I just finished a 3 day basic Knifemaking class at my shop. We had a day of hands on forging and we took the knife I forged and took it to completion. We had extensive training on proper heat treat techniques and how to draw the knife back. On this knife we edge hardened the 5160 drop point hunter blade and had a nice line on the cutting edge. Even though the knife wasn't fully hardened we went through differential heat treat techniques. I demonstrated fracturing a bar of high carbon steel which I enlarged grain and then by thermo cycling showed how to refine the grain in the same bar. I went over design and proper symmetry and we discussed types of handles and design. I taught them how to mill the shoulder to guard fit and press fit guards. I chose to make a mortise tang scale handle that was dovetailed out of mesquite burl. I taught them how to hand sand and how to mechanically pin correctly. They were also instructed how to set up an edge and sharpen correctly. I tested the blade by cutting a 1 1/2" block of Osage cross grain and it had no change to cutting edge and shaved hair effortlessly. This was a first for these 3 guys to see what a handmade knife with proper heat treat and edge geometry can do. This was an enjoyable class for me and I had 3 great guys to work with, it was a great 3 days of fellowship. I picked a number 1-100 and had them to as well and the guy closest to mine went home with the knife. It was an action packed 3 days and went by fast. I'm looking forward to the Damascus class in August.
