Leaderboard

Not bladesmithing or knife related, but today I rebuilt my old BB gun. That's a 4.5mm air rifle to you in the rest of the world. Nothing fancy, just a ca. 1981 Daisy Powerline 880. I dug it out of the closet last year when a friend bought an adult-sized Daisy Red Ryder to pass time during lockdown. I found out that the seals had gone bad. It still worked, sort of, but it was hard to pump and wouldn't hold a charge for long. A couple of weeks ago I was looking at it, thinking about buying a new one, when I discovered the new ones are plastic and made in China. Found a guy who sells the se

The two photos added are a look at a reduction of thickness by a factor of 10. If the bar had still been in one piece it would be 40” long. I am not too exited about the pattern as the dendritic look has been lost. ….I am happy to have avoided a "stretched out" look.

This morning I added another roll of #0000 steel wool and let it sit for a couple of hours. It did the trick, no heat and it hadn't eaten more than a quarter of the wool. It also turned black, which is a good sign. Now, to filter out the remaining wool and as much sediment as I can. Several layers of cheesecloth, another vessel, a funnel for the second filtration, and, of course, gloves. This won't burn you, but it will turn you dark orange for a week or so. I poured the jar contents through four layers of cloth into the bas

You may have lost the dendrites, but the watering is lovely.

Its actually forged 52100. The tang is fully taperred.

Hunting knife.

It's also important to note the color will change a bit over time. It will get slightly darker, both from continued oxidation in the stain and from the fact that linseed oil yellows as it ages. This is exactly why I use this process instead of dyes and tung oil. It's fun to observe, and, as I often say, if you want something to have the feel of an antique, you have to make it with the same methods and tools. That includes finishes. Not all of these were stained with aquafortis, especially the ones with carving, since it doesn't do the grain any favors. The fanciest carved longrifles and

Well, it didn't turn as clear as I was expecting, but it looked ready to use, so I did a test piece. One should always do a test piece with this stuff, different woods react very differently. If possible, use scrap from the actual object you want to stain. In this case, this is the top 1/4" of the handle where I cut it off to get a flat square top. That's the color I'm after, so on we go! The beauty of this or any other finish is determined by the surface quality prior to application. This handle was sanded to 600 grit, dewhiskered, and burnished with ordinary and

Thanks for all of you help to us newbies. Although at 50 that seems funny to say.

I made the sheath, also the cutomer's design. He wanted a cross draw that rode high at an angle. The concho matches the ones on his saddle.

Thank you Mr. Dunlap. It's always nice to see someone using the information I post and doing well with it. Blind pins AND a Damascus frame????? You go brother! Nice work.

The leather pocket is just what I was thinking, with or without the magnet. I was thinking about a hole through the piece, but an indent works better as it preserves the pattern. I may do another in mono steel to see if I can forge more of the taper in g

I finished a new knife. I know the proportions and the handle shape are not what I would like, but I leaned a bunch of new skills in this build. I used hidden pins to align the guards, spacers, and handle. It is also my first frame handle out of twist damascus. I also forged a large bar of W's, thank you Mr. States for the tutorial you posted in the brief lecture on pattern welding post. I believe I was successful, but we will see when I chop it up to stack.