Kwisatz Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 This is my first knife. I am having a great time figuring out what end of the hammer to hold because have no formal training at all, whatsoever. After using a wire attachment on my angle grinder, I progressively sanded it to a 120 grit finish. I haven’t tried to put an edge on it yet. Blacksmithing has quickly become one of my favorite weekend pastimes! Everything I learned about this art I learned from books (20%) and YouTube (80%). I did this as a first project after watching a few youtube videos and deciding to make a forge and try it. Once I told my friends that I wanted to try Blacksmithing, they started dropping off all kinds of odd pieces of metal along with railroad spikes. I have no idea why my friends just randomly have railroad spikes, but then again I am not going to ask. I have heeded the warnings and not tried to pick up spikes near a train yard. I just posted a short write up on the RR Spike Anvil I made, so feel free to take a look a that if you are interested. I appreciate any constructive criticism and advice. K- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Welcome to the addiction, and good first effort. Any "first" is better than nothing. "First" means you've quit talking and thinking about it and have started doing it. Now, if you're serious, find some good instruction. Get with some local smiths and learn. Ask around this forum... I'm sure threre are some smiths and groups in the Vegas area. Books are good if they are good books. Iforge is a good place to get recommendations. There is some excellet stuff on YouTube, but there is a ton of junk. Be discerning. At best you can learn wrong information; at worst you can get hurt. Any idiot can post a video, and many have. Again, Iforge is a good place to check references. You'll find that some of our regulars on here have posted some great YouTubes. Good luck and stay at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormcrow Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Looks like a good first start! I made some railroad spike knives to begin with and they don't look that knife-like. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 That cleaned up really nicely! That's a good piece and you'll loook with pride on that for many years to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackravenforge Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 nice. don't worry about formal training, i don't have any either and i have people wanting to buy my knives. it just takes practice, patients, and a whole lot of reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal99 Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Looks good man :) what do you use for a forge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwisatz Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 I made a Brake Drum Forge just like this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal99 Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Thats pretty sweet man!!! I'm lacking a place to put a forge lol I dont think my land lord would like it of I set one up on the deck of my appartment lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwisatz Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 All done! The blade and pommel have been sanded to 300 grit. I may go as high as 600. The sheath is leather with stainless steel grommets alternated with leather laces. The grommets add some bling and shine to it as well as make certain that it holds together no mater what. The leather laces allow me to run my belt through them to carry it. I wear it at the small of my back, the blade is 4 inches long. Its about 7 inches total. The reason I named it Zero Training is partially after Zero Wolf, played by Raoul Trujillo. I liked the way he would draw his obsidian knife from the sheath so I had that in mind with this one. Zero Wolf is from the movie Apocalypto -> http://i58.photobuck...80220151134.jpg , http://i58.photobuck...80220151634.jpg & http://t3.gstatic.co...ffcitFcB7VTqmn9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal99 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Looks good man :) I have to learn the ropes of sheath making now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackravenforge Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 making a functional sheath is easy. making a nice looking one is tricky. i made one from some pleather i got at a discount fabrick place, some cotten twine, and wood glue. it dosn't look pretty, but it works better than most that i've bought in a store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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