James Helm

Top-notch work, man!

I've had the same thing happen upon occasion, a customer that just disappears, even once with a carcass splitter. Very annoying to be sure, but I've been lucky to have other folks buy the abandoned blades in a timely fashion. Hope you don't have to wait for someone to snag yours. I like how it turned out! The scroll on the end is a nice touch.

Thanks, guys! Doug - A lot of the antique carcass splitters have handles wrapped in waxed linen cord. The hemp cord on this is impregnated with West System marine epoxy, making it solid and waterproof. Nothing should be soaking in. Rob - My buddy Tobin and I actually blocked traffic for truck driver whose GPS had steered him wrong down a little dead end street next to Tobin's shop where we were filming. I had the carcass splitter over my shoulder in the street while doing so until the truck driver could get backed out and headed in the right direction. I'm sure sev

Howdy, folks. Been a busy, productive year, and not as much time has been spent on forums as I used to. But I have had a couple of interesting projects I wanted to share. They are the two largest carcass splitters I've made so far, one completed in February and one in August. The first was a commission from a chef who owns multiple restaurants who wanted as large a carcass splitter as I could make as a gift for a friend of his. The second was a commission from a fellow who butchers a lot of hogs. Both started out as bars of 5/16" x 4" 80CrV2 steel, and both ended up with hemp cord ov

Thanks, guys!

Beautiful! I'll try to make it by. I'm desperately trying to get my own inventory finished up for that show.

That is a beautiful and unique piece, Raymond! How's your thumb doing? I was just a guest at a wedding where the groom was completely missing an index finger due to a table saw.

I like the way this is going. Lots of work involved!

Thank y'all! Fox Creek - Tai is one of the biggest influences on my work. I had five hours worth of lessons with him in the summer of 2007. Alan - I didn't realize that.

Thanks, guys! Gerhard - A ginunting is a Filipino design. This is my take on it, a bit shorter than I usually do. Alan - I think you were a bit more advanced than I was at that point, and still are. Back in the early days, I would use the dialup modem on the family computer to connect long distance and race to learn as much about blacksmithing as I could in an hour so I wouldn't rack up too big a phone bill. Truly, they were primitive times.

It's been a busy year, and difficult to keep up with everything. Here's some of what I've been building. It's all 80CrV2 steel with various cord wraps impregnated with marine epoxy and sheathed in Boltaron. I like to focus on getting geometry, balance, and ergonomics right without playing around too much with materials. :D Apologies beforehand for the massive wall of pictures. Mini-parang. miniparang01 by James Helm, on Flickr Barong. barong01 by James Helm, on Flickr barong02 by James Helm, on Flickr Ko-katana.

"Make something beautiful with it." Mission accomplished!

Thanks, Mike! As for the wraps and knots, I have no natural skill in that direction. Fortunately, my best quality is sheer stubbornness!

Been busy banging out bodadacious blades. Here are some recents. 80CrV2 steel, cord wraps, and Boltaron sheaths all around. A biohazard outbreak reaction bush sword and smaller utility knife that went to a repeat customer in Canada. The bush sword has scorched hemp for the main wrap and black paracord Turk's head knots. The smaller knife has tan paracord over hemp, with a black paracord Turk's head. kq01 by James Helm, on Flickr A similarly-sized (6"~ blade) knife as the above utility, with hemp. db01 by James Helm, on Flickr Variations on Benghazi Warfighters, two

That is a tiny ax! Beautiful work, as usual.