craig

I agree with "the spirit" !! Though I was working under one of the original rules that is must cut hair or something like that... It's like that story I always see repeated in the forums about the honed beer can shaving hair...but that doesn't mean it's going to function very well as a knife.

One more thing...in my opinion, to get that nice razor sharp shaving edge, it's all in the hand-work with fine grit anyways. You're not getting a shaving sharp knife with the grinding wheels I have at my disposal So is the objective here to make ugly razors ? Or quick, useful, no-frills cutting tools ? Just wondering so I know what I'm doing next time around ;)

The only thing I didn't like about this challenge is that the sharpening time is included... I like the part about starting from round or square to maximize hand forging. But to get the edge fast without using my crank grinder I knew I had to get the steel as thin as possible as quickly as possible, basically "minimizing" the forging (aka-the part of bladesmithing I like most) time to get more sharpening time in. Which in a way, sort of defeats the purpose. If the objective is to go without electricity, why allow electric blowers ? Since I'm sure crank blowers are much more common than crank grinders...not a huge deal for me as I DO have a hand crank grinder...but it just doesn't seem fair for the guys who don't. Maybe that's why we only had two blades finished. I'd rather see a 20-30 mins forging time limit, then sharpen with only files and hand stones outside of the time limit. Or you could just say "no stock removal except for edge grinding" or something to that effect.

Aww man !! Rich obviously didn't see my sweet "micro-beater" :lol:

I agree mchann, the beauty is the simplicity...my only advice is to make a sheath for it so you can carry it with you...that's something I really gotta start doing

Hey Phil, that looks a lot more appealing to the eye than mine does, that's for sure. Nice job !!

Tryouts for landmine disposal crew :rolleyes:

Unless I'm reading my writing wrong, I'm pretty sure that's what I said as well But I know what you mean now in any case. Thanks for the tips !! I can't wait to try making one.

Cool thanks, but by V shaped cross section you mean the spine or back of the saw is thinner than the cutting area ?

Those are some nice looking tools Dave, I'd like to try to make a saw sometime as most of the "woodworking" I do is cutting up small scraps for fuel...how did you make the teeth ? Forged in over a butcher style hardy ? Cut out with chisel or file ?

Beauties !!

I just eyeballed the temperature, quenched in mineral oil, tempered in the forge, and cooled in the snow. The whole process took about a minute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rLvGk3FmOI I noticed when I was straightening out the warp that it was really springy...I was like "I wonder if this thing will even break ??"

Well I spent a little more time on it and I was able to shave a few hairs off my arm so I figure it's good enough for the purpose even though I'm about 10 minutes over...now that I'm finished maybe I'll do a little whittling on the handle just for fun.

Yeah, it's not so bad after the stove has been burning for an hour...but my whole bench is covered in snow...it just blows right through the walls.

Worry about scale ?? I think it shows that I wasn't worried about anything !! Other than the 3"x1/2" dimensions that is...and except for near the handle there is no spot on the blade thicker than 1 mm. But not getting the sharpening finished without the grinder wasn't surprising for me...maybe i just need a better stone

Wow, yeah I just spent 20 mins with this thing on the stone and I don't even have an edge yet let alone a shaving edge...10 minutes left...not going to happen.

Well, I was able to use my camera as my card reader...so here's what i got so far...there's approx 20-25 mins work time (I was considered starting over since it is so ugly...but I figured I'd just go with it) I didn't include straightening of the 3/16" spring I started with. There's really only about 10 mins of forging here (including hot cutting) The rest of the time was spent on a normalize/quench/temper, filing off the decarb, drilling a hole in a bit of scrap wood using my handy drilling machine shown and a bit of rough whitling of the handle. If I have some time left in the budget after sharpening I'll do a little more on the handle. (She's pretty thin so I just might be able to pull it off with a hand stone and then finish with my spyderco sharpmaker) The widest area of the blade is almost 3/4" and the area of blade I plan to sharpen is a little over 3" long.

I was going to put up some progress pics...but apparently my SD reader is not working...I put in my card and it's like it doesn't exist. (I don't mean to get off topic, but anybody have any suggestions ?)

I'm going to give it a shot tonight and I'm not going to use my hand crank grinder since I'm assuming most people don't have one...just to be fair So I'll either be posting pics or notice of failure haha

In this kind of scenario, I'd be like "yeah, I'll whack one out for you...but it's gonna be a rough edge, tapered tang in an unfinished chunk of wood for a handle" I think that's already asking a lot for 1 hour's worth of work...but if they're asking for a razor edge with no power tools I'll let him borrow my hand stone :P

Also, time limits may cause people to rush, taking shortcuts...which can lead to injury. I would suggest rules along the lines of - making the simplest, most basic, no-frills cutting tool using whatever steel and design you choose. For example, if a neighbor stopped in with a case of beer or ten bucks or something and asked for a utility knife to use out in the yard...you make something cheap and easy to whatever design you feel would fit the bill. Personally I like seeing different people's ideas for designs as opposed to everybody making the "same" knife. Essentially we'll all be ending up with a small bit of steel with an edge on it...but we might get some neat little cutters.

I have a small hand crank grinder as well, and i've used it for a couple blades...I have to hold the blade along the top of the wheel lengthwise because there's not much clearance between the crank and the wheel.

Cool idea, but I'm a little slow on the sharpening...if I get a chance to light up the forge in the near future I'll give it a go anyways !! With this 1/2" min width, we're still allowed to taper to a point right ? I mean as long as part of the blade is 1/2" ? Otherwise we'll all be making straight razors ;-)

Those are cool, and I really like the little sheaths to go with them !! Thanks for sharing :-)