Stormcrow

A member of another forum who goes by the handle Dawgboy approached me with what he wanted in a knife, and we got down to designing it. After he saw my "primal/tactical" knives, he decided that he wanted a cord wrapped handle. He got to see a sneak preview of the scavenger blades that I posted recently (made from plow disk) to see the new style of cord wrapping and decided that he liked it. I used one of the hunters as a starting point and drew out a sketch, widening the blade and giving it an upswept tip. We made one alteration to it, and he gave me the go-ahead. Here's what it looked like after I had it blanked out from a piece of plow disk. This is a stock removal blade; the only forging done to it was taking the curve out of it from being a plow disk, and stamping my touchmark in it. I soaked the blank in vinegar overnight to clean the scale and rust off the blade while leaving the beautiful rust texture in the steel. After grinding, heat treatment, and wrapping the handle with hemp cord over leather slabs and a cotton Turk's head knot sealed in amber shellac, I sharpened it to shaving sharp. And this is what it looked like just before I packed it up and sent it.

That is one of the very cool aspects of custom tools: you can use materials that have a connection with the end user. Can't get that from a factory. Good work!

That's pretty funky! Good work!

Look good!

Thanks, guys!

You have to consider speed ratios as well on the tires. A bigger tire will turn more slowly, and a smaller one will turn more quickly. It is possible to run a Rusty too quickly for the spring, don't know that this applies with other designs.

These are yet another, different direction from how I typically make knives; they're stock removal. The steel of these is plow disk from my family's farm, which works out to be approximately 1080 high carbon steel. They were cut out, the profiles cleaned up, then they were heated and flattened, I stamped my touchmark, and then they were normalized multiple times. Straightening and stamping is all the hammering they've seen. The rest is grinding. The steel is about 1/8" thick. I tried out a new handle wrap method with these, one I have seen several different places. There is a slab of leather on either side of the tang, extending the full length. The hole at the end of the tang also goes through the leather. Then I wrapped hemp cord on top of the leather, going 'round and 'round through the hole at the butt end before anchoring it. After tying the Turk's head knot at the front of the wrap using black cotton cord, I sealed the wrap with shellac. It ends up being a very comfortable, slightly flexible grip. The texture on the steel is rust pitting from lying years and years in the dirt under live oak trees. I love the aesthetics of combining the works of nature harmoniously with the works of man. The Bowie has a 6 1/2" blade with an overall length of 11 3/4". It also has the first triple strand Turk's head knot I've done in a while. The others have double strand Turk's heads. The hunter/EDC knives have blades 4" long with overall lenghts about 8 1/8". The quasi-Nessmuk has a blade 3 3/4" long and overall length of 8 1/4" I'll definitely be continuing this train of thought.

Tire tread handle slabs has been an idea I've encountered a couple different places in the last month (just the idea, not execution), but using bike tread is genius! I could see this beneath a paracord ito wrap. I am so going to have to try that!

Thanks, Ptree. I'd be curious to know what the difference in height adjustability is between the Clay Spencer-style tire hammer and the Rusty-style guided helve. I know with Gunnhilda I can get a pretty good range, allowing for working wide material and using tooling. Anyone know? I am a fan of the tire clutch. Certainly not disparaging the tire hammer design, but I have my reasons for going with the guided helve design, and I think they're good reasons. A good-sized self-contained or utility hammer would be great, of course. :)

Y'know, the picture with you holding it is made all the better by the stains on the apron that resemble old blood. Nice ax! Is that forge welded, or made from a single piece?

Can't comment on W-1, but with my long 5160/spring steel blades, I quench for a count of thirty, then have another thrity seconds or so to flex warps back straight before the steel sets up all the way. A *very* useful trick for straightening at the point of tempering is to temper it once, then lay a flat, thick-ish bar of steel (I use an old file) along the blade with the flat along the inside of the curve. Then you C-clamp the warp against the file and cycle it through again. It's often useful to put a couple of washers between the file and the blade to let you flex it over a little more. It may take a time or two of tempering with it clamped, but it'll pull the warp out. This trick was something I learned from Rick Marchand and has been very helpful.

You'll have to experiment for yourself to see how your bactch works, but typically for spring it is between 350 and 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

These are a bit different from my typical work, and are leading to even more different blades from me in the future. They all except the little one with the ring are forged from Ford F-250 coil spring, multiple quenched in veggie oil and multiple tempered. Cotton cord Turk's head knots, hemp cord wrap, natural and black shellac sealer, shaving sharp edge. The usual. They are a smidge thicker than I typically do, with the Bowies starting at 5/16" at the blade/tang transition and the utility/EDC knives starting at about 1/4" at the same spot, all tapering distally to the point. These first two are pretty close to what I've been doing, except for being beefier. 4 1/2" blade, 9" OAL 4" blade, 9" OAL The Bowies are what have really started the gears turning. This one got dubbed "Thunderdome" by another knifemaker. 6 1/2" blade, 11 3/4" OAL 6" blade, 11" OAL And this little dude is quite cute. This one is a scrap piece of leaf spring left from forging a bush sword, with the thickness at the tang/blade transition 3/16", blade length 2 3/8", and 7" OAL. So now, looking at the Bowies and all, and with other things going on in my mind to help fuel the gears turning, my mind is contemplating the phrase "primal/tactical". This could turn interesting.

Glad to help inspire, especially given how many thousands of blacksmiths and knifemakers whose work I have perused for inspiration! Not bad for your first crack at it. I've never actually taken a jab at spearmaking (yes, that was a pun), though it's on my list of things to experiment with. One bit of advice would be to spread the butt-end of the socket more before rolling. To give you an idea of scale, on my bush sword handles, the preform before I roll the handle is around 2 1/2" across and the butt end is around 3 3/4" across.

Ptree - Could you put up pics of your latest version over here as well? Or if you already have, could you direct me to the thread with 'em? Your advice was quite helpful in building mine. Thomas - I've seen darn few homebrewed hammers that didn't look "hillbilly-ish" in some way. Conversely, some of the Rustys I've seen pictured have been built very neatly and even sport paint. I freely admit that mine (I call her "Gunnhilda", "Battle-maiden") looks a mite rough, but she hits hard. And has good control.

Bigfootnampa - My understanding is that it helps certain steels make the crystal transformation more complete (my understanding of heat treatment is basic, but it works ). Not all steels benefit, and for some it's actually detrimental. Steel with chromium seems to benefit, like 5160 or O1. It's analagous to the soak time some steels call for. Plain high carbon like 1084 doesn't need it. Can't tell you about others. Steve - Yeah, that's what I was trying to express above. Thanks! Don - Thank you. I'm still amazed at making things (always will be, I suppose) and like to show folks. My shop is at an art space, and sometimes I startle visitors a bit. "Who is that big guy wandering around with the machete?" "Oh that's just James. He does that. It's ok, he's a nice guy." :D

These were some progress shots taken by the photographer to whom I traded a bush sword (Paul Cruz). This isn't all of the process, of course, but it gives at least some idea of what's involved in making a bush sword. Processing the steel: After all the forging is completed, the profile is finalized on a grinder, and the blade has the scale cleaned off, filing the primary bevel: Heating the blade for the first quench: This is my favorite picture from the whole photo shoot: The first quench into veggie oil: Note that the camera isn't necessarily showing the color in the steel accurately. Checking with a file to ensure that the blade hardened properly (it did): Time to do it again: This happens three times unless there is a warp that requires re-heating to fix. Many warps (and long blades are more prone to that than short blades) can be fixed without reheating if you work quickly and carefully. There is a short time window after the quench before the steel crystals fully set up, and during that time the blade can be flexed back straight. Here I am doing that using my post vise and my vertical quench tank to flex against: Who is that handsome devil with the stylishly long sideburns?

1" x 2"

Is it going to be at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo? I'd love to come see this thing when you get it built! It's hard to beat the guided helve hammer as a balance between simplicity and functionality, in my opinion. Check this out: http://www.appaltree.net/rusty/index.htm I need to shoot an updated video with mine...

Thanks, guys! Bigfootnampa - They were made to deal with the hardwoods we have here in Texas (not sure we have a native softwood except maybe cottonwood?) and cut well but hold up well. There's a little secondary bevel on 'em. Teenylittlemetalguy - Closest to a hatchet I've done are these short-handled ones.

I got better pics of my axes back when I got better pics of my bush swords. I meant to get them put up sooner, but time has flown. 4140 steel, hickory handles. Big 'uns weigh about 20 oz., little 'uns about 16-17 oz.

It's been a while since they shipped, but I think the blades were around 13"-14" long.

I'd throw in my vote for a guided helve with a tire clutch, but that may be because that was the route I went. It's an Appalachian Rusty-style hammer. They can be scaled from 15 pounds up to 100 fairly easily. The design is very simple and very effective. And it can be built from scrap without a lot of material expense.

I commented to a photographer, Sean Stevens, who has just moved in at the complex where my shop is located, that the time that one of my roses is most beautiful is while I am nearing the end of making it, when the flames from the torch go down among the petals and are diffused, coming back up as a second flower of living flame. I said that usually I was the only one who got to see that beauty. He asked if he could shoot the process, and I agreed. I put his beautiful photographs into a slideshow: http://www.youtube.c...bed/LV1INAgmfhA And a few of the photos on their own, including my photos of the resulting bouquet of a half dozen steel roses:

Now, what you have to realize is that at no time should you suggest that, having given her a flower that will not wilt, you are not obligated to get her fresh flowers again. This does not go over well, even if she knows you are joking! In fact, you would be well advised to go immediately buy her a nice bouquet should you ever make such an utterance. I speak from experience. :)