Nice Guzz!
The workshop i used to use has been packed up and no longer have access to any of the tools. So i haven't made a thing. I'm planning on smashing one out when i get to Darwin in my mates shed, hopefully i stay sober long enough to do it.
I think I will keep forging my knives from now on. There are some great clips on youtube for forging blades.....One of these days i will make a sword.
Nice! What sort of steel did you use? Have you got any tips?
I use 5160 steel which is old car leaf springs. I heat it up to red hot and straighten it by clamping sections at a time in a vice. I then heat it up and let it cool in the ash. It will be in a soft enough state to work with....either file away the bits that do not look like a knife or have a go forging it.
In any case once you are happy with your blade leave the edge about 1 mill thick (helps prevent cracking in the quench)....anyhow get a steel tray and fill it with motor oil (your last oil change will be fine) and then heat up a bit of steel and drop it in to pre heat the oil a bit.
One of the fancy things about 5160 steel is a magnet will not stick to it at the critical temperature which is between cherry red and yellow orange. When it is hot and a magnet won't stick quench it in your oil...(be careful).....then let it cool and clean all the oil off (very important )
Then for this small knife I pre heated my kitchen oven to 200 deg and put the blade in for 2 hours, this tempers it and if you did not clean off all the old oil you will now know why I said it was important (your house will stink)
Now you can put a handle on and sharpen it.....That is it in a nutshell.....if you do some research there is a lot of info available.
5160 if heat treated properly will make one of the toughest blades around....drawback....it will rust so keep it oiled...Good luck