Custom Knives: Applying Blade Pattern

Video Transcript

"My name is Jared Todd and I'm going to talk to you a little bit about how to apply your pattern to the steel to get ready to profile the blade. How I apply my patterns is, after I sketch out my pattern and get it as accurately as possible to what I want, I have a, it's a spray adhesive, it's like liquid Scotch tape, it's in a can. I spray it to the back of the piece of paper that has my pattern on the other side, then I stick it on the steel so that it's stuck on there pretty good. Then what I do to waterproof the paper, so that it doesn't wear away while I'm grinding, is I've found that in the hardware store, there's a wood hardener made by Minowick that I just put a couple coats on here and it hardens it and seals it from water. The knife does get hot when I grind it and so I need to dip it in the water so that it can cool it down. Some people don't use this type of technique. They use, they get this blue type of paint. It's a layout paint. They paint it on the piece of steel that they want, then they'll put their pattern down and then they'll use a metal scribe or a sharp object and they'll scribe through the paint onto the steel. Some prefer that other than using the paper method. I find that the paper method works the best for me because once I get my pattern drawn out, I go to the copy center and I make as many copies as I need. The disadvantage of it is that you know, it will wear off if you rub on it too hard. But, it comes right off when you're done with your knife. You can peel it off. Some people just take a marker and they'll just draw their pattern right on the steel. Just by hand. However you want to do it, there's no wrong way. I've just found that this way works the best for what I need."