Round knife/head knife questions

[Sharpshooter]

D2 is NOT a good choice for a head knife unless you want to spend a lot of time refining the edge. If you want to discuss this in depth, I'll be happy to debate the metalurgy in depth.

The simple reason is that the carbides of D2 are HUGE compared to those of many other steels. Because the carbides are so large, they tend to chip out unless the edge is very highly polished or left in a very thick cross section that wouldn't work well in precisely cutting leather.

D2 is hard to sharpen, especially when the RC is brought up as high as most knifemakers bring it. For me, I prefer to spend time in the leather shop working on leather, not sharpening tools.

Save the money you're spending on "designer steel" and have the knife made of 1095 like they did in the old days. Before the 1970s just about all knives were made of 1095 or some mills derivation of it.

I use a leather knife made by Herter in the 90s, the EIGHTEEN 90s. It's absolutely 1095; .076 thick convexed and a hellacious cutter. The crew calls it the "Devil Knife" as it's bitten everyone in the shop at least once.

It's not the steel in this knife that makes it cut so well, it's the geometry of the edge. Maintaining it is dirt simple, a few swipes across the flesh side of whatever leather I'm working on brings the edge alive when it starts to not slice through. A bit of time on a stropping compound loaded hone every week or two and it's good to go. Remember, this is a production shop so we go through a couple of SIDES a day, that's a lot of cutting.

[hidepounder]

D2 is NOT a good choice for a head knife unless you want to spend a lot of time refining the edge. If you want to discuss this in depth, I'll be happy to debate the metalurgy in depth.

The simple reason is that the carbides of D2 are HUGE compared to those of many other steels. Because the carbides are so large, they tend to chip out unless the edge is very highly polished or left in a very thick cross section that wouldn't work well in precisely cutting leather.

D2 is hard to sharpen, especially when the RC is brought up as high as most knifemakers bring it. For me, I prefer to spend time in the leather shop working on leather, not sharpening tools.

Save the money you're spending on "designer steel" and have the knife made of 1095 like they did in the old days. Before the 1970s just about all knives were made of 1095 or some mills derivation of it.

I use a leather knife made by Herter in the 90s, the EIGHTEEN 90s. It's absolutely 1095; .076 thick convexed and a hellacious cutter. The crew calls it the "Devil Knife" as it's bitten everyone in the shop at least once.

It's not the steel in this knife that makes it cut so well, it's the geometry of the edge. Maintaining it is dirt simple, a few swipes across the flesh side of whatever leather I'm working on brings the edge alive when it starts to not slice through. A bit of time on a stropping compound loaded hone every week or two and it's good to go. Remember, this is a production shop so we go through a couple of SIDES a day, that's a lot of cutting.

Is 1095 the steel that's in my old Gomph knives? They cut soooooooo well!

[hidepounder]

When looking for a good round knife on ebay I would suggest looking at the older CS Osborne knives. I have several of the older ones that work well for me. I have paid as high as 300.00 for a custom made round knife made out of colbolt steel but it just did not work for me. And I was glad when I sold it and got my money out of it. Look for a CSO with a star on one side. I have a couple of these and they seem to have the best steel in them. But I have a couple other without the star that are good also. I have never paid over 40.00 or so for one of the older CSO knives. Don't be afraid if the blade looks tarnished or slightly rusty. It will not hurt the preformance I have one that is pitted and looks bad but is still a good cutter. As far as sharpening one, there are as many ways to sharpen a knife as there are those that use one. I strop my knifes to keep them sharp. I have made a leather belt for my 4 X 36 belt sander that I have rouse on that works great to polish and edge fast. If you get one bought and need help with getting an edge put on it. I would be glad to help you out. I have done so for a couple others. Just PM me.

Randy

Randy,

Your idea of building a strop for your belt sander is great! I would like to know what weight leather you used and how did you connect the ends together....glue?

Bob

[superchute]

well if you look here in LW there has been lost of chat on head knives and here is one Art said makes a good head knife in SD and there about 50 bucks. Duwayne peters in Blunt SD 605-962-6227

Russ

[Timbo]

Can somebody post of pic of the blade that is being refered to as convex and removing 3/4'' off the shoulder. I have a head knife and have yet to use it to cut anything other than straight lines. But I do need to learn how to sharpen it or shape the edge to hold an edge.

Please post some pics if you got 'em.

Tim

[8thsinner]

Thanks for all the great information, thats enough to sort out things in my head.

And the reason I want D2 is because to date it has the best edge holding and sharpness qualities that I have used to date, Not because it's a designer steel, If I wanted to use a designer steel I would probably opt for S30v cryo tempered.

But when it comes to a new tool type I prefer to stick with what I know and I know D2 is good enough for my needs.

I do not mind that it will take a while to sharpen it initially to the way it seems to need to be, I love sharpening and polishing blades, to me it's just another hobby.

And it seems like the thinner the blade the better, convexed from a fair way back really, and highly polished. I think I will opt for a quarter blade (well just over) with two different shapes of curves for each side of it. Even though I do not do a lot of skiving, being able to do so more safely is a high concern, Practicality and versatility is what I go for.

Thanks again

[Randy Cornelius]

Randy,

Your idea of building a strop for your belt sander is great! I would like to know what weight leather you used and how did you connect the ends together....glue?

Bob

I made the belt out of some scrap split leather. I ordered some leather from W&C and had it split down to 5 oz and had them send me the piece they split off. I cut this 4" wide and over lap the ends 2" each way and skive the ends out to a feather edge. Then glue them down with dual 88. It makes a difference which way the belt goes on as the place where the flap comes around needs to be so the blade does not catch the end which is not healthy. I rub in the rouge and I now have a power strop for all my cutting knifes. I even sharpen the wifes kitchen knives on this. I am out of town right now but will try to post a picture if anyone wants.

Randy

[TwinOaks]

The simple reason is that the carbides of D2 are HUGE compared to those of many other steels. Because the carbides are so large, they tend to chip out unless the edge is very highly polished or left in a very thick cross section that wouldn't work well in precisely cutting leather....It's not the steel in this knife that makes it cut so well, it's the geometry of the edge.

Ahhhhhh someone else who speaks "technical details"

I spent a fair amount of time researching steel to work at forging a field knife. I settled on 5160 because it's most readily available and pretty forgiving for the backyard smith. I absolutely agree with you on D2, it's great for a big-ish blade that will see lots of abuse between sharpenings. For fine work, you're more likely to end up with a dendritic edge after just a few curves. I'm thinking of trying a round knife now . For reference, don't bother with cross cut saw blades (circle saw) as they're commonly made from L6 steel, which hardens and tempers well, but will rust while you watch it.

[tonyc1]

These knives of mine I've had and used for 40 years except for the light coloured handled knife which I've only had for 30 years. There is 1 x Barnsley, 1 x T Dixon& Sons, 1 x J. Dixon, 1 x J. Dixon & Sons and 4 Osborne knives with different stamps. These all hold razor edges, especially 1 of the Dixon and the Barnsley, and are easy to sharpen. These knives are basically the same shape as when I first got them and are used practically every day and hold there edge. I'm sure these aren't any modern space age steel with fancy names and numbers and a couple of them probably go back to the beginning of the 20th. century but they are a pleasure to use.

Tony.