j.w.s. Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Well, I know it's been a while since I've really gotten to post on here but I've been slightly busy, which is nothing I'll complain about.. I figured I'd post a few pictures of my shop up at the Pa Ren Faire.. I did some changes to it for this season, some newly made flags, a new pond, picked up a treadle grinding stone, etc.. just a few random shots of the shop, including my demo area, my water wheel and the belows it pumps, the last two are two demo knives i did - I really like that stone for it's quick work on rough forged steel. The one with cord braided handle was a quick railroad spike knife, I couldn't figure out what to do with the head and after a child's suggestion it now has a vicious spike on it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danz409 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 looks a little wet and foggy. where is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 It's been a little wet and foggy around here lately (and me on my motorcycle for the worst of it), it's central Pennsylvania, right between Lancaster and Hershey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 I want the sandstone wheel!! Great spike knife, its nice to see the extra metal in the handle used differently than just leaving it as on most of these knives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 I got that wheel for free off someone who was clearing out an old lawnmower shop.. both those blades were ground down on it with some filing to clean up the edges and such and I think it does a remarkable job. I'm really considering adding a small geared motor when I move it back to the shop for the winter. Perhaps a water drip as well, but I need to research how that'll effect the composition of the wheel itself. As for the spike, it's got a great hand to it. It's slightly more forging than most forging of spike knives I've seen, but not much. I hammered the handle into a rectangle and it's slightly less than half an inch thick by 1". It tapers to the spine of the blade to 1/4". Over all it came out nice. I placed to holes on either end of the handle and used that as the starting/ ending point for my para-cord braiding. The spike on the end of the handle was just the L head hammered down to the same thickness as the rest of the handle and drawn out to a point. I was looking at some other people's spike knives and can't believe some of the prices they're getting! I've actually been getting requests to make more but I'm currently out of spikes and need to find another bucket of them - that and I don't really know what to charge. For some odd reason people seem to like the design so I'll keep making it and refining it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsiler Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Like the gringing wheel, I have always wanted one but never been able to find one. You sure were at the right place at the right time. Nice set up you have. Really like the knife. Something I haven't tried yet. I sure do like the braiding. Something (braiding) that has always caught my attention. Is it something you picked up on your on or is there instructions somewhere? Thanks for the thread. Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 Very interesting. Always wondered what the fair looked like on the inside, as I have been seeing advertisements about it for quite a few years now. The price of a ticket has been a bit pricey for me to actually come inside. It is definitely more polished presentation of a renaissance fair than the amateur renaissance fairs that they held during my youth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.w.s. Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 The braiding I picked up when I wanted to start making whips. It can be very tedious but still rewarding (see attached pictures). There's a few good books out there on the subject but I really recommend Whips and Whipmaking by David Morgan. I like to incorporate my other skills in with my smithing, I find that braiding can work nicely into knife designs and sheath work. As for the fair, Unicorn Forge, you're right. Much more polished then it was 14 years ago when I started there - a lot more pavement, audio being used to enhance shows and a smidge less dirt and mud. It's turning into a macadam jungle if you ask me. If the fair would lower its gate prices I think we'd find traffic going up and quite frankly with the economy this year our numbers haven't been so great. However we'll make it through as we always do. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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