Project Newbie

cs900

maker of chips
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Mar 21, 2016
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Well after seeing the beautiful work 7mag did on his carbon and damascus knife and being the cheap SOB, I decided to give it a go to make my own knife. This being my first knife attempt I:
a) don't expect it to have nearly the same workmanship
b) don't expect it to be perfect
c) expect to learn a boat load!

That said, the knife is still in the works, so this will be an ongoing thread until I have it completed.

So jumping in head first, I bought some (cheap) damscus steel for the blade. It turned out to be very twisted and bent. Not the end of the world, but a bit annoying
20161216_163618_zps6cqmxf8a.jpg

No worries, throw it on the mill and get it squared up.
20161228_122820_zpst7fczzgk.jpg

flat and parallel within .002". I think I can work with that.
20161228_132147_zpscgzravcw.jpg

I'm a cheater and I'll be machining it all on the CNC:
20161230_110945_zpsquxl1t6h.jpg20161230_110956_zpsku3mzq8j.jpg
 

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how it looks straight off the mill:
20161230_124005_zpsqfmd7qgt.jpg

and after a bit of clean up:
20161231_150712_zpstajfjqeh.jpg

I found a little oven locally for $40. One of the 4 elements is burnt up so heat treat will have to wait a bit:
20161217_112229_zpso2nkh6je.jpg

That's where I stand at the moment. I got some titanium, 304, and some Iconel 718 kicking around that I can use for the scales. I'll probably get started on them soon.
 
Nice! I am "watching" this thread.........

Thanks for posting!
-brino
 
Small update, I started making the titanium scales, but lots more work to be done yet:
20170114_115116_zps0dfohm6c.jpg

IMG_20170114_141508_092_zpsqkdsovjz.jpg

Also figured out what I needed to fix the furnace, so that's on order now as well.
 
A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.
Img_1921.jpg


I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.
Img_7597_zpscb8b5dd7.jpg


Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544
 
Stunning!
Very well done.
Thanks for sharing this!
-brino
 
A 6" vise is overkill for a RF45 style mill. A 4" is more appropiate for that size mill & IMO 5" max. I have a 5" GMT vise on my PM45 & it's slightly too big. Not enough Y axis travel to make use of the 5" full capacity. Better to save your money rather than getting something too big & most importantly the weight. I take my vise of the table quite often, a 6" is still light enough for me to be carried by hand but I'm glad I have a 5". I also have a 4" vise as well. I prefer the 5" though.

But those GMT 6" Premium vises are pretty nice. I'd love to have one but don't need one on my current mill. But if you plan on upgrading to a full size knee mill in the future than the 6" will be perfect.


Here's what the 5" looks like on my mill.
Img_1921.jpg


I couldn't even complete this cut without my bellows & DRO scale getting in the way. Not enough Y travel & the 5" vise is not even maxed out.
Img_7597_zpscb8b5dd7.jpg


Here's what a 6" vise looks like on another PM45 (gt40's)
View attachment 253544
 
Looks great. A lot to be said for CNC on something like that. Mike
 
Some Newbie, very impressive, is the second one for me?
Seriously, am looking forward to the next instalment, very inspiring.
 
Looks great. A lot to be said for CNC on something like that. Mike
well it certainly makes up for my lack of hand craftsmanship, haha.

Some Newbie, very impressive, is the second one for me?
Seriously, am looking forward to the next instalment, very inspiring.
Well thank you. I take pride in my work even if the mill is doing all the hard portions of it. :)
Haha, nice try, but the second one is slated to go to my brother. We were up until 3AM working on them last night so he's putting in his dues for sure.

That said, I have all the fixtures that I need to make more, so we'll see if any more happen to get made.
 
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