My boys wanted a hunting knife set and I didn't want to let them down. I really liked the looks of some of geedubyas Menefees so I figured I'd give it a shot. They're not perfect but they're sharp and should cut fine. I put a little vinegar patina on the blades to dull them up. Really dig the sharpmaker too.

Thats a nice set. Should be great hunters.Congrats to your boys.

Ya' darned skippy!

Good stuff!

ya!

GWB

Those are a couple of good looking knives! I'll bet your Son's will be very pleased with that fine hand crafted gift from Dad.

Wow, those look great. Homebrewn?

Please tell a bit more - steel, treatment, grind, spine thickness, stock shape...

Definitely killed it ! Nice work

Very well designed/executed set of knives, I particularly like the vinegar patina. A father to son gift that will be cherished for a lifetime and handed down.

I started out with some 1.5" x 12" x .125" 1080 steel billets. This stuff still had the mill scale on it which kinda sucked. I just bought some from a different supplier that comes ground so I don't have that crap! 1080 is easy for me to heat treat so I'm sticking with it for now. I brought the temp up to non-magnetic, then gave it another minute or so. I don't have any Parks 50 so I'm stuck with canola oil heated to 130 deg for my quench. I do two, two hour tempers at 400 deg.

I bring my edge down to about .03" before I heat treat, then down to about .01 before sharpening. I might need to go a bit thinner but it's just so easy to jack up your temper when doing your final grinding. I'm using a angle grinder to cut out the rough shape, bench grinder to get it closer, and a cheap 4x36 with ceramic belts for everything else. It's just a wing it garage hobby that I'm really enjoying right now.

I did a geedubya and used one to cut up my steak last night. That put more color on the blade than the vinegar!

Wingin it pretty damn good!

Bet their smile’s a little bigger when they tell their friends their old man made those!

They look great!

Those look awesome.

I've had my Sharpmaker for about 25 years now. The stones are concave. Still going strong.

I'm glad I picked one up, it puts a great edge on the knives. I bought a worksharp last year and I'm not sold on it. It hogs out some material real fast if you're not careful.

You got the diamond thingies too?

I haven't picked up the diamond ones yet. Not sure if I really need them, though it sounds like they would be good on a jacked up edge that needed some work. I figure if ones that bad I'll get it close on my belt sander first.

Really do like the blade shape of the bottom one and love the handle material.

Thank you for the details. Thoroughly enjoyed. It sounds like you have it quite figured out and the results bear witness. Winging-it-shop-hobbyist here, too.

I like it, good looking blade! It's been a good hobby during the dark winter. Keeps me entertained and I've got something to show for it when I'm done.

Nice work Ptarmigan!

Thanks man! If nothing else I’m having fun with it and when I’m done I’ve got something I can use.

Are you using a torch to heat treat?

Should you find yourself in need of tools, give me a shout.

I made a mini forge with some fire bricks and use a TS8000 handheld torch stuck though the side to heat it up. Works pretty well for what it is, though I have little control over temperature. That's why I've been sticking with simple carbon steels right now. Pretty hard to screw up the heat treat with that steel. Thanks for the offer and I'll look you up if I need anything!