TT Main Menu
 Home Community Members options Search Web
 Pro News
User Info
Welcome Anonymous
Membership:
 Latest: jack
 New Today: 0
 New Yesterday: 0
 Overall: 327
 People Online:
 Members: 0
 Visitors: 3
 Total: 3
Who Is Where: Visitors:01: Tell a Friend
02: News
03: Forums
Staff Online:No staff members are online!
|
News » Making a strong Hook, Bent or Crooked knife.
Latest Posts
Last 10 Forum Messages
Hook, crooked, bent knives, whatever you like to call them (they are the same depending on what part of the world your in), are an exceptionally versatile tool if made well. Carvers, craftspeople, and woodworkers of every stripe would benefit from having a good sturdy hook in their tool box. I know a plumber who would not be without one. A strong hook gets into places nothing else will.
First, the steel. Tool steel bought from a supplier is perfectly annealed and easy to work with, but I recover mill bandsaw blade 12"wide x 30" or gang saw which is 18"diameter x 1" because of its qualities and strength. It is a Swedish steel with a combination of molybdenum, chromium, nickel as well as a high carbon content. When filers (a mill working trade) toss band saw out they cut them up into 4" or 5" lengths. If you can get some it is well worth using, especially for hooks and swan necks, because of its exceptional tensile strength which lends itself to an excellent edge.
I was taught old school. Files, no glue, and hardening and tempering.
The most important factor in making any knife with reclaimed steel is the annealing process.
For a hook of medium size using sawblade (with any hard high carbon steel the process is the same) have a piece of steel ¾" x 1/8" x 6". Bring the length of steel to a cherry red slowly over 5 or 6 minutes and let it sit at that colour for at least 5 minutes (20 is ideal). Place the cherry red steel--don't let it get any hotter or you'll burn out carbon--into a large coffee can filled with wood ash or lime or wrap the steel with ceramic wool, anything that completely envelopes the cherry red steel and insulates it well. In the case of a coffee can you will need a cover and make sure the steel doesn't touch the can.
Let it cool slowly overnight. In the morning you should be able to bend the steel with your fingers.
Annealing relaxes the carbon molecules It can now be filed, drilled, sanded and bent. With this practice you can start from scratch putting your own shape, hardness, temper, strength and marks into the steel.
Now you have a piece 1/8" x ¾" x 6" long and annealed. Whatever size of blade, it should have the same proportions. If, for instance, it is 1/16" steel, it will be half the length and width of blade. The handle end (the tang) should not be less than 2" long. With this idea you can build very small, 1/16 inch hooks, 1" long, beautiful for detail. Smaller hooks require a slightly different process.
Dedicate the nicest side, the side with no nicks or scratches, as the back. Then designate one end as the tip end. Draw a line across the middle of the blade. Now there is a back and top and 3 inches of tang and 3 inches of blade. Now draw a line lengthwise right down the centre of the blade, from end to end. The two lines will cross in the centre of the blade.
On the tang, one inch down from the centre cross line, mark your first bolt hole on the length line, then mark a hole point ½" from the end of the tang, on the centre length line. From the tip end, draw 2 lines, one on either side of the lengthwise centre line, creating an isosceles triangle to the cross centre line. On the equal sides of the triangle, draw slow curved lines for the cutting edges
Now grind to the curved lines. Keep the steel cool dipping it into a can of water as the steel heats up.
There are two more parts, edge and shaping and hardening and tempering, to this article.
Cariboo Blades Handforged Tools and Knives
Posted by scott on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 (20:12:07) (1280 reads)
|
| "How-To: Making a strong Hook, Bent or Crooked knife." | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment |
|
|
| The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
Re: Making a strong Hook, Bent or Crooked knife.
(Score: 1 )
by Roger Nixon on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 (17:13:55)
Thanks for the article! We'll be looking for the next installments!
|
Related Links
Article Rating
Average Score: 5
Votes: 1
Options
TT-Random pictures
Content Menu
Survey
What is your top woodworking goal this year?
Quick Links
Quotes
|
