Thread: Two 8/8s in progress...

These two are ready for heat treatment. They will become 8/8s eventually, but right now they're between 9/8 and 17/16. That's a 5/8 Wapi in the shot for scale. I started with 9/32" bar stock.

Barbers notches are probably my favorite point style, but I'm developing a soft spot for the Spanish point too...

I'm getting an electric heat-treating furnace next week, which will allow me to soak this O1 at an austenitizing temperature long enough to get full hardness out of this particular alloy. I'm hoping to get one more ground before the oven shows up so I can do them in a batch.

I'll try to grab a few more in-progress shots and do a series.

Josh

Josh,

Looking great. Nice to see you back in action.

I'm a huge fan of big ol' blades with barbers notches.

Are these spoken for already?

Josh, looking good, glad your back.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Josh, looking good, glad your back.

Josh,

Randy said it all, I am glad to see your work and am happy that your are posting.

Charlie

Those look fantastic, Josh!

OK, some more in-progress shots. I got my new heat-treating furnace today, so I hardened a batch of three blades. They're tempering now.

The first shot is the blades with a thin layer of satinite, which helps cut down on scaling (oxidation that occurs at heat-treating temperature). It makes the blades easier to clean up afterward.

Second shot is during the normalizing cycle. Heating to 1600-degrees F and then air cooling helps relieve stresses in the blade and refine the steel's grain.

The last two shots are after the quench. Notice the light gray color of the steel. That's a good sign--it means the scale was blasted off by the expanding steel as martensite formed. I don't have a way to check the hardness, but when the steel looks like this it's screamin' hard.

My new furnace allows me to have much more control of the process. Getting good results is all about control and consistency.

Josh

So cool! That looks like so much fun.

Awesome! Those are great looking blades!

That does indeed look like loads of fun...!

Originally Posted by Stubear

Awesome! Those are great looking blades!

That does indeed look like loads of fun...!

It is a lot of fun. The times when you screw it up make the good ones more rewarding.

Josh

Love the colors on the tangs I'm going to have to find ways to make that stay on there