JPH

Hummm now...East Sahara in Las Vegas??? Methinks I will swing by there real soon and see what their offices look like...what ya want to bet it is a mail drop? Not that there's anything wrong with mail drops, as I use one for my business mailing address (and on my cards..You never know where a business card ends up orwith who and since I have a rather large firearm collection...well...), but this outfit who is so proud of what they are should have a whole slew of offices right?? Yeah these folks have really gotten under my skin. And the further I dig the more irritated I become for some reason. JPH

Hello all: Ok I just stumbled onto these folks..www.becomeabladesmith.com by a fluke accident. I never, ever in my life read so much drivel before, and believe me I have read more than my fair share. These folks say that you can become a "Licensed Bladesmith" in 6 weeks and make up to 200K US the first year and...here's the real kick in the head (at least for me)..Bladesmiths are exempt from State and Federal laws!! Gee ..I didn't know that.... OK..what can we do to get these folks shut down? This is a bogus scam if I ever read one. Now I will admit that the ABS and I do have several differences of opinions and we do not see eye to eye on more than a few things but for some reason this whole "send in your money and in 6 weeks you can become a Master Bladesmith" thiung just gets under my skin... So what can we do to prevent this from continuing?? JPH

Hello All....Hope no oner minds a comment or two from someone who does this on a semi regular basis.. First, to Steve: I dunno if you are aware that the "440" stainless used in the el cheapo "sam-mary" swords and other SLO's (sword like objects) are 440A... NOT a steel suited for cutting anything other than hot butter in my eyes... It is cheap, and you are right they usually are NOT heat treated very well. Allot 440C was for decades one the "standrd alloys" used in custom knives, and it can be forged IF, like Ed C said you are very careful as the working ranges are quite narrow and a little to far one way or another and you can ruin it. Heat treating can be a bit of a pita but it can be done. It is a hassle but if you want quick and easy, send it out to be done. While it can make a great knife, it doesn't matter if it is forged or not. I hot work almost everything (heck..I even welded up a blade using Stellite 6K ONCE..never do it again for various reasons..) I do because it allows me more blades per bar of material, and a lot more "artistic freedom" than just grinding to shape.. The Venerable Mr R. Engnath (may he walk with God) and I would get into each other's heads about forging vs grinding on a regular basis.. Thermal treatment is more important than anything else when it comes to cutting. If it's dead on perfect it will cut and cut..if it's a botch job, it won't perform. It's that simple. Now if you want to see the difference between the way it moves and responds to the hammer..great.. if you want to give it a serious go and making a decent knife, then I would have to ask the following question..How many knives have you forged and from what materials?? Once you answer that, I can give you some tips. Hope this helps and that no one mind the ramblings of a demented desert rat.. JPH

Well I went a little bit "over the top" on this....I was going for more of a naginata that was mounted as a sword...in a Do-Dachi (field sword) blade length....It handles great, now I need a siya...the one I was working on slip and well..I think it would be best if I let a "pro" handle that.. JPH

Howdy!! The Bo-Hi were scraped in by usinga sen..didn't take as long as I though it would...In fact it was pretty quick but not as fast as foring them in... Yeah, this not a "traditional" sword..I actually caught a lot of heat from several Japanese sword collectors, they called in an "abomination"...I really like it..Now I need to find someone who can make me a siya..sigh... JPH

Finally...finished at last...My infamous Nagi-Dachi tachi... Blade is 35" x 1 3/8" done in a "Naginata" style, Laminated/Kobuse. Double Bo-Hi. Sori is 5/8". OAL: 53 1/2" Tsuka was wrapped by Fred Lohman. I am calling this sword "Drunken Bat" due to the Hada resembling the flight of an intoxicated member of the order of Lycoptera... Hamon is suguha (straight) Blade materials are 1095/1060/meteorite and wrought iron. Now I have to make a new siya as I cracked the last one...seems I forgot that one shouldn't force things that don't want to go... I hope that the photos turn out ok..

Hey.. I've been accused of being from another planet a few times myself...I am still trying to figure out the Nanoo-Nanoo thing.. Guess that dates me a bit... JPH aka Dork from Ork...

I was thinking along these lines as well...now that I have seen what he has written..I for one will no longer answer any more of his/her questions..Methinks we can have another 'river-gazer" here...I feel that I may of already given out too much info.. Funny..he is so paranoid...He must either be a Kennedy, Getty or some other "rich and famous" family member to live in such a terrorized mind set.. the only thing that comes to mind is the old Spanish saying "A life lived in fear is a life half lived".. Sheesh...he is so frightened of someone "stealing his ID"..geeze..then again,..no one would want to be me anyways so I guess I have nothing to worry about... After thinking it over and looking at his responses...this person is hiding for a reason...what ever reason(s) that me be...and I doubt that it is fear of someone stealing "who he is" JPH "American-ized" name James P Hrisoulas Real name Dimitrios Apostolos Chrisoulasadides... Henderson NV USA

Hello: ROFL..where on earth did you come up with this stuff?? OK seriously now....while you most certainly CAN add C by cementation, and it has been done for centuries and centuries before the "Industrial Revolution" and the automotive indstry got everyone thinking more or less "alike" steel/iron wise..I have to ask why would you want to? If you really want a "super hard" edge on a "tough" steel body simply get a piece of 1055/60 and hairpin weld on a edge of 1084/1095. Heat treat like a 10XX series steel and there ya go... Now if all you want is a single egded blade, the weld would be a bit easier... You can always hard face the body of the blade with Stellite as well...I have done that and boy did those ever cut... No need to go into all the weirdnesses and everything else you mentioned. I wouldn't even be concerned with the corrosion resistance unless you plan on making it your dive knife/sword or slay sea serpents... I will be the first to say that I have done some really weird stuff in the name of hard research (like the cadaver tests I did with the DoJ back in the early 1980s...and all the Old Wive's Tale stuff like quenching in blood, wine and other SLTT) but nothing as elaborate as what you are describing... Ti while it is a useful metal is simply not suited for an edged tool/weapon. Jon Gonz found that out about 20 years ago... Now if you want to TiN the edge...THAT will work and give you some excellent cutting ability but that will last only until you wear through the TiN coating.... Oh by the way cherry red is no where near hot enough to get a Fe material to bond the way you are wishing it to....Then again..what do I know anyways??? I just feel that you are asking for a whole lot of work and only will be disappointed at the end.. Still, as I have always said..experience is what you get when you don;t get what you wanted to... Good luck.. JPH

Hello: I hate to nit-pick but he didn't mention what the mokume-gane was made from.. Mokume-gane means "wood burl metal" and is given to several different materials. Sometimes it is just called Mokume..and can also be used to describe the Hada in a blade, as it resembles burled wood... We are assuming that he is meaning the non-ferrous material, but he doesn't mention that. If he is referring to the laminate of various irons and steels that the Mokume Hada has, yes it can be welded to steel...not hard at all... G.E. please clarify, what material are you refering to? The ferrous or non-ferrous? this would be a great help.. Don't mean to be a pain, just want to know what he is asking... JPH

Steve: Methinks you have me confused with someone else...the vast majority of my work is priced well under 4 figures, at least for high carbon.. The welded stuff goes for a bit more but no where near 5 figures... I would sooner sell 10 $100.00 pieces than 1 $1000.00 piece....more "stuff out there"..the better "advertising..plus you have far more "$100.00 customers that $1,000.00 customers" if you ask me.. JPH

Steve; Actually the "proper term" for this hada would be Ayasugihada, which means Sugi grain..resembles the grain of the Sugi (cryptomeria) tree. Geeze I know a lot of useless stuff.... you used 15 pounds of material?? man...we need to talk... Looks great though....water or oil quench?? JPH

Ed: Well..Fridays are out for me that's the evening of my Iaido and Fencing classes.. Other than that things are so crazy around here still that I dunno if I am coming or going.. JPH

I am in the middle of a couple of projects that are very japanese in style and I need a couple of tsuka wrapped and two sageo tied on the siyas. I have a friend who has an auto body shop who lacquered the siya for me (oh they are gorgeous) one in traditional black and one in a burgundy with a gold metal flake (I might hang some fuzzy dice offa this one) that is just drop dead gorgeous. But I don't know how to wrap the dang things....I could send them up to Fred Lohman but the cost would be well..alot more than I am willing to undertake on "spec" pieces...I am willing to trade a bar of welded cable or two for this service Anyone have any aid to bequest upon a poor, ignorant blacksmith?? I already have the ito (wrapping)... Thanks all... JPH

Hello: Full time sword/bladesmith, part time author. Retired military (30+ years in the Nevada Guard, retired as an O-6).. Other than that..just swinging a hammer for a living... JPH

Hello: I simply use my 8R chop mark....it's a whole lot easier than even my "Americanized" name of James P. Hrisoulas.. My "real" name is Dimitrios Apostolos Chrisoulasadides...so much for being a first generation US born citizen... Somewho 8R seems a whole lot easier.... JPH

well Great Britian just banned "samarai swords"... Home Office | Samurai swords to be banned What in the xxxx ( are they thinking??? Or were they thinking??? Like I always said, once they "get" the guns knives and swords will be next on the block... JPH

Hello: Do you try coating the insides with ITC 100?? If not try it and you will see a major difference in temps...it refelcts at least 90% of the heat right back into the cavity...Neat stuff... JPH

Bruce: While you CAN do it...and I have done it every now and then, and when it stops etching "clean" usually I just bite the bullet and replace the whole batch of etchant...Easy enough to do really... You can "safely refresh" it a couple of times by pouring off say 1/4 of and then add "fresh" PCB etchant....straight from the bottle.... I do this once or twice a batch of solution and I replace it when the etchings start to "muddy out"... JPH

Hello: Hope no one minds my tuppence here... OK I use good old Radio shack PCB etchant (Ferric chloride) and I dilute that 3 parts water to one part PCB etchant. Now this is a SLOW etch, I usually eych my stuff for about and hour to and hour and a half..up to two hours depending upon what it is... JPH

OH man,,,,,FINALLY some other hammer head in the valley..... Where are ya?? I am out in Henderson... I dunno much about much of anything but I am willing to share what I do know.. welcome... JPH

Hello: Ok this is mounted as a Tachi...cause I just wanted it that way...on the grind they can be whatever the maker wanted..usually they are a mix between a flat and a cannel grind..very subtle convex grind to these...one of the reasons they slice so well....Chisel grinds were usually reserved for "lesser quality" blades and some tools...but they have been used fior swords but not common in that useage.. JPH

Hello: Here's a photo of a project piece..my "Nagi-Dachi Tachi"..It's a no Dachi length Tachi with a naginata atyle blade. This is right after a light etch to reveal the hada and hamon and is to be followed up by hand polishing to "brighten" everything up and to reveal any "activity" along the hamon transition line...It is a straight hamon... This is the tsuka end of the blade showing the double Bo-Hi... The blade is 34" long 1 3/8" wide and just under 1/4" thick... Hope this pic works ok.... JPH

Hello: Here is my most recent "interpetation" of Cedric Scramaseax's design... "Ol' Ced" as he was affectionately known develouped this around the 4th Cent AD..It has been "stolen" at least a half dozen times..the most recent has been in the 1830's by this Bowie guy outta Louisianna in the 1830's...(OK..I got a little "fast and loose" with the facts..sorta..maybe I could get a job at CNN or MSNBC???) This one has a 12 3/4" x 1 3/8" welded cable blade with forged in fuller...Red Deer antler grip with black horn spacers and bonze pommel plate and bolster... OAL: 18 1/2"... Thought I would share... JPH

Coyote: Sounds like you got the fuel problem licked...I would stay with the charcoal and not even bother with trying to find any soft coal around here...I had no choice as far as the gas goes, in some ways it's better, some way's it's not....for the volume of work that I do, I probably would of went with LPG eventually anyways...I put out a LOT of stuff... JPH