devins

I just welded more weight onto my exhaust stack shield, super easy and you can make your extra weight an extension for easier reach, just buy the size that will fit your pipe. Great looking set up. I didn't know about the hood and how much you want it to cover so I am glad to see people's input. I hope to convert my brakedrum soon. I have everything but the sheet metal and every time I am in buying steel I price it and think I will head to the scrapyard. :D

Thanks for posting. I am about to try my hand at my first pair and you are inspiring me to go ahead and try.

That is looking great can't wait to see the final product

I know this is the bladesmithing forum but I think this will still be found helpful. The pictures attached are after 80 grit belt sanding and the rough shape of the handle has been layed out. Voids in the mammoth molar were exposed in the layering of the material. A simple fix would be epoxy but you will have a transparent fill of the void. I used some older and darker shades of dental composite and filled the voids prior to taking the pictures. I will try to point out where they were placed(in the first close up image there are two repairs visible in the middle of the picture, if they are hard to see at this magnification I think it will work for you). They have not yet been polished. I will post final pics once done also. I am placing this post because it is not that hard to come up with this material because it does have a shelf life and shades that will work in handle material are not necessarily going to be used before the shelf life is approaching the exp. date but will still work great in a handle. It can be placed with simple tools, (I set it in place and then used my bare finger to rub it into the voids). It must then be cured which setting it in direct sunlight will do in aproximately 5 minutes or an ultra violet light does very rapidly. The material is delivered only by the direction of a dentist but ask yours if he or she has any darker or gray shades that are getting old that you could use for this purpose(the assistant wil be able to help you), and you should not need the bonding agent if the void is dovetail shaped, and they should be happy to ablige. I will be away from the computer after tomorrow so I will answer any questions and post more pics when I can. I hope this helps and I can help on other materials as well. A final note, all material in the handle was professionally stabilized prior to use.

Really good looking. The pattern is very interesting and the handle flows very nicely.

Very nice! Great job on the file work. Really something to be proud of on both of them.

Wow!.... what else can you say, Wow!

Awesome, great shape and phenominal pattern! Can't wait to see with handle.

That is great!

Ah the carefree days of youth....We who are old enough still have to think back to the days when that was the norm. Come to think of it we used to have to spend a lot of time on preventive maintanence didn't we. We could sit around visiting while we polished and oiled everything(preventive or a whole lot more if restoring LOL) So is Stainless the problem with society today? Just Kidding, but you gotta love a good patina.

The knives are great and that stitching is very impressive. The total package reaaly works with the wrap handles too. Great job!.....How do you do that stitching? wow

Well one thing a bout it if producing that kind of work doesn't make you feel young it ought to at least make you feel good. I look forward to seeing the progress too. Its hot hear too but I can't get myself to go out and even try yet. I keep saying I would burn the house down or something like that but that sweat and wet thing is probably more like it. Thankfully triple digits will be over before too long. And are those from the new post anvil?

That is what I was thinking too, you could check down the length with your scribe and if it wondered to one side or the other shim until straight and then scribe the mark. You will probably be ready to try it before me so let me know how it works, LOL. But I think it will.

I drew this out very quickly but hopefully the pictures will give you an idea of what I am talking about. It should be adaptable to most situations.

I have not done this yet but I fab things off the cuff all the time. So as I see you describing the situation to scribe the center line of the edge so you can grind to it, I get a vision of a jig that could be easily made. You tell me if this will work. The tang will be flat unless tapered then the ricasso will be flat correct? If so you have a flat surface to work parallel to. You need to fix the flat part (tang if can for more stability and the longer flat area the easier, ricasso if that is what you have) in a jig that would hold straigt and parallel down the length of the blade. Then run one edge of the scribe down your flat jig surface(outside) and the marking scribe end would be adjusted to center at the ricasso and then scribe to tip. You could also use this to check for straight while forging prior to completion to make sure you are as straight as you think you are. This could be constructed from a piece of angle and flat stock with two screws for locking the blade in place. What do you think?

And while you are answering these questions can you tell me if anyone has had any trouble with an 8" or larger poly wheel overheating? I have held off purchasing my large wheel because I like the price of the polyurethane but the vulcanized has the track record of handling the heat. Has anyone had any trouble with a larger poly wheel from Sunray or any other supplier?

Great results!

That is what I was wondering too, about the cost. The guy had some up to 13" round but I think that is the problem with it, you can't do much with it. Otherwise try to end up finished as 5" square. I will just keep checking with him for square stock. What if they cut it with a torch in stead of a saw? Can that be a problem if it is 2 to 3 foot long, so it would be a good distance from the end you would use? And thanks for the help, I really like your design.

Mike, thanks for the posts on your anvil. I have a great scrap yard close by and have picked up a great piece of a large forklift fork I was going to lay flat for another anvil. I have been watching for a solid square piece of steel but have only found up to 3 to 3.5 inches. But with your info and seeing how to make a good stand(I had been thinking about how to get my height correct), I am going to keep looking for the right piece and hold out with hope. This yard has many pieces of round stock up to large diameters has anyone ever checked about using them and having the machinist square the last few inches and surface the end for you?

I have worked with ebony, and I have worked with antler, many woods, and synthetics. But I have not worked with buffalo horn yet. Planning a horn and snowflake obsidian handle so I would like to hear what you come up with. I was going to layer narrow segments of the obsidian in between larger elements of the horn. I have never had too much trouble drilling materials if I go very slowly and let the bit cut. Including on Rams horn(similar perhaps to the buffalo). Let us know how it goes. Also Jantz Supply (Jantz Supply - #1 Source for Knife Making Supplies) might have pre drilled in buffalo horn, I have used mammoth tooth from them pre drilled and all of the handle materials are stabalized. If it is not pre drilled you might ask what they would charge for that and save you the trouble. They have always been very helpful to me.

There again you have brought great looking colors together. Are you sure you are not a closet classical artist or painter too?...But seriously was the wood stabilized already that color or did you custom stain and then have sent out to stabilize? Oh and not to mention the blade looks great too.

Your friend is very fortunate. Nothing like having the highest quality of tool to do the job, but this has got to be the best looking hoof knife around too.

Beautiful! I love the molar contrasts. Great material selection and awesome blade.

In agreement that we do not want to be paranoid, I am making this statement. I am a healthcare professional. As I have stated before, I grew up farming and in agribusiness and did about every crazy thing with about every material and chemical around. Some that have been outlawed now, we used to handle bare handed. Not "cool," ignorant. And like I was telling a young man the other day don't confuse ignorance with stupidity. I do things much diferently now. I don't cut galvanized with a torch(I don't ride my motorcycle at high speed standing on the seat using no hands any more either). But not that long ago I was grinding without a resporator and my buddy, the Tech Ed teacher scolded me on that one. It seems like I keep trying to stay ignorant but thanks to encouragement we can become more educated and as a result safer. We all need to be aware that inflamation brought on by exposure to vapors that are caustic or irritating in any way can result in making us more susceptable to many more serios problems, pneumonia to absorption of other elements more readily, to cancer. That is not even counting what the initial irritation itself results in. And as mentioned before many elements have a cumulative effect. So I applaud everyone for encouraging eachother to keep safe and please keep us posted as you learn of other safety precausions we should be taking. Metal poisoning is not a good way to go.