oldanvilyoungsmith

In all honesty, it's there solely because the customer I made the first one of these for requested it specifically. When I tried to talk him out of it (I'm not a personal fan of fullers in general) he insisted it was a must. So there it is. On this one, the customer requested a knife just like the first (he saw the pictures when I put them online) but with a different handle material. So, it got the fullers too.

Just recently finished this one out. Same design as the one I did earlier this year, but with Thuya Burl. Blade - Wagon Wheel Wrought / 80Crv2. Handle - Thuya / SS hardware.

See, this just shows how out of the loop I am with sports (which I never watch or follow). I never once thought about how much that graphic looked similar to the razorbacks logo. But the first look my mom took at it when she saw I was working on it, she said something about the Razorbacks. Didn't even cross my mind, hahaha. Customer just said he wanted a boar etched on it if I could. Ah well, lol.

Just finished up and delivered this Hog Hunter knife. 8" blade, long enough to pierce vitals, and a full length semi sharpened back edge to assist with piercing the thick hide. (Customer is providing the brass balls needed to take on a wild hog that up close and personal). Blade is handforged 80Crv2, with an electro-etched boars head on the polished bevel. Handle is stabilized maple, with a blued steel guard, and red fiber spacers. I stippled a portion of the handle for extra grip, and added a lanyard tube/lanyard for knife retention.

The maple is curly, so it has the stripes naturally, but to make it look "worn" I gave the handle some dings and knocks, scratched it in one place with the bandsaw, etc. then resanded slightly and dyed it, with the goal of making it look well used but cared for. I also changed the plan from polishing the blade to leaving the HT scale on it.

Just finished up my first friction folder, came out decent (imho), but it was a learning experience. Unfortunately the wood cracked near the pivot pin on both sides, so I decided to go for broke, and after filling them with superglue, I distressed the scales slightly, to go for well used look on the knife. Stats: Handle - Curly Maple w/ copper liners Blade - 1084 Pins - SS

Yeah, I cheat :D I cut the blank out of a piece of sheet, then forge it into the ladle.

Thanks ya'll, really glad you like it. Jim, I made the handle and bowl out of the same piece of steel. Although the next one I make I plan on trying to either rivet or weld on a different handle. Stephen.

Hey ya'll, I know I've not been showing much work recently, haven't been getting a lot done in the shop unfortunately, but I did yesterday finish up this ladle. Same specs as the last one a year or so ago, handforged steel, hot oiled finish, and a curly maple handle. All we need now is a big ole pot of chili. :D

Sorry, my week's been crazy, but I've got finished pics now.

As a welder, I can't more highly suggest to look for a good used before getting a cheap new one. When I wanted to get a welder for my shop, I shopped around or a couple months, and found a Lincoln 250 AC/DC stick welder (when looking at stick welders, go for DC capable if you can, then you can easily add scratch start tig) for $200. Found a used tig rig to go with it, and now I can do nearly any welding I want in my home shop, except tig aluminum. Also, for general "rough" welding, where I'm not worried about looking very nice, I just use 6010 or 6011. Both are good for basic welding, and offer good penetration and strength. What current I use depends on what I'm doing, thought typically I use DCEP. It offers less splatter, and the best penetration. If I'm doing something thinner, where I want low penetration, I'll use DCEN or AC (Ac will generally splatter more). When I'm doing nice welds (with stick, not tig) I use a 7018 rod, and once again the current depends. If you have a smart phone or something, look up the Miller weld calculator app, it's a handy reference.

Well, I do agree somewhat with the no painting sentiment, but as this is going to be my new hotwork vise, and my hot shop has only two walls, and gets wet with any decent rain, a paint coat is needed to fend off rust. I decided to go with battleship gray, it just seemed to fit the vise's style. I also milled out the new jaws the other day, so now they're on and ready to go. It's all finished up, and I'll take some pics tomorrow. I plan to get it mounted this weekend.

Thanks guys, glad ya'll like it. Dcraven, the post is 5/8" sq, and since I just used material I had around, instead of buying more stuff, the ramshorn (double) hook is made from 1/2" sq, one of the long hooks is made from 3/8" dia, and the other from 1/4" dia.

Made this a couple weeks ago for my mother's birthday, she'd been asking me about making one awhile, so it was time to make it. The idea is basically a really large shepherds hook, with extra hooks on it. This one has four hooks, two plain hooks, and one "Ramshorn hook" on the front. It's made to go near a window, so has no hook on the back.

Well, I got her pulled apart, completely cleaned and degreased, and then stripped off all the old paint. So this is how she stands now. And I'm trying to decide what color to paint it. Does anyone know what the original color on these was? I don't know if the paint that was on it was original. These are the 3 colors I have on hand. What do ya'll think?

I actually like to use both methods to get a good pattern. I fold several times (twice in this case) to get some patterning, more, and thinner layers. Then I drill shallow divots on both sides and file random grooves over both sides. Hammering it flat exposes the patterns from those. The divots make a nice ringed pattern, and the grooves turn into lines. I then hammer it out to the needed thickness, once there, it's got a nice random pattern.

Lol, yeah, they're "prepackaged" I've yet to find a good source for the raw materials. And yes, I like to give the mokume a "kickstart" in the patina with a heat coloring. But I leave it bare so that it can patina naturally. I like the aged look of it. Also, yes, I fused the layers together, and folded several times for a pattern, then hammered it out and cut the crosses from it.

I used copper, and nickel silver for these. Easy to work with, and they make a very nice contrast as the copper patinas.

Sorta blacksmithing, so I figured this'd be a good place to show it. Just finished this set of Mokume-Gane earrings for a customer. Dimensions? - Small ! (when you drop it and nearly lose it in the shop dirt, it's small enough)

Well, I pulled out the bolts with an EZ-out, and they came out easily enough. Upon closer inspection.... I still have no idea how they were installed. No apparent slot or anything. All I can figure is that it's seen so much use it mushroomed the bolt head into itself. But the jaw isn't all that torn up. idk.

Yes, I intend to remove the jaw so I can use it as a template for the new one I'm goin to mill out. Also, I took a screw driver and scratched the screws to check, I'll check more thoroughly tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure there's no slots.

Yes, I intend to remove the jaw so I can use it as a template for the new one I'm goin to mill out. Also, I took a screw driver and scratched the screws to check, I'll check more thoroughly tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure there's no slots.

Quick question whilst I'm at it. The jaws, how do they come off? There's no slot in these screws for a screwdriver, or anything I can see. I could drill them and use and ez-out, but I'd rather not. Thanks ya'll.

Just got this big ole girl the other day. She's in need of a new handle for the screw, and for the pivot. As well as a new jaw. Other than that she runs in and out perfectly, and works well. My plan is to strip her apart, make the new handles and jaw, strip off all the rust and paint, and repaint her (haven't decided on a color yet). You can see the size in comparison to the cinderblock.

This is the sketch I worked up originally. I drew it all to scale before adding the legs, then drew on the legs trying to get something that looked "right" to my eyes. When I got something that looked good, and measured it, those legs would each stick out approx. 12". giving the base a 24" foot print. Would legs like that, with some sort of weight on the middle column (to lower the center of gravity) work? I'm going to ask the customer about clamping to a table also, see if that would be feasible.