 and 8 oz. But I think this is one of those rare occasions where...

Thanks for all the advice! To answer some questions, I had the pins all peened down to the point where they were almost invisible, but that was before I ground down the bolsters to their final shape and thickness. So the tapered part of the holes was ground off (that's what I mean by not...

I have been very busy lately and it's probably been 2 months since I posted here. I've made a few more knives, but I haven't posted them because they were pretty much the same as I have been building. But a couple of days ago I ventured into new territory and tried pinning some bolsters. The...

I LOVE that copper guard! Great looking knife!

I'm getting better and better at these. This is another of my "BushPick" knives. Ironwood is tough to work, but it sure looks pretty when it's all buffed up! I hope I'm not boring you guys with the same knife design over and over... Thanks for...

Yes! I have to admit I was a little nervous as he posted those pictures in 3 parts and I kept waiting to see some catastrophic damage but the knife held up! I guess I am doing something right! :biggrin:

Yep, I wasn't expecting quite so thorough a testing on it, but at the same time I am WAY more confident in my heat treat and construction methods now that it has survived this.

Thanks! But I can't take credit for the pictures, they were taken by the gentleman who evaluated the knife.

I offered up one of my BushPick knives for a pass-around on a bushcraft forum I'm a member of. One of the guys in the pass-around put it through it's paces today and it passed with flying colors! The only exception is that it suffered a chip in one of the dymondwood scales at the pommel, and...

Since I last posted in this topic, I bought a cheap rockwell spindle sander. I wind up using a new 3/4" sanding sleeve for each knife I build. It's way faster and easier than any other method I've used so far, but I hope one day to get a tilting horizontal/vertical grinder so I can get away from...

Thanks! I have tried to include new thing I learn into each new knife. And I really can't say it's that many knives since I started, maybe 7 or 8 if I remember right. It's good to know you are having success with 440C in an Evenheat. I have been trying to figure out a way to get steel out of a...

I have an Evenheat kiln, so heating the steel to a fairly accurate temperature shouldn't be a problem. But I don't have the funds to buy thick aluminum plates right now for plate quenching, or to arrange for cryo treating either. I can get dry ice if absolutely necessary, but liquid nitrogen...

Thanks for looking!

Well my 60 grit AO showed up today and it looks like it's going to work great! You could almost harden a bit of steel and then blast it with this and use it for a nail file. I think the glue will stick as good as it possibly can with this method.

Thanks. That's what I figured when I saw the finish the medium beads were putting on. Looked like a real satin finish and it didn't seem like there was enough tooth to it.

I decided to get a blast cabinet after reading the glue wars and how sand blasting the tangs was found to be the best surface prep. But I am at a loss as to what media to use to blast with. I am using "medium" glass beads and the finish seems too fine to promote good adhesion. What's the...