I know Im randomly asking but does anybody know of a way to get back into an instagram account..? I was dumb lost the login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
I've made a few knives, and have the process down pretty well. Now working on upping the quality. I've watched a ton of videos on all aspects of knife making. I keep coming back to a lot of your techniques. Simple, well explained, logical. So thanks.
Gough Custom Yeah, I built a fire brick heat treating kiln, and have the Lansky sharpening system. Starting to build out the bevel filing jig. I've been using a cheap 1x30 grinder that does ok on the bevel itself, but is useless for getting a decent plunge line. Until I upgrade, I think the file may be the way to go.
I've been watching this video for 5 years, and today i ordered 01 tool steel and sandpaper (i have 100s of files from my granddad's shop). Thank you for both the knowledge and the inspiration. We're going to make a knife finally!
Thanks a lot mate. I have a Japanese chef knife, which had a nice polish when I first bought it. Once I had it sharpened to a street vendor, and it was full of scratches. My heart was thorn.. Anyway, later I learned to sharpen with whetstone, so I got saphire brand stones, 1000-3000-8000 grits. But still had the scratches. After watching your video couple of times, I bought 400-600-800 grits sand paper, a sand block, which was very cheap to acquire by the way. And finally, I got my knife almost perfect satin finish, thanks to your explanations on your video.
Great info Aaron, tx a lot! I build your filing jig and finished my 1st knife ever a couple days ago. If I only saw this video already wouldn't hand sanded to 1500 pre-heat treatment 😊 greetings from Argentina!
Haha glad you liked the video mate! I actually had water mixed with metal grit squirt up out of the pin hole in the tang and right into my eye one time, so now I wear safety glasses even while hand sanding... I guess if you do something enough eventually you'll need safety glasses! I got tape flung into my eye once when packaging a knife for a customer as well lol
@@GoughCustom i once had WD-40 Squirt straight back at my eyes, luckily i had drilled a hole or something before using it and I still had my safely glasses on, i always wear them when using WD-40 now lol
Whenever I see a dedicated and skilled artisan producing fine pieces such as these I'm sooo tempted. I need to either win the lottery or stop watching videos such as this. I am an admirer.
Great video, as always 😊 Very informative. I always come away from watching your videos feeling that I have learned and benefited from doing so. Thank you! 😊
Sweet, great vid Aaron :) If you don't mind me suggesting.. just as one should use sandpaper as if it's free, use shop towels like they're free as well, at least or especially in the case of sanding/finishing. Just use a new (or seperate) towel for each grit so you don't happen to drag a piece of 400 grit (or worse) down the blade of your nicely finished 600 grit when wiping down your blade at the end. I know it's probably not a big problem for you since you only use those two grits, but hopefully somebody will benefit from reading this. I know how much it sucks to get up to 1000 grit and then wipe the blade down, only to find a stray piece of 120 grit on the towel after it just got done digging it's way into my nicely finished blade.. :( lol Anyway, it's always nice to see new vids from ya brother, take care :)
Denn Handmade Knives Just make sure to protect the finish well from scale and decarb during heat-treat, that's caused me no end of problems in the past!
hey Aaron I'm about to make my first few knives, I was wondering that when you sand the ricasso area are you not creating an uneven surface for your knife scales to glue on to? i assume you aren't doing much sanding if any where the tang is hidden by the scales. I was just wondering how this affects the scales sitting on your handle to avoid gaps, cheers.
You can create an uneven surface if you're not careful, you have to just make sure to sand a larger area so that the transition (if any) is spread out!
This is very interesting, informative and useful clip. Thank you so much. I found there a lot of useful things. I wanted to ask: what design means for clamping sandpaper? How to fasten metal rollers? What keeps them - rubber rings? Thanks in advance, Gennady
Hey Gennady! The sanding block is not really necessary, and I know a lot of other knifemakers would prefer not to use it.. Whether you decide to is your choice. I have another video on my channel that shows the sanding block in more detail
Gough Custom Hello Gogh! I also tried different ways and work with the sanding bloc I like more .. I have my own sanding bloc, but I really liked the way mounting sandpaper in your model. I want to do the same. On what your video can I see? I've seen all that you posted here and on your site, but I found none. Gennady
Gennadiy Livshitz Hey mate, the video would be found on the 'videos' tab of my channel page, it's an older video so it doesn't show up on the main page: th-cam.com/video/AtAZRdxUrh4/w-d-xo.html
If you’ve got a knife that is not a full flat grind do you hand sand the bevels AND flats or just the flats? I don’t want to waste a bunch of time and I would like the bevels to contrast the flats, but what is normally done?
Hi Gough Custom. I like your video's, very usefull info. Have you tried Scotch-Brite to satin finish your blades. I have used the Ultra Fine Hand Pad 7448 for polishing mine with the aid of a sanding drum mounted in a cordless drill. I cut the pads in 2 " strips 9 " long and roll them on the sanding drum. Its fast and the finish is very uniform...it even follows the contours in the blade. I never use coarser pads because they tend to roundover crisp edged that you maybe want to keep. If the ultra fine pads are to coarse...just put a few drops of motor oil or WD40 on the blade first.
I have used a scotchbrite belt on my grinder in the past. It works ok but it's definitely not as crisp as a finish done totally by hand unfortunately...
Dear Gough. Thank you, thank you and thank you for this very instructive videos. Are you a teacher. Sorry my grammar. I write using the google translator. Thanks again and kind regards from Spain
Hello, thank you very much for your videos, they help me so much to improve my skills. I wanted to ask you to make a video - if possible - explaining how we can make visible the upper line of the bevel after hand sanding. It will be very helpful. Thanks again!
Hey mate! The main thing to consider in order to keep the top line of the bevel visible is that you have to avoid rounding over that 'corner'. If you think about it that visible line is actually just a 'corner' with a really shallow angle... If you round it over, even just a little bit, then the line mostly disappears. So: Make sure you're using REALLY hard sanding blocks. If you're using sandpaper then you have to keep a lot of tension on the paper to make sure it doesn't 'squish' and round over that edge. The best way to do it is actually not to use sandpaper at all, instead use a type of hard stone called 'edm stones' to do your finishing. Because they're completely hard / rigid it's much easier to avoid rounding over that corner. The stones also cut much faster than sandpaper as well, I use them 100% instead of sandpaper these days... I buy my stones from MoldShopTools.com, and I use the CS-M stones in the 1/4x1/2" size.
Could you still do this without heat treating after? Or more so after a blade is already treated? I have a Kabar Becker BK2, I wanted to strip the paint off the blade portion then get a satin finish. Also would I need to coat the blade with anything after besides just a mineral oil to prevent corrosion?
Hey Joe! You can certainly do this to an already heat-treated blade, just be very careful of the sharp edge as you could cut yourself really badly. Mineral oil should be enough to prevent corrosion.
Wow great videos I am binge watching you channel. If you could spare the time to answer. I would love to know how you get the plunge line the same grit as the rest of it whilst still keeping the 45 degree angles?
+scottecooke Hey mate! Glad you like the videos! When you see me sanding you might notice that I'm bumping into the plunge line, this is a deliberate action... The sanding block rides up into the plunge line a little and finishes it nicely, not much more needed than that!
Gough Custom Ah awesome. Thanks I noticed that but wasn't sure. Thanks again for the really high quality videos. Would love to see more of those 'basics' videos for noobs like me. Especially ones on tools for absolute beginners. I learnt heaps from your videos on hacksaws and files.
Is it the act of dropping down a grit and changing the sanding direction that gives the satin finish, or is it determined by the grit that you choose to stop at? If you went further up the grits to get a finer finish would you still do that?
Ben Winchester The 'brushed' satin finish is created by aligning all your grit marks in the same direction. It will look similar even if done at a higher/lower grit. I would still do the exact same overall process even if I was going higher in grit.
For my forged blades I like draw filing to a fine enough finish with a mill smooth file and than move on to hand sanding with a 120 grit paper, followed by a 240 and 400 grit. I normally use the Rhynowet Redline and 3M. I have been thinking about experimenting by transitioning to a stone after the draw filing and before going to the 240 grit paper. What would be a good stone after the smooth file, an EDM or coarse waterstone ?
EDM stones will cut your finishing time by probably half compared to using sandpaper. I use EDM stones a lot and plan to do a video on them soon! I would recommend using stones to replace all your sandpaper grits except the final grit that you use for pull strokes. The stones I recommend are the CS-M stones from MoldShopTools.com
Excellent video, thanks for sharing. A little off topic but have you done chisel grinds? I love the look of the compound chisel grinds have not seen how they are accomplished. Thanks again.
you started with a piece of steel that looks better than my finished knifes so i dont understand that. Out of the forge my blanks are pretty beat up and rough looking.. Hows it so clean to start with?
Great video! I know my question is not relevant to this video but can you give me advice on how to get a cleaner plunge lines and bevels without an belt grinder? , I only have an angle grinder. Thanks in advance! Nick
Mr Gough ive got a question, after you do 600 grit for the first time and then heat treat it and move on to 600 grit the second time, do you sand in the same direction or switch to how it was the first time?
Hi thank you for your video I made your beveling jig and love it! question, i like to do scandi grinds where the bevel goes partially up the blade but when I hand sand it I always lose the definition where the bevel meets the flat part of the blade. any tips on how to avoid this? thanks!
+david ure Hey mate! It's pretty hard not to wash out grind lines... Really hard sanding blocks help, but the best way to totally avoid it is to do all your finishing with stones. EDM stones are designed for polishing metal and will let you finish without any softness behind the grit that would round over the edge. You can get them from MoldShopTools.com With that said, you have to decide how much you want to focus on getting them crisp. Probably a really hard sanding block will be enough as there will be some washing out of the lines when sharpening the blade on a stone anyway most likely!
Oh yeah one question, after you finish that satin finish then is the knife done once applying the handles or is there another step to protect the steel?
Survival Sniper Hey mate! Dry sanding works ok, but the sandpaper clogs more quickly, and also you'll end up breathing metal dust which is not good for you.
If I finish filing with a really rough bastard file then what grit sand paper should I start my hand sanding with? You mentioned 120 is a good start but should I maybe go lower if its really rough?
how thin do you take the edge before heat treating? Are you air quenching? your blade didn't appear to have the scale and burnt oil on them the way mine do.
Peter Hughes DVM Hey Peter! Just to be clear, the knife in this video was not really heat-treated. I discolored it with a torch so that I could demonstrate my process without having to wait 8 hours for heat-treat! If you have a look at the antarctic video you can see what my blades look like after heat-treat. There's no scale or oil because I'm heat-treating with the blade covered in foil and anti-scale and then air-quenching, there is a light rainbow oxide though. On A2 I take my edges down to about 0.010" before heat-treat.
thanks! Some people say I need to leave a fairy thick edge on it before heat treat to avoid warping. Others say it is OK to work closer to finished before heat treating. Right now I am spending many hours hand sanding - from 220 up - on hardened steel . Can't help but think it would go quicker if I did it on softer steel. Really like your videos. Copying your filing jig was a major step forward in the quality of the blades I've been making.
Peter Hughes DVM With some steels that require a very fast quench (like W1 for instance) I can imagine you might have to leave the edge thicker to avoid warping. But with everything that's oil quenched or air quenched I can't imagine you'll have an issue as long as the quench is done right and the steel is not overheated. I've talked to a few people that were having issues with warping, and in each case the issue was overheating. Thinning out your edges will make a huge difference in how the knives perform! Sanding will definitely go faster when done before heat-treat! Buy some anti-scale compound and you can go all the way up to 800 or so before heat-treat. Afterward you will have to sand again, but you'll be able to start at 600 or 800 and it will go quickly!
Gough, just subscribed, great videos. Question, you were talking about heat treating, in the video about satin finish. Is this a repeat process? Do you heat treat and then file and sand before you start the satin finish work and then again during the finish work?
Hey Jerry! Heat-treat is only done once, I usually do a lot of rough finishing before heat-treat, then final finishing after heat-treat. Glad you like the videos! -Aaron
I enjoy your videos love your knifes. I would enjoy a video on elaborating on the g10 handles that you use. I see many people talking about g10 and how easy it is to manipulate shapes and designs how does that apply to the finished product? Ex. Handle abuse, And also do you ever get a little exotic with you knifes shapes or designs?
Hey Chad! G10 grinds fairly easily because it's quite hard. Micarta is more 'gummy' which makes it harder to grind, that's the main difference between them. In terms of abuse resistance I would rate G10 pretty high. You'd have to really wail on it with a hammer to do any damage. Only one of my knives has any damage to the handle, and that's from where I was smashing bottles with the window breaker, a large chunk of sharp glass cut into the handle a bit near the window breaker... I tend to keep my designs very simple and functional, that's the main style that appeals to me! -Aaron
You make well and use full videos great job on all your work. I have one question when your going to make knife does it matter on what kind of metal it is or is their a specific metal?
+Pedro Hernandez Thanks very much Pedro! Yes, specific steels are needed to make knives. Usually a 'tool steel' is what's needed as it can be hardened. I recommend beginners get started using O1 tool steel.
Thank you for your tutorial video! I have some question, if I want to put a satin finish on a saber grind knife, should I separate the sanding process, like, sanding the flat then the bevel?(which is the method I'm using now ) The problem I'm occurring is after the sanding process, the grind line between flat and bevel is not so crisp anymore, especially on a americanize tanto because it have three flats on each side ,the tip is the trickiest even with a sanding block. And how about a hollow grind? should I put a piece of leather or rubber on my sanding block? I think leather and rubber are flexible so when sanding it might fit the curve, haven't try it yet so don't know if it will work. Thanks for your time and patience!
Hey mate! When sanding a saber grind it's important that your sanding block is very hard, and that the paper is held tightly against it to avoid washing out the transition lines between the bevel and the flats... If you want the sharpest possible transition you can actually use special stones called 'EDM stones' to do your sanding, because they're very hard you can keep your transition lines very crisp. You can get them from moldshoptools.com For sanding a hollow grind you should use a sanding block with a radius on it that is just a hair smaller than the radius of the wheel that you used to make the hollow grind. Using a soft sanding block will wash out the transition. -Aaron
When you're sanding do you do the entire progression up to 600 on one side, then flip the blade, or do you do the same grit on both sides before progressing?
I've had trouble finding safety glasses without too much optical distortion, so I typically use a full-face mask, which is inconvenient. Are you happy with your safety glasses? If so, what kind do you use? Thanks!
+TitusLivy777 I actually haven't had that issue to be honest, so I can't really be of any help! I will say that I vastly prefer my full-face respirator to any combination of glasses/visor.
+Jimmy Grey Hey Jimmy! Benefits of water: cheap, non-toxic, plentiful so you can replace it more often. Downside is that it may cause rust if you're not careful. Either way will work for sure!
Yes! My newer version of this process is 95% polishing stones (Boride Abrasives CS-M stones) before finishing with 800 grit sandpaper... It's MUCH faster to use stones
Well, thanks to you and Trollskyy I am now at the sanding and basically the stage where this video comes in handy. I notice you only wet sanded prior to heat treating and dry sanded after? also, does the second sanding block need to be metal or can it be wood? I made my plunge at 90...should I be using an angle? and last...holy crap, how do you cut those holes in the fire brick??? I just destroyed my hole bit!! Thanks for the great videos!!
Hey mate! I wet sand both before and after heat-treatment, only the very final stage with the pull strokes is done dry. The second sanding block can be anything, material doesn't matter too much. However you want to do your plunge is fine, it's just a matter of personal preference. I cut triangular grooves onto the firebrick using an old wood saw (it will get wrecked) then I made the grooves round by sanding with a large round dowel with some coarse 36 grit sandpaper glued to it. The brick is quite brittle so the sanding works well. Make sure not to breathe the dust, it's really bad for you! -Aaron
Hi learning a lot from your tutorials thanks. I'm busy with my first blade and almost ready for the sanding process. Q. Do you first file to a sharp point along the blade edge before sanding hardening and final sharpen or do you leave approx .5mm on the edge to protect from warping when heated? Thanks
As Grady recommended you should leave the edge dull. Put in your final bevel and leave the edge 0.5mm thick or so and then sharpen after you have done the heat-treatment and your final finishing and so on!
Hey mate! You need to use a hollow sanding block, ie: one that has the curve in it... So if you did a hollow grind using a 10" wheel you would use a sanding block with a 10" diameter curve on it... Knife supply places should sell them.
At around 10 minutes you said that you heat treated the blade after the first 2 passes with sandpaper. Do you mean heating it up to aust temp and quenching? Is it safe to do with a blank with a thin blade or will that cause it to warp easier? Sorry for the question, i've got a thick piece of steel (from a broken pry bar hehe) and i'm wondering how much stock removal i should do before heat treating it to save my elbows when i have to sand the heat treated steel.
It depends on what steel you're using. I'm using an air-hardening steel that doesn't really distort much, so it's safe for me to take my edges very thin. I have also done some very thin edges in O1 before heat-treat with no issues. Steels that require a faster quench like 1084 or 1095 will likely be more problematic.
Finally a hand polishing video that is actually done by hand and not expensive buffing wheels. For that I thank you!
you are a great artist and with a generous heart to share your priceless knowledge. A real maestro. Thank you
Thanks for the kind words mate!
I know Im randomly asking but does anybody know of a way to get back into an instagram account..?
I was dumb lost the login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me!
I've made a few knives, and have the process down pretty well. Now working on upping the quality. I've watched a ton of videos on all aspects of knife making. I keep coming back to a lot of your techniques. Simple, well explained, logical. So thanks.
Awesome mate! Glad the videos have been helpful!
Gough Custom Yeah, I built a fire brick heat treating kiln, and have the Lansky sharpening system. Starting to build out the bevel filing jig. I've been using a cheap 1x30 grinder that does ok on the bevel itself, but is useless for getting a decent plunge line. Until I upgrade, I think the file may be the way to go.
Keith Peters The plunge line is definitely the hardest part of using a grinder.
The filing jig makes that part much more controllable...
I've been watching this video for 5 years, and today i ordered 01 tool steel and sandpaper (i have 100s of files from my granddad's shop). Thank you for both the knowledge and the inspiration.
We're going to make a knife finally!
Nice mate! Best of luck!
*5:28** Damn I WISH I could sand that fast!*
Your patience and meticulousness is really inspiring, really goes to show that hard work is a key ingredient in an amazing final product.
Thanks mate!
love the thoroughness and that you show how to use affordable tools, keep posting!
Thanks Steve, will do!
I enjoyed the video. I have learned much from watching your videos that I have successfully applied to my own knife making. Thanks
Thanks a lot mate. I have a Japanese chef knife, which had a nice polish when I first bought it. Once I had it sharpened to a street vendor, and it was full of scratches. My heart was thorn.. Anyway, later I learned to sharpen with whetstone, so I got saphire brand stones, 1000-3000-8000 grits. But still had the scratches.
After watching your video couple of times, I bought 400-600-800 grits sand paper, a sand block, which was very cheap to acquire by the way. And finally, I got my knife almost perfect satin finish, thanks to your explanations on your video.
malkocy Excellent work mate! That must have been satisfying!
Yes.. You saved my day, and I got this new skill. Thanks to you..
*8:28** Your wife walks behind you-*
*Wife: "Uhh Aaron what are you doing?"*
*You: "Just sanding"*
Haha "just sanding"
+iDeviceTut fairly positive it was a masturbation joke.
Heh heh, you're sick.
Great info Aaron, tx a lot! I build your filing jig and finished my 1st knife ever a couple days ago. If I only saw this video already wouldn't hand sanded to 1500 pre-heat treatment 😊 greetings from Argentina!
Awesome mate! Glad the video was helpful!
Thanks Aaron! Love your work. You inspired me to try making my first knife and believe I could do it with simple tools! Thanks!
Thanks Scott, glad you liked the video!
Watched with great interest, taking it in and listened to you very seriously but I lost it at the safety glasses comment. Loved the vid!
Haha glad you liked the video mate! I actually had water mixed with metal grit squirt up out of the pin hole in the tang and right into my eye one time, so now I wear safety glasses even while hand sanding... I guess if you do something enough eventually you'll need safety glasses! I got tape flung into my eye once when packaging a knife for a customer as well lol
@@GoughCustom i once had WD-40 Squirt straight back at my eyes, luckily i had drilled a hole or something before using it and I still had my safely glasses on, i always wear them when using WD-40 now lol
Whenever I see a dedicated and skilled artisan producing fine pieces such as these I'm sooo tempted. I need to either win the lottery or stop watching videos such as this. I am an admirer.
Thanks mate!
Hey gough I would love to see a grinding tutorial from you!
I would love to see how you made your small sanding block!
Really makes you appreciate handmade knives!
Absolutely! It's pretty crazy the amount of work that goes into finishing!
Dear Aaron. Thanks a lot for this video. I was just wondering how to get rid of the grid lines and made a cool satin finish! Thans again!
How about part of the blade satin and half a mirror finish. How would you do that, tape part of the blade?
Thank you for your tutorials, you are awesome. Could you make one of how to do sheaths (materials, the press you use...).
Vicent Yi Thanks mate! I definitely have the sheath making videos on my todo list, just have to find time to make them!
Aaron, you have some of the best vids on YT. Only wish you did more!
Thanks
Thanks man!
your attention to detail is amazing... great work.. im learning a lot.. thank you
+ron newton Thanks very much mate! Glad it was helpful!
Great video Thanks for the tutorial! Good idea with the separate bins for the pre cut paper
Thanks for watching mate! I learnt that trick about separating the paper the hard way!
Great video as usual. I really like how you answer all the important questions. A tips and tricks video with actual tips and tricks.
Thanks mate! Glad it was helpful!
Dude I realised as I watched this that you are actually my new hero 😊👍
Haha thanks very much!
Great video, as always 😊 Very informative. I always come away from watching your videos feeling that I have learned and benefited from doing so. Thank you! 😊
Thanks for watching mate!
Perfect I have been looking for a video like this for years, thank you...
You might really like my newer videos as well mate!
great channel. thanks for sharing all your experience. i love how much attention you pay to the details
Thanks mate!
your knives are beautiful! I have been on the wait list a while. I can't wait to get one.
Thanks mate! Sorry you've had to wait. I'm still trying to work out ways to be more productive...
Sweet, great vid Aaron :) If you don't mind me suggesting.. just as one should use sandpaper as if it's free, use shop towels like they're free as well, at least or especially in the case of sanding/finishing. Just use a new (or seperate) towel for each grit so you don't happen to drag a piece of 400 grit (or worse) down the blade of your nicely finished 600 grit when wiping down your blade at the end.
I know it's probably not a big problem for you since you only use those two grits, but hopefully somebody will benefit from reading this. I know how much it sucks to get up to 1000 grit and then wipe the blade down, only to find a stray piece of 120 grit on the towel after it just got done digging it's way into my nicely finished blade.. :( lol Anyway, it's always nice to see new vids from ya brother, take care :)
Good idea mate! Thanks!
Another great "how to" vid. Thanks!
Cheers mate!
Beautiful knives, and great videos. Congratulations on your success. Very proud of you, Aaron! --Scott
Thanks Scott!
Awesome video. I love your videos, because they are simple, informative and understandable. I hope, joy will be with you!!!
Thanks mate!
Thanks man this video helped me a lot, you do excellent work and i really enjoyed watching your technique cheers
Glad to hear the video was helpful mate! Thanks for the kind words!
Great videos.. I always do my hand sanding after heat treat.. Going to try this method on one in the next batch.. Thanks for the tips!!
Denn Handmade Knives Just make sure to protect the finish well from scale and decarb during heat-treat, that's caused me no end of problems in the past!
Thanks, I just tried your satin finish method and it worked awesome.. much appreciated, Cheers!!
Denn Handmade Knives Glad to hear mate!
Great video and instruction. Thanks for sharing the tips!
no worries at all!
hey Aaron I'm about to make my first few knives, I was wondering that when you sand the ricasso area are you not creating an uneven surface for your knife scales to glue on to? i assume you aren't doing much sanding if any where the tang is hidden by the scales. I was just wondering how this affects the scales sitting on your handle to avoid gaps, cheers.
You can create an uneven surface if you're not careful, you have to just make sure to sand a larger area so that the transition (if any) is spread out!
You make beautiful knives man! Thanks for all the vids to help improve!
Thanks mate!
As always, your work is just so clean and precise. love the finished result.
thanks for the video.
Thanks mate!
That's a beautiful finish. I reckon I will do that with this kitchen knife I'm restoring.
Best of luck mate!
This is very interesting, informative and useful clip. Thank you so much. I found there a lot of useful things. I wanted to ask: what design means for clamping sandpaper? How to fasten metal rollers? What keeps them - rubber rings?
Thanks in advance,
Gennady
Hey Gennady! The sanding block is not really necessary, and I know a lot of other knifemakers would prefer not to use it.. Whether you decide to is your choice. I have another video on my channel that shows the sanding block in more detail
Gough Custom Hello Gogh!
I also tried different ways and work with the sanding bloc I like more .. I have my own sanding bloc, but I really liked the way mounting sandpaper in your model. I want to do the same. On what your video can I see? I've seen all that you posted here and on your site, but I found none.
Gennady
Gennadiy Livshitz Hey mate, the video would be found on the 'videos' tab of my channel page, it's an older video so it doesn't show up on the main page: th-cam.com/video/AtAZRdxUrh4/w-d-xo.html
Gough Custom Thanks, Gough, it's great! I already went to make a sanding block :)
Always enjoy your videos.. Any idea when you're going to open up orders again?
Hey mate! Glad you liked the video! I won't be able to open my orders again until the middle of next year at the earliest I'd say, unfortunately.
Awesome, keep us posted :)
Would love to have one of your 4" models.
buetang soon as i get the money i want 1 too
at least the back ordering means hes being successful
If you’ve got a knife that is not a full flat grind do you hand sand the bevels AND flats or just the flats? I don’t want to waste a bunch of time and I would like the bevels to contrast the flats, but what is normally done?
Hi Gough Custom. I like your video's, very usefull info. Have you tried Scotch-Brite to satin finish your blades. I have used the Ultra Fine Hand Pad 7448 for polishing mine with the aid of a sanding drum mounted in a cordless drill. I cut the pads in 2 " strips 9 " long and roll them on the sanding drum. Its fast and the finish is very uniform...it even follows the contours in the blade. I never use coarser pads because they tend to roundover crisp edged that you maybe want to keep. If the ultra fine pads are to coarse...just put a few drops of motor oil or WD40 on the blade first.
I have used a scotchbrite belt on my grinder in the past. It works ok but it's definitely not as crisp as a finish done totally by hand unfortunately...
Thanks for sharing your workflows, really apreciate it and learnt a lot from it.
You're very welcome Matias!
Awesome video! I like the fact you get into details
Thanks mate!
Dear Gough. Thank you, thank you and thank you for this very instructive videos.
Are you a teacher.
Sorry my grammar. I write using the google translator.
Thanks again and kind regards from Spain
+enaras No worries at all mate! I'm not a teacher, I just enjoy teaching.
I am sanding my 1st knife thank you for the advice
Any time mate! Best of luck!
How do I get one of your Gough knives I have a youtube channel.and am a big fan
Great vid once again mate. Any chance you could do a bevel grinding vid?
Thanks mate! I'll probably do a bevel grinding video once I get my grinding jig re-designed.
Looks streaky. Would scotchbrite pads work?
very usefull i will apply it to my next finish .thanks for the knowlege wich you share with us
+elnikoleto No worries at all mate!
Hello, thank you very much for your videos, they help me so much to improve my skills. I wanted to ask you to make a video - if possible - explaining how we can make visible the upper line of the bevel after hand sanding. It will be very helpful. Thanks again!
Hey mate! The main thing to consider in order to keep the top line of the bevel visible is that you have to avoid rounding over that 'corner'. If you think about it that visible line is actually just a 'corner' with a really shallow angle... If you round it over, even just a little bit, then the line mostly disappears.
So: Make sure you're using REALLY hard sanding blocks. If you're using sandpaper then you have to keep a lot of tension on the paper to make sure it doesn't 'squish' and round over that edge.
The best way to do it is actually not to use sandpaper at all, instead use a type of hard stone called 'edm stones' to do your finishing. Because they're completely hard / rigid it's much easier to avoid rounding over that corner. The stones also cut much faster than sandpaper as well, I use them 100% instead of sandpaper these days... I buy my stones from MoldShopTools.com, and I use the CS-M stones in the 1/4x1/2" size.
@@GoughCustom many many thanks for the detailed answer. I will try to implement all these. Thanks again
Nice info. Thanks. I would have to fix the table so it didn't clunk while sanding.
+Big Jenkins I fixed it after the video, which is hindsight is a little silly :)
+Gough Custom LOL. Thanks for sharing your work.
Learning a lot! Thank you for sharing the knowledge.
Excellent! Glad the video was helpful!
Could you still do this without heat treating after? Or more so after a blade is already treated?
I have a Kabar Becker BK2, I wanted to strip the paint off the blade portion then get a satin finish.
Also would I need to coat the blade with anything after besides just a mineral oil to prevent corrosion?
Hey Joe! You can certainly do this to an already heat-treated blade, just be very careful of the sharp edge as you could cut yourself really badly. Mineral oil should be enough to prevent corrosion.
Wow great videos I am binge watching you channel. If you could spare the time to answer. I would love to know how you get the plunge line the same grit as the rest of it whilst still keeping the 45 degree angles?
+scottecooke Hey mate! Glad you like the videos! When you see me sanding you might notice that I'm bumping into the plunge line, this is a deliberate action... The sanding block rides up into the plunge line a little and finishes it nicely, not much more needed than that!
Gough Custom Ah awesome. Thanks I noticed that but wasn't sure. Thanks again for the really high quality videos. Would love to see more of those 'basics' videos for noobs like me. Especially ones on tools for absolute beginners. I learnt heaps from your videos on hacksaws and files.
Great process, thanks for sharing.
No worries man!
Awesome…. Which grid was the last one; 1000 ?
great technique extremely well presented. thank you
Johann Barnard Thanks Johann!
What sanding block is this? Looks nice.
Thank you Aaron. Great teacher.
gorgeous blade
beautiful finish!
+Jean pSmith Thanks very much!
Is it the act of dropping down a grit and changing the sanding direction that gives the satin finish, or is it determined by the grit that you choose to stop at? If you went further up the grits to get a finer finish would you still do that?
Ben Winchester The 'brushed' satin finish is created by aligning all your grit marks in the same direction. It will look similar even if done at a higher/lower grit. I would still do the exact same overall process even if I was going higher in grit.
Gough Custom Thanks! You're very helpful!
For my forged blades I like draw filing to a fine enough finish with a mill smooth file and than move on to hand sanding with a 120 grit paper, followed by a 240 and 400 grit. I normally use the Rhynowet Redline and 3M. I have been thinking about experimenting by transitioning to a stone after the draw filing and before going to the 240 grit paper. What would be a good stone after the smooth file, an EDM or coarse waterstone ?
EDM stones will cut your finishing time by probably half compared to using sandpaper. I use EDM stones a lot and plan to do a video on them soon! I would recommend using stones to replace all your sandpaper grits except the final grit that you use for pull strokes. The stones I recommend are the CS-M stones from MoldShopTools.com
@@GoughCustom Thanks, will check that link.
Excellent video, thanks for sharing. A little off topic but have you done chisel grinds? I love the look of the compound chisel grinds have not seen how they are accomplished.
Thanks again.
I haven't done any chisel grinds, but they should be fairly simple, you're basically just grinding/finishing one side of the blade rather than both...
you started with a piece of steel that looks better than my finished knifes so i dont understand that. Out of the forge my blanks are pretty beat up and rough looking.. Hows it so clean to start with?
Great video! I know my question is not relevant to this video but can you give me advice on how to get a cleaner plunge lines and bevels without an belt grinder? , I only have an angle grinder.
Thanks in advance!
Nick
Hey Nick! I'd say ditch the angle grinder and go with a filing jig instead if you want cleaner bevels/plunge lines.
Beautiful demonstration, thank you
You are very welcome mate, thanks for watching!
Mr Gough ive got a question, after you do 600 grit for the first time and then heat treat it and move on to 600 grit the second time, do you sand in the same direction or switch to how it was the first time?
The Eagle I generally switch the direction, but either way works fine.
Hi thank you for your video I made your beveling jig and love it! question, i like to do scandi grinds where the bevel goes partially up the blade but when I hand sand it I always lose the definition where the bevel meets the flat part of the blade. any tips on how to avoid this? thanks!
+david ure Hey mate! It's pretty hard not to wash out grind lines... Really hard sanding blocks help, but the best way to totally avoid it is to do all your finishing with stones. EDM stones are designed for polishing metal and will let you finish without any softness behind the grit that would round over the edge. You can get them from MoldShopTools.com
With that said, you have to decide how much you want to focus on getting them crisp. Probably a really hard sanding block will be enough as there will be some washing out of the lines when sharpening the blade on a stone anyway most likely!
thank you so much for the reply ill try this and keep watching your videos take care =D
You are the most accurate craftsman in this area!
+Carlucio Lima Filho Lima Thanks mate!
Oh yeah one question, after you finish that satin finish then is the knife done once applying the handles or is there another step to protect the steel?
I normally do this step, then attach the handles, then the knife is done. There are no extra steps...
Thanks for your videos. Very helpful for me. A question: What if do you use a "dry sandpaper"?
You rock bro! ATB from italy!
Roberto.
Survival Sniper Hey mate! Dry sanding works ok, but the sandpaper clogs more quickly, and also you'll end up breathing metal dust which is not good for you.
Good tutorial on satin finishing.
Hi, where can I find those 2 sanding blocks, please
Awesome video mate, very informative.
Thanks! Glad you liked it!
If I finish filing with a really rough bastard file then what grit sand paper should I start my hand sanding with? You mentioned 120 is a good start but should I maybe go lower if its really rough?
I would start with 120 personally!
@@GoughCustom Thank you so much.
how thin do you take the edge before heat treating? Are you air quenching? your blade didn't appear to have the scale and burnt oil on them the way mine do.
Peter Hughes DVM Hey Peter!
Just to be clear, the knife in this video was not really heat-treated. I discolored it with a torch so that I could demonstrate my process without having to wait 8 hours for heat-treat! If you have a look at the antarctic video you can see what my blades look like after heat-treat. There's no scale or oil because I'm heat-treating with the blade covered in foil and anti-scale and then air-quenching, there is a light rainbow oxide though.
On A2 I take my edges down to about 0.010" before heat-treat.
thanks! Some people say I need to leave a fairy thick edge on it before heat treat to avoid warping. Others say it is OK to work closer to finished before heat treating. Right now I am spending many hours hand sanding - from 220 up - on hardened steel . Can't help but think it would go quicker if I did it on softer steel.
Really like your videos. Copying your filing jig was a major step forward in the quality of the blades I've been making.
Peter Hughes DVM With some steels that require a very fast quench (like W1 for instance) I can imagine you might have to leave the edge thicker to avoid warping. But with everything that's oil quenched or air quenched I can't imagine you'll have an issue as long as the quench is done right and the steel is not overheated. I've talked to a few people that were having issues with warping, and in each case the issue was overheating. Thinning out your edges will make a huge difference in how the knives perform!
Sanding will definitely go faster when done before heat-treat! Buy some anti-scale compound and you can go all the way up to 800 or so before heat-treat. Afterward you will have to sand again, but you'll be able to start at 600 or 800 and it will go quickly!
Gough, just subscribed, great videos. Question, you were talking about heat treating, in the video about satin finish. Is this a repeat process? Do you heat treat and then file and sand before you start the satin finish work and then again during the finish work?
Hey Jerry!
Heat-treat is only done once, I usually do a lot of rough finishing before heat-treat, then final finishing after heat-treat.
Glad you like the videos!
-Aaron
I enjoy your videos love your knifes. I would enjoy a video on elaborating on the g10 handles that you use. I see many people talking about g10 and how easy it is to manipulate shapes and designs how does that apply to the finished product? Ex. Handle abuse, And also do you ever get a little exotic with you knifes shapes or designs?
Hey Chad!
G10 grinds fairly easily because it's quite hard. Micarta is more 'gummy' which makes it harder to grind, that's the main difference between them.
In terms of abuse resistance I would rate G10 pretty high. You'd have to really wail on it with a hammer to do any damage. Only one of my knives has any damage to the handle, and that's from where I was smashing bottles with the window breaker, a large chunk of sharp glass cut into the handle a bit near the window breaker...
I tend to keep my designs very simple and functional, that's the main style that appeals to me!
-Aaron
You make well and use full videos great job on all your work. I have one question when your going to make knife does it matter on what kind of metal it is or is their a specific metal?
+Pedro Hernandez Thanks very much Pedro! Yes, specific steels are needed to make knives. Usually a 'tool steel' is what's needed as it can be hardened. I recommend beginners get started using O1 tool steel.
Thank you for your tutorial video!
I have some question, if I want to put a satin finish on a saber grind knife,
should I separate the sanding process, like, sanding the flat then the bevel?(which is the method I'm using now )
The problem I'm occurring is after the sanding process, the grind line between flat and bevel is not so crisp anymore, especially on a americanize tanto because it have three flats on each side ,the tip is the trickiest even with a sanding block.
And how about a hollow grind? should I put a piece of leather or rubber on my sanding block? I think leather and rubber are flexible so when sanding it might fit the curve, haven't try it yet so don't know if it will work.
Thanks for your time and patience!
Hey mate!
When sanding a saber grind it's important that your sanding block is very hard, and that the paper is held tightly against it to avoid washing out the transition lines between the bevel and the flats... If you want the sharpest possible transition you can actually use special stones called 'EDM stones' to do your sanding, because they're very hard you can keep your transition lines very crisp. You can get them from moldshoptools.com
For sanding a hollow grind you should use a sanding block with a radius on it that is just a hair smaller than the radius of the wheel that you used to make the hollow grind. Using a soft sanding block will wash out the transition.
-Aaron
Thanks for the information! Really helps me a lot!
Great video! Keep up the good work.
Cheers mate!
When you're sanding do you do the entire progression up to 600 on one side, then flip the blade, or do you do the same grit on both sides before progressing?
I normally go to 800 on both sides, then dry the knife off and do the straight pulls on both sides, that seems to work best.
I've had trouble finding safety glasses without too much optical distortion, so I typically use a full-face mask, which is inconvenient. Are you happy with your safety glasses? If so, what kind do you use? Thanks!
+TitusLivy777 I actually haven't had that issue to be honest, so I can't really be of any help! I will say that I vastly prefer my full-face respirator to any combination of glasses/visor.
I use 3in1 oil for this instead of the water and detergent mix, is there any benefit to using water over oil?
+Jimmy Grey Hey Jimmy! Benefits of water: cheap, non-toxic, plentiful so you can replace it more often. Downside is that it may cause rust if you're not careful. Either way will work for sure!
+Gough Custom Guess it's just down to preference then. Thanks for that mate.
Do you ever use polishing stones before sanding ?
Yes! My newer version of this process is 95% polishing stones (Boride Abrasives CS-M stones) before finishing with 800 grit sandpaper... It's MUCH faster to use stones
Well, thanks to you and Trollskyy I am now at the sanding and basically the stage where this video comes in handy. I notice you only wet sanded prior to heat treating and dry sanded after? also, does the second sanding block need to be metal or can it be wood? I made my plunge at 90...should I be using an angle? and last...holy crap, how do you cut those holes in the fire brick??? I just destroyed my hole bit!! Thanks for the great videos!!
Hey mate!
I wet sand both before and after heat-treatment, only the very final stage with the pull strokes is done dry.
The second sanding block can be anything, material doesn't matter too much.
However you want to do your plunge is fine, it's just a matter of personal preference.
I cut triangular grooves onto the firebrick using an old wood saw (it will get wrecked) then I made the grooves round by sanding with a large round dowel with some coarse 36 grit sandpaper glued to it. The brick is quite brittle so the sanding works well.
Make sure not to breathe the dust, it's really bad for you!
-Aaron
this is pretty informative for me. I want to do this in my spyderco sprig like this do you have any suggestion? Thanks !!
+1011ph use the same technique, just make sure to dull the blade before working on it!
Thanks very much for your response!
Hi learning a lot from your tutorials thanks. I'm busy with my first blade and almost ready for the sanding process. Q. Do you first file to a sharp point along the blade edge before sanding hardening and final sharpen or do you leave approx .5mm on the edge to protect from warping when heated? Thanks
Before you heat treat I wouldn't recommend doing a sharpen. You should out the bevel in, but not sharpen the knife.
As Grady recommended you should leave the edge dull. Put in your final bevel and leave the edge 0.5mm thick or so and then sharpen after you have done the heat-treatment and your final finishing and so on!
How can I satin finish on a hollow grind blade ? No flat surface so your sanding block will not work. Any tips on how to do it? Thanks for the videos.
Hey mate! You need to use a hollow sanding block, ie: one that has the curve in it... So if you did a hollow grind using a 10" wheel you would use a sanding block with a 10" diameter curve on it... Knife supply places should sell them.
At around 10 minutes you said that you heat treated the blade after the first 2 passes with sandpaper. Do you mean heating it up to aust temp and quenching? Is it safe to do with a blank with a thin blade or will that cause it to warp easier?
Sorry for the question, i've got a thick piece of steel (from a broken pry bar hehe) and i'm wondering how much stock removal i should do before heat treating it to save my elbows when i have to sand the heat treated steel.
It depends on what steel you're using. I'm using an air-hardening steel that doesn't really distort much, so it's safe for me to take my edges very thin. I have also done some very thin edges in O1 before heat-treat with no issues. Steels that require a faster quench like 1084 or 1095 will likely be more problematic.
Please make a video of your sanding block
Hey mate! I actually already have, you can see it here: th-cam.com/video/AtAZRdxUrh4/w-d-xo.html
Great job you're the best regards from Argentina
Jonatan Emmanuel Suarez Thanks Jonatan!
hey thanks for actually caring to show a diyer what's up been searching all over glad to stumble on to your work God bless in Jesus name Brother
No worries David!
Very good info, thank you!
Can you please show how you sharpen serrations and curved blades in your next video please? Great video by the way :)
I actually don't have any good techniques for doing that! Mainly because I don't own any knives with serrations or curved blades!
Thanks bro, very nice tips! Inspiring too
My pleasure mate!