I was recently looking at Hill Pearce knives, admiring his designs and craftsmanship. One of his common aspects on knives were various Spanish notches. Some of them are just plain impressive in detail and shape. It got me thinking...how do you guys put in this detail? Or maybe more importantly, when do you put in the Spanish notch? I've never had a whole lot of luck doing much filing after heat treat. It seems to take forever to make any headway at all and is pretty rough on my files. But if I tried putting in the majority of the shape of the notch prior to heat treat, it seems like that would be a recipe for disaster come quenching...
Figured someone on here would be able to help me get a better idea of how to go about it all. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Jeremy
Jeremy Lindley, Apprentice Smith
Hi Jeremy,
I've done several blades with Spanish notches with no problems during H/T. Just be sure that you don't leave any deep grinding scratches on the blade that could cause problems and ALWAYS normalize.
Gary
Thanks, Gary-I appreciate the information. I think I was most concerned about acute angles being in the blade during heat treat. But maybe if left thick enough, it's no problem? Again, I appreciate the help.
Jeremy
Jeremy Lindley, Apprentice Smith
Just a thought, but an alternative approach might be to submerge the blade in water, leaving the notch area just above the surface, and then use a torch to draw back the hardness on the notch. The notch itself won't be used for cutting so it could be drawn back softer than the edge without any ill effects, and the material is thin enough that you should be able to localize your heat without any trouble.
When I use this method to draw back the tang and spine on my larger knives, the softened areas become much easier to file and sand.
Thanks, Derrick. Sounds like a good option to have.
Jeremy
Jeremy Lindley, Apprentice Smith
Hill Pearce is one of my all time favorite smiths.
when I have done notches I have done it one of three ways depending on the job. 1 just file it all in and polish everything to 400 or better before heat treat, in something shallow hardening like w1 or w2 this can work well, if you control the heat to just harden the edge back to the end of the choil.
2 filed part way in leaving radius at the bottoms of any hard corners and then hardening as normal, finishing the notch with diamond files after hardening.
or lastly 3 after hardening, by either selectively softening that area or controlling the hardening via clay. it is all dependent on the design and materials.
MP
Thanks very much, Matthew. (As a side note, I really enjoy seeing your videos and work.) Mr. Pearce's work is just incredible. Jim Cooper has a thread on another forum with a number of pictures of different examples of his knives. I could stare at them for a long time... I'd love to someday get to see some in person. Anyway, thank you for sharing your processes. Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
Jeremy
Jeremy Lindley, Apprentice Smith
|quoted:
Thanks very much, Matthew. (As a side note, I really enjoy seeing your videos and work.) Mr. Pearce's work is just incredible. Jim Cooper has a thread on another forum with a number of pictures of different examples of his knives. I could stare at them for a long time... I'd love to someday get to see some in person. Anyway, thank you for sharing your processes. Exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
Not a problem, have had the fortune to have Jim show me his collection, every bit as impressive in person as in his wonderful photos.
MP
