parsha

Love the look of that stretched pattern. Beauties.

Though it is a little different than your usual style, it is still a beautiful knife 

Hello Folks,

Wanted to make a stainless steel kitchen knife since a long time but it is really hard to get 440C in sheet or flat bar. Finally managed to get my hands on 10mm round stock. Forging the steel was a completely different experience as I had forged only 5160 and old file steel before. Destroyed my first piece of steel rod as I heated to yellow heat and as soon as the hammer contacted the steel BOOM !!. It just crumbled. Started on the other end of the rod and it again cracked cos of lower heat. 

Was a real bummer. 

Finally managed to flatten the rod by using a 12 hits technique.  Heat to bright orange and count 12 strokes and immediately back in the forge. I guess the high chromium content makes it difficult. 

I made this edc some time back with the thought of having a strong and wide blade to tang transition.

That is a beautiful knife Joshua. Making a frame handle has been on my to do list for a long time. 

Unfortunately I don't have access to a temperature controlled oven now. 

A good long soak in warm soap water followed by brushing with scotch  brite wheel on an angle grinder should get rid of all the oil. 

Do I call this a good heat treat? Blew off pretty much all of the scale on the edge after rubbing it with a scotch brite pad.

Tested with a file and the file skates off without biting at all. On to the tempering light straw/ dark straw at the edge?

Sure Alan. Will take that advice and quench in vegetable oil instead. As it is I have already forged the edge almost to final thickness. 

I have seen several khukri making videos in which the kami carefully pours a stream of hot water on the edge to harden but I guess they have perfected the method by years of practice .

So oil is the way to go for me 

Made a slight change and straightened the tang . Basically moved the hump in the tang a bit more closer to the blade than before.  Also widened the blade portion a little. Will be doing an edge quench in water

Nice simple clean blades. About the copper guard on the first one is that made out of a solid copper piece or a pipe? I would like to make a guard like that some day for one of my knives.

Even I am not sure if I should call it "pocket parang" 

What I am looking to make is something similar to Greber pack axe in weight and size but shaped like a parang . Normally I haven't seen a parang less than 7 inches long blade. Basically a small size tool but with more chopping power than a normal 3.5 inch blade bushcraft or edc knife. 

Let's see how it goes

And drawing out the tang is completed. Now to make the profile a bit less curvy...... or not ....

Hi Folks,

Working on a very small version of a parang made from a piece of truck leaf spring. 

I am thinking of a 3.5 inch cutting edge and a long ricasso which I am thinking will give good forward weight to such a small blade .

Aiming for OAL of 9 inches. Need advice about how to shape the tang give it a good downward curve or keep it straight at an angle where the ricasso ends at the handle. Also looking for suggestions about overall design. I am thinking a peened wooden handle should be nice . Right now it is at 8 inches OAL and will be drawing out the tang a little more

There is something about your style Jake. You make the simplest knives look beautiful. Have always been an admirer of your work.

Thank you for the clarity Alan . Adding this to my someday to-do list  

Right Alan. I thought so also that this is definitely not soldered. So got my brain in a tizzy how this is done. I love the look of that crossbar . I am not sure the knife has a crossbar on the bottom part of the bolster also but that seems unlikely. I cannot find an image of the bottom of the bolster.

Would a staple or blind rivet be strong enough? 

Hi Folks,

I was looking at some of the knives made by the legendary Bob Loveless and came across a feature on one of his stiff horn pattern knife. Image copied from Knives Illustrated 

It is called a crossbar on the bolsters and I am wondering how this is constructed?

Nice work Alex.This is going to be one beauty of a dagger. Can't wait to see the finished piece.

I am under the impression that this is rosewood as it is really hard to cut and had a strong turpentine like smell. When cut fresh it had a dark brown appearance with reddish streaks. I am not very sure why it turned almost black. I had applied 4 to 5 coats of linseed oil after final shaping and somehow it turned darker after each coat. I will try to obtain some renissance wax and danish oil meanwhile.

Thank you Doug. I am trying to explore ways in which I can have a full tang for a part of the handle and a through tang or stick tang for the remaining part.

Working on a persian style blade with similar construction at the moment.

Hi Charles,

It's a combination of rosewood and teakwood. Rosewood for endcap and front bolsters and teakwood in between.

Thank you Ron. I must admit your version looks more appealing 

Hi folks,

Had this small bear claw design stuck in my head since a long time. Wanted to give it an antique look with the design. The overall length is 5.5 inches made from a leftover piece of leaf spring. The finger hole was cut with a dremel and then drifted with a round punch. Brass is from the body of an old brass water tap.

It can be held in a reverse and forward grip. The wood pommel gives a really secure hold at all times.

Would love to hear all your critiques on the design.

Hello folks. Finally got around to finishing the knife . Need some advice about polishing the handle a little more though. Beeswax and a varnish coat should do fine?

A dry fit ( without epoxy) assembly of the knife. Everything fits nice and smug. Ready for the final assembly now.