You are coming right along as well. Very nice.
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You are coming right along as well. Very nice.
i'm putting a local ad out for antler, and for certain steels in exchange for hand made knives.
i hope it pans out. i still have several knives to make from this mule deer rack. it was a deer taken by either my great uncle or my great grandfather, and i plan to make knives for several family members from it. i need to make sure i keep enough for that purpose.
Why don't you touch base with processing plants that handle deer? I'm sure the big ones are saved for racks but the small stuff might be tossed since they see so much of it. They might just give you broken or smaller antlers. If they do other animals you might be able to get some horn, too.
you're right, as usual. that's a fine idea.
I'll look around in my "stash", might have some antlers big enough to make something out of.
Gonna be a couple of days or so, gonna be busy.
I'll get back to you.
I pick up a bunch as sheds and also always keep my eyes pealed at yard sales and such.
Canid - I'm going to take the next knife I make back to the guy with the huge sawmill blades to try and work a trade. If I'm successful, I'll send you some steel if you're interested.
i'm definitely interested. i'm still out of work and have been for far too long, so i haven't been able to buy much or mail anything for some time.
I just did a check on Craig's List for Indy and there were five antler offerings. None were free but a couple were pretty cheap. Might be worth a shot in your area.
no such luck. indiana and central california are quite different places, culturally speaking. i don't think people around here truly value deer the way i do.
That may make the 2009 understatement of the year for LIFE magazine. Stacking Arnold beside Mitch would be like comparing Mutt and Jeff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Canid
Arnold: "I'll be back"
Mitch: "Okay. Come armed and have money. We don't take credit."
Great job Candid. You seem to have been very busy.
give california a break; most of these people thought they where actually voting for the terminator.
today i recieved two nice pieces of sawblade steel from crash.
i've drawn out profiles for 4 blades from them. i would have liked to make 2 of them smaller because i was hoping to have a strip leftover on one the the pieces wide enough for a small drawknife blade, but as it stands, there is material for one medium sized drop point hunting knife blade, and 3 similar blades of equal size, but smaller than the first. with this layout, there is very little waste. i'll put up some pics when i cut them out.
update; making my second hard sheath.
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/IMG_0133.jpg
i actually scavenged the walnut from the last bow i broke. i'm going to add some antler, and make a leather frog for it before all is said and done.
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/IMG_0134.jpg
the antler i cut out for the sheath did not turn out great, but i'll see if i can fix it.
It's looking great so far.
Canid, you really do fine work. I like those. A couple of things I did when I put together the wooden sheath for my machete and my Ghurka was to seal the inside with Thompson's Water Seal. I was afraid moisture or water would get inside and either impact the sheath or cause rust or both. I also placed a small hole in the bottom of the sheaths so water could drain if it gets inside. Granted, they are much larger than the sheaths you are making but I thought it might be something to think about since I assume you intend these as users.
this is a very rough draft outline for blanks from the saw blade steel crash sent me:
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/IMG_0148.jpg
i'll refine them pretty soon, but i've yet to even cut the steel. i wish to heck i'd bought that 19tpi bi-metal blade for my bandsaw when i had the chance.
instead of doing the three smaller knives identical, i figured the shape of that second piece lent itself to a santoku type blade pretty well. we'll see if i stick with it.
refined design and cut out templates:
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/IMG_0150.jpg
these have not been traced onto the stock. when i can cut them out i'll bench grind them to profile, grind the rough bevels and file them mostly to spec. before final heat treatment.
I like the designs that you came up with.
i agree a drainage hole will be a good idea. i'm also thinking of a soft liner.
the wood interior is sealed with polyurethane sealant.
this saw blade stock is tough cutting by hand, even after i annealed it.
i don't know if i'll get around to it until i can buy that blade for my bandsaw.
i guess i could do it with a cut-off wheel if i can borrow the dremel again.
Canid - my first attempt at annealing it failed (that's why there were no pins in it). My second attempt seems to have worked. I anneal mine in a chiminea (little outdoor fire place). First try (failed) I got a good bed of coals, put the knives in, got a good fire above until they were glowing cherry red then let the fire die down. My successful attempt was the same method, but kept the fire going for about six hours before letting it die down. A blacksmith told me that I would need 6 to 8 hours to soften them. Seems to have worked.
yeah, after trying to anneal with air cooling, it seems this steel air hardens a bit. that would explain the continued difficulty in cutting it.
i plan to make some smithing tools, including a rr spike hot chisel, so maybe i'll try to hot cut the stuff.
i've been doing a LOT of research in blacksmithing lately, and i'm trying to get some things together to start learning to make forged blades. i'm currently reading The Blacksmith's Craft, published by the Rural Development Commission of Wiltshire, England, and The Master Bladesmith by Jim Hrisoulas, the owner of Salimander Armoury, and from what i can tell, an extremely talented smith.
i still need to acquire some type of anvil or anvil material, and some other things to do even basic work. i have a friend who said he thinks he has an anvil, but i haven't heard back.
I picked up a 75 lb anvil last week. On the steel for those blades, I was at the gentlemans workshop today getting another lesson and he said it is most likely L6.
Are you bragging? I could pick up one that heavy too......with my two wheeler. :innocent:Quote:
Originally Posted by Crash
Harbor Freight has a 55lb anvil for $60.
The longer you keep a steel at non-magnetic, the more carbon you loose. My method to anneal is to heat an old window weight (those cast iron bullet shaped things you have saved because "there must be a use to these") until it is dull red in most spots and stick it in a metal bucket full of vermiculite. I will then heat my blade steel to non-magnetic and get it into the bucket near the weight and leave it for several hours. If it is a plain steel, this will work and keep the carbon loss down.Quote:
Originally Posted by crashdive123
Thanks for the tip.
Is the vermiculite just an insulation?
Yes. It keeps the steel cooling at a slow but constant rate and this is what soften the steel.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
Thanks. I was leaning that way I just wanted to make certain there wasn't something in the vermiculite that added to the process.
it's about time, with with my new steel sawing capabilities, i roughed out the blade for one of the drop point hunters i'm planning from crash's L-6.
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...-hunter-01.jpg
don't adjust your set; keeping a consistent bevel on a compound curve like this is hard. quite possibly beyond my skill.
i don't know what it is with me and curvy blades. this one isn't even all that practical, though i must say it has sex appeal.
as i said further back in this thread, the curves should probably be toned down a bit. i'll probably try to strike a good balance between this, and a tasteful suggestion of this curvature.
Hunter: if i can pull it off as i intend, some more of your antler is going to good use on these knives in concert with padauk and some cherry or maple in my first attempt at a nice puukko handle style. something like this:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3167/...13ded50fd2.jpg
but probably with much less class [i don't have any figured hardwood].
i have a 16-18" or so round of walnut that's been seasoning, sealed for over a year now, which has nicer figure, but is probablydarker than i want. i'll see what i can scrounge up in the way of pretty, light colored hardwood.
Woo Hoo - more knife porn! Looking good.
i've still gotta round up some brass flat stock. it would be too handy not to try and get a supply on hand.
i'll be at the home despot today anyway, i might as well see what they happen to have.
here's the scheme for the handle:
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...d/img_0222.jpg
http://i602.photobucket.com/albums/t...d/img_0221.jpg
i want to put some brass at either end before all is said and done, but it's antler, padauk, ash, padauk, antler.
That looks great! I really like the looks of this knife!
The orange accent is really going to be striking on that. Very nice.