Fox Creek

'good to see ya still working Ray. Very nice as always.

Alan, what's the benefit of a stave scabbard? Or is it just a cultural variation?

OK, for one hundred Bob, I'll pick Morocco.

Lovely. There is a subtle Asian nuance to the blade, even before HT (if I am sequencing the pics correctly)

Love the red vinyl tape. Years ago I worked in a shop where we used miles of yellow vinyl tape as mask-out for abrasive "etching".

beautiful wood, there. And, beautifully finished. There is a nuance to wood finishing that goes beyond the buffed lacquer of the 70's.

Hi Tim. I haven't seen you on-line in a long while, but maybe just didn't look in the right place. 'glad you are still kickin' it.

wow. That must be a 100 LB plus-ish "hammer", "ram" ?

STORMCROW! I remember Stormcrow well. Do you know Tai Goo James?

Hmmm, if you are not going for dramatic grain, European Beech makes a great all around wood for dirks & such. I bought a couple of 2-inch planks years ago, back when I was active, and used it on several dirks and sgians. It is hard, but not recalcitrant to carving, and not brittle. Stains and dyes well. Nice for replicas, goes "antique-ee" beautifully.

Alan, I imagine that the barium acts as an "accelerant", optimizing carbon transfusion into the iron. Lots of old shop manual recipes called for adding calcium carbonate to the mix as an accelerant, but I believe this was a red herring and a mistaken shop tradition.

Very nice indeed. have not seen you post on-line in a long time. 'hope all is well and hearty.

I second that Alan. Fiery beard!

That is Engravers Pitch in an engravers bowl. A rounded vessel containing thermo-plastic pitch. You heat it up with your torch to liquify the surface and embed your work. When it cools your work piece is held rigidly so you can work on it. Heat it up to release the work.