Robakyo

Rich, just mind boggling, beautiful work. I've not had an opportunity (my work currently doesn't justify the expense) to use stabilized wood. How does it compare to micarta or other composites? Robert

Awesome Rich! Thank you for the additional pictures. I've tried my hand at engraving, back in art school. Not the easiest skill to learn, and that was on plexiglass and zinc plates. I really enjoy looking at the File work of others. I've learned so much from you and the other Bladesmiths here. Thanks for sharing your hard won knowledge. Until I actually tried to make a KSO, I didn't even know that people still did this the "Old Fashioned Way". That is how I stumbled on this(IFI) amazing website. Again, Thanks for posting Rich. Robert

Really great knife Rich! It is nice to see you post a pic of one of your knives again. Could you explain the components of the scales? I understand the mother of pearl section, but what metal was used in the bottom half of the handle that appears to flow up to form a bolster as well? That is really slick! Did you do the engraving as well? Wish I could see the file work as well. Your knives always have a nice flow to the lines. Robert

Of the three knives you've presented, I really like the second and third a lot. They have very interesting profiles. I really think that the first knife would have benefitted by having a ricasso. Instead, the blade/guard junction seems less stout. Robert

Stormcrow, Wow! That sounds like a manifesto. I think that you have made many good points. I find your work to be well crafted and visually appealing. I am still in that "missed hammer strokes" category, but I keep at it. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. Robert P.S.-I had written a longer response, but upon hitting Return, suddenly the page was unavailable, and everything previously written went bye bye.

I could be wrong, but I think that what you are seeing is "Owen Bush" with a stylized O butted up to a B. Inlayed brass, bronze, or gold? I can only imagine the amount of work and skill it takes to craft such a "simple" :rolleyes: sword. It has been difficult enough for me to just make passable knives. Robert

Great looking kitchen knives! What did you use as the guard/bolster material on the top two? I recently forged out a similar blade, and would like to try something other than metal, if possible. That curly maple is really beautiful material. Thanks for posting your work. Robert

RD, Thanks for the er... extremely accurate measurements. As for the angle, maybe I was a bit groggy when I wrote that. That was a good angle, and I hope to do as well when I eventually post pics of the knives that I am making. Robert

Your Dad is really going to be happy with that knife! Really cool pattern. It reminds me of shamrocks. Robert

RD, Your knife has a really nice profile. Excellent first knife. What are the dimensions? I'd like to see it from more angles. Robert P.S.- Sorry, not your first knife. It was late when I wrote that. -_-

Dodge, until you phrased it the way you did, I really didn't know why I didn't like that combo.

Since you posted pics of your first Integral Tomahawk, I've spent many waking hours wondering how it was done. I thought maybe splitting off a small sliver to form the spike end, but that has proven to cause a stress crack that is hard to stop. At least it has in some of the cleavers I've made. But that's a different story. Your tutorial shows why you are an excellent teacher. Thanks for sharing this knowledge! I really appreciate the efforts you took to present such a well documented, and clear presentation. The pictures are worth a million words. Robert

I recently read about a knifemaker named William Scagel, while researching Randall knives. Randall was inspired indirectly by Scagel, while using a knife made by Scagel to scrape boats. He marveled at the durability and edge holding abilities of that knife, and the rest is history. The Randall Knife museum in Florida has the largest single collection of Scagel knives in the world. Anyway, one of Scagel's creations was a drop point hunter, fixed blade with a secondary folding blade in the handle. He only made 12 of those. I didn't research that further, but seeing your example, I guess it would be something like that. "What's old, is new". Thanks for posting that. Robert P.S., William Wales Scagel (Feb 12, 1873 - Mar 26, 1963)

Stormcrow, Thanks for that link. I've seen it before, but kind of dismissed it when my eyes started glazing over. You are a patient man! I will study that animation again, and practice with real materials this time. I will also print out the response that you gave above to enhance the visual information provided in the animation. I have seen Tai Goo's work, and the Turk's head knot is used on many of his knives. It really looks good on your handles as well. Robert

Stormcrow, I wouldn't have minded having that knife along when I had SERE training. I have to say that this wrap material really fits. I think that your design sense is excellent, whether short or long blade, your work just looks cool. I really do like your hemp wrapped handles, but this just kicks it up a notch. Where did you learn to do Turks head knots? That seems like an important skill to learn. I Googled it and came up with unsatisfactory results. Great knife! Robert

Nicely designed knife. I especially appreciate how little you had to refine the profile after forging. Robert

Every time I see the work of professions, the learning curve seems almost insurmountable. Still, it inspires me to keep practicing. Great lines, and tight fit. The guard butts up to the ricasso very cleanly. Another aspect of assembly in a long list of things I still need work on. Really beautiful work Phillip! Robert

RIP Grant. I am deeply saddened by this news, and offer my most sincere condolences to his family and friends. What a brilliant, kind and humorous man he was. I never had the honor to meet him, but have learned much from him through the stories and advice he posted here and elsewhere. I vaguely recall a slightly raunchy story he wrote to explain how carbon steel is made. I smile at the memory. Goodbye Mr. Sarver Robert

That knife looks indestructible!

I initially researched other methods of bellows construction. Even a bellows plan for developing countries. Since car tires don't normally use inner-tubes today, I found that "easy" plan to be untenable. As WmHorus stated, "The Craft of the Japanese Sword", provides the information needed to construct a box bellows. Don't be hung up on a particular size. Once you understand the principles, build it to the size you need. Mine is 41 inches(L) X 14 inches(W) [ plus 5 inches for the manifold] X 23 1/2 inches(H). The piston has a gasket made from a beach towel. I used a length of mirror glued to the floor and the sides were old table tops that were faced with some formica-like material. If I were to make another one, I would use two piston rods instead of one. It produces an amazing amount of air, but not having used anything else, I don't know how it compares to anything else. Like any bellows, I suppose, you have the ability to control it to an amazing degree. I find that my forge gets up to forging temps with wood alone. I haven't used charcoal yet, but believe that with that addition, I would be able to forge weld. The japanese sword smiths did. The only drawback is that I use a lot of energy just tending the fire. It has allowed me to understand fire management somewhat. I do think that my bellows is on the large size, and that it could have been a tad smaller. Robert

Cool knives. Your handles are very well crafted!

Yeah, I'm one of those people that really like the second ax. I like them all. Please, tell me that you used a power hammer or strikers to draw out the beard on the last ax head. Awesome work! Robert

Phil, sorry that I haven't responded to you sooner. Thank you for all of your suggestions, as they have really helped. My burner is now complete. I still need to acquire a regulator, 8' high pressure LP hose, and a POL. My forge has been built at a glacial pace but the end result will be better than what I have now. Rich, Thank you for the reminder about what happens when you shut the forge down. Solder seemed like a good idea. I didn't realize that the burner would get that hot. Path of least resistance? Conductivity? I suppose that I could have removed the burner from the holder after each session ( I molded the flare shape into the refractory cement ), but that would be kind of annoying. Thanks a lot for your wisdom gentlemen. - Robert

Thank you all for replying. Jimmy, I'll look into the mechanical linkage and draw bar terms, and I agree that the price was definitely right! Thanks for giving me some word to research. Not having the vocabulary to ask the right questions makes it hard to initiate an effective search. Thomas, I'll do as you recommend. I was hoping that what I found might be part of the wheel suspension because of the tilde shaped pieces riveted atop the larger bars. There is a hole in the free end of said smaller piece that lines up with a hole in the larger bar, leading me to speculate that a suspension spring was mounted there. As previously stated, aside from its' asymmetry, it looked like an archbar. Phil, no it wasn't an iron overpass. At least not presently. It may have been at some point in the past, but now is a deteriorating concrete tunnel that spans the stream under a steeply graded hill. I'll spark test a section again in addition to the heat treat. I could have sworn it sparked like carbon steel, but now I'm unsure. I did that when I found it. If it is WI, I'll have furniture for quite a few knives! Oh, and thank you for all of the alternatives you suggested for installing the mig tip in a pipe nipple. I was able to get my burner built thanks to your advice. Now I just need a Fisher regulator, an 8' high pressure LP hose, and a POL. Easy peasy. Man, I am hopelessly slow! Again gentlemen, Thanks for your opinions and input. It is much appreciated. - Robert

Lenaghan, those are really nice examples of pattern welding. I'm usually more fascinated by the appearance of the higher layer count blades, but find your low layer count knife very intriguing! It has a cool organic quality to it. Really excellent work! - Robert