IanJ

Pretty much.

Frosty: I've done barely any blacksmithing, but I am very nearly a photographer by trade (except I don't actually make any money at it). http://dangerpants.com/photography/ For anyone in Seattle, ping me if you want to collaborate on a blacksmithing/photography thing. I don't have much product photography under my belt, and I'd like to do more.

I mostly call it dihydrogen monoxide so I can remember the name of the website. Of course it's called monoxide to sound more sciencey, and also put people in mind of carbon monoxide, which most will at least associate negatively, even if they're not sure why.

Frosty, I think you mean Dihydrogen Monoxide. There's even a website warning of its dangers: http://www.dhmo.org/

That's gorgeous. I love how the handles look like jade. Complements the brasswork nicely.

One thought that occurs to me is feed rate. With some kinds of stainless, if you drill too slowly (ie, too little pressure on the drill bit), it heats up enough to work harden, and exhibits a problem very like the one you're describing. It just gets diamond-hard, and no amount of drilling seems to work, or it takes forever and destroys the edge on drill bits. If you drill at lower speed and higher feed, it works like it should. Could that be happening here?

Most interesting, thanks for the photos Wayne! Based on what I've been able to find (ie, nothing), and the apparent rarity of the loop handle in antiquity, I'll call it a basically modern invention and move on. I agree with the assessment that it uses too much iron and energy compared to (for instance) a wooden handle on a whittle tang, although on my first knife project (a loop-handled knife), the handle was ridiculously easy to make compared to even a whittle-tang handle. I can't imagine the iron handle would be comfortable to use as I made it, though Owen Bush's flattened design looks quite comfortable. I still really like the loop-handle look, I'll just stop thinking of it as a historical design. ;)

Is it possible to do the heat treating in a fluid-like medium such as sand? I'm having a hard time imagining a system which would work without also pumping in an inert gas like nitrogen, but sometimes weird ideas spark other ideas, so I'll leave it there as an improbable suggestion. However, I also echo Thomas's statement: a prudent business that's trying to save hundreds of thousands of dollars would do well to spend money on an expert who will give you a real solution. I understand the desire to come up with a great solution on your own, but "I found the answer on the internet" is not an explanation I'd be proud to give my boss. (Well, except that I program computers for a living, where solutions are legitimately found on the internet... You get what I mean. ;) )

For what it's worth, most cameras have orientation sensors in them to tell the camera which way is up, and will store the orientation in the picture. Some image viewing software will look at that and rotate the picture before displaying it, and some won't. I've found that web browsers usually ignore orientation data, and the picture will come out rotated weirdly if the camera wasn't held in its normal orientation. Usually when you upload a picture to a website like IFI, the software that processes your picture after it's uploaded will reorient the picture so it's always right-side-up no matter which program looks at it. It's possible the software IFI's using was misconfigured or not working quite right.

Owen Bush mentions a Danish bog find. From his page of Viking Blacksmith knives for sale: I have based the design of these blades upon some iron age bog find knives from Denmark, having altered the shape a little from the original to make them more ergonomic and feel good in the hand. JM, I started doubting myself for precisely that reason: iron must have been comparatively hard to come by in medieval times, and too precious to waste on an extravagant tang which offers dubious utility when compared with a regular wooden/bone/antler handle.

D'oh! Certainly no problem with any expiration dates if you're just going to melt it over hot iron... ;)

I've been searching off and on, but thus far (including in Scabbards and Knives, which just arrived) I haven't seen any historical evidence for the loop-handled knife. I feel like I've seen them before, but now I'm doubting my memory. Based on the high quality of finish of the medieval knives, I'm guessing the loop handle must have originated fairly early in blacksmithing history. Do any of you have references for archaeological evidence for the loop-handled knife?

I've noticed a few comments on here about how to break up beeswax blocks, and figured I'd throw in some info, and a question. The info: if you load up everyone's favorite internet retailer, Amazon, and search for beeswax, there are lots of vendors selling beeswax pellets for about $12/lb. Sounds easier to me than trying to break up a block of wax. The question: where are you guys getting beeswax blocks, and how does the price compare to $12/lb? (The beeswax I most recently used came from a farmer's market honey stand, and was perhaps $3 for a 1 oz stick, so pretty spendy compared to the pellets.)

Anything that says Starrett on it is worth money to someone -- they make very high quality, very expensive measurement tools. Might be worth throwing on Ebay and buying many similar lengths of O1 for the price that would fetch. For example A straight scribwer made bu Starrett is listed at $60 on ebay. Off site sales link replaced with only the needed info

Billy: that's the impression I get, yes. :D