Stormcrow

That is *very* cool!

I've finally got the ball rolling on everything and am working on the first batch of tomahawks since getting my new heat treatment furnace set up. I'm first working on taking care of military orders, then will work on the rest in order. Here's the first batch of five. I plan on working on six at a time in the future, but I wanted to get these finished and to the customers ASAP. All of them have sharpened inner beards except the second hammer poll from the left. I know some of them are hard to see in the pic. It was taken under fluorescent lights at night in my shop. Here they are on the combination tempering/coating baking rack in the big 3 phase kiln that I use for such operations. At this point, they've been normalized, ground, and hardened. And the two heat treatment devices side-by-side. The new furnace, dedicated to the hardening phase, is on the right. The 3 phase kiln, dedicated to tempering and baking on the finish, is on the left. The first tempering cycle is just starting and the kiln isn't up to temp yet. The rack I use for normalizing is to the right of the furnace, with only one foot visible. The quench tank is just out of the shot on the right and forward. Also, after wrestling with the idea for a while, I've decided to name my models. Model names for blades can get really gimmicky for some folks, but I wanted something straightforward that would be evocative of the intended use. So, I chose War Chief, Wrecker, and Woodsman. War Chief (combat spike) on the left, Wrecker (pry spike) on the right. And Woodsman (hammer poll): I have a pretty good handful of orders to get made, and should start putting up some finished pictures in the next few days, all going well. :)

That's a lot of very cool work!

Got some feedback with pictures recently from a customer freshly out of the Marines. He had gotten this as a graduation present earlier in the year for his younger brother who is planning on attending West Point next year: Well, he also wanted one for himself, about a half inch longer with a double edge. This is what I built for him: And these are some of the pics from his camera that he sent me afterwards: His comments: "Only took me a couple of minutes to get through all three of the limbs in the two pictures, and still shaved hair off of my arm with both edges. After going through some branches about thigh size along with a lot of other smaller branches, I did a quick touch up with a wet stone. Took no more that 45 seconds before it was shaving sharp again. You did an amazing job thank you." That's what I like to hear. :)

I like it. :) Looks good. I avoided slab handles for a long time to not have to deal with getting it flat enough to mate up cleanly.

Indeed! You only get so much from pictures. Ben does good work; that's some clean grinding.

It's not often that I get a chance to own the work of another custom knife maker, but I got the opportunity recently. When I posted my last cleaver, Ben Tendick said he'd like to get one at some point. I had actually forged another cleaver at the same time as the one I posted that I had forgotten to stamp my touchmark on, something that almost never happens. I offered a trade for one of his knives, and he agreed. The cleaver is 5160 and paracord, and the belt knife is L6 and curly maple. I think we're both happy with the trade. :)

I don't *throw* them, but I've been known to drop heat treated blades from shoulder height onto a piece of concrete (don't want to take chips out of the floor, and the landlord wouldn't appreciate it either!) to test the strength of the tips. Also stabbing into an old clothes dryer, with caution about any hand slippage. I'd say that point type is less important than the general geometry and certainly your heat treatment when it comes to point strength. It's a factor, but you can make fairly pointy tips to be strong.

Excellent! I think you're going to enjoy this. :) I've liked what I've seen from the Youtube videos of this machine.

I got these pictures today in my e-mail from the customer who had gotten a matched pair of Benghazi Warfighters for himself and his wife. This is the 578th feral hog that the wife has killed since the spread of the porcine plague reached their ranch in early 2008. It's around 220 pounds. If you haven't seen the damage a herd of hogs can do in a single night, it is amazing and devastating. They have reached my family's farm in the last couple of years and when they hit it looks like someone got drunk and went plowing, tearing up acres of ground as they search for grubs and other edibles. They are a terrible infestation here in Texas, and I rejoice at every one killed. Since these are killed for population control (and due to their huge numbers), the wife typically cuts out the backstrap and disposes of the rest of the carcass. She commented on how the blade cut effortlessly through the tough hide "like butter" and how the handle fit her comfortably. Both are things I like to hear from a customer. :)

True, Thomas, but most knife steels a beginner should be using are going to be just fine with a triple normalization cycle.

And when you're planishing, use light blows. You aren't trying to move a lot of metal, just smooth it. Don't let the steel be too cold, and don't get it as hot as when you were hitting with full force. Follow up with three normalizing cycles after you have everything straight.

Approximate dimensions, yes. :) The blades are about 6 1/2" and the spine starts at 1/4" and tapers distally. Not sure about the OAL.

Thank y'all! Jakesshop - Sorry, they've already been mailed to the customer. These are the best shots. Aden - I start with the same size piece of steel, forge them out as close as I can, then trace around a pattern and trim to shape. I've only recently started doing standard patterns. bikecopXXX - Use an actual tubing cutter to cut to length (by far the easiest and neatest way to do it), chamfer the inside a bit with a countersink, epoxy the slabs, and flare using dies in an arbor press. That's the basics of it. I got my dies from USA Knifemaker.

This was a commission for a husband-and-wife pair of sharp-and-pointies. 5160 steel, triple normalized, triple hardened, triple tempered. Canvas Micarta handles with flared stainless steel tubing rivets. And Kydex sheaths with TekLoks. They shave on the tops and bottoms, which impressed the customer. He said he hadn't gotten a knife with a sharpened top edge that was that sharp before. :D They ain't his first custom knives, either.

100 lb. homebrewed guided-helve "Rusty" type. I debated on whether to count it as "other", but went with tire hammer since it has a tire clutch. I named her Gunnhilda (battle-maiden). :)

That and a meat cleaver. :)

Thank y'all! After taking these pictures and starting to hike back to the shop, I came across this narrow fellow in the grass. I don't know what kind he is, but he's not a copperhead or rattlesnake, and wasn't near water, so I don't think he's venomous. He just wanted me to go away and stop following him around trying to get a good picture of him. :) He's at least three feet long, but not particularly big otherwise. He was well-camouflaged. If he hadn't tried to get away as I walked by, I would have never seen him.

Finished these three recently and got them in the mail. All three are 5160, triple normalized, triple hardened, and triple tempered. The sheaths are all built by Luke Swenson. All three sheaths are built to be ambidextrous (which, as a lefty, I really like), with adjustable height belt loops, and leg tie-down areas. Short bush sword: I forgot to take measurements before packing away, but this is approximately a 14" blade. The raised clip is a false edge. Handle wrap is black paracord impregnated with epoxy, with two-strand Turk's head knots fore and aft. Bush cleaver: About the same length, but a bit heavier. Also in black paracord with two-strand Turk's head knots. Mini-parang: Posted this before without the leather. Blade is 10 1/4". Hemp cord with epoxy on this one, with three-strand Turk's head knots.

Thank y'all!

I haven't seen the movie, but while standing in line at a Subway I noticed on a promotional cardboard display the he had *two* knives sheathed side by side in his belt, and one was definitely a railroad spike knife with a twisted handle. Being in the sheath, I have no idea of the blade pattern.

If y'all haven't seen it yet, one of my knives was tested out and reviewed by Kim Breed in the November 2013 issue of Blade Magazine, on page 28. Magazines being the weird critters they are, the November issue is on the shelves right now in August. :) Kim tested out one of my Benghazi Warfighters with a short, fully sharpened double edge. He refers to it as a Neo-Tribal Utility in the article, which is also accurately descriptive. He put it through a pretty good workout and I'm pleased with how the knife did. I particularly liked that he commented a couple of times about the comfort of the handle, as that's something that's important to me. He put the blade through a thorough series of real world tests and it did well. The number of rope cuts was a little low, but given that this is a knife built and intended to balance on the tougher side of things to withstand military usage and that bringing the edge back to shaving sharp is quick to do, I am overall happy with the performance. Kim didn't hold back with it and the knife served well. This is actually the second time that my work showed up in Blade, but the previous time was a letter to the editor where I thanked them for their article on the Bowies at the Alamo as the picture of the Caiaphus Ham Bowie knife in the article helped me build a commissioned replica I was working on at the time. I included a picture of my version that they published, but this was the first time that someone else's thoughts on my knives had seen print. I believe there are some more articles forthcoming in other magazines, but not sure when.

Thanks! 400 degrees for an hour x 3.

Been working on a handful of cleaver commissions since building the zombie meat cleaver for a KITH a while back. This one was shipped last week. I forgot to take measurements before packing it up, but the blade is in the 13" to 14" range. The steel is 5160, and the integral socket handle is wrapped in hemp cord, with three strand hemp cord Turk's head knots, all impregnated with epoxy. Kydex sheath with MOLLE locks. The blade is hair-shaving sharp, of course. :)

Thank y'all! I haven't been around goats much but their freakish alien eyes would make me have no hesitation in whacking one up for a barbecue. Haven't had cabrito yet; given that I'm in San Antonio, I probably ought to give it a try. Dick - After forging as close to final shape as I can, I soak the blade in vinegar overnight to eat the scale off, leaving the forge finish behind. That's what you're seeing.