Chimaera

Those would be the quicks. I decided that I probably won't be dealing with any round or square bigger than 1/2", so I went with the rapids.

Nice mokume, Jaegers! Waiting for nice weather to take crack number two at some for myself. How many are in that disc?

TJ, nice, nice, but you missed one. You've given my sole a new perch. They're a bit like flounder. Very tasty. Most famous is the dover sole

Ah, now I get it! Didn't realize straight line had a meaning besides, well, a straight line. Along with the loaches were synodontis, pictus, gouramis, and plecostomuses (just for my tank)

Roger- That looks awesome! The beautiful arches in there, and nice variety in the brick color really make it excellent. And yeah, what Frosty said. That's kinda a big deal on here. I haven't been able to hook up with anyone yet, but it sure would be nice. And even if you don't visit, people can help you find anvils, coal, etc. etc.

On a different note, I finally got tong blanks from Ken's Custom Iron. I ordered one pair of bolt jaws, plan on making those bolt vbits, and two pairs of flatjaws for wolfjaws. Thought those would be some of the most universal/versatile styles to get me started on multiple sizes of square, round, and flat stock. I hope to be able to make my own by the end of next summer, but I thought these would be a good starter set.

Frosty, definitely the straight lines part. I agree on the ailments. TJ, that makes sense. Thank you.

Ok, TP. I think I get it now. I'm itching to go to a scrapyard for a number of reasons, so I might see what they've got while I'm there.

TP- If you don't mind me asking, what makes a forklift tine better than railroad? Is it just the steel composition? Also, I've seen some railroad tracks mounted "sideways" where you are looking longways from the top. What's that about? Thanks.

So... this isn't preferable, but what if you rather than a ridge, did a groove? Like with a chisel. Would probably be a bit easier for ya.

Probably part of it is that wels are kinda just overgrown blue catfish with half their tails missing... They lack the raw, muscular strength of goonch and piraiba. You look at a wels, and it looks, well, squishy. And it is! A piraiba, though, you can see the individual muscles and sinews rippling under their skin. I own a few pictus cats, which are essentially mini piraiba, and even at 5" long, they're no joke. Wels are also ambush predators the way a pike is, while a goonch is a bit more like a great white shark.

TP, I can imagine. Those would probably be gator gars, which are not unheard of getting 8' nowadays, so back then... Big ole catfish and paddles too.  Now, in Arkansas there aren't many (or big, not like white) sturgeon... now those guys are somethin

Yes, Wels are also big boys. Not sure why I didn't include them...

Hmmm... I think that that would go to either the piraiba or the giant devil catfish (goonch). While not as big as the mekong, they are incredibly aggressive, as opposed to the mekong who is actually an herbivore.

The piraiba can probably grow to 600 lbs (mekong 800), has a mouth 2.5' wide, has a bulletproof skull 2+ inches thick, has been known to move through water only 1.5' thick, where their dorsal fins stick out like a shark's. Active predators that favor giant river otters, tapir, and especially capybaras, grabbing drinking mammals by the head and dragging them into the water while simultaneously snapping their necks. While not their preferences, they have been known to go after caimans, jaguars, and humans.

Goonches probably hit about 500 (the record is only 165, but it's not uncommon to see bigger ones in fish markets, and legends obviously paint monsters), have an even wider mouth, and are more of ambush predators and scavengers, burying themselves in the river bank mud and feasting on mahseer, crocodiles, and human remains from burning funeral pyres. One of the unique things about these guys is their huge, toothed mouth. That's right- toothed. These guys have rows of inch long, backwards facing teeth to keep prey from escaping. A bit like this, just 10 times bigger:

4 hours ago, BillyBones said:

hose iridescent sharks you can buy for your tank are called swai at the supermarket. 

Yes. Absolute beasts of fish. Quite unfortunate that people purchase them without knowledge (or resources) of how to raise them... Especially when you realize they're close relatives of the mekong catfish (largest catfish and one of largest bony, non sturgeon freshwater fish in the world) and the chao phraya AKA dog eating catfish, a 150 lb, aggressive, carnivorous beaut of a cat.

That'd be cool, too. What kind of amphibians are you thinking?

Oh my. Have you told the kids your feelings yet?

Frosty, I'm not sure I completely understand what you're saying... Paul, I completely agree, but I do love my little slime babies.

BB, sorry to hear about that. Mine's a fresh. I do have a pleco (bristlenose, so he'll max out at 6", if that). Also, he's so dumb that he won't even eat the algae . In addition to him, I have:

A few java loaches

3 pearl gouramis

1 yoyo loach

2 pimelodus pictus cats

1 adorable baby synodontis

I had 3 angels, but two months ago they all got a disease and died off. Looking to maybe get more gouramis or new angels. I've got a place that breeds their own angels, so you can get them the size of a nickel for $1.50. Love that place.

I don't feel up to saltwater. Not yet. And when I do, it probably won't be a reef. Maybe a stingray and catshark.

Now, BB, if you want to get back into it, I might suggest cory catfish and Pea puffers. They're fresh water pufferfish at most an inch long. Adorable. Don't like other fish in their space, but will leave catfish alone. You could keep 5 pea puffers and 5 corys in a nicely aquascaped 30 gal. Plus, you can feed the pea puffers almost for free. I assume you've experienced the dreaded malaysian trumpet snail invasion? Thousands upon thousands of tiny snails swarming the tank... Pea puffers' favorite food. They'll gobble em up, pecking them off the glass with their tiny beaks.

Yep. I really wish I could do that in my 60 gal aquarium! Unfortunately, I'm rather fond of my fish...

6 hours ago, SLAG said:

sing olive oil will put a lot of folks off with its distinctive odor and taste.

SLAG, won't most of the olive oil taste be gone after a bit? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

As far as from an allergen standpoint, you don't want even trace amounts left, but from a taste standpoint?

alexandr, I aspire to make a single leaf half as good as those... maybe in 20 years! Cannon Cocker, beautiful tools. May I ask what you did to make everything food safe?

True. I'm not sure of the poundage pull, but the sliding force probably isn't great... better to not risk it shooting a blade out... I'm starting to feel like I got stabbed just thinking about it... JHCC was probably right in saying that at this stage hand filing is gonna be better. I might put the knife in the vice and take the angle grinder or belt sander to it for rudimentary flattening, but files are now my master... 

Probably right... Ok, heading to bed. Thanks for your tips. Giving it to my dad tomorrow, hope he likes it! I decided to acid etch his birthday into it, so hope that turns out.

I have some very strong little neodymium magnets. I could put the sander's handle in the vice, or I could magnet the blade to the face of my anvil and run the sander over it there. That sounds like the better idea.

Yep. Definitely a learning curve. Compared to my first knife, though... Just between the two I've come a long way

Looking to get a bit of O1 or W1, maybe some 5160 and pound out some nice ones over Christmas break. The one I just finished gives me the confidence to think that I can make, while not an excellent knife, a perfectly usable and, to me, quite satisfactory little blade.

Also, figured out how to change my profile pic. Maybe you'll see my fascination with Chimaeras...beautiful creatures!

Makes sense. Thanks for the tips, JHCC.

Well... part of it was just to see what happened! I agree, it's really weird, I'm sure even stranger for those of you who have been doing this for years, but it actually turned out pretty well! It's comfortable, it makes you pause for a second... Possibly the only practical reason was that, if I had brought up a scale that far on the left side, you wouldn't be able to lay the blade at a gentle enough angle to whittle or cut anything other than perpendicular. If I hadn't brought up the scale that far, it wouldn't be symmetrical, and if I hadn't brought up the right scale that far it would be uncomfortable.

You're saying make sure that they touch perfectly together on the flat faces of each? Or the spine and belly of the handle line up? Either one certainly makes sense. If you mean the flat faces, would using a handheld belt sander be an option? Perhaps put magnets on the blade to hold it and press it on the sander? Or would holding the sander and having the blade magneted down work better? If you mean touching the spine and belly, I just didn't notice the issue until too late. Also, do you have a steel finish suggestion? I wanted to polish it but didn't have access to my vibrational sander or any paper over 400, so I used the orbital up to 180 then used a dremel buffing bit with a bit of 3in1 oil. For the padauk, I hand sanded to 400 then used a dremel buffing bit with some beeswax to give it a nice, deep shine. And before anyone points it out, the bevel on the finger groove is awful. I messed it up and had to just go with it. Overall, though, I think it's alright, I learned from it, I hope to make something better soon.

Today-

No forging, but finally finished up my dad's Bday present. Forged little kiridashi with a single padauk scale. Kinda a strange little knife, but it sure is unique. Second knife.