My Latest Progess (Pic Heavy)

[Bruno]

Hey All,

Not posted much lately.  Been busy.   Here is my latest work so far.

Been working on this batch lately:

 

Lets start with the first Fail of the bunch.  This guy was made from a file.  It had a slight crack/line on one side of the blade, I thought I could grind it out,but unfortunately the crack travels somehow straight down the center of the blade.  I broke the tip off and could see the crack going right down the middle.   Oddly enough it still heat treated without exploding and gets sharp.  I call it a fail.

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These guys are paracord wrapped over elk hide.  Sheath is 1/2 wood 1/2 leather with cord overwrap.  Worked out  nicely.

 

Here is a Hunter type clip point.  Stainless Fittings and Black Walnut Handle.  Elk Hide sheath.  Peening the end after all the glue and fit sure was stressful. But worked out in the end. 6 inch blade.

 

Here is a small kitchen knife I found hiding unfinished in a box somewhere.  Leaf Spring,  Manzanita Handle.  The Stand is also a raw piece of Manzanita.

I got some sort of activity on this blade after etch. Didn't come out good in the pic.  But was surprising considering this is leaf spring, and as I recall it was real hard to forge, feels like chromium in the mix.

Here is a larger Kitchen Cutter.  Got a lot of activity on this one.  Same batch of springs as the small kitchen.  Again, unexpected activity after etch. Dunno Whats going on here or why, but I don't think this is a 10xx steel.   Handle is made of "Cat's Claw",  dunno the real word for it.  It's from a local bush with lots of little thorns on it that look like Cat's Claw's, it's why we call it Cat's Claw I guess.  Related to the iron wood family I've heard before.   Stand is made of Red Oak:

 

And Finally here is a Kiridashi made from some sort of Mining Drill Rod I found out here.   150# test line, over wrapped with black leather.  The stand is made of more of that Cat's Claw.  Really pretty stuff when you look at it up close.

 

And for those wondering about the Mark on these knives.  Here it is.  My Makers Mark I finally got a stencil for:

That's all for now.  More to come as I can get to it.  Thoughts always welcome...

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Bruno

[Brian Dougherty]

That's busy alright.  It would take me 2 years to finish that many knives.

[Bruno]

The hardest part is resisting the urge to throw my newly made knives at something just to see how well they would throw. 

That may change when I get a proper target set up. 

The twisted one hasn't broken any further as of yet, so that's good.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Bruno

[Bruno]

Making some more progress. 

I've got 2 of these up to a mirror polish, waiting for fittings and etch. And the 3rd is almost at mirror.   Had to work some stainless down from the block I have, think it's 303,  for fittings.    I'm going to attempt to make the 2 Mutt damascus with frame handles.  So I rolled out some stainless for the frame and for some liners if I decide to use them.   Also, the third small one will have a ring guard outta stainless.

Unrelated,  but I also forged out a pallet breaker someone wanted.  Didn't take too long.  Worked on my oak pallet.

 

Now to figure out how to make a nice frame handle.  The ring guard should be fun too.

Gotta make more parts for the Power Hammer.  Having a lot of slop where the connecting rod meets the springs.  A breakage waiting to happen.   The Joy's of machine maintenance...

Edited June 10, 2019 by Bruno

[Bruno]

Just finished this one up.   UHMV for the handle and sheath.  First try at serrations.   This one is going to see salt water and is pure utility.

[Bruno]

Just finished this one.  It's the Small Mutt Damascus.   First attempt at a frame handle.  

Blade is just over 6 inches,  Iron wood scales with hidden pins.   Aged brass spacer.  Fire blackend stainless for the guard and frame.

The damascus started out as 3 brands of used bandsaw blade.  Then added a file, leaf spring, and drill rod.  Then added 15n20, 1084 and 52100 for good measure.

 

[Charles dP]

20 hours ago, Bruno said:

The damascus started out as 3 brands of used bandsaw blade.  Then added a file, leaf spring, and drill rod.  Then added 15n20, 1084 and 52100 for good measure.

Everything but the kitchen sink... or did you? Looks good though. A lot of visual interest there.

[Bruno]

Hey All,

 

Been a while, and it's been a crazy year.   Had a bunch of up's and down's along the way,  but still making.    Lucky enough to find a full time job recently, so not much left for forging time.  But I got a few pics of some completed, and a few in the works.   Not the best pics...

 

 

Here is a Bowie from the set above I finally finished.  Sheath needs a little more.

Leaf spring,  mild steel frame handle oil blackened,  Cat''s Claw scales.  12" Blade.  Very sharp.

 

Here is my latest, finished from the set above.   Puukko  style,  but not a true Puuko.   Leaf spring.  Couch hide stacked leather handle (a first),  stainless fittings.

 

Here is a kopis style machete I finished.  Horse stall mat for the handle.   Scary sharp, and you better have a good grip on the sucker when swingin...

Leaf spring,  18+" blade.

 

 

Wanted a rounding hammer, and did not want to replace the handle often, so  I came up with this.    Head ground out from a 8lb sledge,

handle is forged from leaf spring, normalized, not hardened,  oak scales, with bicycle inner tube underneath.  Comes in at around 9lbs total.

 

 

Old kitchen cutter I had laying around for years.  Leaf spring.  around 8" blade.

 

Another one from the set finished:   

Leaf spring,  very pokey,  stainless fittings, manzanita handle.  Slightly forward swept.   Traded this one for a rifle.  

 

These three aren't heated yet as I need to build a bigger forge.  Got a hot water heater tank to use, just haven't gotten around to it yet.  Not sure the tank diameter is big enough...

 

Leaf spring machete like object.  22+" blade.

 

Leaf spring.  Socketed boar spear,  probably 12" of blade past the gaurd.

 

And finally, a Chinese war sword I'm working on.   300+ layer rest of my twisted raindrop damascus on one side,  some other type of damascus on the other,  don't remember how many layers,  but I think it was a straight laminate,  and leaf spring for the center the extends down into the handle.    This was interesting to forge,  and it has a couple delams and came out rather thin in some spots.   Dunno,  will see if it survives HT...

 

That's all I got for now.  Plenty still sitting on the bench,  and too much work to do before I can even get there.

 

If it's possible, I think my sheath making is getting worse,  and always in search of the perfection I see on this forum, which is still elusive.   I'll get those nice straight lines and prettiness one of these days, maybe... 

 

Tell me what ya'll think.

 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Bruno