FivePointsForge

I like the shape. That looks like a great result for only your second attempt, nice job. A few questions since it’s hard to tell in the pics;

Is it a hidden tang? Doesn’t appear to be full tang. 

Did you forge in bevels or grind? I see a plunge but hard to tell what else is going on there due to the aging of the blade. 

Last but not least, can you tell us about your heat treating process?

Raymond Richard

Beautiful, Theo. How did you treat the bronze?

15 hours ago, hawk18 said:

 

Thank you Hawk, truly appreciate the praise. 

The oxidation that the Insta-blak creates seems very tough. I’ve used it on lots of different projects, one of which was to “antique” a stainless .45 cal revolver and a stainless lever action .45-70 rifle, both of which have seen plenty of use and (non-gentle) carry through some fairly heavy brush and those have held up flawlessly. As far as on blades and fittings, I only still own and use one knife that I’ve used it on, all plain steel, and it hasn’t really shown any wear. I’ve used it on everything from guitar hardware to firearms and have yet to be disappointed. 

Love it. The ebony/Koa combo is very aesthetically pleasing.

Aside from your self criticisms, I think the work is excellent, I really like the handle shape. Only thing I’m wondering is if the handle is angled downward. Hard to tell in the pics if it’s in line with the blade or if it angles slightly downward (from an edge down, horizontal perspective). When I make a chef/large kitchen knife, I like to actually give the handle a slight bend in the opposite direction, mostly for knuckle clearance when chopping, but that’s just a personal preference of mine. 

Very nice work. I absolutely think the feather pattern turned out wonderfully, but I can certainly relate to that feeling when something doesn’t necessarily match the picture that was in your head beforehand. 

I think the zebrawood is fantastic. I used to use it occasionally when building fretboards for electric basses and guitars. There’s a bit of a glare on the handle in most of the pics which detracts from what I’m sure is a much deeper and bolder grain display and contrast. 

Thanks guys.

Mr. Powers, I had the antler dyed at one point in the process but decided to revert back to the natural colors, so I sanded it and treated it with my linseed oil, beeswax, pine tar mixture instead, which should allow the material to darken naturally and fairly quickly in my experience. The light colored areas aren’t nearly as bright as they look in the photos. I’m planning to work on my photography skills immediately after I improve my leatherwork lol. 

As for tea, no I have not yet tried that. In the past I’ve mostly used a chemical called Insta-blak by EPI, which is intended for blackening stainless steel, but I’ve found it to be extremely flexible in various dilutions for darkening just about any ferrous or non-ferrous metal. For this particular knife, for whatever reason, I opted to experiment with a home mixture (this was coffee, balsamic vinegar, a jar of old salsa, etc). 

Forged 5160, deer crown, mild steel fittings. 

Full tang, threaded and peened. 

Antiqued with a wretched smelling home brew of  whatever I had around the house that was acidic

Lastly, my lousy sheath. Always an afterthought, but practical. One day when I’m satisfied with my forging, I’ll practice my leatherwork. Which pretty much means that I’ll never practice my leatherwork. 

Those hammers are absolutely gorgeous. Like fine shotguns...

On 11/30/2018 at 6:43 PM, FivePointsForge said:

Thank you! The longer slender blade is a gift for a friend and is all planned out, the blade was forged from a piece of leaf spring from his old boat trailer. The handle will be made out of a piece of cherry from a handle from his late wife’s casket.

Finished this one, wound up just forging some bronze fittings. Unfortunately I only got one pic of it before I rushed it out the door, it was a gift that I had to either give last night or not until after the holidays, so the epoxy was probably still sticky inside when I handed it over

3 hours ago, ausfire said:

We have a great watch dog. She would sit there and watch anyone take what they want.

Harry Potter (Ginny Weasley) “wand” letter opener. 

Alexandr, that set is gorgeous. Very nice work. 

Stunning, as always. 

Thank you sir. I’m liking the vines less and less as the night goes on, but the coiled end of one is appealing to me. I may eliminate the wrap from the stem and just have the one coil originate from under the leaves and leave it at that. 

Thread got moved, Guess I posted it in the tools section, sorry about that. The title of the video had the word “tools” in it and once it started playing I don’t know what she was talking about or doing because I was suddenly very very distracted 

My first rose... not sure about the copper vines, I’ll have to look at them a bit and decide if they stay or go... I realized after I started this project that my oxy/ace setup was down and out so I burned the petals and copper leaves a bit in the Forge while shaping everything and peening the stem 

7 hours ago, GrumpyBiker said:

Is it odd to get tired of making the same thing over & over?

Does JHCC get tired of saying “Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please....”

Those are nice looking openers btw. 

Today I made my first attempt at a rose. Hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for a few years now and haven’t yet attempted a flower... that seems to be something most people try rather early on. I forgot to take pics but it went well. I’ll get some pics tomorrow when I finish it up. Christmas is coming...

Very nice Das, it’s better that it’s in your handwriting, all the more reason for her to treasure it forever. 

Hows Pittsburgh? My brother and I and our sons are heading that way in a couple of weeks for a father/son weekend to catch a Pens and a Steelers game. 

MC thank you for the tip, that’s a good point. Although, I can leave mine flush since I never get anything

CJ those copper leaves look great, they would look fantastic as contrasting adornment on something forged steel/wrought iron. 

2 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Nice work.. Looking forwards to the finished blades.. Handles all picked out? 

Thank you! The longer slender blade is a gift for a friend and is all planned out, the blade was forged from a piece of leaf spring from his old boat trailer. The handle will be made out of a piece of cherry from a handle from his late wife’s casket. The fittings I’m not 100% sure yet, likely just some bronze but if I can snatch something from his house (it’s a surprise gift) that has something to do with his wife and makes it 100% sentimental, I’ll reroute the plan. 

The other blade has no definite plan. I have an endless supply of crown antler, but the last 4 or 5 knives I made were all antler so I’m a little sick of the smell lol. I have some bog oak that I’ll continue to save for something more exciting... this one may get some ebony and bronze. 

Sorry Glenn, didn’t mean to turn this into a misplaced blade discussion, it’s just what I did in the forge today 

13 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

I recently learned I can use Skype calling from my laptop to find my cell phone.  As I'm living alone down here I can't have someone else call me...

Have you ever picked up your cell phone to call your cell phone so that you can find your cell phone? I’m asking on behalf of a friend, of course. 

Roughed out a couple of blades this morning, now onto some sort of stocking hook rack (no fireplace in the new home) while these two normalize.