STEEL And KNIVES (A Comparison and Explanation)

@Bear and boys: Here are the photos, O1 steel on this blade, deep scandi grind. Click for full resolution:

 

That's not bad @Tobit .... I would just steel wool it with some oil... wear some disposable gloves if you have them.... less mess and you won't get the little splinters of steel in your hands... grab a piece of scrap wood or other flat material to use as a backing with the steel wool to finish it up... and get all the tiny little scratches going the same way... steel wool is cheap... get the different sizes... 0 up to 0000.... (you can also put some of the 0000 in your kit for tinder as well as field maintenance on your knife... but that's another discussion )

When you are done... take it to the sink and wash the oil and grime off... then run it under hot water from the tap for a while... dry it off good.. and the residual heat left in the blade will drive all the moisture out of the steel and nooks and crannies... then give it a good oil with what you got... vegetable oil or olive etc... especially if you use it for food prep.... JMHO... others will chime in with equally good ideas....

Nice knife.... should be pretty fast and easy.... will leave the "character of well used loved knife".... now if you want to get it back to original condition or mirror... well that's a different approach and more time.... let me know and I can go into that...

Thanks for the question and the pics... let us know...

Have a great Saturday!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Agreed @ghrit .... great looking knife.... and o-1 is one of my absolute favorite steels for tools like these as well as others.... Bear

 

Make it sharp, keep it oiled and use it.

 

My trick for a rusty knife is to USE IT!!! Haha. Let what you are working on rub it off. Are any of you familiar with browning?

 

AKA oxidizing or rust bluing, did a Black powder rifle in that way. Still looks the same years later.

 

Good deal... Nice pic... yup... that's ok... you got it out now and good tools are somewhat forgiving if you forget them every once in a while...

Nice quote by the way @Tobit

Have a great Saturday!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Gotta love that background!

 

Agree that doesn't look bad and is a nice looking knife. Also agree on sharpen, clean, oil and use. I would only suggest adding a patina to it, if you don't mind it being darker than it is. So my order would be sharpen, clean, patina, oil, use, repeat as necessary.

 

I like spring steel. But only because that is what I am familiar with and use. Have tried swords with other steels and prefer spring steel. Good balance of strength, weight, and flex. To me, a forged spring steel sword is pretty formidable. And feels good in my hands.

 

The patina and coloration of the blade looks good to me and a lot like my favorite Bush Knife.

 

Yeah... @HK_User and @Tobit ... I like the look as it is too.... looks like a well loved and used knife... those are the best imho

Have a great Sunday all!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Good post @ghrit knowledge of steels is very important... as well as their applications and best uses... I would imagine we have machinists here who could expand on appropriate steel for specific applications much better than I can...

I also know there are practical users who have studied and practiced the arts with a wide range of edged tools of different lengths and designs like @kellory who hopefully will chime in on design, geometry and purpose of wide range of historical blades and how that relates to the type of steel, heat treat and fabrication methods.

Unfortunately I really don't have enough knowledge of the effects of time on the properties of steel... I will confirm that it is my belief based of studying and reading that yes steel can change over time... However, I am of the opinion that the temperature and work that the steel is subjected to will play a role in that.... hopefully someone here has more expertise on that.

There are a lot of good reasons why my initial response to @AxesAreBetter focused on a specific question in answer to his/her question (I know it's not cool to answer a question with a question... sorry about that).

That question was about specific use of the "sword"...

hence... then that would then narrow down to the design or type of sword... this is where @kellory can help a lot.... narrow pointy foil sword thingys vs. thicker wider blunty type swords... (sorry I'm not a technical expert or even close on these tools or their function)

Then that would then narrow down to the type of steel best used in that design... as your post @ghrit includes that some steels chip easier, are springier etc... also some steels are better with thicker bevels and others work fine with thinner... a good machinist, manufacturer or maker... will know what would work the best for your application...

Then that would then narrow down to the maker or manufacturer... It is my belief that it's a good idea to ask questions or do your homework on makers and manufacturers... if they make the type of "tool" you are looking for... and have made them for a while and have references and testimonials on those tools.... and also if they have worked with the steel you would like to have the "tool" made out of... with the same track record.... best that they have made the "tool" out of your chosen steel...

Doing your homework is important.... if you are going to spend your hard earned money on a tool that you will spend time with and depend on... Make sure you ask questions.... and if the maker does not ask you questions... well... maybe you should find another maker that does.... a good "maker" will want to make sure they understand your application and then make sure they can deliver a product that will perform for it's desired lifespan... at your desired price point and timeframe.

Then that leads us to the final question... what is your price point or range and your delivery time frame.

Hope this makes sense.... there a bunch more questions I would ask both of a prospective client and of a maker... but these are the basic ones...

Lots of good folks here with better experience than me... hopefully they will chime it and offer good thoughts for anyone to consider...

Have a great Sunday all!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Just the kind of answers I would expect from y'all. Haha.

I guess hanzo missed this in another thread, but I would assume that he uses a Jian given the martial arts he admits to? If that is the case, spring steel makes sense for the types of tasks I understand Jian to perform. (Am I using the proper name for your giant shank? Haha. Partial to the Doa styles myself, but Asian footwork is almost backwards from European, and can't seem to make the switch!)

 

Really good stuff ,, thanks.

 

1/8' off the edge you can see the harder material after second oil quenching. a durable edge but hard to move the material .
The parent metal is spring steel, not nearly as hard .
I probably should have used a coal forge to get it up to straw color but for this work ,a small quick knife I used the propane torch forge .
Please give me an honest critique .
What might I have done better?

 

Some really good information here. Really helps knowing the steel in the blades you are considering for the jobs you are doing.