GrumpyBiker

Or , in this case, the previous owner was an idiot. It’s an Artisan Cutlery Archaeo Titanium with carbon fiber inlay & a VG-10 Damascus blade.

I don’t know what metal object he ran across but back 1/2 could have been used as a scraper.

smh.  

Otherwise it’s a nice knife & now it’s sharp again.
 

Video didn’t seem to load so I added it to my YouTube page.

I have acetone in the shop so I’ll use that.

The steel is VG10 Damascus if that matters.

The fingernail polish tip is much appreciated.

I bought a used Damascus/ Titanium folder For daily carry & it had issues.

scratches in the Damascus & a rolled edge.

the edge fixed I noticed the etched makers mark coloring 1/2  removed.

being a daily carry piece I polish the blade but in doing so I lost (in areas ) some of the lines of the Damascus.

I can order some Ferris Chloride and good that route but is it possible to use boiling vinegar to bring back the etching of a polished Damascus blade ?

i gave gallons of vinegar on hand. If not no big deal but I thought I’d ask.

I’ll now have to go out & take a better photo of mine.

It’s a small benchtop model

6 hours ago, Frosty said:

Are you going to make a set?

Frosty The Lucky.

I’d not thought of hand shovel & rake set but that’s a good idea.

1922-1923

I’d not given up just needed to spend time getting better. Learning better hammer control.... still need better hammer control. LoL. 
but I’m still having fun leaning every time I pick up a hammer & light the forge.

I watched Joey Van Der Steeg make one of these and my wife said “that’s something you could make for me”.
 I’ve never attempted anything like this before as my propane forges aren’t designed for larger items .
 I’m now looking at building a two burner side opening forge for these oddly shaped items.

I started with 1” round stock and bumbled around trying to figure out how to spread & shape the tines given the confined opening to my forges. 
 In the end it turned out alright. Far from perfect but that matches the maker.
 Being a woodworker first I had some oak in my small stock bin and shaped a handle narrow enough for my wife’s smaller hands. 

 turned out I didn’t need the tail section of his design so I cut that off & started shaping it into a leaf to be used as a ceiling fan fob in my wife’s green house.

I’ve started on a second one to be mated to a long handle . I know knives are all the rage these days but it’s day to day items like this that I’m interested in. 

Finished up the cleaning on the swage block .

Ready to put it back to work

.

I know but the pitting was so deep , I think I get why it was only $150

5 hours ago, Glenn said:

Your swage block cleaned up nicely. What did you use?

A number of items.

I started with the scale / paint removal device used for getting paint off metal.

I found it works great for removing the loose dirt & flaking rust.

If going for a more polished surface I then go to the angle grinder to get the heavy rust off & remove the tops of the heavily pitted surface. Then move from the grinding disk to the Flap pad sanding disks starting with a 60gr and down to 120gr .

If I don’t want a shiny surface I skip the angle grinder completely and go to the fiber wire attachments for the drill.

Harbor freight has these, orange is course , blue is fine grit.

After that I go to the wire brush attachments in the drill.

I use die grinder bits in the drill to reshape the concave parts on the sides.

I have 6 hours into it so far. I expect 4-5 more as I prefer to go slow & light.

Mistakes are smaller & easier to fix when I don’t try to do it all in a couple hours.

This portion is almost don’t.

Clean up on the Swage Block I bought last weekend.

And so the clean up begins 

Well it turned out to weight 102lbs.

$1.47 per pound.

3”x12”x12”

Here it is.

I suppose I could do worse for $150

For my use it’s the concave shapes on the edge that I’d be using most and at that price it’s equal to buying 3.5 hardy tools with a few of those shapes.

But it’ll take up more space than hardy tools.... I’m kinda stumped.

I found an old swage Block but all the holes in it are round, none of them are square.

Is that unusual & is it something I should be concerned with.

Its 2.75” thick , 75-80lbs & $150

Would it be worth it at $2 per lbs even without the square Hardy’s?

Condition is fair to good. Needs cleaned up but nothing broken.

I know, I should have taken a pic but I’m considering stopping back by.

Opinions needed.

Well, it followed me home !!!

Anyone here use / make a solid working end nail header vs a concave (hollow underside) header ?

I’ve seen a couple different versions but I know it’ll be a longer process making one instead of the quick & easy flat style I have.

I’ll be making a couple this Fall and am looking for and appreciate the input and advice.

What would you all say is the best thickness for the working end of the header? 

The concave portion in particular.

I don’t want to go to thin & have it begin to collapse.

I know it doesn’t receive any heavy hammering but I want it to last years & not have to mess with it once it’s right.

I like the bulge , is that part forge welded on?

Or Forged that way from the get go?

I’m interested in seeing what style & type of headers everyone has and what size nails you guys have found sells best !

Also if you have a technique that works best for you for making them I’d love to hear it !

This one is 1/4”, I needed a larger one.

My Blacksmithing tools are in my will going to my county’s historical society.

We have no kids or family that’s interested in it other than what they’re going to get from my shop for Xmas .

Nice, & from Cleveland, Ohio.

Nothing much this weekend, just a couple leaf springs for $7.50

But I would like to thank the forum for saving me $$$ on a cast iron mistake. 

I remembered seeing something about these but I couldn’t remember if it was good or bad. 

I had some time to search the forum while my wife finished up her hunting & gathering of old stuff to locate the needed info.

I passed on the U.S.A. anvil