Randall

This is my first knife I made from a file. It was made from a Nicholson rasp. The blade length is 3.5 inches and overall length is 7.5 inches. This is my second attempt at a slip guard that was soldered on. The handle is made from wenge wood.

It finally snapped, I forged a bit thinner and did a quick quench in water. A little tap with a hammer and it broke right in two.

Thanks I will try that in the morning and report back what i find out.

Are all USA nicholson made files and rasps hardnable? I cut a small section off and quenched in water. I proceeded to hit it with the hammer to get it to break, I wanted to see how brittle it becomes. I could not get the piece to break.

Yeah I cut my finger on it, after sharpening it I seen a spot on the handle that could use a bit for sanding.

Well it's been almost 4 months since I brought hot iron to the anvil. It has been a blast learning as I go, but I think it is about time to reach out to someone local to help develop better skills. That being said this is a every day carry that I made for a family member as a Christmas gift. The blade was forged out of one of the railroad clips I picked up. The handle is made up of homemade black and red liners, and the wood is leopard wood. I also have a first attempt at a mosaic pin, but it looks almost like the epoxy resin is cracked in a spot deep within. Overall I am happy with it.

I finally made a hatchet with a straight head. I forged it out of 4340 and has a hickory handle. Any thoughts on working down the cheeks. I tried to work them down but ended up with a funking sideways looking mess. They ended up getting ground out to look more uniform.

This is a hunting knife I made from a piece of spring steel from the railroad scrap pile. I made a test knife from it before hand and it performed amazing. The blade is 5.5 inches with a 5 inch handle. The handle is made from bocote. This was my first attempt at soldering a gaurd a bit rough compared to some of the great work on this site, but I am happy with it. The video shows a little bit of the abuse the test knife got. Sorry about the video editing my teenage daughter put it together. YouCut_20191102_204815670.mp4 YouCut_20191102_204815670.mp4

This is a small machete, the blade is forged from a piece of 5160, the handle is a piece of Brazilian bloodwood. Blade is 12.5 inches with the handle at 5 inches.

This is my first hidden tang and guard. This has been a learning experience, and my first lesson is that I need a better set of files. The guard kicked my butt. The pommel and guard are made of brass. The guard has a aluminum top on it since my sloppy file work left a real loose fit. The pommel is threaded onto the tang. The handle is made from elm wood and oak with copper spacers. The blade is forged from a leaf spring. The blade length is 15.5 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. The hanndle is 5.5 inches long.

Thanks guys! I think I was hand sanding for about 3 hours... cant really say for sure it turned into a blur after the 600 grit

Finally a blade I want to show off. A coworker wanted a Bowie type of knife for a gift to his aging father. The steel is 5160, I forged it out and tempered it in the oven at 400 for 2 hours.

I also finished a hatchet type of blade last night. I started off thinking I would make a double bit blade but could not get both sides the same, I hacked off one side to make it a single head hatchet. I screwed up on drifting the hole it went wonky on me. Any tips on drifting straight? The cutting head is crooked as it gets.

Thanks for the tips guys, yes the one that holds a edge in some places and dont in other areas did have a burn mark on the very edge while grinding, I ground off the burn mark thinking if I took off enough of the burned area I would be safe. I guess I was wrong. Any way to save a blade after that happens? Other than pop of the scales and re-heat treat?

Third knife is also made from a recycled mower blade, hold edge well at the bottom of the blade, and top of the blade, but the middle third of it wont.