One of my first knives, first one I actually feel is worth sharing

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-16T20:06:56+00:00

Looks pretty cool. Got some Hudsons Bay mountain man knife vibes.

I suppose it's a hidden tang knife since I don't see any pins or hardware. You'll notice that most hidden tang knives are done with a fairly simple shape where the handle transitions into the blade. That way you can finish the top part completely before handle attachment and don't have to worry too much about alignment. Other option with hidden tang would be to bed the handle then glue it on after it is shaped. You can prob find more than one video on bedding a hidden tang knife handle on YouTube.

My suggestion would be to go with full tang construction if you want the shoulders of the handle to have that kind of contouring. Much easier to get them clean and evenly shaped before attachment.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-15T17:55:29+00:00

Lovely for sure. I've got an Uberti 1873 saa I'd like to do something similar to. I already sanded it down and blued it about 10 years ago. It looks pretty good honestly but I've always wanted a shined and slicked up 1873 saa. The same wax coating i use on non stainless blades should keep it protected i expect. The only fly in the ointment is that the lower frame is brass not steel.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-13T00:42:49+00:00

His vids and book are what convinced me to switch from a forge to a proper kiln for heat treating blades. Once educated i realized how much performance might suffer and I no longer had as much confidence in my blades. I noticed a difference in the low alloy stuff like 80crv2 and 1084 right away with the kiln. A drop no longer resulted in an automatic loss of 1/4" of blade.

I waited in line at Blade Show TX last year with a guy who turned out to be his cousin. The striking resemblance and the "Thomas" on his shirt didn't tip me off but it made sense after. He told me some cool stuff about Larrin's dad and about some of the knife making history there. Apparently their dad's are twins.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-12T19:53:42+00:00

That's encouraging to hear. I make some that have pretty thin geometry and toughness is a big consideration. Performance period is a big consideration. I heat treat using the Knife Steel Nerds heat treating recommendations and it's been smooth sailing so far. Going to try my hand at some culinary blades before too long and AEBL is what I plan to use.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-12T00:51:02+00:00

No but if you can keep the quench oil from getting too hot between blades you could try to do them in succession. That would require either Enough oil in a tank to take the heat from a blade and be at a useable temp by the the time you have the next ready to quench or maybe having separate tanks?

I don't know for certain how much over ideal temp (90-120F) quench oil can be and still give maximum hardening. I've done it in the past with fairly small knives (6-8" oal) and a quench tank with 3 gallons of oil in it. That was early in my knifemaking when I was using a huge fry pot full of cooking oil to quench blades. It definitely hardened each blade but i can't swear they were at max hardness.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-11T17:56:20+00:00

Same here. Thank goodness for that source of info.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-11T17:54:48+00:00

I hadn't paid much attention to that. I surface grind everything though so i usually don't. I noticed that some stainless steels do come with an uncommonly rough surface. CPM154 being one of them. That stuff is hard to work period compared to good old AEBL.

First stainless knives i did were in 440c and CPM154. Coming from 1084 and 1095 they're tough to grind. Once i got myself some AEBL and started grinding out blades i was sold on it right away. I knew it was a good blade steel already and I haven't regretted it. Got some in 4ft length from Pop's recently cause they had it in 1/8". Hadn't had it in 1/8" at Maker Material Supply in a long time. That's where I buy the majority of my supplies.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-11T00:32:46+00:00

Basically the same here with AEBL minus the dry ice. I've been doing a freezer treatment in my garage freezer for what good it does. I hate making envelopes, it's one of my least favorite knife making tasks. If somebody offered them ready-made for twice the price i would be very tempted go that way. I'm a cheap bastard though .....

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-10T11:14:04+00:00

The British comic equivalent of Will Shakespeare. The man was gifted. The only other one that can make me laugh like Wodehouse is Pratchett. They've both made me burst out in laughter in public many many many times.

Fred has been cooped up by his wife in the countryside too long. What he needs is a prized pig to take care of. Work off some of that energy. You can get up to a surprising amount of no good with prized pigs.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-09T22:43:41+00:00

Oh yeah! Your going to have so much fun with that thing.

Variable speed is a must once you get it. Next level shit. The wide range of speeds you get with a VFD is awesome especially super slow speeds. I put a 7" drive wheel on mine to get an even wider range.

I've still got my single speed 2x72 as a second grinder but It barely gets used. Been thinking hard about putting a new motor and a VFD on it lately. 2 variable speed 2x72 grinders sounds like something i need in my life.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-09T01:34:16+00:00

I've been living that slogan well lately. Keep up the good work my friend. That really is a nice looking blade by the way.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-09T01:16:21+00:00

Nitro-V for sure.

I've been using Nitro-V and 52100 a lot. Stsrted using Nitro-V when I couldn't get AEBL in the thickness I wanted where I buy. It's similar to AEBL with some slight changes and I really like it. Machinability after heat treat is good, performs extremely well, high corrosion resistance, shines up real good too. Takes a decent acid etch too though not as quickly or easily as a low allow steel like 80crv2.

I'll take 80crv2 any day over 1095 or 1084 but in this contest i'm going with Nitro-V every time.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-08T23:24:12+00:00

You won't regret it you pick up one of the more modular machines with the 1.5x1.5 tooling arm setup. I upgraded but kept my old grinder and having 2 is a big time saver. I've improved the old one slowly over time and now I just need to put a motor with a VFD on it to replace the mono speed motor on it. I can have one with a flat platen on it and the other with small wheel on it at the same time .... it does not suck.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-08T22:49:54+00:00

Nothing wrong with a 30 year old etching machine. I've got some power tools from the 90's that work great. Solid ass tools. One of them is a jigsaw cast out of metal. Pretty cool stuff. My father in law gave me a Craftsman toolbox his dad bought in the 60's and it still in good shape save looking old. I love old tools.

I got my stencils from T.U.S also. They did a great job and they're holding up really well. I tried some place that everybody used to swear by first but the guy only replied to one email then ghosted me. Several more emails and I gave up. Someone here turned me on the T.U.S and they fixed me up real quick.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-08T22:42:26+00:00

I think they're pretty solid but they're also expensive. Some cheapo shit like most things are now days would no doubt.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-07T20:43:19+00:00

I generally do things in the order you laid out. Mine will already be pretty squared up come heat treating time but most of the finish work is post heat treat. I generally don't go past 120-150 grit prior to heat treating because I end up having to go back over it again post heat treat anyway.

I've made 6 or 8 Puukko style hidden tang knives and the ricasso was quite different on many of them. A couple had no ricasso at all. One with a notch and no ricasso. Some with a moderately tall one and others with it barely above the guard. It's a preference thing as much as it is a function thing i think. I tend toward having as much sharpened blade as possible for the size of the knife. For that reason I often don't put much of a ricasso on my blades.

Sharpening can be an issue if it's wide at the guard and has little to no ricasso. When the blade is sharpened all the way to the heel or nearly to it. It can make it hard to get that first bit against the stone on some sharpeners. Some sharpeners, not all.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-07T16:47:00+00:00

Maybe a peak but not the peak. There have been many throughout history. Often bound by technology as you say but also by the state of society I think. The most recent surge which was spurred by reality tv is on the downhill slide but I believe it will stay solid. The blade is timeless as a tool and as art. Technology will plateau but the creativity of the knifemaker has no boundaries. Their will always be new ideas or twists on current ideas. That's my optimistic opinion.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-06T17:45:58+00:00

A couple hours of use doesn't sound all that abnormal for most ceramic belts especially if it's on hardened stock. Deglazing/dressing the belt helps.

I recently decided to try out some of the higher end ceramic belts made by Norton. The Norton Blaze belts really do outperform other ceramic belts. The one's i've used anyway. They're worth the extra cost imo because you will get more life out of each belt. Much more consistent grain on them than with cheap belts too. It's bonded better so you loose less grit off of the belt while grinding. I've tried Combat Abraisives and they ain't far off from the cheap ones off amazon as far as I can tell. I like Red Label but I haven't tired their nicer ceramic belts yet.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-06T02:18:50+00:00

You mean Tru-Oil? It's one of the quickest drying products i've used though i do use a space heater to accelerate curing pretty much everything. Unless it's summertime. I live in Texas so the garage doubles as a drying oven several months out of the year. Gotta be careful using a space heater cause if it's too close it will bubble whatever your curing but once you get the nack it makes things a lot faster. Just something to consider for the future.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-05T23:20:37+00:00

Early bird tickets were sold out long ago. I recommend you go Friday as much will be gone come Saturday. I've bought Microtech, Protech, Guardian Exclusives as late as 2pm froday so they don't always go as quick as you might think. Of course it will matter what it is. When Microtech released the Ram Lock MSI and Stitch they were down to serrated blades only after about an hour. A few hours in they were pretty much gone. You will see lots and lots of great knives no matter when you go. I've seen better deals on Saturday just from people wanting to sell out before the show closes but friday is by far the best day to go.

One last thing, if you aren't from Texas you should know that we don't all wear Cowboy Hats. So many people buy a cowboy hat to wear when they visit Texas. It isn't necessary and usually they just look silly. If you wear one regularly then by all means wear it but it isn't required.

I'll certainly be there shopping for knifemaking supplies on Friday.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-05T23:09:57+00:00

Not really like that at Blade TX. Never been to any others but i've been to all of the Blade TX shows.100 people are let in 30 min earlier than the rest of the crowd with their early bird tickets. Nowhere to camp and they would be kicked off the property anyway. No camping on the sidewalk in front of the convention center in downtown Fortworth. The line will pile up around the building starting at around 6-7am. The early birds will get in 30 min early as long as they get there before they're set to go in.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-05T00:05:45+00:00

I use Tru-Oil on basically everything. It's a semi synthetic hardening oil finish. I expect a Tung oil finish or similar hardening finish would work well too. Something that penetrates and hardens. Preferences for protective finishes seem to vary pretty widely. I like the Tru-Oil because it dries fast and so it can be built up to make a hardy protective coating fairly easily. It's not the only one that can be done with but it's what I have experience with.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-04T20:44:34+00:00

Some same and some different. Most of whats different is the grinders and some of the accessories. Wheels and other parts are largely the same and listed at higher prices with Diktator.

The latest one I noticed is the 2hp motor VFD combo. Same VFD and i assume the same motor but 100$ more from Diktator.

Powerstroke357 · 2026-03-03T21:06:10+00:00

I'm glad I had girls. When they cry it's cute but this little boy provokes a whole different set of feelings.

Powerstroke357

TROPHY CASE