Doug Lester

And Cutler was such an appropriate name for someone who makes knives. Doug

Keep trying. You will get it worked out. Doug

Todd Cutler did about a 20 minute video where he made a leather knife sheath from scratch with some simple tooling. He stated that the middle age sheath makers didn't do a better job because he wasn't going to get anything for the added work. I think that if more leather sheaths had survived more would have looked "good enough". Doug

I recommend infrared filtering protective eye glasses for working with a forge. I'm wondering that if I had used them more I wouldn't be facing cataract surgery next month but it's at the point of having the surgery or going blind. Wish me luck. Doug

Sort of like a retaining ring on the handle of a khurkuri. Try it as you have it and see if it gives you any comfort problems. You can always round it off later if it doesn't work. Doug

Best of health to you, Jim. Though at our age that's relative. Doug

Files do help you have more control. Slower is sometimes better. I still think that it is going to be as beast as far as weight goes. I understand that shipping to Canada can be a bear if you can't find a local supplier. Maybe one of the Canadian knifemakers on this board could help you find a source for thinner stock of an appropriate alloy for your next one. You've come a long way on that sword and I'll love to see it finished. Doug

Very nice simple knife. Love the look of the "fossilized bovine ivory". Doug

Very nice. You should be well on your way for sitting your Masters test. Doug

Nice work. Love the patina. Doug

I just thought to check back with High Temperature Tools and Refractory but no joy there. Doug

If you learned something then you had a success. Good going. Doug

Welcome back. That's a nice looking sword.

I can't think of a proper superlative to describe your work. Doug

Whoever made that sheath did a great job. I'm trying to think back on the Mexican loop sheath that I made and trying to remember how I hid the flesh side of the leather. Doug

What do you mean by noisy? If it sound like a jet engine revving up for takeoff then I would say that it is basically the nature of the beast. If it is popping and sputtering then I would look to plumbing problems, however I would expect that when the pressure is too low which allows combustion in the burner tube. Doug

That looks like it's ready for some real shield splitting. Very well done. Doug

Imagine my shock when I looked up the latest edition of Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist and finding it was over $200. It's all down to these things becoming college textbooks. Doug

As I said, you can always shop the used book market. Given your illustration it can pay off. And as Jerrod said, you don't need the latest edition to get the basics down. Doug

I agree with Gerald, Metallurgy Fundamentals is a great text. Unfortunately, like most text books the price has gone way up. I don't remember what I payed for my copy but I just looked it up on Amazon Prime and it's $150. However, if you can grit your teeth and bite the bullet, It's worthwhile. This. along with Steel Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist is worth shopping for on the used book market. Doug

I usually recommend Steel Metallurgy for the N0n-Metallurgist but the latest edition runs about $200 with some suppliers selling the first edition for almost as much. I don't have personal experience with either but I would recommend Steel Metallurgy or Knife Engineering: Steel, Heat Treating, and Geometry. They are soft backs and they both cost under $50. A good library, both books and videos, is one the best tools you can have. Grain size and grain boundaries go together. The larger the grains the longer the boundaries between them and the larger t he separation between the grains can occur leading to increased brittleness in the steel. Thermal cycling is what decreases the size of the grains. Normalization is what reforms the grains to a uniform size and I do this after forging. The way thermal cycling works is that the first heat is over the critical point (judge this by decollesance, not a magnet). The second heat is just below the point where decollesance occurs. The third cycle is just a little less hot than the second. Each cycle allows smaller crystals to form at the boundries of the previous crystals. I do like to use a magnet to assure that the steel has converted from austenite ( face centered cube iron crystal) to ferrite (body centered cube iron crystal). With magnetism, steel looses it when it is heated above the Currie point which is usually below the critical point which is why the loss of magnetism can be misleading in detecting when the steel converts to austenite. To me electron spin refers to the spinning of the electrons around thee nucleous of an atom. The eutectoid point is where carbon is at maximum solution in the iron atoms in the austenite. Your 1075 is an example of a steel that will do this. Hypoeutectoid steel is where the the austenite has less than its maximum carrying capp asity of carbon atoms. Hypereutectoid steel is super saturated with carbon atoms with the excess carbon atoms forming carbides with iron atoms or other alloying metallic elements. (Pardon the misspellings) Doug

Are those things spears or sword blades on a pole? Nice job at any rate. Doug

Looks good. The size of that handle must feel good in the hand. The tooling on the sheath is nicely done. Doug

Love the low count twist in the blade and the scales look a lot like the back of my violin. Good work. May your friend's relative carry it in good health. Doug

Thanks for the offer but I think that I'm going to go with 8670 which is considered an up graded 5260. I hope that you are enjoying the spring in Switzerland. Doug