I had an absolute blast making a knife with Harbeer (@HSC /// Knives) and would definitely recommend the experience to anyone considering a knife making course / workshop. He was really easy to communicate with, very responsive and so pragmatic with his outlook, suggestions and the way he balanced expectations and creative freedom, both before and during the workshop. He is also really friendly, laid back and he created a very comfortable environment that made it possible to achieve results that were very close to as good as they could be. I have added some pictures showing the condition of the knife at the end of the workshop here to keep things interesting before getting in to the wall of text:
In all honesty, I was probably a bit of a pain to deal with, in that I wanted to achieve something very specific and ambitious, with goals that were sometimes contrary to one and other within the confines of the workshop. Harbeer rolled with my insanity for the most part, but also brought me back down to Earth when I suggested anything too outrageous, which allowed me to design a relatively unique knife and pretty successfully implement the concept that I had.
Harbeer also made sure that I was aware that we could attempt anything within reason, but the final result might not represent the original vision. Making a meaningful attempt to execute the vision was the most important thing for me and I was fine with compromising if it proved to be unfeasible. During the workshop Harbeer actually asked me why I chose him instead of other makers and the main reason was his willingness to be flexible and help me achieve my vision instead of offering an pre-defined experience that could not be deviated from, which worked out really well. I haven't used the knife yet, but based upon a visual appraisal, I am confident that it will not gather dust in some drawer because it pales in comparison to my other knives with respect to aesthetics or performance. Given the quality of the end result, I can confidently say that Harbeer must make a really mean knife when an absolute novice isn't directly involved in the process.
If you want the quickest overview of the experience, check the Imgur link below for a chronological photo progression with short captions to explain what is going on:
I summarised what we did during the workshop below to give a bit of an overview of what is involved and how it was structured:
Day 1
Lessons learned and take-aways:
In all honesty, I was probably a bit of a pain to deal with, in that I wanted to achieve something very specific and ambitious, with goals that were sometimes contrary to one and other within the confines of the workshop. Harbeer rolled with my insanity for the most part, but also brought me back down to Earth when I suggested anything too outrageous, which allowed me to design a relatively unique knife and pretty successfully implement the concept that I had.
Harbeer also made sure that I was aware that we could attempt anything within reason, but the final result might not represent the original vision. Making a meaningful attempt to execute the vision was the most important thing for me and I was fine with compromising if it proved to be unfeasible. During the workshop Harbeer actually asked me why I chose him instead of other makers and the main reason was his willingness to be flexible and help me achieve my vision instead of offering an pre-defined experience that could not be deviated from, which worked out really well. I haven't used the knife yet, but based upon a visual appraisal, I am confident that it will not gather dust in some drawer because it pales in comparison to my other knives with respect to aesthetics or performance. Given the quality of the end result, I can confidently say that Harbeer must make a really mean knife when an absolute novice isn't directly involved in the process.
If you want the quickest overview of the experience, check the Imgur link below for a chronological photo progression with short captions to explain what is going on:
I summarised what we did during the workshop below to give a bit of an overview of what is involved and how it was structured:
Day 1
- Cutting the knife blank from the Takefu flat stock (angle grinder)
- Cutting a slot at the transition between heel and tang (angle grinder)
- Forging the blade and tang to shape with gradually reducing heat when approaching the final forged dimensions (propane forge, anvil, hammers)
- Attempting to forge in a hollow section about half way up the blade to aid with food release (propane forge, anvil, hammers)
- Occasionally using a rolling mill to even out the surface of the blade (propane forge, rolling mill)
- Normalising the blade (propane forge)
- Annealing the blade in vermiculite to ensure a slow cool that would result in the desired pre-quench micro-structure (propane forge, vermiculite bed)
- Grinding the spine, heel and edge to so that the forged monstrosity actually resembles a knife and bringing the tang to its final dimensions (belt grinder)
- Rounding the choil and the spine (belt grinder followed by 3M microfinishing film 100-9 micron)
- Stamping the blade with a maker's mark (propane forge, hammer, stamp)
- Heat treating the blade by heating it as evenly as possible (until Harbeer told me to stop / the blade had a glowing orange colour) and then submerging the blade in fast quench oil (propane forge, fast quench oil)
- Performing a flash temper using temperature sensitive marker (propane forge, temperature sensitive marker)
- Performing a longer temper (kitchen oven)
- Creating the grind (belt grinder with 40, 60, 80 and 120 grit belts)
- Scratch depth reduction, polishing and tweaking the geometry (Debado 180, Naniwa Pro 400, Pride Abrasives 600
- Correcting the profile periodically (Naniwa Pro 400)
- Straightening the blade periodically (brass hammer, straightening stick)
- Making a handle (belt grinder, drill, tang broach, propane forge for the burn in)
- Cleaning up the remnants from the forging and heat treating (forge scale, etc.) in the areas that were not hit with the belt grinder using household vinegar (container filled with household vinegar)
Lessons learned and take-aways:
- Forging is hard. Most of the time I felt like things heated too slowly and cooled too quickly and sometimes I felt the reverse was true and things heated too quickly and cooled too slowly. I was also very surprised by how difficult it was to apply pressure evenly with a hammer stroke, especially when hitting the blade hard enough to actually make noticeable progress before it cooled. The biggest forging related issue that I had, was that I was a bit careless at the beginning, due to the misconception that any forging errors could be easily fixed with a few corrective hits. Unfortunately that is not the case, and it can be quite difficult and time intensive to fix some issues. Mad respect for makers who create precision forged geometry, especially where kurouchi or nashiji is involved, because then they're unable to fix problems at a later stage on a grinder.
- There are different hammers for different tasks, such as radially deforming / elongating the blade or axially elongating the blade.
- A ferric chloride etch can be used to visualise the position of the core steel during rough grinding, when the deep scratches obscure all detail.
- The knife heats slower at the beginning of grinding, when it is thicker and has more thermal mass and heats much more rapidly as it gets thinner.
- Grinding without gloves let's you feel when the blade is getting too hot and is a good fail-safe to help prevent overheating but RIP to your fingers until you get good.
- You can spray water on the belt to help reduce the temperature and extend the amount of time that is needed before cooling the blade in a bucket of water.
- Even DIY tang broaches made of modified saw blades made quick work of the tang slot in oak and the process was infinitely faster than scratching around using files.
- People can have wildly differing approaches to something and end up with similar results. Harbeer is a very go with the flow type of knife maker and gets fantastic results with this approach, while I work best with a slower, more structured and meticulous work flow. In a workshop environment, there was not enough time to be ultra meticulous and as a result, I made an absolute mess of several things, one of which was the facets on the handle. Handle making is the part of the knife making process that I was most familiar with and at the risk of sounding arrogant, I normally make a very nice handle, but to get good results I need to mark the surfaces and take my time. During the workshop we basically eyeballed the handle dimensions and there was a certain amount of time pressure to get everything done, which resulted in facets that were laughably uneven, both from front to rear and side to side. This could be rescued by turning the octagonal handle into a heart shaped handle, but it really highlighted how differently I work compared to Harbeer and the kind of work flow that is necessary to make a knife within a reasonable time frame in a workshop / professional setting.
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