# Custom Knife Giveaway



## chuck richards

Ok, Here is the start of the journey. Well we are beginning in the middle but close enough. As you all probably have read, or at least some of you, I was featured in a newspaper article last Sunday. I turned out to be a full page article with additional video and pics on the web. Since PT has always been a fun place to hang out, though I don't always post, and to honest this is the forum that responded the most to my good news, I decided to give the knife away I used to demonstrate how I pattern the steel just before final grinding.

We will take the journey together. Starting with the patterned blade ready for grinding.

Here is the blade profiled and almost ready to grind the bevels.










I did surface grind it but decided .145" was it bit too thick so I needed to make it a bit thinner. SO back to the surface grinder.










It is closer the .100" mark I am looking for. This gives me a little meat to go down if need be and I can live with the .115" if need be.










More to come.

PS sorry for the pics. A bit blurry guess the cellphone camera lens needs a cleaning.


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## Agney5

This will be a fun thread to watch, it will be neat to watch a master do his work so to speak.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk


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## chuck richards

Moving on,

Main bevels ground. Sorry I cant show them in process. Can't hold s camera and grind at the same time.










Now into the forge to do the heat treat. This is done in 3 steps. First heat the blade up to about 1650F to take the steel into solution. This is where most of the alloying elements mix.










Take it out and let it cool.. Heat to 1550 and do the same then to 1450. This normalizes the steel and produces a more consistently fine grain.










Next take it to 1500f and quench in a fast oil.










one more to come for tonight.


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## chuck richards

Here is the blade out of the oil ready for temper. Right now it is about as brittle as glass. If I drop it it could very well break. The tempering oven will take it back to a useable hardness, not too hard but not too soft at the same time. I will temper it a 400f for 2 hours twice.










You can see some of the pattern coming through. I will show some of the finish sanding. It will probably take about 3-4 hours of hand work to get to the next step.

More to come tomorrow.


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## dwtrees

That is great information on the knife making process. I have a passion for Damascus steel and have purchased 4 knives and 1 tomahawk made from Damascus. Always like to look at well made Damascus.

I have helped pound out some Damascus before and I know what kind of work that is. One of the guys (Dennis Turpin), in our muzzle loader club make knifes and tomahawks also and he is the one I did the pounding for. We welded together 2 - 80 layer blanks that he turned into knifes.

Do you use a drop/trip hammer or do you pound them out by hand?


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## youngdon

By fast oil, do you mean the brand ? or is that a type of oil ?


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## OHIOOutdoors2

Very cool to see this process. Can't wait to see the other steps!


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## hassell

I've looked at all your knife making sequels, they never get boring, thanks for sharing.


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## 22magnum

Cool

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## azpredatorhunter

Looks like fun... Smoke, Fire and a quenching liquid, it's sounds like a party!


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## sneakygroundbuzzard

very cool tutorial

i have made a few knives,but nothing of that qaulity or with such sophisticated process' or materials

just old circular saw blades and my charcoal grill

what do you use for fuel in the forge/oven to get the temps that high?


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## prairiewolf

Just found this thread, very cool to see how its done. Knife making with blanks is something I tinker with but in no way do I think I could handle a project like this. Putting handles on blanks is one thing but actually making the blades is awesome !


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## chuck richards

youngdon said:


> By fast oil, do you mean the brand ? or is that a type of oil ?


It has a rate of quench. Measured in how long it takes to cool a nickle test ball. The oil I use is called Parks 50 it is a 9-11 second oil. Fastest oil available. Next faster is water or brine. The problem with water/brine is the ping fairy visits way too often. It is very unforgiving and I have lost almost every blade I have attempted with brine to cracking. It causes a ping sound in the quench. Then my heart sinks, another 3-4 hours down the drain not to mention the steel. One of these days I may try again because it does provide a cool look but I will need my kevlar jockstrap. :saywhat:

Heading out to the shop now. Will post more later,


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## Jonbnks

This is great to see how a knife is created. Looking forward to see the amazing result.


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## jswift

Interesting to see how you are doing this. Thanks for sharing the info and pics. Can't wait to see the rest.

Lot more intense than what we are doing with files and saw blades .


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## 220swift

Chuck, thanks for making us (PT) part of this process. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I learn something new from each one of your posts. This whole thing you're doing is very cool.


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## Bigdrowdy1

Truly awesome information. Never knew how in depth it could get. Really look forward to watching your process. I just thought i might make a knife!!! LOL basically I was going to put some steel in a handle compared to your dedication towards make a knife blade for sure.

Thanks Richard


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## chuck richards

Sorry DW forgot to answer your question regarding my forging. I have a 100lb Beaudry Power Hammer and a 50 ton press. I use these primarily to make the Damascus billets and getting the bar to size for the knife I have in mind. I shape the profile of the blade sing hand hammers. I work in pretty large billets. It is more efficient to make one big one than a bunch of small ones. I use the material I want then mark the billet and put it behind the hammer for use later. Actually the Damascus I used for this knife was a drop I had laying around for about 3 years. I had to etch the end to see what it was.

Now onto the next bunch of photos. Drug out the good camera for these. A lot better..

This is where I spend probably 70-80% of my time. My messy bench.










I sometimes do a quick test to see how good the heat treat (HT) is. It is called the concrete floor test. Take the blade after HT and drop it point first into a concrete floor.










And after the drop. No point damage. Tells you a lot about the HT. If too soft it will bend or flatten, too hard it could crack or even shatter the blade.










Can even see where the tip went into the concrete. It did flatten the tip just barely. It had a really sharp point so I expected a little deformation.


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## chuck richards

Now I expected to use 4 grits of sandpaper, beginning with 220 then 320, 400 then 600. I actually took it to 800 grit though. all by hand.










I use a sanding block I made from a piece of brass. It has a romboid shape to get into the corners and so I can see what is happening.










Before sanding










220 grit.










And finished first side about 1.5 hours later.










Tape it off and do the other side.


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## chuck richards

Now I need to temper the tang back so it should not break at the guard joint. This makes it a bit softer and tougher.










Into the etch to bring out the pattern. I use a diluted Ferric Chloride. This etches the plain carbon steel faster than the nickle bearing carbon steel.










For some reason the pattern was disrupted on this side. The layer just happened to come up solid in the blank areas there. Though to me not as esthetically pleasing it causes no effect on performance. So it stays. Only other option is throw out the knife. Not going to happen on this one.

Next into the Parkerizing tank.










Wait for the bubbles to stop and pull it out. Looks like I just undid the whole process. I assure you it will look really cool when I'm done.


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## chuck richards

I use 2500 grit paper to take the tops off the topography that was created in the etch. The nickle bearing steel is higher than the plain carbon steel. It shows nice bright silver with a very dark black in the valleys. Right side,










And Left side.










The high contrast that is produced looks really sharp. Also the parkerizing holds oil on the valleys which are more likely to rust. The little bit of nickle in the shiny parts help keep rust down as well. This blade is not however stainless. It will rust if neglected.

Fitting the guard. I am using 416 stainless on this knife. I make the main finger guard and a small spacer. In between I will put some colored spacer material and another piece of stainless shim stock.

Guard and spacer slotted on the mill ready for installation on the blade.










And on the blade before I put in the colored material. That will happen tomorrow.


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## chuck richards

This blade is designed and ground to be a skinner utility knife. It is fairly thin in the spine and will have a very fine edge.

The spine at the guard is .109" thick. Very close to the .100 I was aiming for.










The edge came in at .006" That is 6 thousanths of an inch. About the thickness of 1-1.5 human hairs.










It is definitely not meant to chop down the cherry tree with or spit a pelvis. I can make it slightly thicker by grinding the profile a bit smaller if the winner would like me to. But this thing will skin all day long with little to no attention.


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## enderst

i would have a hard time actually using those knives. too perty


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## youngdon

I agree enderest, however I'd use it because that is what it is made for. In my mind it would be the right thing to do. I'd never buy a gun and not shoot it either.

I'm in total awe over the amount of work that you put into each blade. But I'm guessing you have a smile the entire time. (except when the knife is falling for the concrete test)


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## sneakygroundbuzzard

that us so cool looking

you are truly a perfectionist and a craftsman

1000 times nicer than any steel knife i have ever made

i see in your signature line your retired US NAVY,thank you

my oldest just got of the navy after 6.5 years,my youngest has another year before he is finished (that will make 6.5 yrs for him also)


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## hassell

Another interesting segment, thanks again.


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## OHIOOutdoors2

Very cool that you are giving us insight to your process. Look forward to seeing the final steps.


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## Bigdrowdy1

AWESOME work


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## prairiewolf

Now you got me wanting to drop all my knives on concrete, just to see how they are !!!!!

I probably won't have any knives left.


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## Jonbnks

Excellent pictures, this makes for a great tutorial about how much work really goes into an amazing knife.


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## azpredatorhunter

Wow. That is one sweet looking knife...


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## 220swift

The pattern in that blade is amazing and truly a thing of beauty. Great work Chuck!


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## sneakygroundbuzzard

when you grind the edge on the blade

what kind of an angle do you go for so that it will hold an edge for along time during use with out the need to sharpen frequently?


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## Roblor1985

Agreed. The pattern in the blade is amazing. Very cool and interesting.


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## chuck richards

Ready for another installment?? Not quite as many pics today. A lot of tedium and waiting for epoxy to dry.

First off I use 2 1/16" pins to provide an alignment aid so I can take the guard and handle off and re-install it during the process. You will see why as I go along.

Here's the pins installed in the guard waiting for the spacers.










Next we need to cut the spacers. I am using 2 pieces of silicon bronze and one piece of stainless.










I drill a hole in the space for the slot and use a jewelers saw to cut them out.










After a bit more fit up with files they are stacked ready for the next step.


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## chuck richards

I drilled the holes for the pins and put the large spacer back in place. Now I need to silver braze a piece of all thread into place for the through tang. This will also act as a reference for the handle too.










Why don't I use a full tang design?? I have found through my own testing that the through tang which I use is as strong as a full tang and less prone to problems. Like scales popping off or water infiltration. The tang becomes an integral part of the knife and the handle material provides a great deal of strength. I am not saying you can hang an anvil off the handle, but when the knife is used in a manner which it was designed it will not fail far beyond reasonable expectation.

I use a expendable handle so I can easily shape the guard without sacrificing the good (read expensive) handle material. The round bar on the end of the all-thread will be used to hold the knife together in the end.










This is epoxied together so I can take the disposable handle off and if needed put it back on.

Next I shape the guard.










Then finish it off getting ready for the final handle material.










And a shot of the guard blade fit-up










Final pic for today. The maple handle material is readied and I use acraglass to bed it in place. Tomorrow I will shape the handle and hopefully finish the knife. It will look much nicer when I get it finished up.


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## dwtrees

That is going to be one beautiful knife. This is the best explanation of the steps to make a knife I have ever seen.

Thank you for the great tutorial.

I do have a question though, what type of epoxy do you use? I have scales that were falling off my 320 fold knife and I need something to put them back on. The part that will actually be against the tang has a laminate wood look to it. When I sanded the old glue off it and got it flat and true, it looks like it is made out of fiberglass.


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## 220swift

I agree Chuck, you would make a great instructor.


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## chuck richards

sneakygroundbuzzard said:


> when you grind the edge on the blade
> 
> what kind of an angle do you go for so that it will hold an edge for along time during use with out the need to sharpen frequently?


You know, I never try for a specific angle. I put the angle on that feels right. The frequency of sharpening will really depend on the user. If the edge is maintained, not allowed to get too bad, it will only need a light stropping. I have knives that have dressed out the equivalent of one full moose before it needed attention. I dressed a 250lb hog out without needing to sharpen my personal carry knife. One customer of mine has used his knife for 5 seasons now and he just strops the knife when he is done. Never has needed a full resharpen. This knife should hold up just as well.

Also if you get under the skin of the animal and work without cutting hair the edge will last a very long time. The surface of the animal is always full of dirt and grit. This will dull any knife quickly.

I don't want to make some outrageous claim that my knives will hold and edge and dress 200 animals without sharpening. I do expect you to be able to get through one without any need to sharpen though.

Hope this is not too long winded.


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## chuck richards

dwtrees said:


> That is going to be one beautiful knife. This is the best explanation of the steps to make a knife I have ever seen.
> 
> Thank you for the great tutorial.
> 
> I do have a question though, what type of epoxy do you use? I have scales that were falling off my 320 fold knife and I need something to put them back on. The part that will actually be against the tang has a laminate wood look to it. When I sanded the old glue off it and got it flat and true, it looks like it is made out of fiberglass.


I use acraglass. Yes the stuff from Brownelles. There was a big test done on bladeforums.com comparing most of the available glues and epoxies available. Acraglass was he best overall even just metal to wood or other handle material.


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## dwtrees

Thanks for the information.


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## youngdon

I thought I had a lot of tools...I'm showing this to the wife as it develops and going back and showing her the earlier posts of the Attu knife...she's OK with my garage and storage full of tools now. (Thank you Chuck...LOL )


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## prairiewolf

Great tutorial and one great looking blade. I can hardly wait to see the finished knife.

Thanks for taking the time and answering all the questions and sharing your knowledge, allot of people who make custom things won't share their techniques with others.


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## chuck richards

youngdon said:


> I thought I had a lot of tools...I'm showing this to the wife as it develops and going back and showing her the earlier posts of the Attu knife...she's OK with my garage and storage full of tools now. (Thank you Chuck...LOL )


Glad help out Don. :mrgreen: She should see my steel stash and the rest of my tools. My wife has no idea what all I have. Don't think she wants to know.


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## chuck richards

And the SAGA continues.

We left off with the handle setting up Here is what the inside of the handle looks like after bedding.










I can take the handle off and put it back on as many times as I need this way. It always goes back on the same way.

I rough profiled the handle. Now I need to establish the center-line of the handle. This way I can get things even. Using a height gauge with a pencil for a scribe.










And a better shot at the center-line










Handle shaped ready for finish sanding.


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## chuck richards

Sanded to 1500 grit and waxed with good old Johnson's paste wax.



















Some may have noticed the tape that was wrapped around the guard. It served 2 purposes. First it protects the guard from the heavier grits. Second it provides a reference to get an even space to have the handle material stand just a little proud of the guard. This eliminates the problem of having the handle shrink causing an undesirable feeling of the sharp edge rubbing your finger. You can see it here.










Now to engrave my mark.


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## OHIOOutdoors2

That knife is stunning! Quality work.


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## Bigdrowdy1

Thanks for sharing this with us. I never new how much went into a quality hand made knife.again

AWESOME!!!


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## youngdon

Awesome ! It's a work of art !


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## chuck richards

Okay it's all done. Hope you enjoyed the journey.

Stats on the knife;

3 7/8" blade of 250 layer ladder pattern Damascus using 1095 and 15N20 high carbon steel. Guard is 416 stainless steel with Silicon Bronze and Stainless spacers. Handle is brown dyed and stabilized Big Leaf Maple. A threaded brass rod is counter bored into the butt to hold the whole thing together.




























I hope you can appreciate what all goes into making one of my knives. If you haven't done so yet make sure you put in for the giveaway in the separate thread, http://www.predatortalk.com/topic/19150-custom-knife-giveaway-groundrules-and-procedures/


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## fulch

Wow, so impressive. Thanks again for the journey.


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## Jonbnks

Some guy is going to be extremely lucky to have this knife. Truly amazing work by an incredible craftsman!


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## prairiewolf

Wow ! That is simply an amazing knife. I must say you are a Master at your craft !!


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## jswift

Very, very nice. Thanks for showing the process of the custom work.


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## youngdon

Excellent choice on the handle material, it goes with that knife perfectly !


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## Agney5

The only way this could be cooler is if I was there to watch you work in person. I love watching things like this, just something amazing about watching raw steel and wood become something as beautiful as that knife come together.


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## dwtrees

All I can say is, Frigging awesome knife. Thank you very much for the great post on your making the knife.


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## chuck richards

Thanks all. It was fun doing it. About the fastest I have put a knife together in a long time. Just about finished with a second one I was working on during the down time on this one. Can't just sit around a twiddle my thumbs.

Glad everyone enjoyed it. Sometimes I wonder how much info I should put into one of these. I left out most of the tedious parts.


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## Rick Howard

This is awesome. Well done man.


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## Ruger

That is an amazing knife!! Thanks for sharing the process.


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## SHampton

If I win this I will kill a coyote with it.


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## chuck richards

SHampton said:


> If I win this I will kill a coyote with it.


Make sure the video camera Is running. I want to see that. This knife is sharp but you still have to get pretty close. :hunter:


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## prairiewolf

Scott if I win and I am willing to loan you the knife , will you still try and kill a coyote with it ? lol

NOTE!!! I said if I am willing


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## sneakygroundbuzzard

chuck richards said:


> You know, I never try for a specific angle. I put the angle on that feels right. The frequency of sharpening will really depend on the user. If the edge is maintained, not allowed to get too bad, it will only need a light stropping. I have knives that have dressed out the equivalent of one full moose before it needed attention. I dressed a 250lb hog out without needing to sharpen my personal carry knife. One customer of mine has used his knife for 5 seasons now and he just strops the knife when he is done. Never has needed a full resharpen. This knife should hold up just as well.
> 
> Also if you get under the skin of the animal and work without cutting hair the edge will last a very long time. The surface of the animal is always full of dirt and grit. This will dull any knife quickly.
> 
> I don't want to make some outrageous claim that my knives will hold and edge and dress 200 animals without sharpening. I do expect you to be able to get through one without any need to sharpen though.
> 
> Hope this is not too long winded.


nope, not long winded at all

i appreciate the info


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## 220swift

An absolutely outstanding knife Chuck!

As far as the journey, anyone who is involved in the out-of-doors should follow along on this kind of journey to really appreciate the work of a TRUE craftsman's efforts. I can truly say I'm more informed about knife making now than ever before.

Chuck, thank you for the journey and the education, you have taught an old dog some new tricks!


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## SHampton

Yes I will. It might be a bayed up cripple but I will film it and stick it to finish it off.


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## sneakygroundbuzzard

SHampton said:


> Yes I will. It might be a bayed up cripple but I will film it and stick it to finish it off.


so you would do it like tred barta then


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