Joshua States

Yeah man. That'll do the trick.

As for the size and length of the guard, I think it is a mistake to say "The guard really serves no purpose but to protect the hand from sliding forward on the blade". To be specific, I revert to the well know phrase "form follows function" and that applies to all aspects of the knife, including the guard. If the knife is a small working knife, the former statement about keeping the hand from sliding forward may be correct. However, if the knife is more of a sidearm and used for fighting, the guard would serve a different function, or two. It would serve to protect the hand from another edged weapon, and keep the knife from getting stuck inside a body cavity and making removal difficult. Size and shape the guard for the intended use of the knife. Form follows function.

When we were out there during May, I put up a trail camera on the lot. I got 938 pictures. 935 of them were of the wind blowing a small tree around. However three of them were at night and caught a nocturnal visitor.

We took a short trip back up this week and brought some building materials out to the lot. While we were around we took a short hike up to a little spot where there is a small canyon with a couple of waterfalls. The water wasn't running, but the area is still pretty and there are several standing pools between the upper and lower falls. Here we are standing alongside the top of the lower falls. This is the lower falls. The water has worn through the stone in two spots and undermined the rock making a natural stone bridge. To get an idea of the size, here is Liz sitting on the bridge next to the smaller of the two holes.

DUDE! Show us the photos of that cabin!

Very nice work for a basic shop. I still would ike to see some photos if you have the opportunity. We have a spot for showing your shop. It didn't make it too far, but it is still there: https://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?/topic/32847-shop-photo/#comment-317532 I think Jesus said that was a San Mai blade. So what you see as a Hamon, is actually the O-1 core poking out of the 15N20 jacket.

Aaron, that's a nice set and your story is very reminiscent of where I started out. I particularly like that little drop point you made for your wife. That's a handy little blade.

Dude! That's paradise right there.

Este foro es como una familia. Bienvenido a la familia.

Well now. That was a busy day......... Looks great so far.

Pero busque más gris en el O-1, esto es muy difícil porque O-1 tiene mucho cromo. Utilice un ardiente sin níquel o cromo y ponerlo en ácido o cafe Ain't Google translate a wonderful thing?

Mucho gusto senor. Este nabajo es muy bueno. Tiene usted fotographias de su taller? Estoy interesado en que herramientas utiliza alguien en otro pais . Mi perdon. No hablo Espanol, mais yo hablo poquito Mexicano!

Can you fabricate a sturdier work rest? I have made several job specific work rests for my KMG. Here are the links to the YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5WtQOWoc4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il88qhfoJnQ

I do this one of two ways: 1. I get the whole thing assembled and very tight, but not glued up. I use blind alignment pins to hold the spacer to the wood and a dummy pin to hold the tang into the wood. The guard and spacer are fit tight to the tang with no wobble or play. The handle pin is also very tight and there is no play or wobble there either. Then I wrap the blade in a blue paper shop towel and put it point down into my post vice. Shaping is done with rasps and files and then hand sanded with paper on a rubber block.Once it is totally done except for 3-stage buffing, I remove the dummy pin and glue it all together with a long pin so I can dome the heads afterward. This method allows for final finishing of the guard face and blade before final assembly. 2. Finish the blade and face of the guard 100% because you will never get back to them later. Rough shape the guard, spacer and handle and glue the whole thing up. Work it with rasps, files and hand sanding until complete. The pin in the handle ends up with flush finish (not domed heads) Buff the handle out. There might be a little slack belt work involved in both methods as well, but be very careful! It is so easy to slip on a slack belt and cut a nasty bit into the blade. On a knife like this, it is best to leave the machines out of the picture. Slow down a little and use hand tools. It is much more precise and you are less likely to screw up.

Probably a lot more work than you need to do. Does your grinder have a work rest? How about a large (6 or 8 inch) contact wheel? I have a couple of videos on blade grinding I can get you the links to, if you are interested. I do all of my blade grinding on a work rest. Very little is done freehand on my blades. Handles are a different matter and almost the opposite.