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ValentineForge

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Posts posted by ValentineForge

  1. 2 hours ago, JHCC said:

     

    1. There's a line of epoxy visible where the handle and the pommel meet. That's disconcerting on a period piece and looks a bit sloppy.

    There really is no visible epoxy there. I'm guessing it's some kind of optical illusion in the picture. But I do agree that the pommel is a bit out of sorts with the handle.  I dry fit the thing about 200 times before final assembly but when I glued it up the pommel just didn't line up exactly.  It either over tightened or under tightened by a half turn.  It should have been a 1/16" reveal the entire way around. Not none at the bottom and 1/8" at the top. I'm not entirely sure what happened...  but thanks for the feedback!!

  2. I recently finished this blade for a gentleman that does revolutionary war reenacting. It is a hand forged blade from 1095.  (Quenched and tempered).  10" blade and 3/16" finished thickness. Just over a 4" hidden tang.  I slotted the tang and welded in a 1/4" carriage bolt for the thread.  The gaurd and pommel are solid brass.  The gaurd was cut and ground from 3/16" x 3" brass. Annealed about 20 times as I slowly hammered it to shape and all hand filed and hand sanded the shell.  The pommel is 1-1/2" hexagonal brass bar stock that I ground to 1-1/4" so I knew it was square. Drilled and tapped to thread on. 45° angles on the end and 16° angles on the handle side and hand sanded to final shape.  All the brass was buffed to a nice golden mirror shine.  The handle was made from a 1-1/2" square block of birdseye maple.  Ground to size, shaped with files, and hand sanded to 400 grit. Topped off with 3 coats of danish tongue oil and hand buffed.  I vinager etched the blade for about 18 hours and cleaned it up before final assembly. Everything was epoxy'd as I went. Right down to the final turn of the pommel.  Its feels good in the hand and is quite well balanced. Feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

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  3. Ive been wanting to make a hammer eye punch and drift for a while now and I got a milk crate full of random old rusty metal at an estate sale for 5$ a couple weeks ago. In it were 3 - 7/8" allen keys.  I'm not big on using "mystery metal" and I was just wondering if these things would be suitable for making a punch and drift set from. Thanks in advance.

  4. Hi everyone. My names Nicholas and I am the owner of Valentine Forge.  I am located in La Plata, Md. I specialize in custom knives. Especially historical recreations.  I made my first knife in 2008 while working as a kitchen cabinet salesman for an unnamed blue label home improvement company. I also do alot of work for a friend that is a liscenced gunsmith. (Specifically I case harden frizzens for muskets)  I love forging artistic works and welding things I found in the trash to make "art". Haha  as far as I know almost every bit of working knowledge I have comes from the school of hard knocks but I love learning.  I'll be asking more as I traverse the site.  I'd LOVE to be a bigger part of the community. Thanks love peace and chicken grease.  

  5. As the title says, other than high polish, what are some of your personal favorite ways to finish brass? I'm working on a brass gaurd with an integral clam shell right now for an 18th century German hunting knife reproduction. I've hand sanded it to a 220 grit and hand buffed with a cloth and brass compound. It looks good but it's not quite what I was hoping for.  I'm trying to get a nice finish without a mirror shine.  I'm thinking maybe hand buffing with 0000 steel wool instead of the cloth.

  6. On 1/3/2020 at 9:26 PM, Glenn said:

    If one of these became available, I would make room. (grin)

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    I saw one of those for sale on Ebay recently.  500lbs if I remember correctly.  If you have a spare 5800$ dollars laying around that is.  Hahahaha

    A leg vise is designed specifically to take the abuse that a standard bench vise is not. It distributes the hammer blows in a way that doesn't hurt the vise or the surface its mounted to.  The screw block is a completely isolated unit. Allowing the "hulk smash" to be absorbed by the ground and not the threads.  

  7. I purchased a really nice Peter Wright post vise from an antique shop in Port Royal, Virginia yesterday. I wire brushed xxxxxxxx it and oiled it up real good today.  Anyway... I was putting it all back together and noticed a 4 leaf clover stamped into the box. It looks like it could be a makers mark and the previous or original owner did it for identification perhaps?  Anyone have info on that or maybe another theory? If you're interested I can provide pictures. It has a 5" jaw and I estimate 80lbs.

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