Freya W. Ward

Yeah, Smith and Forge is at the opposite end of Redd's. Too tart. I'll stick with my angry orchard when I want apple beer, amusing commercials though.

The influence of the almighty Lovecraft is far reaching indeed! C'thulu R'leyh wgah'nagl Fhtagn...

Trollsky's one of the best knifemakers on youtube, very informative and well constructed videos.

Yeah, not to make you think we're trying to step on your toes or anything, but we try to keep this a family friendly site. That is one beastly blade though!

Dear Gods that is a beast. Outstanding work, Jesus.

Allow me to add to the list! Bench Vice: A mechanical interpretation of the famous Bond villain, whose sole purpose is to hold material either too loose, or so firm it requires hydraulic intervention to rescue your now ruined piece of nickle silver. Over time this ingenious contraption will adapt itself to it's user's preference for squishing things beyond hope, and will allow it's jaws to stick firmly shut, even after multiple revolutions of the screw in the "release my material you savage beast!" direction. Attempting to lubricate the device will result in hysterics and 50 weight motor oil sloughed to and fro across your work bench.

Yep. It's just methane bubbled into soapy water. I know a couple amateur film makers who've used that trick a time or two.

I threw my vote to daggers and dirks, but in the case of cultural, I'd really like to see an open choice, I'd like to do some Celtic stuff for a change. Just my buck minus 98 cents worth!

I feel the cheeks of the axe poll are a bit overpowering next to the axe blade itself. Accept my offering of sub-par photoshop skills as a minor suggestion This is just a simple doodle of what I think would enhance the look and feel of your axe, feel free to disregard or alter it further. You've got a good project here.

For quick reference, this is a smaller brokenback I did a few months ago: http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=27231&hl=%2Bhickory+%2Bseax I went a bit shy of half the length of the blade with the break, but to a near sword length blade, this doesn't really apply, maybe around 1/4 or 1/3 of the length.

If you want a little more historic accuracy, you might try giving the clip more length and a gentle concave swoop. The edge already has a graceful curve near the point. Old brokenbacks were also widest at the break in the spine. Quite like it appears in the photo of the post forge, pre grind On that note, I really enjoy how this looks so far, even if you don't alter the blade shape, it looks fantastic as it sits

My gas forge is also an old freon tank body, so it is viable. After the paint has been stripped of course.

Don't bother running it through a smelter. You'll lose a significant amount of material. You could run it through a hearth melter to add carbon. You'll lose less material, but still a considerable amount. I recommend case hardening. Pack your material in a steel or ceramic tube, pack it with charcoal, and seal it. Build a large-ish bonfire and get your vessel to a nice orange color and hold it for awhile. If your material is already thin, 2 hours should be sufficient, if it's in the 1/2" to 1" thick range, you might be better off running a hearth. There are some nice topics in the buttons and bloomers section about it

Well, I'd do it with an air hardening steel and harden with heat sinks and not a liquid quenchant. L6 maybe.

Not sure if it was mentioned yet, but it's been my experiance that O-1 can sometimes spiderweb like a piece of tempered glass if you wait too long to temper after the hardening. It's only done it to me once, but after that it goes straight into the oven to temper after the hardening