Rhyfelwr

Looks pretty decent! Especially for a first knife. Is the blade stock removal or forged to shape?

Actually it looks really good, rivets included! I am surprised that you didn't split the maple handle, most of the time when I try and use a soft wood like maple I split them. Especially at first. Looks very decent for a first handled knife.

Try working around the edge on the rivet heads, basically rounding them out. Hard to explain but gets easier with practice.

I like the forge.. The poker looks good as well.. I use a piece of 3"x 12" round steel upended in a stup for an anvil..

I also have two pieces of railroad track but they seem to have to much spring in them unless I turn them up on end.

Looks good.. Where'd you get so many hoof rasps? It looks like you just wrapped the rasp around and welded it too itself to make the eye..

So.. Am I to think Bruce commands no reinventing the wheel? Or are you saying its all been done every way it can be?

:D

Heat it back up and draw it down into a point (if you can't cut it) and then worry about thinning the blade back. I usually forge the point roughly first and the form the blade and work back to the point again. There really isn't a wrong way to do it. Usually just whatever works.

Do you have any pictures?

Looks good.. Much better looking than my first knife, in fact I think it looks better than my first file knife!

Keep 'em coming.

Looks good, the color after you snapped it off looks like it might be too hard. How much flex did you get?

Both, its the way I hold the metal on the anvil sometimes.. And sometimes its just the angle I work it with the hammer. To keep it symmetrical you have to swap sides every once in a while, I learned by trial and error.

Keep at it, looks good for a first or second knife!

Wow.. It came out really nice.. Looks very solid.

Also I've never heard of anyone keeping their anvil or hammer wet while forging.. Seems like it would promote rust, and just turn to steam when the hot metal hit it.. And wouldn't it also cool the steel you were working faster?

Just my thoughts.

Looks good, you never learn anything sitting on your hands. I advise jumping right in and keep it up. Though most rebar isn't terribly great for blades.

Are you going to finish it up and put an edge on it? I'd like to see how it turns out! Post pics.

I like it.. Nice. Its very polished, and everything looks to fit together tight; the fact that you spent alot of time on it really shows through.

You say it better than me BigGunDoctor person.. Except for annealing the ends what you describe is what I usually do.

I rivet my handle scales on with copper or steel, usually copper grounding wire of the kind that is used on power poles. I drill a hole the exact size of the wire, I cut a section of wire about 1/4" longer than the entire handle (tang included) is wide. I then begin peening out one side of the wire, I haven't put the wire through the handle yet. I am just freehand peening on side, then I taper the opposite end back down to the original size.

Then I insert the wire through the handle/tang/handle cut it off maybe 1/8" from the outside handle scale, if there is too much material on the second peen you can crack the handle scales.

I have never had any of my handles slip or shift, even though I don't epoxy. But the downside of the way I do this is it looks rather old fashioned.

I have attached an image, I apologize in advance for the poor image quality I took the image on a webcam.

I like it, you could use it for fastening posts together or all kinds of things..

How do you know this is correct? What did you base it on?

So it holds the candle, and allows you to stick it in a crack on the wall?

I like it, about how big is your brake drum? I have built two forges from brake drums, my latest is a big truck drum about 18 inches across. It always seemed to work fine for me.. I like the table idea.

Do you find the forge big enough for most work?

Do you have bigger pictures? I am curious what they look like up close..

Has anyone ever tried the Notary method? What would you do just have a Notary witness a piece of paper saying you began to use the Touchmark on such-and-such a date?

Really nice! I don't think I have ever seen a RR spike knife with wooden handle.

Cool, I usually check craigslist as well. Get some great deals that way.

How do you like the epoxy, does the handle seem solid? I've always pinned my handles together with copper or steel.

Where did you get the African mahogany?

Nice knife by the way.

I have made a smaller knife that I carved the handle and sheath from the same wood and then cut them apart. It was kind of interesting.

I carved this sheath as an afterthought, originally I didn't know what I was going to do.

Thanks for all the compliments!

I am rather new here, and I mostly just read.. But the forum keeps telling me I haven't posted in several weeks and I should so here goes.

This knife is a simple double edged dagger, forged from the tine of an old garden fork. I quenched it in water, and baked it at 350-400 degrees for about 45 minutes to relax the metal.

I carved the sheath from oak and pinned it together with cedar pins.

Comments and Critique are welcome!