bnewberry

Beautiful work right there!

Very nicely done and finished!

Practice really does make perfect!

On the handle, you might find that having the center section larger in diameter than the two ends results in a more comfortable grip. I'm looking forward to seeing the results, especially what you do with the wrought iron. I have some that I've been saving for a special project.

Wood exposed to air (whither air or kiln dried) will reach equilibrium with the humidity.  You may never reach 8% (some people claim 10 or 12% is the lowest you'll reach air drying, but if it's dry enough you can get lower).  Even if you do, when the humidity goes up the moisture content of the wood will go up as well.  This is why wood shrinks and swells with the changing seasons. (And why a lot of people only use stabilized wood for scales.)

If the location you dry the wood is too warm or has too much air movement, it is prone to splitting.   You can minimize this by sealing the end grain.  I like PVA carpenter's glue for this, it is just about the only thing I use yellow glue for anymore.  Others swear by commercial concoctions (I believe one is called anchor seal) or paint.  Also slow drying will minimize cracks and splits.  I give pieces several months to dry unless the wood is porous enough to dry faster, hickory isn't that porous.

In any case, leave the pieces long.  You should split the pieces through the pith if you aren't cutting them down to scales now.  If you are cutting to scales, leave them oversized.

I prefer to de-bark before starting to dry wood since a lot of the bugs that attack the wood enjoy the bark and wood just under the bark and removing this reduces what will start eating your wood.

 

Good luck.

 

ron

+ 1

This is good advice!

I made these two knives at the same time for my first. I had wanted to make a knife ever since I was a kid. I finally decided to do it. These were made mostly with a belt sander. Handles are desert ironwood. I had these professionally heat treated but have since built my own forge and handle that myself now.

Wouldn't you have loved to shake his hand? I bet he had a grip of iron. I can't imagine two gross of knives in a day's work. That is simply amazing.

That was a really interesting video. Amazing what a man can do if he repeats something a few million times. I liked the pride he had in the knives he makes as well.

I swear I looked into the safety of antimony and it wasn't anywhere near as toxic as that MSDS reports. I'm really glad you posted that. I am a complete idiot. I knew antimony was toxic but I thought you had to ingest it or inhale it in an industrial setting for it to be dangerous. I'm glad I kept that idea in my head and went looking for information. Your wife deserves flowers.

 

I know a lot of ammunition hobbyists who cast their own bullets who used antimony in their mixture, so I'm guessing its not imminently dangerous, but I probably shouldn't be messing with it. I'm going to get some pewter and or maybe some copper. 

 

Man I'm glad I asked the internet about this one.

I'll tell her thanks for you. Be careful and be sure to show us pictures when you make something!

My chemist wife tells me that antimony is kind of toxic. Be sure to check out to be sure you can safely work it and wear it.

Here is the MSDS

http://www.usantimony.com/msds_metal.htm

Looks like inhalation, eye contact and skin contact Re not recommended.

Very angular and interesting. I would cover the tang with the lanyard hole with wood. You have plenty of curve for the kydex to grab.

Very angular and interesting. I would cover the tang with the lanyard hole with wood. You have plenty of curve for the kydex to grab.

Multiple posts. Sorry about that! I hate it when this happens!

Great first blade! What did you use to grind or polish the blade?

All nice, but I love the sheep horn! That really is nice.

Thanks!

If you can get them cheap, files are a good starting point when you try your first few blades. But if you really want to make a knife, use steel that is known to you. Otherwise the heat treat is a longish trial and error or a guess.

Don't get me wrong, old files are lots of fun and I've made a few small knives with them. But when I really want to make a knife, I don't start with an unknown steel.

On edit: what you want to make is more of a short sword. There are better steel choices for a prybar/knife than a file!

Rottenstone, which I think is powdered pumice.

I put a downward bend in the blade before I begin forging the edge. This compensates for the inevitable movement of metal as you forge the bevel.

Looks good. Wood? Steel?

Steel is 50100-B. Scales are desert ironwood.

That is nice work. Itnis tough to find good hoes these days. Most just use a shaft that get friction fit to a hole in the handle.

Nice work! The weld looks good and the knife flows very sweetly.

Stock removal on this one, but I did heat treat it in my forge.

I haven't tried this, but I have heard you can seal it with something. Crazy glue or poly or something like that to get a a shine on old dried bone. Good luck!

Are you sure about that as the first time you sharpened the chain the plating would be gone on the working edges.

The top and outside edges are typically chromed. That way the chrome does come off when you file the working edge. At least that is what I was taught in a chainsaw class.