PeterM

I have no idea what this is, but I love it. It reminds me of a huge dashi with a bit of tanto and some chopper thrown in the mix. But, then the handle throws everything out of whack! So.... call it what you want, I'm going with "Woodsman's Dashi".

I shaped the walnut "slabs" so they get wider towards the butt. The tang is drilled and the forged copper liners are "skeletonized" to reduce weight.

Woodsman's Dashi
Blade: 4 7/8" of Aldo's 1084. Flat ground bevels with 2000 grit hand-rubbed finish, forge-finish flats.
Handle: 4 1/8" highly figured American Walnut w/ Tung oil and buffed Conservator's Wax finish and copper pins. The forged and skeletonized copper liners feature hammered bevels. The leather lanyard has a large faceted walnut bead and three hand-turned copper beads.
Sheath: in progress

Thanks for looking. Please share your comments.
Here's a few photos. I'll take some better shots when the sheath is done if a couple of days.

Thanks Dick.

The Fortress is an extraordinary place. Its the largest historic reconstruction project in N. America with only about 1/4 of the original fort and town completed. Although work continues to this day.

Dick - Next year come up for the "Thunder in the Highlands" weekend. On the concluding Sunday the riders all ride en mas to "Storm the Fortress". This year, 9354 motorcycles rode the 1/2 hr from Sydney to the fortress to spend the evening. Its an amazing sight to see all those bikes ride through our little town(I live in Louisbourg) of just 7000 residents.

I spent this past weekend at Fortress Louisbourg attending the "Hammered at the Fortress" hammer-in. We had a good showing with about 30 smiths from around the region, and hundreds of public visitors to the Fortress who stopped by for a look-see. I only had time for a few shots just after setting up for the Saturday start.

It was a great event with great weather. Lots of visitors with lots of questions and a good time was had by all.

This is the courtyard housing the hammer-in. In the surrounding buildings there are three blacksmith shops(all working), a bakery(also working) and the carpenter's and boat builder's shops. Just a few of the participants had set up when I took this shot.


I REALLY like this anvil stand.


We had a herd of sheep stay around for most of the weekend:


This guy specializes in fabricating real wrought iron railing and decorative pieces. He also made horseshoe nail rings for all the attendees.


This is the "main" blacksmith shop. These days it is still a working forge and is used every day of the Summer/Fall season for demo's. You can see the huge bellows in the background.


A little better shot of the bellows:


This anvil was purchased in France twenty years ago to compliment the forge's inventory of period pieces.


This grinding wheel is also still used.


This is my set up. I borrowed this anvil from the fortress. It is a replica of the original, 300 years old, armour's anvil which is in the main blacksmith shop......


These are the two pieces I was able to pound out during the weekend.

Well, last night I did the dirty deed.

My friend's woodworking shop provided the venue for the destruction test. Along for the entertainment was Glen(a retired IBM exec), Blain(a guitar and violin maker) and Blain's son( just a neat kid). Glen shot the video while Blain-and-son cowered in the corner ducking the occasional wood chip.

The rope is brand new 1 1/4" manilla.
The 2x4 is, well.... a 2x4, that has been stored under cover outdoors for many moons.
Here is the uncut video. No, my voice does NOT sound like that, but that shouldn't detract from my Emmy-worthy performance. Shades of De Niro I dare say.......

**If one of you tech wizards can do the embedding thing, that'd be wonderful.**

I probably should have shown the blade/knife pre-test in the video. Suffice to say, however, that it was in the same condition as when last posted here.

On the first swipe at the rope, I hit the rope on the ricasso. My wife, of course, pointed out the obvious... that my aim was off.... Thanks sweety! The second, successful, swipe was about an inch below the first attempt. Prior to the filmed attempt, I did a practice cut which easily went clean through. The successful filmed cut actually wasn't as smooth as that first one. I think I just had a bad angle.
In the video, I mention that the blade failed at about 45 degrees. After looking at the video, it looks like the blade failed closer to 35 degrees or so.

The 2x4 chop went fine, although I started to tire towards the end of the second cut and my accuracy went down the toilet.

The hair shave also went fine. Glen didn't get the best shot of this, but it did shave smooth and clean with the portion of the blade used for the chopping.

Overall, I am happy with the performance of the knife. It performed the tasks a knife should be able to perform. The big question I am left with is: Why did it crack on the spine and not on the edge... isn't that the reverse from what is expected?

Here's a few still photos:
This is Glen helping set up the rope in his shop:


This is Blain's vice that will be used for the bend test:


The 2x4 set-up:


First chop:


Second chop:


The successful rope cut:


The post-test edge:






What does this photo tell you?


And finally... Intrinsic Motivation.... Destroyed!!

Some of you may have detected why I'm using THIS blade and THIS knife for a destruction test.......

I forged and shaped this blade as an intended gift for my neighbor who has become a great friend. He's a hunting guide. It was to be a start-of-hunting-season present. I drew up a design I thought he'd be happy with and actually use. The blade forged out just fine and the shaping and grinding went well. I was starting to like the blade. I began to clean it up a bit an play with the layout. That's when I drilled the holes for the peened copper plate. One hole was off.... wayyyy off, making the copper tag all askew and odd looking, and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

That's when this became a destructive test knife.

It was to have a much thicker wrought iron guard, much like I made for "Thorn"(posted here several weeks ago), and a Figured Oak handle with copper accents.

If I had to pick one defining feature/sequence of this build, it would be the S-guard. By choosing to use it, I limited the dimensions I could make the handle. As it is, the bottom edge of the handle does not line up with the bottom of the ricasso. Its a fraction to short because that's all the flat space I had to work with on the guard. I probably could have spent more time modifying the guard to that end, but its a somewhat fruitless process. The guard was made several weeks ago as a practice piece for the one on "Thorn". The shape of this guard fit the original design I drew for this knife. So, its not meant for this knife, but I went with it. That decision dictated everything that followed... to a degree.

The blade is hard, straight and sharp. The knife is well balanced, solid in the hand and lighter than I thought it would be. I think its fairly well built. We'll see.

Now I'm off to make another one of these knives and hopefully my neighbor will have it in time. But first, I'm off to find some rope and 2x4's. I'll revisit this thread when I'm ready for the testing.

Thank you all for following along with this thread. I've enjoyed the conversation and I will benefit from the tips and constructive criticism. Please continue to offer up any advice that I can use to make my knives better.

Thank You,

Peter

Ok, without further a due, I offer up for your scrutiny......

.... a knife I have named:

INTRINSIC MOTIVATION w/ custom MMS

Blade: Aldo's 1084FG, 8 1/2" of sharp edge, 1 7/8" at its widest, 3/16" at the ricasso with forged distal taper and bevels and semi-brute de forge finish. Hand rubbed to 1000 grit finish with a peened copper maker's mark tag. Sharp as hell!

Handle: 5 1/4" American Wild Black Cherry, stainless steel pins and buffed Watco Danish Oil finish. Forged and etched 1/4" mild steel S-guard w/ gun blued faces and high-polished edges

MMS: (Motivational Management System)
This is made using Wickett & Craig veg tanned leather with hand-cut lacing and hand-made copper beads(turned on my drill press). The handle "cuff" is heavily contoured on the inner face then wet-formed to create a true custom fit with taught, smooth edges. All leather parts have a lightly buffed Bear Grease finish.
NOTE:
This, one of a kind and yet to be tested, knife retention device is something I was drawing up in my brain from day-one of the build. Lately I've watched countless videos of chopping contests and I've seen several versions of both fore and aft mounted lanyards. This is my version.... to me it makes sense. I wanted something that was functional, adjustable, removable, and not cumbersome, but I also wanted something that looked purposeful and as if it belonged. I went through three versions of the handle piece and settled on this one, but I also made a more versatile version that could fitted to other knife designs.

The photos:

Cal-K -
... and what about the integrity of the spacer? Or that of the pinned tag? Is this handle style strong enough and ergonomic enough for the task?

I'm testing a knife, the whole knife, made the way I make knives.

Cal-K - I suppose the short answer to all your questions is:

I'm not making a test knife - I'm making a knife that will be tested.

I can give you the long version if needed.

BTW - I am NOT taking the actual ABS JS test. This is being done purely out of curiosity and on my own terms.

The final steps......

I'll begin by backtracking and show my sharpening process.

This is directly off the grinder with the edge established using a warn 320 grit belt.


The 1" wide contact surface of my belt grinder is poor for maintaining a perfectly straight edge. So, I'll refine the edge on a fine wet stone( I can't remember what grit).


Working the edge:


Then its on to an 8000 grit wet stone to work up a consistent wire edge:


Finally I hone the edge on a strop filled with green compound. I'll do this for 100 or so strokes - slice into the wood table to remove the wire, then another 50 or so more strokes.


I'll continue checking the edge by shaving hair. My eyes are getting a bit worse these days so I have trouble see a REALLY fine wire edge. So I'm constantly scraping the edge over my fingernail feeling for that edge to "catch". When the entire length of the blade shaves hair and freely cuts paper....... I call it "good enough".


Good enough!
I removed the tape and gave the blade a thorough cleaning with acetone. Then I gave it a coat of Conservator's wax and buffed with an old tee-shirt:


Ready to peen on the copper tag. I gave the pins and tag a good cleaning with acetone. I also gave the underside of the tag a coating of Conservator's wax: (sorry for the crappy photo)


First pin cut and ready to peen:


Second pin ready to peen:


Done!:


One is a bit sloppy, but that's only consistent with the rough-finish look of the whole knife:


The knife is done, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer to see what this is:

I didn't have a lot of time today as I had errands in town and a lawn in need of mowing. I also didn't take a lot of photos today. But, the knife is pretty much done. The handle has been buffed and the blade sharpened and this evening I'll peen on the copper tag which is all prepped and ready to go.

This is my buffer. I have several different wheels, but for this I'll a sewn and a loose cotton wheel.


I won't need the Tripoli for this. I'll just give a light buffing with White Diamond and then carnauba wax:


I beveled the edges of the copper tag:


Then polished to 1500 grit:


Time for sharpening.
I'll create an edge with a warn 320 grit belt then refine it with a 20 micron belt. Then its on to wet stones. Later I can polish the edge with a leather belt.


I hate putting in all the work to achieve a nice hand rubbed finish on the blade only to have it ruined with a halo of teeny scratches from sharpening on a belt sander. The blade is taped completely then trimmed carefully. I'll sharpen right through the tape to prevent those scratches:


This is my pre-sharpening edge:




More in a little while. When I come back maybe I'll explain this:

Castglegardener -

I use the wood pins for several reasons. The wood pins won't generate heat the way metal pins will. With the amount of grinding I did, the metal pins would have gotten way to hot and ruined the epoxy bond. Also, I like to have something in the pin holes to help prevent chipping as I work on the handle.

You're welcome!

The handle has been sanded and oiled. I now have to leave it for the afternoon to dry. This evening I'll do some detail work on the guard, get the handle buffed and polished, and put a sharp edge on the blade.

To start, the pins are sawn off and filed flush:


Good enough for now:


Its time to fine tune around the guard and spacer:


Before:


Getting there:


I need to round off those flat surfaces on the handle:


Working with a file, the front is done and I'm starting the butt end:


An old 120 grit belt will help fair in the handle contours:


On to 220 grit:


Fine tune the curved butt:


The handle and copper spacer have been sanded with 400 grit. I'll give a final sanding with 800 using Watco Danish oil. I'm careful working around the steel pins so I don't work any black steel dust into the wood grain. This will then be wiped down very well and given a good, sloppy coat to soak in for an hour or so:


I'll leave this to dry before buffing. I still need to detail the guard and spacer and give the blade an edge


After:

Yup.

Phil - My drawer of shame is deep and full.

The pins are in.

I have some copper wire that I thought was the right diameter, but turned out to be just over size. I had my hopes up for a moment.


I'm using 3'16th" stainless steel brick ties.


To prepare, I'm sanding on fresh 400 grit paper, a clean piece scrap cherry wood from the handle block. I'll mix this wood dust with the epoxy to use in the pin holes. As good as I am at drilling a nice clean hole.... I'm not very good at it and my drill press sucks, so it doesn't always happen. So, this blends any slop quite well, especially if very fine wood dust is used and a lot of it is used to make a thick paste.


The pins have been lightly sanded with 180 grit and cleaned with acetone. The pin holes in the block have been cleaned and run threw with an acetone-soaked Q-tip to raise the wood grain. I'm using standard 2-hr epoxy for this chore. Ready to put these in:


The pins went in nice and smooth with a light hammer tap. The holes were packed with epoxy and I'll let this cure over night. Tomorrow I'll saw off the extra length and file to flush. The pins on the other side are nearly flush.


Tomorrow I'll hopefully get this knife finished and put and edge on it.

The handle is roughed out.
I love working with cherry. I build and repair canoes and carve a lot of canoe paddles. Likely 80% of my paddles are cherry so I've become quite familiar with it. Although not from a paddle, this piece is an off-cut of 5/4's flat sawn that was destined for a mirror frame I built a while back. Nice solid stuff and I like the look.

I started by drawing some reference lines by eye:




I begin grinding in a depression on the middle line:


The belt sander wheel does a good job with this task:


This is feathered into a smooth U-shape:




I then take it to the vice(s) to remove the rest of the bulk with files and a Microplane 1/2-round rasp. I use this tool a lot when carving canoe paddles and it makes for quick going with remarkably fine control.


Done with the rasp:


I rough-shaped the butt end. Now I need to taper from the guard to the middle of the handle - creating the palm swell. So back to the belt sander for a bit of careful, tentative sanding:


I've spent an hour or so shaping this thing with large files. I still need to fine tune with smaller files and, of course, sand paper, especially around the guard.This is where I leave the handle to have some dinner. The next step is to get the copper pins in before I finish the handle.






.......back with more later..............

I got some work done this morning and thought I would post some progress photos while I have some lunch.

First - I should introduce my most valuable, and likely the most accurate, jig my the shop. A collaborative, albeit unknowing, effort between K&G Stabilizing, Aldo Bruno, Sharpie, Scotch Tape and myself, this is a jig Nick Wheeler would truly be proud of.... indeed he was the inspiration for it. When I saw(read) Nick do this with decidedly nicer tools and immeasurably more skill, this become standard procedure to confirm everything is still in alignment. Someday I'll get some fancy stuff, but for now this works.

I have a bar of precision ground 1" square, O1 steel, and a 7/8" block of stabilized Box Elder burl atop a clean slab of polished granite. I tape the top of the steel bar to protect the blade, press the ricasso down firmly and proceed to run the pen from blade tip to the handle butt - on both sides. On knives with a significant taper, the pen tip doesn't make it all the way to the tip, but it will at least indicate any problem by about half blade. When I want to check the blade tip I tape a sewing needle or drill bit to the block and check by eye. If any of this showed something was drastically off, then I screwed up somewhere.... something's not flat or square. I was pretty confident in the alignment before I glued it up anyway, but its a great post glue-up check and a good way to extend layout lines onto the handle block.




The conflicting pencil lines seen on the block were drawn last night when I showed the process to a friend. At that time the ricasso was still well wrapped with paper towel and tape which translated to falsely drawn lines.


After layout I could give the blade a good cleaning and wrapping, and tape on two protective strips of wood to the sides of the blade. I'll also wrap the guard a bit later. Now I can drill the pin holes. Check for square:


Two 3/16" pin holes.


The holes are plugged with a wood dowel:


Trimmed and ready for handle shaping:


The block is sanded down to my layout lines and is now ready for shaping. I use a new 50 grit belt for this and go cautiously to prevent heat generation. I don't want to screw up my epoxy bond:


The template lines are re-drawn:


Stock is removed:


The shape is refined with a new 50 grit belt:


The curves are refined on my drill press with a variety of wheel sizes. I'll attend to the very front edge later on, but the handle is now shaped and ready for contouring.


That's all for now.

Hi Phil - Yes, I've used both brands quite a bit. Mostly for canoe building though. I happen to be working on a 17ft wood strip these days and this is what I'm using for the fiberglass layers. It also dries crystal clear which helps show off the nice cedar strip hulls of these canoes. System Three is what I had on hand for this knife. The West Systems line is high quality stuff as well and could easily do this job.

I managed to get the guard and handle glued up and curing for the night. I was hoping to get this done by 10:00am this morning, but.......... I "chose" to spend most of the day installing a new toilet and bathroom floor instead.

I spent about two hours this morning (pre-bathroom reno) fine tuning all joinery. Then, just for shits and giggles, I blued the guard with some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue that I was given by a hunting guide who lives up the road. I've never tried blueing and I like the look, so........the guard was sanded to 800 then given two successive coats of blueing, then polished to a nice luster.

I started the day with a young, but determined helper in the shop:


Shaping the spacer:


Its a bit more "oval" than I wanted, but there's plenty of contact there.


Cut away some stock:


Shape on the drill press:


Checking the fit.... yet again. Just a nice perspective to detect if everything's flush as it approached contact:


Contact:


The tang was sanded clean with 180 grit, then textured with a file. Everything was then deburred and given a good cleaning with acetone to await assembly:


The blade was given a final polish at 1000, as well were the spine and ricasso. Then cleaned well and re-wrapped for gluing:


Here's what I use. I build and repair canoes, so I usually have System Three around the shop. Its a good epoxy and I'm used to working with it.


The tang is coated with epoxy steel and the guard lowered into place:


The same is done with the spacer, then the handle is fitted and press firmly in place. The handle is then clamped in place until the epoxy steel is set. After ten minutes, the handle block is removed and the faces cleaned well.


I let this set for 10 minutes then clean away the excess with a sharp copper wedge.


I'm looking for a nice smooth seam. I remove most of the bulk with the wedge, then use q-tips and acetone to clean it up. This side is almost there:


After I scuff up the inside of the tang slot with a broach and then clean it out, I pour in some epoxy, then mash it about with a stir stick to get it into cracks and such, then pour in more. I use a bamboo skewer to poke around and get out any bubbles. I'll let that settle for a minute or so before inserting the tang. I also give the block face a coating of epoxy.


The tang is slathered with epoxy being sure all the notches and crevices are filled in, leaving no air bubbles:


The tang is fully seated and the excess epoxy has been quickly wiped away. I don't mind leaving a small bead of epoxy around the handle/spacer seam. I just don't want any epoxy left to dry on the guard, so I go to lengths to get it right:


And, finally.... after everything has been checked and double checked for alignment.... its time for my gluing jig.
I'll leave as is it to cure overnight.


Have a great night,

Peter

Gruel.

Progress!

I managed to get everything fit and nearly ready for final assembly.

I still need to check the joinery - yet again, cut the handle block more to shape, give the guard and spacer a final shaping, and give the blade final polish and cleaning. I might get it glued it up later tonight..... we'll see.

Anyway, this was my day:
Start with a reference line for the shoulders. I don't have a file guide so I do this by eye and feel.


Here's my mark:


Check for square:


I'm using a warn 120 grit:


Finished on the grinder:
Spine shoulder -


Lower shoulder -


Fitted with the guard. I needed to contour the lower shoulder to the slight curve of the guard.


NOW I can give the blade a good cleaning and wrap it with paper towels and tape:


To fit the spacer I need to extend the surface area just the bit. So I set up my Rube Goldbergian jig on the drill press with sanding wheels and remove fair in a longer flat.


Just a check to see where I'm grinding:


Tape up a piece of 220 and smooth things out a bit:


I accept this for now:


I redrew the tang and handle layout to the new profile and marked the drill holes:


Check for square:


Drilled out. I used dummy bits in the previous holes so the active bit didn't drift into the adjacent hole:


I made up a bunch of broaches to clean out handle slots. These are old T-shank jig saw blades that I soldered together and ground to shape. I have singles, doubles and one triple. I've used these for years and they work fairly well.


I use these two the most:


Drill holes connected:


I also midified this rasp to fit into the slot and clean up the sides. The flat-side teeth are left intact.


Cleaned up a bit:


To get rid of any slop from overzealous digging, I use two small strips of bloodwood vaneer.


These will be attached to the sides of the slot with quick setting epoxy using the tang to press then into place. The tang will be removed just as it tacks up.:




All contact surfaces have been cleaned up and the joints checked for fit.


This is where I stop for dinner:

Here's today's work:

To this point everything has been rough shaped and fitted. And it shows. So, the first thing is to clean up the blade/guard/spacer fit.

The shoulders need to be refined and radiused, and the adjoining guard slot needs to be fine tuned to accept the radiused shoulders.
There can be no light showing from this angle as well as from head on, and the fit will be tight and solid.


The next step is to refine the guard/spacer fit. This will entail removing a bit of stock from the contoured handle-side face.... essentially extending the length of the flat contact surface.


AFTER the guard/spacer fit is perfect, I can move on to the handle. I have a template from a previous project, that will work just fine for this knife:


Mind you, I will need to do this layout again after the fitting session described again, but......
Handle profile is transferred to the block and the tang is positioned appropriately. I then extend those lines to the end surface and layout the dimensions and position for the tang slot. ** keen eyes will detect that I'm using a block of fairly plain Cherry, rather than the Maple I earlier mentioned**


The blade, at the ricasso, is 3/16", so I'll use a 5/32" bit to drill the slot holes and then carefully refine the fit with broaches and files.


Being that the drill bit is only "so" long, this determines the depth of the hole I can drill and somewhat correspondingly, the length of the tang.


So, block and tang are marked with reference lines and work can begin. Again, I need to do this part of the layout again after guard/spacer fitting to get a more accurate layout.


So, there's today's work. I'll take photos of the process along the way.

Thanks for putting up with my decidedly poor photography.

Doc - The simple answer is: I just don't have a proper edge quench tank set-up.... at least for this large of a blade. I have a old roasting pan that I've used for small blades, but its hardly big enough for this piece. I could likely fit it in the pan, but I'd have no room for any agitation to break up the vapor jacket..... it'd just sit there.

I'm looking for an old, long ammo can just for this purpose.

I don't do it that often, but when have it hasn't been an issue for me. This time I just ran out of propane in the middle of the process and left the blade in the water wayyyyyyyyyyyy to long while getting a new bottle ready.

Matt - The blade is 3/16th at the ricasso with a distal taper to near zero at the tip.
.
.
.

I just finished the copper spacer for this knife. Here's my process:

This backyard shed is where I keep my forge:


My Chili Habenero forge:


Anvil and canola oil quench tank:


I'm using a piece of an old boat propeller shaft for this spacer:


I'll use the small piece on the right:


Showing promise:


Forging is completed:


I just need a small portion of this plate:


I'll flatten on the belt sander:


Refining the surfaces and getting a consistent thickness:


All these little vertical scratches need to vanish:


Rough shaping is done:


Marked and drilled for the tang slot:


Filing one hole big enough to fit my saw:


Sawing out the remaining material:


The spacer has been filed and cleaned up a bit. It is now completed and ready for assembly:


That's all for now folks.

More to come...........

Justin - I've made three knives with these peened tags, all much shorter of the hunter style. I just like the look, and plan on doing more. However, if I'm going to continue to do this, I need to know that the knife's integrity is not compromised..... especially on larger blades like this.

I know, I know..... if I want to make a knife that will pass the test, I should leave these out of the design. But, what I'm doing is trying to test what I like to make. If this feature fails, then I've learned a lesson, and will drop the concept without a second thought.