WOLFJOHN

Just a thought...I'd anneal those bearings separately first possibly before throwing it all together in the can.....that might make things "merge" together better when you blend it.

One more after some time off...made out of some 52100 bearing steel....ivory micarta handle and 6 or 7 Advil.

Stock removal 1095 with a really neat black polymer resin filled wire mesh scales.

Angie at aaocustoms.616@gmail.com They do just about any color. Very happy with their products.

Decided to light the wick in the shop and make a pretty. Stock ground from 1095 with brass bolster, mosaic pins and some really neat magenta polymer scales with pine cone spine embedded into it.

I bought the scales from Exotic Knife Handles online. They are located in Commerce City Colorado and have recently opened a website. Very nice products!

One off my bench recently. Time to go do some fishing.

Thank You for all the kind compliments, I do appreciate it. I would like to tell all the younger knifemakers just a couple very important things this old sage can tell you......first, go slow, buy yourself some pre-made blades and work on the fit & finish. I watched the Forged In Fire TV show...I figured I'd got the boot the first round due to when the time was up...I'd still be sitting at the table with my Crayons drawing my design after 3 hours. Nothing makes good forge work look bad than not seeing it all the way thru to the end with the same desire of you did in the beginning making your blade . When you're done, check your work in the daylight (not under fluorescent lights!)...if you find a flaw...hand it to your wife...she will find three more - no kidding. Some of you are snickering about this and you know what I'm talking about. After many years, you get "Coal Eyes" and you just miss stuff sometimes. My wife in my final Quality Assurance person on all my work. The second thing is, don't be afraid to mess up. I think a person could build a Peterbilt out of the steel I've messed up on, You just stay at it. You burn yourself, smash your fingers but you just keep going. I dunno, when I finish a piece of work, be it a knife or anything else, I feel good about it knowing I did my best. Although I know I am not "the best"...I did "my" best and that's what counts. Being confident in what YOU can do and appreciate your own ability is absolutely paramount in this craft. Although I am turning the wick down more on my shop work, there will always be that draw to do some work now and then and I will share it here with you. To you younger smiths, keep going, keep working and fine tuning your abilities, most of all share what you learn. We all know, you can't teach what you yourself didn't learn so....there it is...teach someone what you know so they too, can continue this wonderful craft as well and pass it on.

17 inch Damascus Bowie, 1084,15n20 and L6. Dyed box elder burl scales. A total of 176 layers, This is one of the last blades I'll be making, time to retire these old hands.

I went and did a comparison on my 140lb Peter Wright, this anvil does have a softer ring for sure....I dropped a 1 -1/2" ball bearing on it and it did bounce really nice. The bottom is cast iron and appears to have a weld around the base too.

I cannot find anything on this old anvil and I'd like to ask some of the fellas & ladies on here if they can help. All I can find after wire brushing and flour coating it is the numbers 11 and 22 under the base. It's a good anvil, great ring and rebound. Any help would be appreciated.

Actually, I like it! I for one can tell you I've had a dump truck load of "whoops" and mostly inclusions of some sort too. Just keep doing it!!

This was one of my favorite projects last winter. It's truly a good thing I don't do this for a living, I'd starve due to how slow I go at getting everything just right. There's sure a lot of talent on this forum, I love to see the younger ones getting into this craft too.

After some wire brushing/scrubbing, here's few more pictures of the "Mystery Anvil. Outside of the 11 and 22 under the base, I could only find what looked to be a number 5 just up and to the right of my finger...that's it. Any ID help on this would really be appreciated. It's obviously had some hammer time and has some rough areas. I put it on the medical scale and it weighed right at 100 pounds. Sorry for the poor pictures, photography isn't really my strong point.