Twin Dragonscale Drawknives

[Allen Jordan]

After seeing the beautiful hand saws Brian of BearKat Wood creates, I offered him a trade for some forging. He took me up on the offer and I set out to make him a fancy drawknife. I initially forged a tiny one just to learn the process, then moved on to making these two. I sent the larger one to Brian and kept the smaller for myself.

I made these drawknives from bicycle chain forge welded to good tool steel backers for the cutting edge and extra strength. This is known as "chain damascus" in the knifemaking community. The smaller one has an antique file as the backer (W1 steel most likely), while the bigger one has a 1080 steel backer. It's all hand hammered by my feeble arms on an anvil, as I don't have a power hammer or press. I heat treated the blades by heating to non-magnetic (about 1500 deg F) and quenching in warm oil, then tempered at 425 deg F in the kitchen oven, followed by softening the tangs in the forge. I acid etched the blades after polishing to bring out the link and rivet patterns.

The handles are turned out of redheart with copper ferrules, finished with amber shellac and renaissance wax. I drilled them out on the lathe most of the way through, then continued the hole from the other end freehand. On the smaller drawknife I chiseled out the remaining area to insert the tangs (which didn't fully work, one of the handles cracked and needed repair), while on the bigger one I burned them to fit by heating the tangs in the forge and inserting repeatedly (being careful not to damage the temper on the main knife body). The tangs pass clear through the handles and are peened over washers to clinch the handles in place. I also used medium CA glue in the hole to keep them extra secure.

In exchange, Brian sent me a beautiful 13 ppi tenon/carcass rip saw with a goncalo alves handle custom fit to my hand. It is incredible, I admire it every time I enter the shop:




Full build photos can be found here: http://imgur.com/a/G7jf8 .

[Frederick Skelly]

Your drawknives look just great. Never heard of redheart, but I'm sure going to find some now! Do they cut as good as they look?

I'd never heard of Bearkat either. Good looking tool. How does it cut - you should post a brief review for us!

Looks like you did great on all counts Allen!

Fred

[Allen Jordan]

Thanks Fred. Redheart is currently my favorite wood. Beautiful colors, hand planes really well, turns well, and takes a shiny finish easily. Only downside is cost, but it's not terrible compared to some exotics. It's like a less-porous padauk that holds its color better.

I'll try to post a review of the saw someday. So far it cuts great.

[Stewie Simpson]

http://www.wood-database.com/redheart/

[Frederick Skelly]

http://www.wood-database.com/redheart/

Thanks for that Stewie.

[Derek Cohen]

Allen, your drawknives are breathtakingly beautiful! I think that your friend got the better deal (even though his work is good - but he tries too hard).

Please say some more about the process you went through to laminate the steel. What did you use? Hardness testing? Steel bending? Grinding back and front? Finishing?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Phil Mueller]

Beautiful, Allen. Really a work of art, as is the saw from Brian. Took a look through his site...very talented woodworker. Have you done any collaborative pieces with him...metal/wood projects?

[Allen Jordan]

Thanks a lot Derek. For the lamination, I just wired the chain on top of the steel (making sure both were pretty clean first) and put it in the forge. When it got to a red heat, I pulled it out and sprinkled with borax as a flux, then put it back in. I fluxed it a few more times during the process too. After reaching forge welding temperature (well over 2000 deg F), I quickly did some light hammer blows across the whole surface to set the welds. The wire burns off at about this point, lasting just long enough for this first hammering. I then heat it to welding temp again and do heavy blows across the whole surface. I repeat as necessary until the entire chain is fused to the backer, though I usually lose a link or two (they won't stick right and need to be chiseled off... happens at the edges occasionally). It's a pain but makes for some nice-looking steel.

Using the heat treatment procedure mentioned in my post for 1080 steel, I should have ended up at about RC 58-60. I went for a slightly softer temper than a standard knife to make the drawknife more tough in case of heavy use. After quenching I used the file test to check for proper hardness before the temper, too (I actually had to re-harden the larger blade, it was too cold the first time).

The larger drawknife formed that bend on its own during forging (hammering the bevel down pushes up the rest of the steel). I could have removed it, but I like the look and I think a bit of belly helps it dig in better during use. It actually warped some during heat treatment as well, becoming concave on the chain side. This always happens with one-sided chain lamination, as the chain's thermal expansion properties are different than the backer material. I left it there, the slight curvature (concave towards the bevel side) should actually help a bit in use when rounding things.

I grind on a 6x48 stationary belt sander with a combo of zirconia and aluminum oxide belts. I start at 24 grit (I tried 80 before, but it was too fine for removing my crappy coarse hammer marks) and stop at about 180 grit before hand sanding with wet/dry paper and water. The sander is pretty crappy, I've had to fix it countless times (it currently has a go-kart jackshaft driving it, as I snapped two of the stock drive shafts). Wish I had a proper knife making 2x72 belt grinder.

Edit: I also tested the edge retention of the smaller drawknife vs two antiques (a russell brothers and a greenlee). I sharpened all three the same way on my paper wheel system and took angled shavings from a red oak dowel using the same point of the edge until it felt dull and started skipping. Both antiques made it about 35 strokes (verified at several different points of the cutting edge). My drawknife made it about 45 strokes.

Allen, your drawknives are breathtakingly beautiful! I think that your friend got the better deal (even though his work is good - but he tries too hard).

Please say some more about the process you went through to laminate the steel. What did you use? Hardness testing? Steel bending? Grinding back and front? Finishing?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Allen Jordan]

Thank you. I only know Brian through instagram and lumberjocks. He makes some seriously fine work as a professional furniture maker. I'm just a hobbyist, so my production is much much less than his. He plans on using this drawknife on his next set of chairs. I'm pleased it will be used by a skilled woodworker and serve its purpose.

Beautiful, Allen. Really a work of art, as is the saw from Brian. Took a look through his site...very talented woodworker. Have you done any collaborative pieces with him...metal/wood projects?

[Jim Koepke]

Beautiful work.

jtk

[george wilson]

Nice job of forge welding on your drawknife! At the Baltimore Gun Show a few years ago I saw sword blades and dirks,etc. for sale(just the blades) made of various things like chain saw damascus. But,what,may I ask, are you going to do with a sword? stand around flourishing it??? I find your drawknife use much more USEFUL!!!!

Do be careful to not prang yourself painfully on that sharp point on the front of the back saw!! That bit might be dangerous!

It is ALWAYS uplifting to walk into your shop and even if you have only a few extra nice tools,your eyes always go right to them(Mine can't,because I usually have misplaced them!!!) Just kidding. But,it does inspire you to make things with them. So,I'm certainly in favor of things like your draw knife. My one and only regular size drawknife is a Keen Kutter I paid $1.00 for back in the 60's. A wonderful knife!Then,years ago I made a 1/2 size drawknife with round French style handles on it. Only 1/2" wide. For working on violin necks. I still have it,and have posted pictures of it before. It is a delicate tool,and I don't let others play with it as it could snap in half if mis managed.

[Allen Jordan]

Thanks George. I'm sure 13-year-old me would be disappointed that I'm not making swords, but as a pseudo-adult I share your opinion. What the heck would I do with a sword? Probably cut a hand off messing with it. I guess it would look nice on my wall, but I would much rather make tools I can use. And if I can use a tool I made to make another tool, I've completed the circle and all is right in the world. It's fun for blacksmithing tools... I made a handle for an old hammer head, then I used that hammer to make an eye drift, then used the eye drift and hammer to make another hammer (full recursion I guess).

Nice job of forge welding on your drawknife! At the Baltimore Gun Show a few years ago I saw sword blades and dirks,etc. for sale(just the blades) made of various things like chain saw damascus. But,what,may I ask, are you going to do with a sword? stand around flourishing it??? I find your drawknife use much more USEFUL!!!!

Do be careful to not prang yourself painfully on that sharp point on the front of the back saw!! That bit might be dangerous!

It is ALWAYS uplifting to walk into your shop and even if you have only a few extra nice tools,your eyes always go right to them(Mine can't,because I usually have misplaced them!!!) Just kidding. But,it does inspire you to make things with them. So,I'm certainly in favor of things like your draw knife. My one and only regular size drawknife is a Keen Kutter I paid $1.00 for back in the 60's. A wonderful knife!Then,years ago I made a 1/2 size drawknife with round French style handles on it. Only 1/2" wide. For working on violin necks. I still have it,and have posted pictures of it before. It is a delicate tool,and I don't let others play with it as it could snap in half if mis managed.

[daniel lane]

Beautiful work, Allen. Working with metal is something I've never learned, and I'm always more and more interested in trying when I see things like this.

And just think of swords as crosscutting tools! Not very precise, though...

[allen long]

This was turned using redheart. I love how this wood turns and finishes. The only issue I had was that the turning blanks from Woodcraft tended to split once the wax was removed. Woodcraft immediately sent replacements. But it took three blanks to get one that did not crack.



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Many Kind Regards . . . Allen

[Jim Koepke]

Nice tap handle Allen. Is that for a Kingon Ale?

jtk