nc_cooter

Thanks for the input everyone. I will pass them on to Gage this weekend. Alec, a man should not be measured in pounds and inches, but rather by his words and deeds. I will try to get some pics of the tongs later. They are not at my forge. Mike

My young student from last summer returned this summer to continue his blacksmith training. Last year we started from zero and worked on forging basics, spending 3 days a week in the forge. He made S hooks, drive hooks and one small knife. This year we only had 2 days a week due to ffootball practice, We concentrated on making tongs and knives. He made 3 knives this year, using only hand tools with the exception of a drill press. He has become very good at draw filling and hand sanding. Here is a pic of Gages' knives. He hand forged them from 1/4" 1084. He did all the work with the exception of the HT. Not too shabby for a 13 year old who stands 6'-5" and weighs 270#. Thanks fro looking, Mike

Forging bevels on blades requires good hammer control. Hammer control requires practice. This summer I had my first student with no knife making or metal working experience. He wanted to learn to forge knives. I told him that first he would have to learn to forge. Only then could we talk about knives. His tasks were as follows- Hammer control, making round stock into square, hammer control, making square stock into round, hammer control, tapering, hammer control, drawing, hammer control, upsetting, hammer control, etc. When he had spent about 60 hours of actual hammering, I told him it was time to try a knife. I had him make a full size drawing of his design and calculate the minimum size of 1/4" 1084 stock he would need and I turned him loose. The only help I gave was verbal. Here are some pics. This young man stood 6'-5",260# and was 12 years old. He turned 13 last October. Mike

Thanks everyone. I am going to make more of these small knives. They are a bit tricky to forge. Eric,they have stick tangs about 2" long. I use E-120HP epoxy. They won't come out. Mike

Thanks Messerist. I do keep trying to improve my work. Mike

I had some scrap pieces of 1084fg and rather than throwing them away I decided to try and forge some small blades. Used white tail antler tines for handles. They will be gifts for two young hunters to go on their hunting bags. Thanks for looking. Mike

Thanks mrnewberry. Only 2 left to deliver this week.

Thanks everyone. I'll have to fess up on one thing, the one on the far right in the top photo, I gave to myself. :D

Here's a couple of quick pics of some Christmas presents that I finished today. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas to all. Mike Broach

Thank's mrkiddi. I'll post more pics as they are completed. Mike Broach

Took about 4 months off the knife making after smacking the burn out wall. Spent the summer teaching a new knife maker and pursuing other interests. Here is my latest batch. Still have to etch the blades and make sheaths. Spent about 8 hours last week forging the next batch. It feels good to be making knives again. Mike Broach

Thanks for the nice words. Gage worked very hard all summer. Now it's football practice and school. He wants to continue the lessons on Saturdays. I guess the forging bug bit him real good. Mike

In February of this year I got a call from a friend. His son wanted to buy a knife with his Christmas money. My friends whole family are hunters and his son, the youngest, had killed his first deer last year. I had 5 knives in stock and Gage had a hard time choosing. He finally made his choice and the deal was done. (he got a real good discount) He was really fired up about forging knives. I gave a short demo and forged a small blade while they were there. Gage was hooked. Fast forward to June, I had a new student. Two to three days a week depending on everyone's schedule. I had warned him that first he had to learn forging basics. Then and only then, could he attempt a knife. Many hot, six hour days were spent in the forge learning drawing, tapering, making round stock into square stock and square into round. Gage never complained once. When he completed all of his basic tests, Gage started on his knife. He chose the size and style of blade he wanted. The stock was 1/4" thick 1084. I was his guide, but he did all of the hands on work. The as forged blade. He used files, hand sanding and my Coote grinder to finish the blade. He clay coated the blade, but I did the actual heat treat. Gage chose curly maple for the handle and did all of the shaping and finish work. Gage designed and made the sheath. I provided guidance, but he did the work. Here is the new knife maker. He stands 6'-4, weighs in at 265lbs and will be 13 in October. Gage has a second blade forged, but football practice and school will limit his shop time to weekends. He and his dad have started collecting tools and equipment for their forge/shop. All comments are welcomed by the teacher and the student. Mike

I can't imagine what it's like to be his size and the peer pressure he faces. Gage is very shy and didn't talk much during his first lesson. I had no idea if anything was getting through. My wife had a great idea. With us, he was to drop the mam and sir and use our first names, Shirley and Mike. This simple idea worked like a charm. He knows this just applies to us and we informed his parents about it. He has relaxed and really opened up during the lessons. I have him keeping a journal and, after each lesson, he writes down what he has learned and any questions for the next time. Reading the journal lets me know exactly how much is sticking and what we need to work on that day. The third day I read the journal, I noticed this penciled in at the top of the first page. "IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, ASK!" As to hammer size, he has tried every hammer I own, and almost always uses my 3# Hofi. Mike

Sask Mark, that's 265 lbs,not 365 lbs. He's big enough as it is.

Have not been posting in the last few months, even though I check the forum often. First, about 6 months ago, I got a bug. The black powder bug bit me hard. Second, I took on a student who wanted to learn to forge knives. To make it even more interesting, he has no knife making experience. I live about 4 miles from the Kings Mountain National Military Park and must have made one too many visits. The bug bit me. My first purchase was a used .54cal Lyman GPR flintlock for a great price. It had a butchered butt stock and lock problems, but the barrel was perfect. I added some wood to the stock and covered the patch work with some leather. If I can find a deal on a used stock, I will replace. The lock problem took a lot more work. With the help of experts and some new parts, I had the lock working great. Well, now that I had a working flintlock, I needed some accoutrement's. Made a powder horn, bag, vent pick, powder measure, etc. The patched Lyman shoots great. The only problem was that my wife out shot me the first time we shot it. Well now we had to have a second rifle. Got a reproduction of a J. Dickert .54cal flintlock rifle,circa 1775, with a 42" barrel. My wife immediately claimed it as hers. GPR Accoutrements J. Dickert My student is the son of a very good friend of mine. Last January he used some of his Christmas money to purchase his first custom made knife from me. He is an avid hunter, as is his whole family. He kept saying, "I wish I could learn to forge knives". We all talked it over that day and with his Dad's permission, classes started 3 weeks ago, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 to 3. Since he had no forging experience, we had to start with the basics. Fast forward to yesterdays session. He completed his first project, a simple S hook. He did all the work. S hook Gage with his first completed project. He stands 6'-5" and weighs in at 265lbs. He will turn 13 in October this year. This young man is a natural. We spend all of our time at the forge, except for a short lunch break. No complaints about the heat from him. He has two books on forging and two on knife making to read and study for homework. I tell him which sections to read before each class. When he completes two more forging projects, we will start on blades.

Thanks Donnie.

Thanks guys. Donnie, thats a 137# Hay Budden made in 1875. If you want a water proof wrapped handle, wrap the handle with 1/4" wide wet rawhide and let it dry throughly. Then carefully saturate the rawhide with super glue. After it's dry, water won't touch it.

I like it. Ya did good.

Thanks for the nice words everyone.The series was inspired by some small pewter turtles I found. In the Carolinas, a turtle is called a "cooter". The first one can be found here:

I have decided to make a series of knives called Turtle Clan. This is the second in the series. The blade is hand forged 1084FG and is 6 3/4" long and is 1 1/2" at the widest point. The handle is mule deer antler. The fittings are poured LF pewter. OAL is 11 3/4". The sheath is veggie tan covered in rawhide from a drum head that someone gave me years ago. The cuff is brain tan deer, decorated with glass beads, bone drops and a LF pewter turtle. Thanks for looking and all comments are welcome.

Thanks George and Phil. I have been trying different blends of Fiebings leather dye and this is the one I like best so far. 4 parts medium brown 1 part red 2 parts yellow 6 parts 70% rubbing alcohol Hand sand the maple to 400gr. Dampen the wood to raise the fibers and let thoroughly dry. Buff the wood with 0000 steel wool. Then buff with old denim until the wood is shiny. Apply a good coat of dye and let dry over night. Buff again with the denim until the wood begins to show a slight sheen. Apply 3 to 4 coats of Danish oil finish(natural), buffing with the denim between coats. Apply 2 coats of wax and you are done.

For the guard slot you can use a drill press to a drill a series of holes that are almost touching. Use a bit that is slightly smaller than the width of the slot. You need to get a jewelers saw and some blades and a set of small files. Use the saw to connect the holes and the files to clean up the slot. Go slowly with the filing to obtain a press fit. I used this method for many years before I got a mill. The bolsters and butt caps just require a lot of hand work. Just take your time and practice.

bnewberry, here is the site I got my info. The Knife Network Forums : Knife Discussions

Thanks guys.