Gibbo

Am I too late to send some leaves I would love to contribute

Awesome ,hammer is in hand waiting your instructions teachers.im from Sydney in oz and I have learnt everything from this site and just havin a go,I can't find anyone nearby to learn off or even just watch through a window sneakily it can be frustrating but being able to take a class off you fellas will be great,can't wait my new gas forge I'm workin on should be ready by then bring it on.


Cheers Gibbo

Nicely done How did you get the rough texture in the handle

Looks like it will chop up just about anything ,good work, I've been meaning to hammer something out similar to this ill have to get onto it cause that's makin me jealous

I'd eat it , good job

One day I hope to produce something at least half as good as that,that knife is a bloody rippa,well done sir

Awesome

Very nice!

Very nice shape, just get your hands on some old leaf springs I found using them a good starting point and cheap too

Superbly crafted

That looks excellent,good job

Thanks again, "Gibbo grips" that's got a ring to it.the epoxy I used is called araldite it's made by selleys here in Oz ,I had holes in the handle and made sure to rough up the handle and inside the treads then mixed some epoxy slapped it on the handle and all in the holes slapped some on the scales waited a minute then lined them up clamped em and hoped for the best I wasn't sure wether I needed to rivet or bolt but when I unclamped the peice it had bonded brilliantly I can't pull them off so I didn't bother riveting or bolting.as for the PVC I had some 24mm Id PVC pipe layin around I cut just over half the diameter down the pipe about 100mm long for the belt loop and measured from ricasso to tip of blade marked it on the pipe adding a little extra and cut off then heated it up using my butane torch but a heat gun will do, continue heating until it's soft then squash i just used a peice of timber so not to burn my hands,while it was soft I inserted my knife so it could form to shape my blade width is 35 mm keep in mind that the Id of the pipe was 24mm it just fit ,there is a way of workin out what the id will be when squashed but I don't know it I was just lucky,anyways pretty much once it is heated it's like putty in your hands but it does get hard again within about 10 sec so be quick, the design possibilities are endless so enjoy and cheers and now I need a beer

thanks all and phil after sanding and cleaning there is no transferance from the tread. i just finished the sheath its made from poor mans kydex (pvc pipe),you just heat it up and mould to shape,i gave it some camo colouring it turned out better than i expected here is some pics, cheers

this one started out life as a leaf spring thought id turn it into a little survival type of knife,i had made up some homemade micarta for the handle but had a brainwave and decided to try some bike tyre tread i epoxied them on and it shaped well on the bench sander overall im happy with the outcome it fits beautifully in the hand and very grippy.comments and criticism welcome cheers.

this is leaf spring steel from a 70's model ford i picked up from a mate,i drew up my design fired up the forge and went at it, once i was happy with the shape i hit it with the belt sander then back to the forge for heat treatng brought up to non magnetic and quenched in canola oil, then tempered, handle is aussie red box.im happy with it what do you think

Thanks fellas I've got alot to learn but I'm keen as ,already planning some more just gotta find some time to do them

gday this is my first smithing attempt i made myself a forge from an old air compressor tank it works well, a mate got me some rail for an anvil big gauge from western australia found some dogs in some railway sleepers id bought for firewood and decided to attempt a knife,please let me know what you think,cheers

How did you do that mad pattern it looks sick