About Radius Knives

Knife making is an  unusual passion. Mine started back when I was a child and found an old case pocket folder by the train track. It had been sharpened vigorously and was missing it’s scales. I was given a scrap of walnut wood that I carefully planed to thickness and fitted to the existing pins. I even inlayed the name badge. To this day I have that knife in my desk pencil drawer.

Some 19 or 20 years ago I had decided to learn blacksmithing in order to make an ornamental fireplace poker. I searched for books and ended up with “Edge of the Anvil ” by Jack Andrews and Alexander Weyger’s nice books ( Modern Blacksmith and The Making of Tools ) which taught how to make a forge, use the anvil and draw temper.

I made a truck drum forge and salvaged an old kirby vacuum for a blower. In no time at all I was burning up steel and coal.

Early efforts looked more meteoric than useful metal craft but I persisted even after catching the dog on fire with flux spatter. ( The dog was perfectly fine, only a little singed on her dorsal fur).

I had learned how to make little ram’s heads, crocodile heads, snake heads and some other stylized forms on pulls and knobs.

Then I needed a hatchet , so I made 100 of them from OCS (old chevy springs). After that I made some knives from old files and knifemaking soon took over smithing.

I found the excellent books on pattern steel by Jim Hrisoulas invaluable. I had the good fortune to meet him at a SOF show and We have been friends ever since. His review of my work and suggestions for improving my skills has been a blessing.

Over time I have become reasonably adept at hand laminating carbon steels to make standard patterns in steel reliably. I am about to transition to power forging soon as my budget permits. I have been lucky to get power hammer instruction by jim Hrisoulas and the genius for stainless pattern steels,  Devin Thomas.

The quality of my cutlery has continually improved with each series of forms that I have completed. Back when I was throwing  pots in college I would make 100 of a form to gain skills and eventually  became  very adept at high fire stoneware . Applying the same diligence to blade smithing has guided my growth as a knifemaker exploring fixed blades.

Recently I have been making kitchen knives especially large Chinese pattern variations and gyuto forms. Increasing demand for these knives from friends and their referrals has resulted in this website. I have decided to offer several standard patterns and wildcard efforts here.

Recent inspiration resulted in a  new shotgun accessory which is process for patent. I will offer that device for sale here as well.

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Knifemaking as Art and Craft

Making pattern steel is enjoyable at many levels. Planning for a pattern and selection of steel is the first phase. Consideration of the manual technique for the desired final pattern determines the sequence of needed steps .

Occasionally , I will have a knife in mind before I make the steel, but usually I make the steel without any predetermined final form.

Manual methods limit the productivity one can reasonably expect. Hammering by hand on an anvil is no competition with a hydraulic press or a big power hammer although the steps are the same. Access to a hot rolling mill and a blanchard grinder magnify ones effort significantly.

I was elated to try Devin’s 150kg ram powerhammer under his instruction. Now I need to figure out how to get one myself!

So as with art , a craft can mature through practice and the guidance of journeymen given to the apprentice.

Methods and Materials

Heat is a vital ingredient for bladesmithing and pattern steel making. Mechanical force is applied to hot steel to weld layers together and move the steel to the desired conformation. Having worked with clay I think about the steel  in a similar fashion , the heat makes the steel more ductile for mechanical forming.  Hammering hot steel on an anvil is the basic process.

Grinding is an important method beyond filing and scraping. I use an assortment of power grinders and have a well used Bader II 2 X 72″ belt grinder . Grinding technique is another practiced skill . Having a good grinder, good fresh belts  and experience improves outcome.

Initially , I had been interested in more of a primitive approach to metal smithing without measurements. Lately I have been convinced By Devin Thomas that measurement is a good thing, so I even bought some calipers! Even I can learn.

Heat treating is another aspect of bladesmithing that can be as complicated and elaborate as one can imagine. Consideration of the kind of steel is important if one wants to have a reliably fabricated product instead of a fractured paperweight.  I think every knifemaker has heard that unwanted “PING” after quenching that tells you “OOPS”.

Usually I direct oil quench but have used quench plate technique for thin forms like cleavers or gyutos.  Differential hardening is another sub-craft that can result in remarkable Hamon lines in the finished blades.  Japanese blade tradition has well developed clay-hardening practices using secret clay mixtures which are passed from master to apprentice. I have dabbled in differential heat treating.

Steels

The discovery of iron and it’s carbonized form (steel) are the lineage to modern bladesmithing. As more scientific understanding of metals has come about there has been a proliferation of specialty steels including stainless steels, tool steels and powder metal composites.

Usually I work with simple steels like L-6 or 1095 and limited stainless steels like  AEB-L.  If I can build my experience with a few predictable steels later I will have a stronger foundation to explore more exotic metals. Eventually I would like to transition to power methods and become proficient at making high performance pattern stainless steel.  ( one needs to have goals!)