This is my first wire rope knife with a walnut handle. It was difenatley a learning curb. I don't think it turned out too bad for my first. Sorry about the size of the pics still trying to figure it out.

Nice looking. Not a lot of pattern, but looks like it would feel good in the hand.

Got its stats?

Phil

The blade is 4in long X 3/4 and the handle is 4 inches long. Its my new little skinner knife.

The easiest way I've found for sizing pics is to do a "Save as", change the name slightly, usually I put a "s" at the end to indicate "Small file size" but whatever works works. My old OS asks what size I want to save it as and I usually pick something less than 150k. for Fora and under 75k for E-mails. That's just me though.

I'd like a look at your blade but even with decent broad band a couple mb takes a long time to download then the pic overlaps my screen a couple screen widths and heights. Sure I can just press "Ctrl - " to shrink pics or web pages but there's still a long download time.

Frosty the Lucky.

Maybe these picutres will be easier to see.

That's much better John, thanks! It's a pretty nice looking blade and you've maintained the twist nature of the cable pretty well too. I like it.

Frosty the Lucky.

Okay... I am new to forging blades (still finishing up my first blade of 5160) and I have a question about cable knives...

I have been around a large variety of equipment with a wide variety of cables. I have yet to come across any cable that isn't galvanized, and I'm sure that bladesmiths aren't immune to heavy metal poisoning... Where does one get UNgalvanized cable?

Eric

Zinc oxide poisoning (Blue Flu) isn't "heavy metal" poisoning. Don't get me wrong you should avoid excess contact, heck, any contact you reasonably can.

Check with a crane company, drilling company, logging company, dirt moving company, etc. These operations can be hard on cable and basic safety concerns means it gets changed pretty often so if you come up with a cool forged gizmo for the foreman you'll probably end up having trouble finding room for all the cable. Checking the yellow pages for a cable/wire rope dealer might do it for you too, though they usually don't want to sell a few feet when a hundred yards is the norm.

However, getting rid of the zinc isn't all that hard if you back twist it (turn the cable against it's lay so the rire opens up) and put it in a tub of white vinegar the zinc (galvy) will dissolve off. For faster results sulfuric acid works very well, even diluted. I hope I don't need to say, "ALWAYS ADD ACID TO WATER, NEVER EVER ADD WATER TO ACID!!! Of course, use applicable PPE.

Frosty the Lucky.