Joshua States

There's more than two. Those of us who were in high school in the 70's (and were Marvel fans, not DC fans....) don't have a clue! Nice work though. Love the scabbard too. Hope to see more of your works in the future.

That's a great deal, no that's almost stealing it.

As for the finger grooves, think about where the fingers go, (each one of them) and decide if the shape is actually going to fit comfortably in the hand. Is that point in the handle supposed to go between the middle and ring fingers? Why aren't the pins aligned with anything in the handle design, or at least evenly spaced in the handle? The bolster looks like it has a square front edge. Is that intentional? What's that little point between the ricasso and the choil for? Is that drawing to scale? Would you like to see some photos of similarly designed knives to compare to/copy?

Gabriel, what grinder are you using? Does it have a wheel and a flat platen? Do you use a push stick when grinding on the platen? Do you start your grinding on the wheel and finish on the platen? Do you set your plunge cuts with a flexible belt rolled around the edge of the platen? Do you scribe a center line and grind to it? If you are cutting your bevels and plunge cuts with a file, do you use a stop-jig and a safe edge file? (BTW, the plunge cuts on that Gyoto-kitchen knife you made came out pretty straight) I'd love to help you along, but there are so many questions about how you are going about it that need answers before I can make any suggestions. Other than this one that is: Grab a piece of mild steel like Wes said, and profile it to a knife-like shape. Then post a series of photos of how you are grinding the bevels and plunges. Limit it to 6 pics or less. Then we can make recommendations on how to perfect your technique with the tools you have, or suggest some additional tooling you can make or purchase.

Jason, Welcome to the forums. You are well on your way to becoming addicted. Keep up the good work! J. Arthur Loose mad a very good suggestion. When I used to harden out of my forge, I always heated the blade inside a heavy square tube to minimize decarb and provide an even heat. Warming the oil as Jerrod suggested is also a good idea. I have found that quenching in cold oil is fertile ground for warping the blade. For straightening, I suggest a heavy vice with the jaws replaced with 3/8 inch by 1 inch by however long you can get them, copper bars. Most vices have the jaws attached with screws and they can be removed and replaced with other materials. I always pull my blades out of the oil and go immediately into the vice along the spine. The copper bars complete the heat dissipation and tightening the vice straightens the blade. If your blade is badly warped, follow Alan's advice. Reheat, straighten, clean up, and re-harden, followed immediately by tempering. Not knowing what the steel's composition is makes tempering a crap shoot, so I suggest treating it like 1080 at first and tempering for two hours. 1 hour at 275*F and one hour at 300*F.

This is absolutely brilliant. I'm beginning to hate this website......it makes me want to quit my job!

Looking good Lukas. Have you been using that new 2x72?

Very nice Alan. I've been planning/making my first bearded axe for about 3 years now. It just keeps getting pushed down the priority list. It's about 25% done......maybe this will get me going again. I'm trying the Austin method, if it doesn't work out, I've got this as a back up, thanks. BTW, where do you get those handles?

What ever happened to that idea?

Sounds like a contestant for: http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=32473&page=2#entry314735

Not just for knifemaking, but for general blacksmithing (usually a few knife guys associated) and if you are interested in the forging aspect of making knives, you could check out: https://www.abana.org/ navigate to the affiliate map, and you will find: http://blacksmithing.org/ It looks like there are 4 chapters in Florida.

Inspirational Owen, truly. The blade forms are spot on, and everything looks great. It's no wonder you are doing well with them this year! Gonna have to copy some of those..........

This was a great read. Thanks to both Matt and John for making it possible. Now I have to read the first 41 pages....... Matthew, if you are serious about coming to AZ to do a demo in the winter, I might be able to arrange that. Our local chapter of ABANA (AABA azblacksmiths.org) does a demo every January in the Phoenix area. PM me if you are serious, and I will put you in touch with our BOD and program organizer. Maybe we can work something out. I certainly have enough room at our house for you and your family to stay.

When I was a kid in upstate NY there were still plenty of chestnut trees around. We used to go harvest the nuts in the fall and roast them. Mom would put them in the stuffing for the T-day turkey. They were also great climbing trees.

Thanks John, all of that was extremely well presented and helpful. what size wheel is that? Looks like about 8 inches.

For clarification, I was thinking more along the lines of this type of hood/flue condition.

I don't know if flue size on your forge will follow the same equation as the one we use for masonry fireplaces, (I can't imagine why not) but this is how the flue is sized for a solid fuel fireplace to make the drawing action work well for smoke and gasses. Take the area of the opening at the hearth and multiply by 10%-15%. That gives you the proper area of the flue pipe. Larger sizes let too much heat escape up the flue, smaller ones don't draw well. So, if your forge has a full hood that extends down to the floor (where the fire is burning) and an opening for easy access to the fire, take ~12% of the area of that opening and you have the size for the flue pipe. A opening roughly 6 inches wide at the top, 15 inches wide at the base, and 18 inches tall is roughly 189 square inches.12% of that is ~23 square inches. 23=pi(r^2) tells you that the diameter of the flue pipe is about 7 inches. Using the 10%-15% rule says that any pipe from 6-9 inches will work.

I for one, would appreciate any photos that anyone who has offered, is willing to post. (videos are good too!) Two people come up with four times as many ideas as one person does, and everyone that you add to that equation increases the methods exponentially as they build off of one another. With so many experienced makers here, this post could become a wealth of information very quickly.

Spectacular. Family heirloom material.

Thanks Peter, hopefully I will remember that when the time comes along. That's a nice looking piece of steel. Any chance we get to see the finished product or more pics of the WIP?

I would agree Sam, if not for the fact that Mark titled this "Fantasy Sword" which (in my opinion), throws everything about traditional sword making out the window! Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate sticking to the "rules" about form and function (and the guard is kinda big), but every once in a while, we all have to step outside the boxes and do stuff just for fun, even if we end up with a "mistake". It's those mistakes that teach us the most, especially when we are starting out, or trying new projects. Viva il Libero Coltellinaio! http://www.denismura.com/cms/index.php?lang=en

Someone asked about brazing with a propane torch, and Alan confirmed that it's not hot enough. For those of you who want to braze and don't have an oxyacetylene setup, Bernzomatic makes a Mapp gas and oxygen torch that use the small bottles like you have on the plumber's torch. It's a little finicky to get the flame set, but once you do, it burns hot enough to do most anything on smallish stock especially non-ferrous metals. I use it to braze threaded rod to tangs on take-down handles. https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=mapp+gas+oxygen+torch&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-004

Crappy photoshop skills? Where? Nice job Wes. DeWet: Now see if you can lower the tang a bit and equalize the radii top and bottom. That will make for a much easier fit for the guard and handle. Centering the tang will also create better balance in the finished knife.

Looking good Mark. What material is the guard? The welds are cleaning up nicely.

No offense intended Daniel, but I must respectfully disagree. The choil (area where the blade edge meets the ricasso is done a number of ways. It can be flush as you indicated, dropped as in DeWet's initial design or modified with a choil "hole". (see attached pic) The reason for not joining the edge directly flush with the flat bottom of the ricasso area is for sharpening purposes. When the edge flushes out with the flat bottom of the ricasso, sharpening all the way to the end usually winds up scracthing the ricasso area or leaving a section of edge in a dull condition. DeWet: The first drawing shows a tang that is not centered on the ricasso section. While this is not necessarily a problem, leaving too little space around the tang may cause other design issues depending on the handle. Speaking of which, finish the drawing by adding the handle shape and notes for materials, embellishments, etc. Leave the tang in the drawing and you will see what I mean. The second drawing has a long sweep from tang to the blade edge. This leaves no "shoulder" for the guard to rest against. That won't work either. Draw the handle and see what I mean. What I mean by "choil Hole" Typical "dropped choil"