Damn it, man. I know this video is nine years old, but I just bought these same fire sticks in Wal*Mart (Nova Scotia, June, 2024) today. Been passing them up for at least a dozen years for homemade, DIY, more reliable Fire starters. Think wax and toilet paper. After seeing this, I'm gonna go outside and waste a few of them. Maybe they updated their formula in the past nine years. Stay tuned for crappy update here, folks.
So like many of the comments below. What are the steels? What oil are you using? Also that's a lot of quenching for the amount of volume you have there. There is a temperature range that Parks 50 is best at, you might have gone out of that range. Also you edge looks pretty thin for Damascus. The decarb might be deep enough you arent able to grind past it. Personally I dont put any bevels in before HT. I have little if any warping issues and have plenty of material not to worry about decarb. Yes, its more time at the grinder but I have less "fix it" issues to deal with. Also I'm sure you know of Larrin Thomas' book Knife Engineering Steel, Heat Treating and Geometry. Its become my go to for everything HT and his website Knife Steel Nerds is without a doubt has become the reference for Knife Steel. Lastly if your Damascus is 10xx/15n20 blend, 1600f is way too hot for a quench. 1485f is what you should be at. I personally do 1500f to eliminate any variation in my kiln.
Starting on a 220 grit stone? I only do that if the edge is damaged and I have to grind out chips. If the Knife is just blunt, 1000 is a good stone to start. Just for maintaining knives that start to get dull a bit (which is most of what I do) I go to the Naniwa Aotoishi 2000 which is the best stone for maintaining a cutting edge. It doesn´t need soaking, it still works reasonably fast and it gives a near polish finish. For justr maintenance sharpening it´s all you need. Also, flattening after every use is just not neccessary.
A brilliant idea has come from such a brilliant mind……….Well done Jeremy, you have given such a simple (excuse the pun) solution to us all in keeping a consistent angle when sharpening one’s knives using those Razor Sharp Wheels.
This video was amazing i flowing all the way through the beginning and the end what i liked was your video was you talked i doing att the same time it wasn't boring. I want build my own in future time from air compressor i want ask you how many hours you spent totally i really appreciate if you answered my question many thanks indeed it was a stunning video i liked. It was great jobb.
Awesome looking rig. I just inherited a homemade offset that's about 90% done and I just putting the finishing touches on it. Can you recommend a good brand of paint that works well on cookers/pits? Thanks!
I just bought the Kadet Pro and had a bit of a problem figuring out how to assemble it all. The instructions are... ambiguous. You are an excellent instructor-it'd be cool if you made one showing how to build the thing, and properly align the angle using the new Axicube inclinometer. Thank you.
The best knife sharpening stone video I have ever seen. Perhaps you could have shown placing the knife at the 4 o'clock or 45 degree angle with respect to the stone. I learned a lot of useful tips from this video. Thank you!
I've seen a lot of 'true' Damascus that is made in large sheets and cut to shape with a plasma cutter then the bevels are ground. There is no heat treatment. I've started taking a small round jeweler's file with me to knife shows and test at the choil.
I like that, the FIZZ, I understand what yu mean, some knives give me the fizz too ;) And this one has someting to it. I will look for it in my country. Have a good WE !
Great video, sadly the Tormek KJ-45 on amazon canada is $85. I recently purchased the Magnum brand of this tool (which is exactly the same as the mastercraft one) and disappointed to have to spend another $85 just to actually use the sharpener for one of the most basic reasons.
Maybe a brine quench with 1095. 1095 needs to lose heat fast to harden optimally. The 15N20 may be insulating (holding the heat) 1095 not letting it loose heat fast enough.
I remember it as thermal cycles interspersed with anneal and carburization. Of course, I don't often mess with Jewelry Damascus, since monosteel tends to get my signature blades to work just fine, and Damascus is pretty tough to do with the traditional small forge I have(welding temperature isn't easy in my forge lately, it's outdoors with no roof). Also, if I remember correctly, most carbon steels like to harden at much lower temperature, not quite glowing red. Check your reference guide, as I'm sure you have one.
Yeah I think you’re right. But also wrong…oilers? No no no. Man, I was born and raised in Calgary; I’ve lost contact with first cousins over this debate. I will always cheer against the oilers. In some cases I just cheer for the puck. I’ve come to realize that it’s people that matter more than my overzealous passion about hockey. To that end I say, go Oil……… ……. Never make mind. Can’t do it. 👍
@@Simplelittlelife lol. I’ve been an Oilers fan for over 30 years now. Their Assistant Coach, Glen Gulutzan, used to play for my hometown beer league team.
I think the standing arm could also be replaced with a guiding tube, like in a piston, that stabilizes the movement. Also a heavy duty arm to hold the sandpaper might make it even easier. Some nice handles and a little mechanism to roll the sandpaper and youll never hate handsanding again. Super interesting idea.
Yeah I think you think a lot without actually doing. Go ahead and build what is in your mind and let me know. Until then; you’re just a keyboard cowboy. I sure hope you become less useless than that someday 👍
@@Simplelittlelife Not sure if you have seen the Sandshark by Tyrell Knifeworks which does just that. I am Designer and i make knives while working in a bronze foundry.
Your comment isn’t correcting anything. To correct, you need to give explicit instruction on what to change from and what to do on the future. The comment you left is useless in the sense of being correctional.
Hey! Thank you for watching another video! Much appreciated 👍 It’s called a Spanish notch or a sharpening choil. Basically just a gap between the thin part of the blade and a where it fattens out to the thickness of the steel. It makes it super easy to get a good sharpening on the blade. Gives a definite stop to the edge. Cheers 👍
As follows 1650 for 15 minutes 1500 for 15 minutes 1350 15 minutes then 1450 for 15 then quench knife should go in at 1450 from cold Will give you the best results.
I'm guessing decarb, which you can usually clean up with finish grinding. I'm no master, but I've heat treated damascus at 1550F with a 10 minute soak and had good results. I think 20 minutes might be a little long, which would increase the amount of decarb you would have to grind through. Also, decarb is easily identifiable when etched
15N20 quench at 1474°F 801°c 1095 from 1454°F to 1508°F 790°c to 820°c so u r a bit over heating, assuming they were no overheat when forged welded, u have a decarb layer try with a round file on the drip breaker
Did you make the damascus? 15n20 & 10.. series? I typically HT at 1480 into parks 50 quench oil. I leave it in the oil, while agitating up and down for a full 5 minutes. You may have taken them out too soon and have the heat temper the hardness out. From where you are, I would certainly thermocycle before quenching again. Are you using Parks 50? I don’t recommend canola and similar oils.
One reason many of us make patterned steel out of 1084 and 15n20 is that the heat treating protocols are essentially the same for both steels. I've never had a problem with this combination.
That's weird, damascus HT is pretty similar to normal steel, except austenitizing temp should be somewere between the two steels that are used in it. What kind of steels are them ? Temp should have been provided by your supplier tho. I'm assuming that this isn't a stainless one ? 20 minutes at austenitizing temp without a stainless foil seems a lot to me, maybe that you had a decarb layer. With carbon steel I'd rather try with a 7 to 10 minutes step at temp. Hope that it'll work next time 👍
I see that the damascus blades are thin. With a 20 min soak the decarb will build up. Take them to the grinder and grind 0,5mm of the edge. It should be harden metall under the decarb :)
I DM'd you on IG Jeremy. The issue lies in the 1095, not the best choice for damascus unfortunately. That being said, you only need 1500 deg, 10-15 min soak, rapid oil quench like Parks 50 OR you can water/brine quench and say a prayer. Either way, it can be done with 1095 it's just unnecessarily difficult compared to 1084. Speaking purely from my own struggles with 1095/15N20 combos. If you want to try again, run a normalizing cycle for sure.
I use 1095 in my damascus bc I find it easier to work with. Maybe that’s bc I’ve used it for the past 8 years or so. Since the beginning. The last time I use 1084 in a billet, it had phantom lines. It mostly definitely could have been user error on my part. But I switched back to 1095 and never had an issue. And good call on the grinding through decarb! I’ve definitely had this happen a time or two.
I would agree. 1095 can be variable enough that unless you have the heat treat formula from the manufacturer of the steel, it can be hit or miss with hardening. I like Alpha Knife supply for steel because I know what I am getting every time, and they provide heat treatment formulas for most of the steel they sell on the their website. And 1084/15N20 from them has the same formula.
Assuming you got the Damascus from a reliable and reputable supplier, and you know it is good steel (usually 1084/15N20). Then my first assumption would be you’ve got a thick layer of decarb on there! Ovens have a ton of oxygen in them with nothing to burn it up, so they decarb steel pretty efficiently. You could file on the edge for a while and see if eventually you dig deep enough to hit hard steel, or grind the decarb away. For grinding it away a good visual clue will be that if you can still see the Damascus pattern there is still some amount of decarb. If you still fail to find any hard steel under there, I’d assume bad steel. Nothing seemed wrong about your heat treat process, the temp can be somewhat of a personal preference , but 1600° with a fast quench oil should have definitely resulted in hard steel. Possibly it was still too hot when you took it from the oil? I doubt that with the thinness though. Good luck!
Embrace positive affirmations and self-talk to counteract negative energy. Remind yourself of your worth, strength, and potential. You have the power to overcome.
There is a good reason I use nothing but the "easy" stainless's now (Nitro-V, 12C27, 14C28N, easy HT cycle, very reliable HT). The general hassle and unpredictability of Damascus and higher blade maintenance over time, I just could not be bothered dealing with failures with the limited hobby time I have. While I appreciate the work required to make good forge welded steels, I dont actually care for the look in working blades.
Thermocycle and quench in oil one more time, if that doesn't work try a quench in water, if that doesn't work use your new knife like objects as wall hangers or templates.
it's interesting and a bit strange that the Damascus didn't harden. i do know that there could be issues depending on the combination of steels used to make the damascus which can cause it to not harden right, like one steels hardening temp could be way higher then the other ones or different soaking temps or HUGE amount of different reasons. personally i would just thermal cycle the knives again and try quenching the knives again but at a slightly higher temp. (sorry for adding so much lol) also would do a light grind on the knives and check the hardness again just incase decarb happened. i know it doesn't normally happen with a electric oven but you never know :)
I had this issue with some junk Damascus I bought off etsy. I knew what I was getting and wanted to see if it would even harden. It would not. Since you have an oven it's got to be the steel.
seems to me you were sold bad steel, so its not the heat treat. next time you do paterned welded knives maybe put a thick core of O-1 or something like that in the center
