Ecart

There is a guy over on the Middle Earth Ranger forum that used heavy roller chain to make an axe. Nice axe too. I'd post a link, but I don't seem to be able to :( . I've got quite a bit of the chain that was being thrown out at the mill where I work. I haven't tried to weld any up since my forging skills improved, so I can't help you there. If nothing else, you could do a san mai type construction with it, insert maybe a 1095 bit?

If the shoulders are squared, it will lead to a crack/break in that spot. The junction between the tang and blade is the weakest part of the blade. There is a lot of force exerted on a knife at that junction so you want to eliminate any opportunity for breakage there. I have to watch out for this in my day job as a saw filer. If the gullets (bottoms of the teeth) are squared, it will surely crack. This is why ships have round port holes instead of squared windows too.

That's usually how I do it. It's the neatest way I've found to fill it. I'm working on eliminating the gap if possible. But the gap is beside the point, this is a good 2nd knife!

Nice looking second knife! I agree about the gap, but I'll have to say that I really struggle with that myself.

Google Klingspor's. They may have the belts you are looking for. Rich and Thomas: I've read several of your posts today that are very insightful and was contemplating asking if either of you needed a new sidekick for comic relief or something. :lol: I think I could learn a lot just looking over your shoulders.

Rich, I certainly see your point. I'd hate to put a whole lot of work into something just to have it unpleasant to the eye.

What materials did you use? For some reason I didn't expect layers from a can weld . I expected it to be pretty random actually. That's impressive! I look forward to seeing some progress pics as you continue on this project.

I agree with you about the drifting. It is the one reason I haven't made an axe from scratch yet. I've turned a couple of claw hammers into axes, but I haven't had to drift them. Maybe today I can light the forge before the weather gets up to the predicted 102 degrees and start working on my first axe or hawk from scratch.

Hmm, I think I have one of those clips rusting away in a tub in the back yard. Maybe with the right amount of work, I can find a hawk hiding in it too. :lol: But I think I'll practice drifting an eye on the more populous RR spikes that brought the clip with them when they came. As usual, very nice work Chris.

I like that walnut. Nice piece of wood.

Great looking knife. How did you finish the cherry?

I've worked with quite a bit of walnut on my handles. I got a good bit of it for free. If that's not walnut I'd be surprised. I like the shape of the blade! Really good job.

Let's see if my eye is right: cable, walnut handle slabs and brass pins?

Sigh... I still need to get books II and III. So, my reading list is about to grow again. Eastern swords aren't my thing, but the techniques used to make them are worth studying to improve my skills. They are truly beautiful and this one is no exception.

Glad to know that about the bearing races. I recently picked up some larger ones from work. I'll test them before I use them. If they aren't great quality on their own, I may try to use them in some damascus. BTW: those are some great looking untensils from spikes.