OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Tech Talk A jigger or two I've put together recently

Progress on the knife

Blade brazed to shaft, and grit blasted with 600-200 grade Garnet grit, using the blasting setup pictured - I don't use sand for blasting, since I first tried garnet.



It's a much more efficient blasting medium, due to its sharp-cornered grains and high bulk density.
That's a 25kg bag of garnet grit in the pic; it's packed in paper 'valve bags', so it's just a matter of opening up the valve, and sticking in the blaster unit's pickup tube. The bucket is just there to hold the bag upright, and make it easier to move around.

And garnet comes ready to use - 'run of pit' washed sand has to be dried, then sieved to remove oversize granules [I used a 1/8" mesh gem sieve] before use.
It is also much safer to use; it does present a dust hazard to the user, but is not a cause of the chronic lung disease silicosis [unlike silica sand].

Close-up of the blade and brazed joint to the shaft.



Next step is to flame harden and colour temper the blade edge.
The blade/shaft assembly was oil quenched after brazing, to achieve 'toughness' and some flexibility in that section, rather than outright hardness.

Close-up of a garnet blasted surface finish. This is actually my favourite Parker ballpoint pen - the blasted finish is much 'grippier' than the original polished stainless one.