billyO

It's been a weird couple of weeks in my shop for animals. A bear cub, a couple of wolves, and an elephant (REALLY rare here in the Western foothills of Mt Rainier). Fortunately I got pictures of them all in case none of you believe me. Here's the bear cub: Here're the wolves: And here's the elephant (thanks to Freddy Rodriguez): as always peace and love billyO

I'll have to modify that a bit, Thomas. For most orthopedic surgeries, following you PT's order is the way...(but I may be biased, being a PT for the past 22 years....) as always peace and love billyO

SLAG. He has quite a bit of inventory saved up for this period. I saw plenty today. In fact I'm going back next week to pack up and ship orders for him while he is restricted from lifting over 3#. He told me today that he has been focusing so much on getting product made/preparing for his surgery that he has neglected updating the website. Also, he's training another friend and I how to make the tongs and we'll be helping him keep up with his inventory, so don't worry, he'll be back in 6-8 weeks and will probably update his site soon, now that he's out of the acute stage of healing. Feel free to contact him with an order, if he doesn't get back, I can play middle man. as always peace and love billyO

Hello. Andy just had shoulder surgery last week. I'm heading over to his shop in an hour or so to see how I can help him maintain his business while rehabbing. I mentioned yesterday that I read this post and he said that he planned on this surgery so made a bunch of tongs ahead, and said he has a decent inventory. My suggestion is to try contacting him again, and if no luck feel free to contact me directly and I'll try to get answers. as always peace and love billyO

To all those who want to pray for Larry and family, please pray that the pain that they are going through is eased. I don't think I'm at liberty to disclose how he died, but if you believe in this, please pray that he has relief from his suffering and that it doesn't extend into his next incarnation. as always peace and love billyO

Would you please explain, Steve? More work...are you going to do some more folding/welding to get there after forging out the shape? Thanks as always peace and love billyO

I, too, like the irregular finish. Care to give info on how it was achieved? Or is it just hammer blows that are polished?

Thanks all! All the handles are spalted big leaf maple from my property stabilized by K&G. Well, there's some ebony on a few as well. The boning knife is an outer piece of a burl that another maker and I made a form and he cast some blue acraglass(? I think that's what it's called. basically the stuff that bowling balls are made of) to make a block. Regarding the cheese knives, you're correct, they are laminated/3 layers (a piece of O1 with a piece of 15N20 on each side.)

Hello all. I hope the spring is treating you all well. It's been a while since I've been online, but that's allowed me a bit of time in the shop. Here's some of my recent completions. Like the title says, comments and critiques are always welcome. Hunter/skinner in 1095/15N20 Boning Knife - 1095/15N20 2 cheese knives the 2nd with a custom made middle pin - O1/15N20 Feather pattern veggie slicer 1080/15N20 Carving Knife with one of my dog paw pins - O1/15N20 Kitchen Tanto 1095/15N20 This one is wicked sharp! (The handle has been slimmed down towards the front since the pics were taken.) Have fun everyone. as always peace and love billyO

Another thing you can do to help keep tempering temps more consistent is to increase the thermal mass of the oven. When I'm tempering blades, I try to do 3-5 at a time to minimize my electric bill. This means opening the oven a number of times as I heat and quench each blade, then walk from the shop to the kitchen. What I've don is to put 10-12 pieces of steel ranging from 1/2" thick angle iron, 1" thick pieces of 4x4s and a few blocks ~ 3x3x4. The last time I tempered some blades I opened the stove a few times and checking the temp with my laser temp gun, it never varied more than 10-15 degrees. On a related note, if I have any warpage after the quench, I clamp the blade between thick pieces of angle iron and this not only adds to the thermal mass, but usually takes care of the warp in the first tempering cycle. ~billyO

Like I said, I've heard the short handle comment before, once by an ABS master smith, and when he picked it up, he said (in what I heard as a surprised voice) that it felt really good and functional in his hand. I think it's the rounded back part of the handle that fits between the thenar and hypothenar muscles of the palm (sorry, my physical therapy background sneaking in there) The back of the midpalmar crease.

Thanks for all the replies. The depth of the blade is to avoid my big knuckles from hitting the cutting board. As far as handle length, this isn't the first time I've heard that, but it seems to be more of an aesthetic (ie, personal) rather than functional choice. Don't worry, the O1 is the center. ~billyO

Hello all. Here's my latest completion, a 5 layer wabocho (O1, 15N20, mild steel) with more scales of spalted maple off my property stabilized by K&G. Blade length 7", OAL 11" Comments/critiques always welcome. as always peace and love billyO

No need, the oxides from the acid etch will prevent rusting. Anyway you'd get rid of that when you sanded the oxides off the 15N20 to get the pattern. as always peace and love billyO

After etching in the acid, neutralize in boiling baking soda, then wait until the next day to clean/polish it. as always peace and love billyO

Ahhh, I see what you mean, and yes, it is just the shadow of the photo, from a minor but from not being sharpened yet..

They are both 6 1/2" overall with 3 1/2" blades. Also, both are spalted maple stabilized by K&G (I died a few red and blue as a trial. I'm not sure if I'll do that again.) from my property that had a big burl on it. I still have about 300 blocks left, so I think all of my knives in the future will have maple handles (I have another 3' burl on another tree a bit further back on my property that I'm hoping to cut down soon, so I should be set up for life with extras to sell at some blade shows.) Are you talking about the top one? I dropped that one and broke the tip off and was planning on fixing that when I grind/sharpen the edge...

Hello all. It's been a while since I've been able to do any forging, but here's 2 paring knives that I made from scraps of prior billets. The top one is O1/15N20 and the other one is 1080/15N20. It looks like I've got a little more sanding to do on the top one. Any critiques are welcome. as always peace and love ~billyO

Hello all. Here's my latest, inspired by pascalou.

I'll second checking out and joining the NWBA, Northwest Blacksmith Association (blacksmith.org). As the mentoring center coordinator, I can tell you that this weekend is our annual spring conference, and Dave Lisch, MS is one of the main demonstrators. Also, in October, we're having a mini-conference and swap meet (Swaptoberfest, if I'm not mistaken) and we're going to have a billet making demonstration with 6 members being able to participate and take home their own welded billet. I also know that some of the members on the east side of the state have their own "mini conferences" or hammer-ins a few times a year.

I'll second the lumber mill blades. If you have a mill close by, call or stop by and get in contact with the saw sharpener and tell him what you're looking for and why. When I did that, I got about 30 feet of 10" wide blade scraps. I'm fortunate enough to live in the PNW where logging and milling lumber is a big part of the economy, and the mill gives me as many pieces of their broken band saws as I want. I did give the head saw sharpener a Damascus blade as thanks, so that may have helped....

Good to see some of your work in SharpbyCoop's photos.

I like it, Theo! I can see a much more expensive version of a pattern welded billet forged into blade then use the part that would have been the tang to form the handle outline ending up as the finger guard.

Here are the finished gifts. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. ~billyO

Thanks! Been having fun with pattern welding lately. Pulling the blade out of the etch gives me the feeling just like unwrapping presents as a kid.