Hey everyone!
Just finished this knife tonight! I've always wanted to try out a Kramer 10" chefs knife but have never been able to, so I tried making something really close to that same profile. If you've seen my "blade finish" thread over in Shop Talk, you'll know I had some nasty scratches on this thing starting out and boy were they a pain to get out! But I eventually got to a finish I'm satisfied with!
1084 heated in the forge to non-magnetic and then soaked for just a bit longer. Quenched in 130ish° canola oil and then tempered at 400° for two one-hour cycles. Had a bit of a warp in this one after quenching so I clamped it between a couple angle irons while tempering. Seemed to do the trick!
It's still a little thick behind the edge like my first two knives, but I think this one is definitely an improvement. Just something I'll have to keep working at!
The handle is African Blackwood, G10 and purple dyed Poplar I believe. I'm actually quite disappointed at how dark the purple turned out to be. The more and more I sanded the handle shape, the darker it got. At first I thought maybe that's just how the block of wood was toward the center, but I still have some left and it's nice and bright all the way through. I think I remember reading that wood will darken if it gets too hot on the belt grinder even when you've hand sanded down past your belt grind surface. If that's true, it would make sense as my little 2x42 isn't variable speed.
Anyway, I'm happy with the finished project overall. Just have to keep practicing! First Wa handle coming after my next project!
Thanks for looking,
- Seth
Edit: I forgot to mention it hasn't been sharpened in these photos (I need to stop doing that lol)
Just finished this knife tonight! I've always wanted to try out a Kramer 10" chefs knife but have never been able to, so I tried making something really close to that same profile. If you've seen my "blade finish" thread over in Shop Talk, you'll know I had some nasty scratches on this thing starting out and boy were they a pain to get out! But I eventually got to a finish I'm satisfied with!
1084 heated in the forge to non-magnetic and then soaked for just a bit longer. Quenched in 130ish° canola oil and then tempered at 400° for two one-hour cycles. Had a bit of a warp in this one after quenching so I clamped it between a couple angle irons while tempering. Seemed to do the trick!
It's still a little thick behind the edge like my first two knives, but I think this one is definitely an improvement. Just something I'll have to keep working at!
The handle is African Blackwood, G10 and purple dyed Poplar I believe. I'm actually quite disappointed at how dark the purple turned out to be. The more and more I sanded the handle shape, the darker it got. At first I thought maybe that's just how the block of wood was toward the center, but I still have some left and it's nice and bright all the way through. I think I remember reading that wood will darken if it gets too hot on the belt grinder even when you've hand sanded down past your belt grind surface. If that's true, it would make sense as my little 2x42 isn't variable speed.
Anyway, I'm happy with the finished project overall. Just have to keep practicing! First Wa handle coming after my next project!
Thanks for looking,
- Seth
Edit: I forgot to mention it hasn't been sharpened in these photos (I need to stop doing that lol)
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