j.w.s.

Here's my latest drop point, cutting edge is 1084. 7.875" blade, 11.875" over all. Back swept brass guard and bubinga handle. I had this on my table at the Eastern Pennsylvania Knife Collectors Association Show this past weekend but it really looked kinda naked. My leather work has really slacked off the past 3 weeks with the new baby stealing away most of my attention, so I took advantage of the fact that Gerry Solt had all his leather set up ready for action. I think he did a very admirable job and this coming Saturday it'll look 'complete' at the Mason-Dixon Knife Show.. Anyway, here's the pictures: J W Stekervetz

lol, normally when I need stuff like that, I do the head shake and then continue to home depot. most of my steel in the shop is high carbon and while I could make a lovely w2 gate hinge I think its better used in my knives.. that being said, it only took me 19 years to make a knife for myself. lol J

Wait, we're allowed to make things for personal use?! I'm gonna go dig out my handbooks.. J

Thank you everyone for the comments and well wishes! We're all doing fine, back at home and starting to establish what may eventually be our routine. Sometime this weekend i may even get a chance to walk back in the forge for a few hours. lol Daddy does have to make a living.. J

exactly how I do it. J

And one more pic.. This ones how you know she's a blacksmiths daughter.. J

Thought I'd share our big introduction of our little girl, this is Alainn (pronounced ah-Lynn) Rein Stekervetz, born 3-24-15 at 11:16, 5lb 14oz and 19.5" - what a gift..

A little sidetracked at the moment but I'll be making more in the future. J

Nice job on the first go.. oh, and they're bringing the trabant back apparently as an electric. J

Update. Turns out its MIL-DTL-46177 RHA. Essentially military grade 4340 that was used for rolled homogeneous armor in vehicles. Now I've got to find a use for it or its just going to sit around like that 11 lb cylinder of IN718 i cant do anything with. J

A friend of mine from the ABS gave me a plate of aus-8 @ 5"x36"x0.625". Now I know its a Japanese stainless (almost a 4 letter word, I know) similar to 440b and its used in commercial knife making by SOG and cold steel, but has anyone ever forged this stuff? I'm assuming he gave it to me to get it out of his shop and because, unlike him, I have the equipment to dice and draw this thing up into useable billets. The heat treat is fairly extreme (compaired to my usual steels) and rather specific but I figured I'd give it a go just to say I did. First though I'm gonna take a drive over to a friend who has an XRF gun just to make sure it is what I've been told it is. J

Thanks Frosty, I'll look around. I'm In Manheim, where there's about a hundred detailing shops and paint shops because of the rather large auto auction in town, so I'm sure I'll be able to track some down. Surfboard suppliers are pretty sparse though - not too much surfing happening on the Susquehanna.. J

Thank you.. it's red spacer.. I use red on my kitchen knives and black on my others.. because I'm strange like that. I've seen red epoxy being used, mostly by some Pakistani smiths I know, I'm not sure how they make it but its like an opaque paste, and I make a translucent black epoxy with India ink but it doesnt hold up the color all that well when sanded so I stick with the fiber.. just wish I knew of an alternative source.. at $1.25 a sheet from Jantz I burn through about 15 sheets a month when I'm busy. it's not the price that bothers me, its the fact that I cant find it under some other name at a local store when I forget to order more! J

Here's a piece I finished this past weekend. Some untraditional san mai, meaning I'm using 15N20 for the outer jack instead of low carbon and 1084 for the core. Blade was forged in the style of a gyuto with a right hand bevel to the edge and a mostly flat obverse. Next time I do this I would like to try my hand at forging the urasuki, or concave back, but I admit I'm not all that up on traditional Japanese knife making plus I think it would help to start with a thicker billet and file more away so as not to lose it. Blade is 7", overall is 11.25", handle is partially figured koa and the total weight is 8.65oz. J

​Also good advice.. I think the whole photo cube set up I use can now be purchased for less than $50 on amazon. I added a few lights. I just wish I had a digital slr so I could really control the depth of field the way I actually know how.. I'm not one to monkey with pictures in gimp or photoshop too much.. J

I would go the pid route.. you can find them dirt cheap.. Grab a type K thermocouple, I like the long ones with the threaded mounts. Just run the SSR into whatever type outlet the oven takes and drill a hole through the oven in a safe location to mount the thermocouple ie whereever there aren't any wires running, probably the door if you don't know for a certainty. I use them for everything from my forge, heat treat oven and even my coal stove in the shop.. and I don't think I've ever spent more than $45 for all the needed parts. J

Good job Benton, I've liked that basket leather since I saw you post it on G+.. but I'm not understanding one thing.. how is it that you have such nicely manicured hands? Mine are an embarrassment so I keep them in my pockets all the time on advice from my wife.. lol J

​I look forward to you friends input or anyone else's! J

Overal 9.875", blade 4.125"x1.125" - I think the speculation for the added ring was that it may have been attached to a thong or cord that was connected to the belt. Perhaps a safety line so it was harder to lose. Or maybe they just like jingly noises. I seem to recall that in folklore some mischievous fairies were said to chased away by bells and the like. I can't seem to find a website that links to information, just about the only reference online I can find is through another smith, Goran Enocksson - his own website that just gives a quick reference to it and another blog that referenced him. Even the offline source I had was barely a farts worth of information "Gotland finding" and other dates around it for other iron objects pictured ranging from 300 AD to 900 AD. Unfortunately I don't have that source anymore except for notes in my sketch pad and my younger self didn't think his older self would forget the library book or museum catalogue he was doodling from that day probably 15 years ago, Silly me. J

I still had about a quarter of the billet left I made earlier this week so I decided to finish it off. This time I decided to do a rare piece that, admittedly, I don't know all that much about the history of. What I do know is that it was from a Gotland find, not the Mastermyr, dating to sometime in the first millennium AD. If anyone has any more info about the find I'd love to hear it! Anyway, enjoy! J

Thank you. Go buy yourself a fabric photo cube and at least 3 lights. The fabric cube helps diffuse the lights and the lights eliminate unwanted shadows. Move the light around, get only the shadows and angles that make the piece contrast well against your backdrop, which in my case is just some satin fabric and a piece of firewood. Highly polished pieces often become a bit of a bear to photograph well. Oh, and pay attention to the color temperatures of your lighting! "Natural" is not always natural in a photograph. J

I traveled the few miles to the shop today through our latest winter storm and decided to hammer out a few blades from the billet I made for my hydraulic press video while I watched the world turn white beyond the windows. So in honor of Winter Storm Thor, here's a few knives that go with the theme.. 128 layer 5160 & 15N20. J

​Thank you.. the older I get them smarter I work.. 20 years ago when I was 18, I could take on any project with a drop of steel for an anvil and a 3lb sledge.. now I look at things with a "how can I do this so I can still move in the morning" kind of attitude.. and 38 isn't old, but 20 years of doing this for a living and many of those doing it the wrong way can do quite a number on the joints.. I want to keep doing this for another 40 years or more and "get it hot and bang it" only gets you so far before somethings gotta give. Some day I'm sure I'll have a toy.. uh er.. I mean tool for everything! J

​If I'm going to put forth the effort to record a video, I might as well make it worth the effort to watch. Thanks Allen! J