JPH

Hello: Muriatic acid is also know as "pool" acid as is available by the gallon at pool supply stores... Mercury of almost any kind, flavour or type is quite toxic..I wouldn;t even allow it in my studio anymore... JPH

Hello: Thank you all for the kind words..well I got the beast finished...and the sheath is done.. The leather is oxblood red and the chape/locket is 900 fine silver with 10Kt gold roping. The stone is a 48 ct red/purple star ruby and as far as the overall "package" goes well..the thing looks pretty good if you ask me.. I wasn't too sure about the colour combination on the black horn, the red bronze fittings, silver ferrules and gold trimmed silver chape/locket..but the star ruby and the oxblood red of the leather just "ties everything together" quite nicely, at least to me. The only "down side" to this is that this was a custom order that the person who ordered it wasn't able to fulfill on so...Up on the web site if goes here shortly. Oh well..at least the deposit covered the precious metals and the ruby... I don't seem too get many cancellations as far as orders go (thankfully so...) so I guess the website is the place for this to be until someone finds it and decides they can't live without it.. Hope these photos come out..I am no photographer in any sense of the word... JPH

Man...that thought just send chills down my spine...one sting and I am history even with the atropine and epinephin injector I keep near me I wouldn't make it...I am that allergic..My MD says the next one and it's curtains for me... JPH

Hello: Well I hilted that blade..the fittings are bronze done in a "twisty beasty" Viking style motiff with the grip being black horn with silver ferrules on either end. The fuller as you can see runs up under the guard. All in all it is turning out pretty good. I will be doing the sheath the next couple of days which I am planning on black leather with a silver chape/locket and if I have one laying about a black star sapphire for a throat stone..If I don't..I do have some black onyx I can use... Will post photos once it is all done. So far so good.. This one will be up on my web site once it is completed en toto. JPH

Hello: I would say if you are serious about doing this on a "paying basis" then DO IT...I have taken plastic for the last 32 years and never even had one "charge back" (that is where the card isn't any "good"...for some reason or another). I would say that 80% of my sales at the one show I do a year are on cards. Almost 95% of the sales I do off my website are on plastic. Yeah you get "hit" with a 1 to 3% "fee" from the company but on a $10,000.00 day that isn't "missed" much... I use a wireless terminal (it has it's own satelite communication system) and it's a very easy thing to do..you run the card and it's done.. two days later the funds are in my account. The only difficulty you may have is qualifying for a card account. Banks and credit services are very picky as to who they allow to set up accounts due to all the fraud. You will need a state resale number..a business banking account and probably a 095 number from the IRS (that is a employer ID number..I strongly suggest you get one as it makes it easier for tax purposes) as well as (maybe) a city or county business license. In other words you need to be totally "legit" on this. This also will show your potential clientele that you are an "established" business and as such.."legit"... Now if you are just doing this "part time" and don't intend to make a go at this as a means of steady income..well..that choice is up to you. Like I said I do one show a year (although this year I will be doing two) and plastic accounts for the vast majority of my sales...especially though my website. I do know that my sales tripled almost immediately when I started accpeting cards... Hope this helps JPH

Hello: I will say that once I get this done en toto I will post pics..the wqeightis minimal as the blade is made to fit a set of fittings that were cast from 6th Cent originals and the blades then were very "thin" by "modern standards"..I do know that my Anzano Kanezane sword, made circ 1942 is heavier in weight and much shorter in length... If any sword could have the term "pry bar" associated with it..it would be the Japanese style sword, as there simply is no fair way to compare it to any European sword as they were used in two entirely different ways. As for the the methods used in constructing a Japanese style sword were not unknown in Europe (or just about anywhere lese for that matter) but they were a way to make iron that was used by every iron working culture at one time or another. In fact the European smiths were doing much more sohpisticated forgings some 500 to 700 years before the Japanese even really "got into it".... It's all in how one looks at things... JPH

Bro. Thos: Yeah....I know what you are talking about..it is a very common thing among some smiths that they tend to leave the blade far thicker than it should be..I have been guitly of that as well...when one first starts out the lack of experience usually shows itself in the thickness of the blade... Once someone starts looking deeper and gets into distal tapering and all the other "good stuff" that usually corrects itself..sometimes it doesn't...that's what seperates the ones who are constantly learning and those that are just "happy where they are"... JPH

Hello: All it is is patience and practise...do not rush things..that's the biggest "killer" you will find..it's all simply welding...once you get the "hang" of that..everything else just falls in.. Plus you have to know what to do with it once you get it welded.. This is why I put so much stress on knowing how to make a decent knife out of high carbon steel before you start into the pattern welding...cause otherwise you will be making a $50.00 knife out of a $500.00 piece of steel... If I can do it..as clumsey and ham handed as I am..anyone can...all it takes is practise and learning what the steel will do when you do "X" to it.....There are no secrets to any of this..It's all there for you to explore...just learn as you go..that's really the only way to do it.... As for a overal pic...I can do it but you don't see much blade detail... JPH

This is just something I have been meaning to do so I did it..nothing really all that difficult if you know how to weld decently...That's all it is...knowing how to get a solid weld... JPH

Hello: Here's a little section of a sword blade in the three core "Viking" style I whipped out today in 300 series Stainless, 1045 and L-6 mix for the centre cores in a twist/counter-twist pattern (real easy and simple...early type composite constuction) with a 1060 edge... The contrast came out really nice..the blade is some 31" long, 1 3/8" at the guard and 1 1/8" at the tip ogive....Came OK if ya ask me... Had to take a break from all that Japanese stuff I am doing for book IV for a while...now I am on the Euro stuff again...I just love my fly press for fullering...makes things soooo much easier...you can feel the steel move when you fuller...the control is marvelous. You can't tell in the photo but the 300 series stainless just "jumps out" at you..in a very white/silver colour..I gotta learn how to take better photos..still these are a light year ahead of what I was taking before so I guess I can't complain (much...) JPH

Hello: Why am I just sitting here...shaking my head...sighing to myself..."why.. why?.. why?" I have seen far too many folks with a lot of potential just jump into swords way too soon and when they blow it..simply walk away in disgust and never pick up a hammer again... If one is going to start using welded materials for a sword... you HAVE TO know how to make 100% SOLID welds or else you are asking from problems on several diferent levels.. Oh well...folks will do what they will do I guess.... JPH

Hello: Hand sticthed? Sheesh...I can't do that nice a job using my machine...boy I feel inadequate...my leatherworking sucks.... JPH

Hello: Not bad...not bad at all...Isn't the jute a little rough on the hands? or am I confusing it with sisal?? What were these hammered out of? Just curious... Either way the whole package works....I really like the leatherwork you did...(mine sucks...no bones about it my leatherworking skills bite...) is that hand stiched or machine sewn? Looks good... JPH

Kevin: I had the same problem with photos..believe me I ain't no sort of photographer but ever since i got a Sony H20...man the pics I am able to take are light years ahead of wehat I was taking before... The H20 isn't all that much $$$ ..not when you see all that it does and boy it makes even my photos look decent... Just a suggestion..if you can afford the tarriff on it..go for it... JPH

Hello: Ok...this is a real "quick and dirty" sword...No polishing at all...left as forged finished and well, when you have been doing this as long as I have..and you have a rythm built up over many years of using your own set up...you get faster from sheer repeatition...That's all it is really. Getting a smooth, even finish is what takes all the time, as well as getting nice, close fits on the parts. This was not needed on Zombie Bane..Left rough for that "rustic" look....It just worked... I am happy ya all like it though....Sure didn't last long on my website..so I guess it was a "hit"...,That or there's a zombie problem someplace that i am not yet aware of... JPH

UF: Actually I was thinking of making it into a boot knife.... I dunno what I am going to do for a sheath yet..or if I am even going to make one.... Frosty: You got a great idea...next zombie I nail..I have the eyeball....as for the handle..I wish I could say I have some sort of fancy-schmancy formula or mathematical equation or something but I don't...I just do it all by eye and it turns out the way it turns out....The hard part was fitting the guard cause the pommel section is 3/4" wider than the tang.... Charlotte: What was so puzzling about my signature?? Back to Zombie Hunting.... JPH

Rich: Of course it does..after all I folded that leaf spring 1000 times before I made that sword.....BUT only if it's an UNdead stop sign... JPH

Out of the not so distant future..after a terroist group of rabid Luddite cultists unleash a virus that results in legions of the undead roaming the face of the earth....lusting to feast on warm, living human flesh...Mankind is holding on by a mere thread...Civilization as we know it..no longer exists... Yet....there is still some hope... A small band of "cleans" survives, working with limited resources and primitive tools, they forged a weapon so powerful and effective they baptized it.. ZOMBIE BANE!! Ok...seriously...I have no idea what in the heck I was thinking when I made this yesterday..I was just goofing off trying to get my head "cleared up" from all the stuff that has been going on around here lately..and this is what I cooked up in my demented mind... The blade is forged from an old leaf spring I have been tripping over for the last 20 odd years.... it's some 25" long, hammered out and shaped like a cross between a Kapilan I have in my collection and a Chinese Dao... The two "fullers" I ground in with my angle grinder...I punched a hole on the tip so you can hang it up when you aren't out chopping zombies...cause I can't figure out what to for a sheath just yet.... The blade has a very heavy distal taper from 5/16" at the ricasso to just over 1/8" at the tip. More or less "flat ground"..I left it "as forged" and the edge is draw filed for ease in resharpening in case you hit a hard headed Zombie (aka Undead Congress member) The guard is an old steel tsuba I have had around here for I dunno how long that I just let sit in my forge while I worked on the blade and that is all the finish work it got..it's all rough and knarley....The grip panels are some of that osage orange I had gotten from Brother Steve that I rough shaped and wrapped with wet rawhide, then "pre-blood stained" with KMnO4 and varnished over that....to seal in everything.. I will say that the wet rawhide was a real "experience" to work with..talk about a slimey thing but it dried up nice and tight... It moves real nice...OAL: 36" or so....Will be posted on my website shortly So I think the whole thing..as rustic as it is just "works"...It's something different from what I usually make.. JPH

Hello: Serrations makes the wheel cut a bit more agressively, and (at least with my set up) a larger wheel extends belt life a good bit. Some folks don't care for the "feel" of a serrated wheel, I find that it cuts "better" for me and that I can "feel the grind" better than a smooth wheel. Some folks also say that a smooth wheel makes a "smoother" grind, bUt I cannot tell the difference myself, so I just do what I feel works best for me... Serrated wheels do have some "whine" to them but it's not bad... Hope this helps... JPH

Hello: Someone take my name in vain?? Ok///I use to run a 8" wheel..did so for oh.... 35 some odd years or so...now that I built Frankengrinder...my 14" wheel is just a delight to grind on.... I LOVE IT....and at 7200 SFM it cuts like butter.... I am going to get a 8" for it one of these days for smaller stuff...The 14" wheel looks almost like a flat grind....it's soooooo niiiice to grind on and when the wheel is serrated..but it just hogs off the steel... Hope this helps... Back to work for me JPH

Gee..I get my 96% Sn and 4% Ag from Kapp Alloy and it's like 1/3 the cost of that StayBright and it's very easy to use... JPH

SB: If you forge in a decent edge bevel you can get a 1 3/16" to 1 1/4" wide blade out of 3/4 x 1/4" stock no problem..wider if you are really good at it... JPH

Oh Gawd..Who left the door open??? See..see what happens?? You leave it open for a second and all sorts of riff raff walk in... Welcome John..this here is more or less my "home hang out".. I am surprized that you just found this place actually....I figured you already knew it.. Well, that's what I get for thinking... He's good prople everbody... Oh by the way John..unlike alot of forums, we don't take ourselves very seriously around here...all we ask is you have fun, contribute something every now and then and well..it's sorta like a party where we all sit around, eat chili and tell tall tales to each other... Oh be sure to check out the chat room...that is whole lot of fun....heh heh heh..... JPH

Gee..I am old at forging and if you are not willing to take the time to learn it right..why should I cast pearls before swine and even bother answering a question..YOu say you want to do this the rest of your life yet you have noi desire to learn how..just do a botch job? That is no way to go about anything..let alone something as hazardous as using fire... JPH

Ecart: On the raduis ricasso...there are two ways at least to do that..what I do is I have a whole bunch of 1/2 round hot chisels I made,(looks alot like a wood gouge) with different radii that I just cut it out with...or...if you are lazy and have a small wheel grinder...You can just grind it in..... Other than that..it's pretty uch the same as any other full hidden tang knife. On the fuller envy...Ever since I got my fly press fullering is no long the nerve wracking opperation it was using a hand hammer. If you want to do alot of really nifty stuff that is difficult (at best) working alone using a hand hammer..a fly press is the way to go...You have so much control and you can FEEL the metal move under the press...no impact, no noise and you can actually weld under one too!! Couple that with a good treadle hammer and you can pretty much do anything.... JPH