Isaiah Lake

If anyone else is interested, auction ends at 10:00 PM tomorrow. I won't be able to ship until I get back from D.C. Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll message you then.

auction ends in 3 days

The starting bid drops to $60.00- shipping and handling included in price.

The second blade is well underway, and I will resume work on it as soon as I recover enough from this hernia surgery.

Bidding starts at $100 ($60) and ends September 30th.

The first knife is complete! I've been working hard on this one, so without further delay, here she is. She has a slight re-curve and is about 12 inches overall. Her handle is 4 inches of ebony that I acquired in Malawi with steel pins. The blade is 8 inches long. I made this blade out of a recycled half-round file. I decided to leave it textured from heat treatment. She's nowhere close to perfect, but it turned out pretty well. If there are any more questions, please ask.

The first knife is almost finished guys. It will emerge shortly.

Thanks for the encouragement man.

Right now, I am working on a knife similar to this one of mine, but it will have ebony scales from a piece that I got in Africa, and I think that I will give it a clean grind and polish. I hope that someone would be interested in it.

This past summer, I had the amazing chance to travel to Malawi, Africa to share God's word with people, desperate to hear it. After coming back, I have realized that I am called to live there in a few years from now. I fell in love Africa, and I think often of her gentle, orange sunset and streets teeming with children that will follow you to the end of the Earth for affection and love. Someone very dear to me has been praying fervently about doing the same as I have. She has an opportunity to go to South Africa to work with orphans and to experience the work that God is doing there. I want to help her find her way there, so I am considering starting a continuous auction here to support her journey. As for myself, I will find my way to Malawi, where God had me this past summer, for six weeks of this upcoming summer. Right now, I want to support her journey because I know that God wants to work in her. I want to offer the knives that I will make to my fellow bladesmiths because I know that you will appreciate them more than anyone else. I hope to post a new knife every month if anyone will buy them. The sales will be conducted in the form of an auction. Please let me know if anybody even wants to participate in this auction.

Who has a good video demonstrating the entire sharpening process. Someone who purchased a tomahawk from me has asked about sharpening. I've done my best describing what stone's he needs over the internet, but I figured it be easiest to find a good video he could see.

Meaning that you shall be finishing soon?

Too many great blades are forgotten. I don't care anymore. The zombies can have me.

Hello? Anyone home? I think I might cry...

This all started when I was doing a forge temper on a blade, and it got a little too hot. It was nothing special, so I figured I would experiment. Instead of starting over, I water quenched. I repeated the same thing two more times, heating it to regular tempering heat this time. The result was a freaking tough blade. I haven't done much real experimentation with the process, but I tried the same thing a couple more times with different steels(I don't know any of the exact steels I used/recycled steel), and I've ended up with very tough and hard blades every time. Has anybody ever tried this?

Thanks!

I was thinking the same thing... It does make me think Russian Military(fitting for Russian steel). It looks like you need to work on your hammering. I see a few hammer dings. Next time pay close attention to how your hammer hits the steel. Be smooth and concise. Make the hammer go where you want, and don't forget to hammer on both sides so it stays flat. Great looking blade! It'd be a good camp knife.

I was thinking the same thing... It does make me think Russian Military(fitting for Russian steel). It looks like you need to work on your hammering. I see a few hammer dings. Next time pay close attention to how your hammer hits the steel. Be smooth and concise. Make the hammer go where you want, and don't forget to hammer on both sides so it stays flat. Great looking blade!

I agree. The pommel is awesome. Great blade! Please post pictures of the guard.

Don't dis Kung fu Panda.

Don, I just meant that I haven't been able to be in the shop much. I'd be fine working on just one project as long as I'm making progress. I've got the process down pretty well. I just need more time to refine my skill which I have a bit of now that it's Summer. I also need to update everybody here on more of my latest work. My next big project is a short sword which is in the making. I need to research some of the fit and finish work. I'm heading to Malawi for a 2week mission trip in July. Thanks for the advice. ~Isaiah

Nothing special, but it's what I've had time to do. The first two were forged. The third was stock removal.

I haven't done a whole lot in a while, but I managed to squeeze this machete in a couple weeks ago. It's a recycled lawnmower blade. I cut the profile, then forged bevels and cleaned up some flaws in the forge. I normalized, oil/edge quench, and forge tempered thrice. It's a good chopper. I'm trade/selling it for a backpacking hammock and $40.

You guys have been slacking. I know we have more forges around here.

It's a bit odd... I feel like a stranger here after being away from the forum for so long, and I feel unworthy of all the progress you guys are making. It's Summer now though, so I plan on using my free time before I head to Africa. Man, I miss you guys, and I miss my forge. I haven't been completely inactive, but I haven't made nearly as much as I'd like. I'm gonna post some of the novice blades I've been able to make in my free time since my last post in November.