Iron Striker

OK Thanks! I have a small gas forge that I purchased and I'm thinking of making my next one. 

Very nice job! Where do you get your liner materials?

Jamie

Thanks! I can tell that took alot of your time and I appreciate it. I'm gonna give it a try!

Jamie

Hand ground blades done free hand are not that hard at all. Just most folks do not put enough effort into learning. If youi get a twenty foot bar of mild steel and cut it all into blades and grind them all you will be close to being able to grind..If yoiu can find bp # 0235 It shows how I finsih knves free hand, and it is so easy even I can do it.

FordPrefect,

Thanks for the link!

Jamie

Cotton,

I have two small "C" clamps that work pretty well for that.

Jamie

I guess I'll have to try that - I've been looking at some type of jig since I have trouble with freehand grinding. VERY hard to get the grind line straight and even on both sides. That is so simple. THANKS!!!

Ken H>

Hand ground blades done free hand are not that hard at all. Just most folks do not put enough effort into learning. If youi get a twenty foot bar of mild steel and cut it all into blades and grind them all you will be close to being able to grind..If yoiu can find bp # 0235 It shows how I finsih knves free hand, and it is so easy even I can do it.

Some past threads have dealt with this. The most useful solution that I remember was to use a carbide masonry drill bit to drill the holes with.

Concrete blades do not require a steel such as L6,, the inner part of the blade is merely there to hold the attached cutting teeth which do the work. I does need some abrasioon resistance. but not likely a knife steel as we know it.

The blade at the top of the photo was made from a circular concrete saw blade. I cut it out with a thin grinding wheel with out any problems. I thought I had annealed it well, however when I tried to drill holes in it to mount on my grinding jig I could not get the holes drilled. I am assuming the steel is L6. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Jamie

I saw a jig made of angle iron and bolts. I believe it was CJS Knives. I was at a resale shop the other day looking for some angle iron to make one when I saw a heavy duty hinge. Here is what I came up with. Take the hinge apart and cut off the last pin receiver on the end. Insert a bolt and nut. Set at desired angle. Attach knife. Grind. The knife was made from a piece of cable, that I hope turns out well. The jig seems to work pretty well. It is alot better than my free hand style. I'll post the finished knife soon. Thanks for looking. Jamie

Awesome one man band! Nice tune!

I would have lost money if i were to have placed a bet on that. never knew that was possible. Amazing!

Jamie

Cool looking! Are ribs on the handel from the rebar or did you grind them that way? Rebar here in Texas has similar ribs. I didn't realize you could finish rebar to that high of a polish. Very nice!


Jamie

Mompy,

I just got started myself and I am learning that your list wil indeed be endless. I suggest you look around the forum and see what interests you, read all you can and then just start doing what you like asking questions when you get stumped.

Welcome to the forum.

Jamie

iron striker One of the bes tways I use is to smell it,,the good stuff will have product all the way through the wood. the product smells like acryclic and when I drill out the center or cut with a saw I can smell that smell in the shop. and the good stuff finishes really nice, I sand to a fine grit and hit on the buffer...if the handle is scratrch later I can sand out the marks and rebuff, done deal. I have bought so called stabilized woods from other places and later on sent them to be done as they were not done right at all. there was not smell inside other than the parent wood. the good stuff costs more but I cannot have all the work in a knife and then skimp on the handle. If you are making give away or sell fro low price knives it may not work for you.

If the answer to the above is yes and you intend to either infuse it yourself or have it done. Here are my thoughts. I do not know any commercial place that will try and treat wood that is not dry. Some woods like desert ironwood are so dense they will not take the process. That said, I will add that I have used stabilized woods from a lot of different vendors and there is sometimes a big difference in the quality. Some are simply not worth the money they charge and some are really nice. I feel good knowing when a knife leaves me that I have done everything I can to make it top quality. And that applles to this process. I have not yet seen a home grown process that to me is worth doing. But like everything there may be some folks that can do this. If you wish the name of who I use send me a note.

AWESOME!!!!

Looks like an awesome first try. When I first joined this forum, someone told me "Welcome to your new obsession". Ditto!

It would be good if you added your loaction to your profile.

Thanks for the pics!

Jamie Herring

Knots,

At some point I do want to have a forge that uses solid fuel. I bought a Diamondback two burner gas forge back in the summer that I have been learning with. I started out thinking I wanted to blacksmith in the traditional way, but time constraints (of making charcoal) and the lack of a coal source lead me to go with the gas forge. Ironically a coal powered power plant is being constructed less than two miles from where I live. The coal they will be using is railroaded in from Motana I think (Powder River Coal?). I'll have to find a friend there when it is operation.

Mesquite is plentyfull around here and is considered a nusiance tree unless you use it for barbque or in my case knife handels. I'm going to cut some up and give the stabilizing a try myself. I'll post some results soon.

Thanks!

Jamie

I have seen a video on a popular video website that uses a brake bleeder vaccum and a glass jar and one using a vessel for pressure painting. Both seem to work, one is more economical than the other. I new the heartwood of Mesquite was very durable. I'm glad to here it doesn't take much to make it stable.

Thanks for all your input.

Jamie

I was thinking of doing it myself. I have seen some posts that show how to "stabilize" using wood hardner and a vacuum. I have such an abundance of the Mesquite and I never thought of sending it out. I'm still feeling my way through all of this. Still reading a lot and experimenting. I have used Mesquite for different kinds of handels and have good success with just oil treated surfaces. Not time or field tested though. I'm mainly making "give away" knives for now while I'm learning.

Thanks for the information! Jamie

I have lots of Mesquite wood in my back pasture and I want to use it on some knives I have in progress. Some of the wood is still growing and I have some that was cut a while back. Is it better to used older dried wood for stabilizing or can you stabilze green wood? I assume green wood would be harder to stabilize since it is green an has moisture in it already.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Jamie

All,

If I understand this correctly:

You can't vary the speed on a single phase motor.

You can use 115V single phase (in) on 3 phase motors up to 1.5 hp.

You need 230V (in) for 3 phase 2 hp motors and over.

Correct?