Jon Smith

Looks like jade. I like it

Merry Christmas to all my fellow smiths, and may all your stockings be chock full of coal!

It's not a holiday everywhere...? Very nice work

Thanks!

Since it's finally gotten below 90* around here and I'm not worried about passing out from heat exhaustion, I decided to knock together a sign hanger for my mother's 50th birthday this weekend. Just about got it finished. 3/8" sq and round stock, 48" tall, 22" wide

I thought the idea of quenching in blood was debunked long ago...? *grin* Very nice blade though. I love the scales

As an engineering student, always allow 5% margin of error extra. As someone who has had to work around others' mistakes, 3x might not be a bad idea....

Twelve hours working in the shop? My friend, you are not from south Louisiana, that's for sure. I might get in an hour at dawn now and again, but by then I'm getting dizzy. Which is why I much prefer to work through the night. Very nice piece, btw. Not so sure about that twist though. Seems uncomfortable for long work

Awesome, thank you kindly gentlemen. A smaller version would be a lot easier on my wallet

Considering that the size of the anvil needed for efficiency on a hammer is proportional to the head weight, is there really a minimum weight necessary for the head on a rusty style (or any style for that matter) power hammer? I'm thinking like 15-20 lbs.

Dancing Anvil Forge I work in a cramped shop with two four wheelers and a tractor that have to be moved out, so my HB is mounted on a way lighter stand than it should be so I can easily move it. Needless to say, when I get to wailing on a big piece of hot iron and ringing my anvil....well she starts to dance across the shop floor along with the beat.

I don't know about holding a razor edge, but most steak knives are serrated anyway. I would say forge them out then a bit of filework on the edges and you'd have a fine set of cutlery

Hmm no I hadn't thought of the shipyards honestly. I may have to drive out there one day and look

My buddy from diapers is scheduled to finally come back stateside from a year long tour of duty in South Korea in July, and I would love to build him a warfighter style knife with a mahogany (?) grip and blued furniture, which leads to my question. What method do y'all use to blue metal (probably mild steel, since I can't find wrought)? I have used Birchwood-Casey cold gun blue to restore a few firearms and sidearms, but I've never been completely satisfied, and I know I've seen some very well done guards around here before.

Agreed, good bit of reading. And I *think* Doctor H is still lurking around here, so he might chime in

Odd, I have a burn scar in exactly the same place... Yay for being left handed!

Guessing by that stubby little tang, you have a wall hanger. Your best bet is probably to try and pin it

Rich, if I remember correctly, the profile of the cleaver was milled and then the slab was "hardened" and then profiled and ground on a KMG/clone. That would solve the bevel issue--there was none at the time. Also, I have no intention of trying this, if only because I can't afford massive slabs of aluminum on a college budget. I have read the HT stickies and all the knife chats, as well as doing my own shop tests. My blades are 5160 and quenched in warm oil.

I'll definitely be sticking with my liquid quench. The fact that he warps a piece, and badly, right there is a bad sign.... And the Mythbusters are never wrong. They busted that myth in season 9.

I was watching a new show on Discocery last night, "Blade Brothers", which is a series featuring a custom knife shop (stock removal=sad face). One of the things I found intriguing was the maker's method of quenching the steel by sandwiching the piece straight out of the HT oven between two 1" thick slabs of aluminum to use as a heat sink. Any craftsmen around here ever try that? Thoughts on this method vs say oil or water quenching (based on the steel in use)?

Fossilized ivory is legal, if you can get it. Unfossilized however, unless harvested before 1970--with paperwork to prove it--can only be legally obtained via one country in Africa (Rwanda?) or American Eskimos.... Not worth the trouble if you ask me. Being caught with poached ivory will see you put under the jail. Which is why I prefer wood.

That, sir, is one sexy piece of steel. If I may also add, if the stag doesn't work out, buffalo horn would look epic

I was going by the fine yellow crusty looking stuff around the tang but you make a valid pt about its age. And if you do reconstruct this thing correctly, PICTURES! I think it'd be impressive

Looks like the grain structure could've been made finer than that, to me at least. And the blade looks to have been epoxied in, in which case you may be able to heat it and break the bond, then slide the stump out.

You, sir, are a liar. There's nothing ugly about that piece at all.