Gilbert McCann

Looking good.

With J flex belts 220 and above I use graphite canvas or a piece of leather on my platen. I have a couple different pieces of leather one pretty compressed the other a little softer. The soft one can convex.

@Joshua States The middle is a 4 inch canister of 1084 powder and nickel foil to mimic "jelly roll" top picture is after first forging just over 1/2×2 inches. Then forged that to 2 1/2×.350×10 inches cut it into 10 pieces stacked and split. Thinking Choppers from concrete blades.

First try of feather(by myself).10 layers that were previously stacked 3 times.

@Gerhard Gerber By you sharing that I hope you don't mind what I say. First pull those Easter eggs out and see the doctor. Second thing I've had times in my life when I've needed help and I remember an ah ha moment after reading an assignment(chapter in a book) from my therapist. To say it was life changing may not be an understatement. 3rd walk the dogs then get in the shop. Take care of yourself. Gilbert

Dang

I wouldn't use acetone for final cleaning. I prefer Dawn dish soap or window cleaner wiped with paper towels. I'm not sure if that might be your pattern. Here's one I did.

@Joshua StatesThat came out great. Good on you for the generous donation purely altruistic or not. I think you would have gotten a smile out of Tim for this one. Sheath time

I'm liking these outer wrapped patterns more and more. Looking good. @Jaro Petrina

You're off to a good start. If you can find a local blacksmith group to join or a knifemaker to take lessons from or knife making group that should speed up the learning curve. In my case copying and watching are good ways to learn. My thoughts on. #2 some people start out free hand grinding. I used a push stick for the first 7 years until I had a private lesson a year ago now I do both. For me with a push stick I can really pinpoint the area to remove material. Like fixing a frown or smiley face. #3 I don't know what grit progression you use. I do know I use less than when I started. My progression with a simple steel 50,120. Then graphite coated canvas or leather on the platen and 220. At that point you can hand sand or go to 320/400 those belts in A/O don't last long. I started with a 1×30 made a few decent knives it's just slow. Ordering belts from a place like Supergrit or Trugrit may help the experience. Hope this helps have fun.

Not to do with bluing. I've had wrought that was pretty resistant to Ferric (with bubbles) but was affected by ph down (sodium bisufate). In that case I do time in both.

@Bill Schmalhofer Thanks. Wish you good luck in your recovery and future plans. @Doug Webster Good luck in your surgery and recovery. I have some ideas for handles that I can premake. My shop also has a lot of cleaning and organizing to be done. My recovery I suspect will be on the long side considering I'm a landscaper.

I definitely want to keep it fun. Thank you

I've been doing a lot of thinking this week. One thing is these knives should be done. A few minutes of etching for 2 of them, maybe a couple final sanding strokes on 2 and glue. After being in the hospital from Monday till Wednesday and having emergency umbilical hernia (4-6 week recovery) surgery. I realize I'm not indestructible. I'm in my late 50s and I'm not on any medication I've been lucky and my only trip to the hospital as an adult was from mountain bike racing getting stitches in my elbow. I do respect time but I should more. I could be much more productive just by focusing (unlike when I look like a goldfish in a bowl in the shop) and being more organized. So for now I'll impatiently waiting to finish those knives as soon as I'm able. When I'm recovered I hope to make some changes in lifestyle and knife/work goals as well. I hope I'm not in a hospital again. Gilbert

This may not be popular, but how about a hair dryer I have a friend thats been using one for a while. Julian Antunes made or maybe still makes some incredible stuff with what appears to be a hair dryer. I think just don't restrict the flow. It should be way more efficient than a venturi set up.