Joshua States

There was a chat room feature on this site not too long ago, It was in the first site overhaul I remember. So, maybe two years ago? Like Alan said, it didn't see much use. How's that Discord server thing work?

Careful there Matthew. Sharing a shop with another smith is one thing, sharing a shop with your spouse...…..well, that's something too. Kidding aside, best of luck with the search and business.

I haven't had much luck holding the handle pieces together with glues, but YMMV. I found that some always got inside the tang slot and buggered up the fit or got on the face and caused me additional work to get a seamless fit against the guard. I found a simple mechanical and removable system worked better. As for the JB Weld, it's not my first choice.I would take Jake's advice about getting a tighter fit and then reshape that guard so the lower finger protection was narrower side to side. Sort of teardrop shaped.

If all those pieces are pinned to one anther with blind pins, then I would definitely recommend finishing the handle off the knife. Trying to do it when it is glued to the blade is going to be next to impossible without getting stopped by the guard and having an ugly spot where the handle and guard meet. Somewhere around here I showed how I use a drywall screw and a washer to hold the handle together while sanding it off the knife. If I can find it, I will post a link. It can also be found here on page 1

This thread has more information on Wootz than my brain could comfortably manage in one go.

It's actually starting to look like there's a smithy here somewhere...….

Should I assume that "monetise method" is a spelling error, or is this something I have never heard of? Because, if it is a method I am unaware of, please do elaborate!

With a mortise I would suggest that you put half the handle on. Up tight to the guard/spacer/whatever and clamp the tang to the half-handle. Mark the tang where you want the hole and drill the tang hole separately. Then return to the clamp up and drill each side of the handle separately, using the tang hole as a guide. Then go back and slightly over size the tang hole (optional) to allow for any needed play or misalignment. If you have both sides drilled all the way through, you can also use the pin hole to align the handle slabs when gluing them together to ensure a square fit. I never drill through handle material and metal at the same time. Especially when the metal is under the handle material. That is just asking for trouble. I once had the metal spiral leave the drill bit and poke its way through a piece of buffalo horn. It was impossible to remove. It literally spiraled its way through the horn. Just my suggestion

@justin carnecchia I take it you were drilling though the handle and the tang simultaneously?

Yeah, and he has that nice rack of little boxes (left side over the bench) for those little doodads and stuff.

@Daniel W I have one foot in the knife making world and the toes of the other foot in the art world (my wife is the real artist blacksmith, I'm just her hired lackey) and all I can say is that do NOT reduce your prices below what you think the piece is worth, especially because some low-brow scoffed at you. fb is not a good gauge of what a piece of art should be priced at anyway. Your work is worth every penny you say it is worth. You do not have to justify your pricing to anyone other than yourself and if you don't think it's worth $100, nobody else ever will. As for the art/craft show idea, the only advice I can give you is either go full-time and do a lot of shows or stock pile work and do one or two high-end shows with a good variety of product and wide price range. Good luck on the career path, trust your gut and keep the fire burning.

That's a nice tidy space compared to what my shop typically looks like!

I actually like the pin as a design choice. I have been using that single mechanical attachment for a while now. Do you have a Dremel tool or Foredom? You could use that with a cratex wheel to polish off the fiddly-bits and clean that pin up.

I think of them as the "American Seax".........