UPDATE:New hobby -New knives, new grinder..

ulshop · Apr 29, 2013

I've forged a few blades and attempted to finish/file/polish by hand, decided that was too much work for my bad hands. Figured I'd try cutting out profile and grinding. After a pile of trial and error, came up with two that deserved to be finished.

Blades are 1/4" 5160, flat grind, taper tang with micarta handles. Still working on the tempering, taking the grinding rejects and trying different temps and then abusing them to see how they hold up. Friend hacked a 2x4 with a previous knife and it kept its edge, a few others snapped in half. These have stayed sharp so far, still have not really pushed to see how they hold up.

Debating fully polishing the blades or going with some sort of secondary finish/treatment; gun bluing, ceracoat, etc...

In process of building a better grinder so I can try some hollow grinds. Also, once the semester is over going to try and forge some damascus billets and give those a try.

ericlosh · Apr 29, 2013

i like what i am seeing here

NORSEWOLF · Apr 29, 2013

Real nice. You have any other pics? I am no up to speed on that steel is it close to 1095?

cbr900son · May 4, 2013

Love seeing others get into knife making! If you ever need some help or access to a heat treat oven etc I got a pretty nice shop for knife making (mill, lathe, grinders,leather working tools etc etc) just shoot me a pm or call at 337-0487

William Bishop

SpeedRacer · May 4, 2013

Based on the other works I've seen in your portfolio, I expect some AWESOME blades. Excited to see what you come up with.

ulshop · May 4, 2013

William - Would definitely like to pick your brain with some tempering questions... Almost too much information online to process. Would definitely like to try some D2 steel next, possibly some stainless.

03protege · May 4, 2013

NORSEWOLF said:
Real nice. You have any other pics? I am no up to speed on that steel is it close to 1095?

1095 is high carbon steel (very high carbon content) While very strong it is also (very) brittle.

5160 is a Chromium-Steel alloy. It has better corrosion resisence and hardness. It also has less carbon content (still high carbon steel) so I would imagine it would be less brittle.

Awesome knife by the way, one of these days I am going to get around to making a blade for myself.

gabesurface · May 4, 2013

ulshop and cbr900son I am starting to get really interested in knife making. I'm moving up to Indiana soon and will have all the necessary tools at my old man's shop up there. I've been doing a lot of reading in the last month or so, but I'm sure I'll have some questions. I look forward to seeing what else you end up doing ulshop and I'd love to see some knives you've made cbr. I haven't checked if there is one, but maybe we could start a "I made this knife" picture thread.

cbr900son · May 4, 2013

ulshop said:
William - Would definitely like to pick your brain with some tempering questions... Almost too much information online to process. Would definitely like to try some D2 steel next, possibly some stainless.

Well i live in broussard so you can come stop by whenever you want. My cell is 337-371-0487 feel free to text, call or even pm me on the forums!

gabesurface said:
ulshop and cbr900son I am starting to get really interested in knife making. I'm moving up to Indiana soon and will have all the necessary tools at my old man's shop up there. I've been doing a lot of reading in the last month or so, but I'm sure I'll have some questions. I look forward to seeing what else you end up doing ulshop and I'd love to see some knives you've made cbr. I haven't checked if there is one, but maybe we could start a "I made this knife" picture thread.

If you search my past threads Ive posted quite a few walk alongs as Ive made a few over the past couple years. Feel free to contact me too if you'd like!

Smithy73 · May 11, 2013

I'd stay away from D2 steel if you are forging any of them. I tried a few blades with it. Its an air cooled quench steel. I though I could just let it cool in room air and that it would remain annealed but it didn't. Couldn't even grind it afterwards. I dont have the equipment to bring it up to the annealing temp and hold it there for the time needed to anneal it again. I like 1095. It is easy to work with and makes a nice finished product.

cbr900son · May 11, 2013

Smithy73 said:
I'd stay away from D2 steel if you are forging any of them. I tried a few blades with it. Its an air cooled quench steel. I though I could just let it cool in room air and that it would remain annealed but it didn't. Couldn't even grind it afterwards. I dont have the equipment to bring it up to the annealing temp and hold it there for the time needed to anneal it again. I like 1095. It is easy to work with and makes a nice finished product.

1080 or 1084 are quality steels and very easy to home ehat treat with backyard methods. http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/ Some of the best prices and very high quality steel. Shipping is a bit so its better to order a few pieces vs 1 or 2.

Bayou Knives · May 29, 2013

5160 is the steel that is used for car or truck springs. If I was hobby building I would us 1095, much more forgiving of heat treating and tempering. I use more of it than anything else. Check out my how to videos on youtube, just look up Bayou Knives. Oh an BTW very nice for your first

ulshop · Jun 27, 2013

Finished my belt grinder. Had been using a 2x48 with a few minor changes. Decided to built a dedicated 2x72 machine with interchangeable wheels/platen, borrowing a few design ideas from the internet.

Still have some tweaking to do on the grinder; tool rests to fab and get the tracking corrected for all the different wheels.

After a bit of rust was forming on the first few knives, built a curing oven and started Ceracoating the steel. Happy with the results. All knives are 5160 with bead blasted micarta.

First two Ceracoated.

New ones with hollow grind.

Had some small blades water jet cut to speed things along.

Having a ton of fun with this...

goteron · Jun 27, 2013

Nice work!

SpeedRacer · Jun 27, 2013

Functional works of art. Love it.

JNieman · Jun 27, 2013

That's awesome, man. I'm diggin' the belt grinder you got set up.

cbr900son · Jul 9, 2013

Nice work on the grinder! IF you ever want to get together and grind some steel let me know. I can heat treat for you too for free if you need.

762NATO · Aug 22, 2013

Nice work! Are you planning on selling any knives?

Hey, William, the link in your signature does not work. Are you still making blades?

UPDATE:New hobby -New knives, new grinder..

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