February 21, 201511 yr LOVING the new website!Anyways, here's another piece with 3D printed components. There is a sport/outdoor store here in the city that's expressed interest in my work, however most of my blades are too big for their collection, so I forged this guy.100 year old file forged to shape. 3D printed and cast bronze bolster and buttcap, with cocobolo and brass pins. The finish on the handle could have been cleaner - this is my first real attempt at sharp corners, and could have done better.Comments and critique always appreciated,Theo
February 21, 201511 yr Wow! that turned out NICE! I find the shape and flow of it very pleasing. I think the corners look good. Don't want them to sharp or it won't be good in the hand. Definitely adding a pic of this to my knives that I like folder...
February 21, 201511 yr Another beautiful blade. Aren't you feeling a bit guilty usinga 3D printer like that? The competition is going to feel cheated you know. <grin>Frosty The Lucky.
February 22, 201511 yr Very, very good work, Theo! You are getting on well with the printer. I love the entire piece
February 22, 201511 yr Nice look.My only visual point is the open grain in the handle. A little sealer of some sort to fill them in would enhance the overall look in my opinion. We used TruOil on stocks, and you could build it up to smooth out the low spots.I take it that you are doing the bronze parts as investment castings of the printed patterns.
February 23, 201511 yr Author Thank you all Eventually it would be nice to offer production-ish versions of all these blades with 3D printed components, but for the meanwhile they are custom one-offs. To a degree the technology is cheating compared to traditional methods.Handle is still going through it's coatings of tung oil, it'll get prettier
February 23, 201511 yr Naw, I was joshing you Theo. The true tradition of the blacksmith is sitting in an air conditioned booth in sports coat, monitoring the CNC machinery and sipping a Jolt. The essence of the tradition is, "Better, faster, easier, cheaper." Improve any one and the smith is more profitable and life is better.Frosty The Lucky.
March 4, 201511 yr Nice looking piece. I've been wondering about your knives and all the 3D printing you've been doing. What it the material that the printer uses? Isn't it some sort of plastic? And how sturdy/tough is that material and how well will it hold up under use?Keep up the good workas alwayspeace and lovebillyO
March 4, 201511 yr Author Thanks guys!With the vendors I use there are two options depending on the metal you're using. The more affordable method is printing in a binder and stainless powder mix that is then molded and the binder is replaced with molten bronze. The cleaner but more expensive method would be printing in wax, molding and casting in solid brass/silver/gold/etc.. The great thing about the services is they buy brand new $30,000 machines on the regular, so they will always be more accurate and detailed than anything I can afford.It is cast bronze, so either way it's as strong as any fittings that are lost-wax cast through traditional means.
March 5, 201511 yr Thanks for the explanation Theo. I've been wondering. And now I'm done learning for the day.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.