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Just finished this up as a present for a friend. Heat blued and lacquered 1095 with a forged copper pommel: let me know what you think...

Here's where I left this! Got some carving done today.

5 of 6 are now done. One is on the injured/reserved list after a catastrophic bluing accident.

Low layer Damascus, vinegar etched, wired wheeled and buffed. Thanks for looking

Finished this today. 10.5 inch blade forged from a 7 layer billet of bandsaw blade, horseshoe rasp and center core of chainsaw bar that hardened nicely. Guard is a scrap of 300 layer, spacer blade material, and buttcap an endcut from a radial pattern billet I made forever ago. Handle African blackwood. Through tang construction with a nut welded underside the buttcap to squeeze it all together. Had to try fullers after seeing Jason Knight grind them into an apocalypse tanto in one of his recent youtube videos. Thanks for looking, Clint

Some handles off the belt grinder and ready for some hand work. Chef with lacewood J T Ranger with Gidgee pigsticker with (purple dyed) gidgee. Dye did not show till I cut and sanded it. PH EDC with quilted macrocarpa over buffalo horn A Safari with acacia over brass Mini bullnose with tasmanian blackwood over paper micarta mini skinner with desert ironwood mini skinner with lacewood.

This has been hanging around, waiting for the right handle to come along Damascus OL 9 1/4" BL 5" Mastodon and black fiber liners Pretty simple G

Not in the shed but had a good day in town. I went to the outlet where I get bearings and belts etc to get a slightly shorter belt for the hammer final drive They have drums of bearings that are to go for scrap and they gave me permission to scavenge any of it I wanted. I just got three smaller ones about 4 inches in dia but there were a couple of big ones that must have been 2 ft across.

Fire striker "Drakkar". Fire strikers that are made with using forge welding.

yeah, I dropped my decent camera and it died. And today I shredded my front tire, only to find out the spare was 3" too large, which made for an interesting 25 mile drive home... also my pizza dough didn't rise. It's been a day...

Boy oh.. so this one is an odd duck for me. The blade is leftover bits I had from other projects past (3" blade 7 1/4" overall). It's a four bar construction. The spine is wrought iron, the second bar is 1095 and 15N20, and the edge is 1084. The ferrule a sandwich of wrought iron and brass silver soldered. The handle is stabilized quilted maple. The sheath is hand stitched tooled (I'm still getting this down) veg tan leather. It was a fun knife to put together and I pushed every comfort zone I could on it. It's up on Etsy if anyone is interested. Thanks for looking!

I started on the forge today but didn't last long as the summer heat & humidity convinced me to do other things. I opted for handle work and got my ivory handle cut out, slotted and one side checkered before calling it a day.

Zeb, and Faye: You decide what you are OK with in selling your wares. If I said I never sold a knife that I thought had a flaw, I would be a liar. Every knife I make has flaws that I can see. Some I'm OK with selling, others I'm not. Generally speaking, If any maker is questioning whether something should be changed, and is hesitant about selling it, that's a red flag in my book. I have given knives away rather than sell them. I have hidden knives away rather than give them away. The handle shape on this knife is fine considering the level of experience of the maker. She should be proud of the product and comfortable with the idea of selling it before she does so. However, if her discomfort with the end result is because she is comparing her work to the work of more experienced makers, and that causes a feeling of "it's not good enough", trash that idea right now. There will be makers better than you, or me, for many years to come. Always do the best you can, and be OK with that. Each one gets "better". Frankly, I disagree with this assessment. Maybe I should have said this earlier. It is a simple handle. The fit and finish look clean and the dimensions look proportional to the blade.

Thank you. Damascus steel fire strikers .

High carbon steel fire strikers.

I got this one, peddinghaus 165 lbs. I haven't got to use it but for about 10 minutes but it seems to be very good. I appreciate all the advice.

I like that Seax, it makes me want to make one. As soon as I finish up a couple on the bench, I will get back to a seax and an axe project.

good results. I think the handle looks quite good, too. I have never etched anything electrically. I did buy a Chinese etching machine because the front was translated wrong so the knobs are called "tits." My etching machine has tits. Beat that.

A Safari knife with Acacia over brass with attached steel The purple dyed Pig Sticker The mini Bull Nose Skinner with fiddleback Tasmanian Blackwood over 3 pin CB paper micarta. I havent done a sheath for it yet but will do one with attached short steel next time I am doing leather work. (and yes I know there is a hair on the blue background sheet)

A pair of mini skinnersFirst has a very nice set of Lacewood handles This one with its attached steel has Desert Ironwood

Put together a new workbench. My family got me a harbor freight gift card for my birthday so I thought what the heck!

This type of blade construction was rather common in early medieval in central and northern Europe during Viking age. The blade consists of three parts: high carbon steel on the cutting edge, a twisted pattern-welded bar in the middle, and a simple pattern-welded bar on the back of the knife. To forge it I used a scrap metal (as usual in my projects) but this time the scrap metal was very special. I used old bloomery iron and wrought iron nails/bolts/rivets which were found in the Dziwna River in Wolin in the place of the old shipyard/harbor during the building of the new marina (Wolin is the historical site (Viking age city)), every new investment must be supervised by archeologist. This was also the case here but they were not interested of nails :-), so I collected it.

This is one of the hard aspects of what we do. You have to feel good about your skill, as it is right now. First, that is WAAAAAYYYYY better than my first 50 knives, so congrats. Second, where are you getting $120 in materials? The steel is a few $, the scales are whatever you paid for them, but even counting fuel and belts I'd guess $50-$70. What is your time really worth? Are you a guy who makes a few knives as a hobby, or are you a bladesmith? If this is hobby, don't charge for them, or charge what materials cost you and figure your time is your own. Some of the best art and craft in the world is done by "amateurs", they have the time to spend. If you are trying to be a pro maker, then you step right up and ask for a price that you feel is fair. For an early work, that is pretty good. If you'd like some tips on how to make it better, this is the right place. Geoff

These look like they would be handy for forging in a latter pattern.

Looking good, I find that sculpting dies like this are wonderful. They are sort of the same idea and are crowned on the edges of the dies so that they have an effect like the peen of a ball peen hammer. You can pull in almost any direction with them. One small suggestion, flatten out the tops of your fullers just a bit. As these two curved surfaces will tend to want to pass each other once struck. I don't know if I ever used a pair under a hammer that did not start to have the upper die bend away. If your not afraid of cutting the upper arm of the spring about half way, and just bolting the rest of the arm on with the die, I understand that its pretty easy to redress the dies over time. I haven't done this myself, but I did make a set of spring dies like this to be stuck at the anvil that are bolted at the half way point. If you chose to do that, it does seem to take heavier material. To use that spring at the anvil it takes at least a 3lb hammer to get them to do much, depending on stock size.

That's a nice little EDC. I think you have a pretty good handle on the leather tooling. That one looks good anyway.

Be careful Joel. Getting into electronics is certainly a dangerous hobby. I HAVENT FORGED ANYTHING IN OVER 6 MONTHS TRYING TO PERFECT THE FAN AND OIL CONTROL CIRCUITRY FOR MY FORGE!!!

It is intended to be my KITH contribution. I suppose my biggest issue with it is that it's not exactly what I was going for. Not to mention it is not perfectly centered with the blade. The good news is that it has to sit around the way it is for a good while before I can get back to my shop.

Steak knife/paring knife in the works. I forged the bevels on this one and it looks good considering it’s my first time doing that. I didn’t have to grind very much either, they are very even. Oh and yes I will sand out those scratches.

Very nice work! I see a teensy bit of sabering but I think it suits the blade well. I agree that it's a smidge thick.. most of my earlier work was as well. I now aim for just enough to get the job done. This way it's agile and flexible when it needs to be. (My opinion) Interesting ideas Joshua States with the dowels. I've seen it done and wasn't sure how well it worked. I have a very close friend that is a master blacksmith and he swears by JB Weld. He says to pack it in warm and then clean off excess and place it in the freezer. I'm not going to say it's amazing but it seems to work for him. I love that you went outside the box for the handle and carvings while maintaining the essence.

Same.

Hi Gerhard, I’m certainly no expert however I have had some success recently with a Venturi burner. My set up used 1” black pipe, 8” long attached to this cast Venturi. You’ll see the fitting in the Venturi that the mig tip attaches to so it sits around halfway in the flare. The other end is a 2” flare. The mig tip is a 1.2mm. I run it around 7psi and it gets HOT.

I might explore that option Garry. Might give Corin a bell too

Hey Joshua! I used to be with you on that. Maybe I still am in a way. I get epiphanies on what's right and wrong pretty often. So long as the insight you express is your own I guess... I had a long conversation with a guy in sales marketing last weekend and came to some conclusion (right or not) its really what market you would prefer to appeal to I guess. My only line of thought on a knife with a defect is you can chase the "flaw" (in this case an uncertainty in design that maybe only you see), or you can let it go to someone who's gonna love it anyway. I did this with a sheath I had someone else make for me a while back. Sold the whole thing cheaper because of the sheath quality and apologized to the customer over and over, but when he got it; he saw absolutely no problems. He loved both knife and sheath.

Fire striker pendant "Thor hammer" Fire striker "Nails". High carbon steel and old soviet era nails.

Just looking at the crucible in the 2nd pic I would say it didnt get nearly hot enough. Good job. If it were easy everyone would do it

Geoof, simple is good and that one is great! I think too often makers seem to try and throw everything but the kitchen sink into a knife!! Simple is like a woman with just a hint of perfume, clothed in a way that has your imagination working overtime to fill in the rest of what your eye can't see! A simple knife hits all those marks, not to much perfume and just enough visual to make you want to pick it up and get to know it!!

No. Do not file back the tips, that's probably the whole problem. They are only the rated size at the very tip. Try an 0.030 tapered tip without changing anything. I bet you'll see a world of difference. You are probably dumping gas through an 0.045" jagged orifice at the moment.

I think a lot of smiths here could make good use of this!! https://youtu.be/e_ua18J8NOg

thanks for sharing the detail of your process. I enjoy it a lot. I have been in my, "clean shop" for months, polishing a katana and a guan dao, and I miss forging. I need to finish some hand work and then I can forge some more. The tiles in your "canoe" are cool. I thought you were going to cut angles on them and ferry flip them at first. Always amazes me when that many welds all set just right. I know they don't have much choice in the matter, but it is still always amazing.

I think it looks good. Those patterns need some slight imperfections or they get sterile. I don't see them, but the fact it looks good shows they're there.

I was literally within spitting distance of Talisker when it happened...

A small seax knife I made and put up for sale. It's 1084, oak, copper, silver, antler, and leather. It was a labor of love to be sure. It's a keen knife and it got used in the kitchen for a time while I was making the sheath. It's a flat ground blade and quite keen. I'll take any constructive criticism. Best to you and your's fellows!

And here's my attempt:

At some time down the road, you may choose to make a joke like "Oh great, now you want another pair of shoes, purse, makeup" My advice, don't.

once a wizard gives it to a hobbit... Edit: I really should have added that is a really nice start on a blade no matter what you call it. @Bjorn Gylfason

the total weight of that hammer is listed at 265 kg. Seems kinda light! Bolting was the right choice. Ever try to repair Chinese cast iron? It doesn't like it even if you follow all the normal protocols for cast iron. There's a lot of garbage in the iron. You MIGHT take the bolt plates off and clean up the paint/junk around the cracks and epoxy (JB Weld) the plates to the clean cast iron before bolting permanently. That might help the longevity of the fix. I'm guessing the manufacturer didn't return any messages.

I usually pour some epoxy in, and wait for it to settle a little. A piece of bailing wire is good for getting the air bubbles out. When it's about half-full I insert the tang and remove the excess. A neat trick that Matt P showed me with kitchen knives is to drill a 3/8" inch hole into the handle. Then broach and burn the tang in. Now take a 3/8" wood dowel and split it in half. Sand the flat sides down until they are the right size in the hole to fit snugly against the tang. Cut them about 2" long and superglue them into the hole. Cut them flush with the front of the handle. Now use a syringe to inject the epoxy into the hole. You can buy the syringes and pine and walnut dowels at most Home Depot and woodworking stores.

Chris, This happens quite often. It can be very difficult to "read the scratches" during foundation polish. Often they will not show up until one or two stones later when everything is clarified. That is one of the many reasons that polishing can be so frustrating. It is often necessary to take one step forward / two steps back to get it really clean and clear. I learned early on that there will always be these "hardened" scratches that are latent from the final rough shaping just before hardening. Especially if you use your grinder and create any scratches in the rougher grits perpendicular to the length of the blade. Then, if you are working traditionally, with your coarsest grit stone or paper you generally begin, again, perpendicularly to the blade. This sometimes hides the progress of the polishing and whether these hardened scratches have been removed, yet, or not. Here are some things you can do to avoid and/or deal with these to make the polishing process a bit less frustrating: *Draw-file your blade to final shape with a medium-course file before hardening it. This give a good surface for the clay to adhere, reduces those vertical scratches, and gives a very even surface to start with. I personally don't know how anyone can have the control necessary to do Japanese-style blades without draw-filing. I am just not a magician with the grinder, though... *After hardening, use the finest grit on your belt-grinder that you can efficiently remove material to break down the edge and finalize the geometries. Use at least one step finer grit belt to finish the grind vertically (longitudinally--the length of the blade). Don't push the blade excessively into the belt. This will also cause excessively-deep scratches. Let the belt do the work, and go slow and easy--your geometries should be set with the rougher belt--now it is just scratch removal. *When you do begin with your course stones or papers, make sure to address the blade and make sure it has had adequate treatment with each stone/paper before moving to the next grit. Keep the papers fresh, so as not to let them load up with hardened steel that will scratch the blade (this is why I use water-stones). I use water treated with baking soda through the entire process. Juggling oiled razor blades does not appeal to me. *Before moving to the next grit, take a piece of 1000g wet/dry and buff the blade horizontally. You likely won't have to do this past 1000g, BTW--everything is generally apparent, by then. This will generally reveal any scratches missed on the current grit, and allow you to better assess the blade and "read" the scratches so you know if it is time to proceed or continue working with the current grit. *If you are looking for a scratch-free surface after the etch, you will likely have to use loose abrasives before and after the etch to finish out those minuscule scratches left by 2500g. I have a variety of diamond films, loose abrasives, and lapping papers. Each thing creates a different effect on the final look. Just be sure you never burnish and are consistently opening the surface. Otherwise you lose some of the effectiveness of developing the hamon with the etch. A well-matched jizuya may help remove the very last scratches AND bring up some activities in the ji and ha of a monosteel blade, but will not really whiten the ha. You can try all day to match hazuya to monosteel. However, IMHO, it will never look as good ON MONOSTEEL as the etch. Hazuya has always left monosteel hazy and somewhat scratchy, to me. The reason it works so well on tamahagane is because the steel is so much SOFTER than monosteel. Maybe you have a source of super fine hazuya--but I have never found any that will work for monosteel. I understand how you feel about wanting the blade perfect. That is just where you have set your standard. It just takes time and practice to achieve it efficiently. Another reason polishers get paid (deservedly) for their services. I can make three swords in the time it takes to polish ONE. These are, of course, my own opinions and experiences. Please let me know if I was unclear on anything and need to clarify. I hope this is helpful to you and offensive to no one. BTW, the polish looks very nice. I can see how you would like to get rid of those last scratches so it would be "perfect". As long as the customer is happy and reasonably got what he paid for it, I would consider this a learning experience and move on with new knowledge how to improve the next one. Sincerely, Shannon