Russell N.

thanks guys, this good stuff

yeah i figured, im gonna quench it in vegetable oil thanks for the warning

now that i look at it longer i see what you guys are talking about, too late to fix the shape though, think i should finish it like one anyway or just make a handle?

thats good advice tdaleh thanks but i am still working at 60 grit shaping my bevels, and it isn't finished yet is it mrkiddi , i am almost done with the bevels so by the end of tomorrow it should be ready for normalizing and heat treating

i got alot of good work done today on the belt sander, but i made a rookie mistake and was sanding without my gloves on and the seam of the belt caught the spine of my knife and yanked it out of my hand and broke my belt , the knife didn't cut me terribly bad but i am still gonna wait until tomorrow to work on it again

tonight i finished my forging, tomorrow i will go to the belt sander to shape my bevels. also would anyone know where to find proper heat treating clay near McHenry county illinois? that would be amazing

After another night of forging i think the blade is really starting to take shape. the length is 11.5" right now but will probably end up a little longer after i finish forging the edge. as it stands i think its going well.

thanks, i started forging the file into the shape i wanted tonight. i shaped most of the tip and bent the metal towards the edge so it would straighten as i forged the edge. but as you can see in the picture it is bending back more than i anticipated, i am going to to try bend it more towards the edge so it will come out mostly straight i want it to eventually come out something like the bob engnath tantos featured in JPH's "the complete bladesmith" and i am hoping to find some proper heat treating clay locally

I am going to try and make a japanese style tanto out of an old file, i plan on treating the steel as w-2 and I am using a piece of what i think is walnut to make the grip and scabbard. so far i have been contemplating it and have ground off the teeth from the file. Just wanted to know what you guys thought, all criticism is appreciated! this is the board and file i will be using My $2 grinding wheel the file after i ground off the teeth

Hello everyone, I live in McHenry county illinois and I have become greatly interested in blacksmithing/bladesmithing. After making a sub-par knife out of a railroad spike i got some books and have read up on the subject. I am looking forward to getting some real work done and getting advice from some experienced smiths. I will be sure to post any projects that i start to get some (hopefully) constructive criticism. I look forward to being a part of this community.