Doug Lester

I forgot about #5. I once turned a 12" black pipe nipple into a 6" nipple by not protecting it from the flame. Doug

From my experience gas forges just sound like a jet engine idling. Doug

I foresee you putting that monster in a corner of your shop and building a much smaller single burner forge. That thing might be what you need if you are heat treating really long blades but you can only work about 4"-5" inches of a blade at a time so for general forging that is major overkill. When you build your next one try bringing the burners in at a tangent at the upper side of the forge to give you some swirling of the burning gas. Burners pointing straight down will cause hot spots and burn the carbon out of the steel faster. Doug

Very nice job on the handle. Doug

Something patterned after a migration era sword? Looks very good. Doug

Good to see that you make Jock wear safety glasses in the shop. Doug

What's not to love about that knife. Fantastic! Doug

Blessings upon you for helping your friend. That was a nice solution for his problem. It evidently gives him a sense of empowerment. Doug

Good job, I really like the integral guard. I'm sure that your coworker's father will love it. Doug

I take it that a carving ax works something like a chisel with a handle on it a right angle? Or is it a much smaller version of a hewing ax that is used to square logs into beams? Doug

Can't think of any more superlatives to give it. Great work. Doug

How did we ever put a wood handle on knives before the invention of Cactus Juice? Mom had a hickory handled butcher knife that she used for decades to prepare meals and it was as good the day that we packed out her apartment as the first day that I remember it. Doug

You don't need anything that you will harden. The heat from the work will draw the temper in the tool as you use it. Doug

So, if I understand it right, the holly is a frame around the tang with the ebony applied over both and the middle pins attaching the ebony scales to the tang and the bottom three pins securing the ebony scales to the holly frame. Excellent work. Doug

Talk about nanny state, how about the hand sign for OK or a bowl hair cut being declared white supremacist signs. I bet the Amish would be shocked about the latter...oh wait, they don't have the internet or television. They wouldn't know. Doug