iamzeus

Made the sheath today in olive kydex. It was waaay easier than i thought it would be. My homemade kydex press worked like a charm. Came out really nice too.

Finally finished my first friction folder and i LIKE it :D It is far from perfect but it WORKS! It locks very securely but it's very loose when it's closed so i might make a little sheath for it if i want to carry it with me. Like my 2 other knives the handle is homemade micarta made with my moms old jeans and this my first knife made with 5160 (old car spring). I can proudly say that this knife cuts just as well as knives that ive bought online. I was also working on a tactical bowie but it won't be finished for a loooong time. I badly sprained my wrist while boxing so forging is out of question and im going to basic training in the canadian forces next month. Won't be smithing for a while :(

Yeah i know, i wasn't going to bring it to basic. Useless anyways. I just want to finish it before basic because i won't be able to work my forge for a long while. I'll most likely make some for other people than to really used it since i'm going in as a communications tech. But hey, never know when you can be sent to a danger zone. Better to have something you don't need than not having it when you need it :D

I'm actually making something similar for myself to use in the military lol Can't wait for basic training in october :D Also working on my first friction folder. Hopefully i'll have em both finished before then.

JACKPOT!!! Went to the garage i mentioned and they gave me all that stuff for free :D No more worrying about where to get some steel. Lawnmower blades can go to hell!

Finally finished! Wanted to finish it yesterday but i got delayed by work. Turned out great just as i thought. The blade still has alot of dents in it caused by my vise grips and my hammer blows. The buffer did polish them quite a bit but not completetly. I bought a pair of tongs and a new hammer from centaurforge.com, so hopefully that won't be an issue on my next knives. Now if only i could find some scrap steel for my next ones >_< Tired of buying lawnmower blades. They're expensive! Found a garage nearby that replaces and repairs springs from cars, trucks, rv's, big rigs etc... Going to give em a call tomorow.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try doing that next time i want to make a straight knife. I had no clue that was the cause.

Yeah its going to be covered with micarta as well. Would look weird otherwise lol

I'm finishing the micarta handle right now. Won't be long. Picture will probably be up tomorow afternoon .

I've been working my second knife for two days now. Compared to my first one, It went extremely fast. Haven't burned it since i figured out how much air i needed for my forge and i also knew how to hammer it to get the shape i wanted. Wanted to make a straight tanto knife but some curves just formed naturally and i liked how it looked even more. Kind off a wave shape to it. Forging is done so i just need to sand it and HT it and it'll be done. Can't wait to see how it turns out! :D

I can't really anneal or HT it with the handle attached. The micarta will melt. I'll just polish it a little bit to make look more clean. This was just a "test" project anyway, to see how things work. I won't ever use this one. I'll go the extra mile with my next knives, make them look alot better than this one.

I have a small 1x30 inch belt sander that i used to sand it a little bit but i only have cheap aluminum oxide belts at the moment. They aren't hard enough to really grind the knife and remove the scratches and dents. But i ordered some zirconia and ceramic belts from http://www.supergrit.com/. They should get here soon and work much better :) Got some polishing belts as well. I'll try and put a nice satin finish on it. I tried to use files but i suck with them and i don't really have the patience. Plus i don't have a vise so its really awkward to use.

Sorry, the image wasnt posted for some reason. Here it is!

I just finished my first knife and i must say, i'm really proud of it. The blade itself turned out full of dents ( i need a better hammer >_< ) but the black and red micarta handle turned out fantastic! I just need a buffer to make it really polished. Took me 3 tries to get the micarta just right. At first i was putting way to much hardener in the epoxy which made alot of chunks before i could finish. Then on the second try, i just didnt make enough epoxy to glue the whole thing correctly and some layers seperated when i was pining it to the knife. I melted the point of the knife during the last heat so the shape turn out a little awkward. I think i succeeded in heat treating it properly since it cuts pretty well and it holds the edge. Tested it with a file as well. I'm going to try and make a tanto type knife for my next one with Black and blue micarta. Similar to this: http://www.jayfisher...voryMicarta.jpg Might be a challenge but thats exactly what i want :D

I use charcoal. Thanks for the quick answer :D

Is it better to keep the air supply turned on the whole time i forge to keep it hot or turn it off when i get the steel out?

Upgrade complete!!! Wanted a forge to make bigger knives and my wok just wasnt big enough. I could only heat a small part of the knife.Found some fire bricks and made a pipe tuyere to make 10+ inch blades :D Working great so far and it seems to heat the steel better and faster since there isnt as many gaps in the air supply.

I actually have a couple of drums laying around my house, kindoff forgot about em. I'l try and work something out with em and improve my forge. Thanks for the idea! :D I'l post a picture if it works out.

The picture of my forge is from the first time i used it. I figured out i needed more charcoal in it since i burnt my steel twice because the steel was to close to the air supply. Just another situation where "more is less" :D And for making some support for the forge so i dont bend over... well lets say i have no clue how to weld or even have the equipment to do so. Pretty sure a wooden table would'nt last long either, especially mine... i'm a really bad carpenter lol My back is nice and strong because of the boxing i did so bending over isnt really a problem, and i smith maybe once a week .

I've had a passion for knives ever since i was a child and i recently started a collection. I had thought about blacksmithing my own for a while but always thought you needed expensive hardware to even begin. Apparently i was wrong :D. Made a forge a few weeks ago with an old wok i had in my garage and also made an anvil with a railroad track. After a couple of days of trial and error, i realised two things. 1: Its really hard when you dont really know what your doing. 2: Its alot of fun :) I am trying to make a bowie knife from a lawnmower blade but i had some little trouble with my forge since i burnt through the steel twice leaving a nice gaping hole in my work. But i kept trying and i finally finished the handle after about 6 hours. It is really satisfying to see some progress after so much work, even though my battered hands mights disagree with me. Hard work but it feels xxxx gooooood! Cant wait to try to make my own micarta and kydex sheaths for my future homemade knives :D