JimC

Oh. My. God. Someday...I hope to be able to afford your work.

Alan, I will take up the mantle of Sam Abuser for you this year. I hope to do you proud.

I'm requesting help in advance. I have a goal of forging a katana-style blade (or Burmese dha) at the event this year. The way the rest of my month is going, I won't have any opportunity to finish my Aldo contest blade until the event either. I wouldn't mind making a couple of hammers either. I will be bringing copies of my books for sale.

Speaking from experience, you're not going to get a traditional polish with modern abrasives. There's just something about tojiru goop, and fingerstones that does things that nothing else will. My theory is that modern abrasives are too uniform and too hard to break down properly. Also, don't forget to make or buy decent nugui. Dry iron oxide artist pigments make a reasonable substitute. If you're going to buy finger stone material, do it from Namikawa Heibei and no one else. The shipping costs are abominable, but you WILL get what you order.

You can also get sub-micron dry alumina for lapidary work on Ebay. That also does interesting things for polishing hamon and getting the oxides off (with a little Windex or water).

I'm going to register. I promise. Anyone want me to bring copies of my first two books to sell? It's an odd thing to tailgate, but it is where most of my energy has been directed for a while now.

This is the latest knife off my bench. I haven't been out to the forge recently, so this one is stock removal. 1095, brass guard, black paper micarta handle. These days, it is write, write, write. Hope you're all doing well! -Jim

Another option is purchasing Japanese style tools from Patrick Hastings. www.taganearts.com He also teaches classes. I will tell you, if you go this route, don't choke the chisels. Hold them lightly. I've given myself a nasty case of tennis elbow from squeezing them too hard. The learning curve is STEEP.

Nice work!

James, feel free to drop me a line and join up. I'd like to make the new organization state-wide. Here's the URL www.olddominionbladesmiths.org. Next up: the Sunday meeting and a logo.

Well, Doug, if I'm ever in your part of IL, I'll drop in.

Bacon. You speak my language.

My back yard. 3pm on Sunday, July 14, 2013. PM me for address if you don't have it already. Bring your work. Bring your sense of humor. Bring your willingness to help me out with this nutty idea. Bring meats, drinks... We grill. Grunt. -Jim Oh, and OldDominionBladesmiths.org is now under construction. Somebody save me from group organization!

Gerald, you're inspirational. Thank you for weighing in on the matter.

Gerald, blades are definitely utilitarian, but BGOP's focus is on decorative iron, not blades.

Actually, I'm a member of BGOP and use their facility to forge my blades. Blacksmiths in the Northern Virginia area seem to be much more aware of one another than knifemakers are. I feel there needs to be a group SPECIFIC to bladesmithing, rather than one centered in utilitarian or decorative ironwork.

There ISN'T a Virginia ABANA? Good Lord!

Gang, Virginia knifemakers and smiths don't seem to congregate, associate, or come out of our workshops. I want to do something to change this. If you are interested in helping me build a local organization for fellowship, education, and general beard-burning, please drop me a line. I'm tossing around ideas for a URL and logo, with the hope of creating a site for us that features blogging, gallery, and articles from local makers. Eventually, I'd love to see us acquire a space to offer classes for interested parties, but I think that's a good long way down the road. -Jim

I don't produce as much as I'd like, but here are two recent pieces. The sgian dubh is W-1 with 100 year old walnut. The belt knife is W-2 with curly ash and a padauk inlay up the middle on the "finger side". Both have hamon... no surprise there! Secondarily, if you're in Virginia, please drop me a line. It is about time we have a Virginia bladesmith organization. -Jim

Well! That's good to know! Thank you. -J

If you are looking for tagane blanks, Comokin does ship internationally. They require payment in advance via electronic funds transfer, which makes complete sense to me. Their contact email is comokin@comokin.co.jp, and the order page for tagane is here http://www.comokin.co.jp/shopbrand/004/002/X/ I'll probably be ordering from them in the near future. -Jim

I don't know about you Nate, but I think it is time we started a Northern Virginia Bladesmith Club. -J

Matt... don't mind me. I'm just gasping in awe and quivering with lust.

Hey, Nate... Let's do food sometime. I want to pick your brain about shirasayas. -J

Clearly the tension on my little Ryobi bandsaw from HomeDespot is incredibly off, and I probably need to adjust the guides too. The thing that really frustrates me is handsaws. I'll try going slower. Thanks gang!