some finished projects...some in progress

[oneraindog]

been on a productivity roll in the primitive skills class. both in bringing some projects closer to being finished as well as having new projects opened up and added on to the to-do list.

of the few that are closest to completed i wanted to share a few of my favorites.


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this is a knife i started way back in...november i think was the blacksmithing clinic. finally got a chance to sharpen it up and finish the sheath. not to toot my own horn butim really proud of my sharpening job. thats the first thing ive sharpened from truly dull to a working edge. i cant quite manage to get it "hair popping" but it takes off the paper slices decent enough.

maybe some of you other knife nerds can help me with some sharpening pointers. like i said i can get it to a sharp working edge and i know thats good enough but why is shaving sharp still so elusive? i use a diamond sharpener to get the working edge, then switch to a japanese combo wet stone to try and get it razor sharp. all i can manage to do is develop a bur which, once removed, actually seems to leave the knife duller than how i got it with the daimond sharpener.
does this make sense?
ideas?


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this is a wingbone caller! i think this might be my favorite project yet just because its so easy and so cool and so much fun to use. for anyone who doesnt know this is a turkey call and its made from the wingbones of a turkey!
how great is it that inside a turkey is the makings of a tool which will help you catch MORE TURKEYS.
irony.


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at the top of the photo is a net shuttle i carved from a piece of cherry wood with a bundle of dog bane cordage i made from a bundle i harvested last year. in the class we are all adding rows to a communal fish net which will hopefully be put to good use in the spring.
the folded packet is a sewing kit envelope we made out of rawhide. just a quick fun project.

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i dont know if anyone remembers a post i made a while ago with concerns about my bow stave but its come a long long way. there was some checking but i managed to cut the bow shape around it/below it and everyting has been going pretty good i think... actually ive recently brought it a lot further than this photo. i finished rasping it down to shape, sanded the back smooth and now i just have a bit of thinning to do on the belly before i think its ready to start tillering. word.


thanks for looking

[Trabitha]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

[welderguy]

I like the rawhide sewing kit cool idea nice work

[hunter63]

Very nice, the sewing kit sorta reminds me of the "parfleche" bags.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...ed=0CBsQsAQwAw

[Camp10]

Try stropping the knife on some leather for a last step and see if that can get the knife to shave. Assuming you are keeping your angle consistant and working the edge so that it forms the burr, the leather should finish the job. Some fine looking projects!

[oneraindog]

@ hunter- i love the parfleche bags.
on another website from your google image search i found a blog on a Cheyenne parfleche bag and the author made this great observation about how scared containers were to early peoples and how today we put our most valuable items in the cheapest of containers. plastic bags for food is kind of weird when you really think about it right?
i know its sort of a necessity given the mass production/consumption of food but its the very fact that it has become necessity that i think it says so much about modern living.

[oneraindog]

Try stropping the knife on some leather for a last step and see if that can get the knife to shave. Assuming you are keeping your angle consistant and working the edge so that it forms the burr, the leather should finish the job. Some fine looking projects!

what iw as doing to take off the burr was either to strop it a bit on denim pants or to lightly drag it backward (away from edge) along a piece of wood.
either way i just seemed to end up with a duller knife then what i started with. the problem must be in my initial sharpening technique?

[Ted]

Way cool! Sounds like an awesome class! I really think they should taech that stuff in high school! Thanks for the post and pics!

[crashdive123]

Very nice work ORD.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

That blade looks alot like a Mora! Nice work!

[your_comforting_company]

ORD, when you get down to the shaving edge, take lighter forward strokes (like shaving a piece of the rock off). let the whetstone do the work, and use fewer and fewer alternating strokes. If you start off on a fine stone doing 3 left strokes, and 3 right strokes, then the last 6 or 8 strokes should be 1 and 1. don't dig into it, let the rock do the work. Leather is a nice buffer if you have a good sturdy belt. hook it up around your legs and hold it tight while you work the blade backwards. If you have a fine hone stone, I would just use it instead of the leather.
the main thing is being too aggressive. It doesn't take a lot of pressure to put a fine edge on a blade once the edge has been established. Make sure you are consistent with the angle or you'll get "rounding". be patient and take your time and I'm sure you'll get it.

Oh, and those are some excellent projects! Thanks for sharing! I'm particularly interested in the turkey call. It's funny the way many animals have adapted and evolved to fill our daily (etc.) needs. I found a poster about using deer parts. but I cannot attach it! arrgh. oh well. I'll try to find the link again and pass it along. maybe you can use it in class

[Pict]

You do nice work. It always feels good to know you have the skills in your head and hands to make the stuff you need.

Dogbane is great material. It is my personal favorite for making cordage.

Are you able to talk turkey with that call yet? It is ironic to use a dead turkey to call in the live ones.

Mac

[hunter63]

@ hunter- i love the parfleche bags.
on another website from your google image search i found a blog on a Cheyenne parfleche bag and the author made this great observation about how scared containers were to early peoples and how today we put our most valuable items in the cheapest of containers. plastic bags for food is kind of weird when you really think about it right?
i know its sort of a necessity given the mass production/consumption of food but its the very fact that it has become necessity that i think it says so much about modern living.

I am kinda favor the old ways of thinking as well, some time the white eyes can be pretty stupid and work way too hard.

Anyway, I saw the sewing kit and the parfleche bags thought just jumped out.

Did a couple of deer hides in raw hide a while back, and making one was/is still a "round to-it" project.

Like the turkey call, as well, what do you use as a "scratch board"?

[oneraindog]

thanks everyone for the positives!

YCC- thanks i think agressive grinding has been a problem for me. i will try and practice that technique.

pict- its talking....sort of. ha. im sure i sound more like a squeaky chair right now but every day i give it some practice so hopefully by turkey season i will be attractive to turkey ears.

hunter- no scratch board the call is sounded by sucking in through tight, pinched lips.

[Runs With Beer]

I would like to see how you made the sewing kit, How is it folded?

[Stargazer]

I like the wing bone turkey call.How hard was it to make?Not thinking the year before last I gave away a set of wings.I was hoping to get a turkey last season but no dice.If I get lucky come April I would like to make one.