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I Forge Iron

My first attempt at knife making.


BigCotton89

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I appreciate all the replies. As for that "damage" near the tip... I was using a methane powered forge so there were a lot of problems with scale, but when I cleaned it up a bit I really liked that rough spot on it. The finish is just a forced patina with distilled white vinegar, the person I'm making this for wanted a more rustic look to it so it worked out well. As for the makers mark, yes it is etched with saltwater. I'll copy the write up on how I did from another thread. If there is enough interest I'll try and add some pictures later.

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I just figured out saltwater etching with some beautiful results. Get an old laptop charger from wherever you can, cut the end that goes to the laptop off and separate the positive and negative wires, (fair warning, when I did this the wires were a little hard to figure out but with the help of the diagram on the charger you should be able to figure it out) attach some small alligator clamps and wrap it up with electrical tape. Then go down to a local sign makers shop and get the to cut your desired design out of vinyl and make sure to get the negative of it. Take that design and put it where you want it on your blade, make sure there are absolutely no air bubbles that water can seep through or it could ruin your knife. tape off the edges with electrical tape so no water hits anywhere else on your blade. Now you're ready to etch; mix a small amount of salt and water, it wont take much, now attach the positive clip to the blade a little ways away from your design and attach the negative lead to a cotton swab of similar that is wet with saltwater, wet not drenched. make sure that the alligator clamp is actually touching the salt water and then plug in the laptop charger. Lightly dab the cotton "product" on the area you want to etch and you should hear it start sizzling, work your way around your design until the desired depth is acquired. When this is done if you want to darken the etch to make it more prominent you can reverse the alligator clamps, negative on blade positive on cotton, and dab all around the design again until the desired darkness is reached. When done peel off your stencil, careful the metal will be a bit warm, and clean with alcohol. This is the result that I got on my very first attempt.
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Well that was part of it Jon. That and it was easy an easy power source that didn't require an input voltage to get an output such as most car battery chargers do (I failed a few times with them before I realized this). It regulates voltage so I don't blow anything up or fry myself.... I like that.

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As requested Matt: First off this is the whole unitpost-24499-0-54606900-1352519798_thumb.j I tried to get a close-up of the back of the chargerpost-24499-0-49849000-1352519816_thumb.j as you might be able to see, the positive wire wrapped around the negative. I cut the end off of the charger and separate the positive and negative and put on the respective alligator clamps.post-24499-0-31930100-1352519807_thumb.j Once the clamps are crimped wrap the exposed wire with electrical tape, like Jon said electrocution can be very unhealthy. post-24499-0-00905700-1352519813_thumb.jpost-24499-0-38343900-1352519810_thumb.j This was all a rush job but it works well. The one thing I will say is to be careful, if both of the clips touch metal the resulting arc can ruin your heat treat, also on that note when you unplug the unit quickly tap the two clamps together to discharge the leftover power. If you let them touch to long they can stick together. Those clamps will undoubtedly get messy.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ok, so like I said it's been really slow going on the knife but I have a bit of an update and maybe a few of you can voice your opinion before it's finalized. Basically I spent too much time working on the guard that was made from a mystery metal that was stronger that superman. Then, somehow or another, I screwed it up. I mean it just looked bad... plain out bad! it was too small and it was crooked, it was something to be ashamed of. But that's ok; I talked with the guy I'm making it for and we came to an agreement. A "stacked" guard. So this is the basic design i came up with post-24499-0-98711900-1354954567_thumb.p it's basically the same steel as the knife so as to keep the finish even. I had some trouble finding a piece of solid brass so I had to buy a pipe fitting and butcher it to get a flat strip of brass.post-24499-0-08676400-1354954757_thumb.jpost-24499-0-82519300-1354954733_thumb.j I hlaf way flattened the two pieces out and I will get them straight later but for the sake of the idea I press on. So this is basically what it will bepost-24499-0-92932600-1354954774_thumb.j after some straightening and grinding, JB weld, clamping, boring out the slot for the tang and putting a finish on it I should be good to go. the only thing I'm truly worried about is that the strip of brass won't go far enough backpost-24499-0-31545600-1354954768_thumb.j if nothing else I'll make the other piece fit in there seamlessly somehow. thats all for now folks.

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  • 1 month later...

I know it's been quite a while since I updated but I haven't had much time for workin on the knife but here's what I got done lately. I finally got the guard all fixed up and attached post-24499-0-67693800-1359006919_thumb.jpost-24499-0-99462300-1359006931_thumb.j I wasn't sure that it was gone work out too well but I am very pleased with the results. I also took the opportunity to draw out and thread the tang instead of risking a weak point in welding or brazing a bolt to the backpost-24499-0-26303000-1359006941_thumb.j I plan on cutting off the head of an old rail road spike and drilling and tapping that for the pommel, we'll see how that works out. I finally got the leather for the stacked handle cut post-24499-0-68826700-1359006951_thumb.j and I'll be cutting the slots for the tang with my beautiful hand made leather working tools complete with stand. post-24499-0-76766800-1359006904_thumb.jpost-24499-0-91813200-1359006892_thumb.jpost-24499-0-04707600-1359006881_thumb.j Finally, my big question for anyone who reads this. I've never done a leather handle and I've heard some folks say that you should take the smooth glossy side off and some that say it doesn't really mater post-24499-0-52100600-1359006966_thumb.j the method I'll be using is soaking all of the leather pieces in a mixture of water and titebond wood glue then stacking on the tang and compressing the leather down until I cannot make it go any further and letting it dry that way then sanding it to shape. Suggestions on handles are greatly appreciated.

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Most of my experience with gluing leather has been rough side to rough side.My opinion would be, that if you have the time maybe rough up the smooth side a little.That should give a better bond,much like the prep work done before painting something.Cool knife and great thread....I've been looking to try the etching method since you first posted it.Cheers. 

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I understand. I plan to get the little stanley surform mini mill rasp thing thats like a cheese grater for wood. that ort to do the trick if I'm gentle. I got the tang slots cut so I'm basically to the pint that all thats left is gluing, shaping and finishing. Might take a while anyway

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Ok so I got the leather roughed up today and I just want to say this. Mainly because it'll assure that it is tagged nicely for anyone that will search for Stacked leather handles.... Ok, so I needed to rough up the smooth side of the leather to help the glue bond for my stacked leather handle and I was thinking of a rasp but I went to the construction management department methods and materials lab and they gave me this bad boy. http://www.mcfeelys.com/images/items/DW-DW3311-lrg.jpg and let me tell you it ripped through like it won't nothin. And it's ergonomically shaped to fit your finger whether by intention or not. It's great.

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i have made so many sheathes that I will not attempt to count  them. I use new leather and the quality is such that the rouigh side is really smooth. I do nto smooth or rough it,,most of the times it is roiugh to rouigh but at times it is smooth to smooth or smooth to rough. I use Barge cement as per the can directions,,,and then sew the seams....The sewing is for looks, I have glued leather without sewing and tried to tear the seam apart and it always fails in between seams not on the glue line.

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