ausfire Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 A lot of the old posts have the pics removed and I can't find a thread just for letter openers, so perhaps we could see a few here. I suppose letter openers have gone pretty much the same way as bottle openers - most bottles have twist caps now and email and text has largely replaced the letter. However, it seems that these things still sell quite well. I do a lot of ram heads and long horn bulls on pokers and bottle openers, but this is the first go at a paper knife/ letter opener. The bull has a single edge, the ram is double sided. The ram is more comfortable in the hand, but you have to keep the cattlemen happy too. I'm not totally happy with the blade shape - they work well, but the next ones will be longer, thinner and tapered better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Aus, those are really nice. How bout on the long horn you leave enough material in the handle to fold him up after making the bull head to look almost like a guard on a dagger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 1 hour ago, Daswulf said: Aus, those are really nice. How bout on the long horn you leave enough material in the handle to fold him up after making the bull head to look almost like a guard on a dagger. Now, there's a thought! Have to draw out the neck a bit first so the handle wouldn't be too thick. I'll give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 The work of Doug Wilson of Little Deer Isle, Maine, He gave me this as a present a few years back. It is carefully forged with the blade and octagonal finial at right angles to the flat of the handle. Overall length 9.5 Inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 23 hours ago, Frank Turley said: The work of Doug Wilson of Little Deer Isle, Maine, He gave me this as a present a few years back. It is carefully forged with the blade and octagonal finial at right angles to the flat of the handle. Overall length 9.5 Inches. Love his work. I still have one of his signature belt buckles that I picked up in a partial trade back in the mid 80's when I was up at Deer Isle for a glass blowing class at Haystack. Use it almost every evening when I change out of my work clothes . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 On 9/12/2016 at 7:09 AM, Daswulf said: Aus, those are really nice. How bout on the long horn you leave enough material in the handle to fold him up after making the bull head to look almost like a guard on a dagger. OK Das, I gave it a try. This is the first go, and as usual, learned a few things: I don't know why I drew the neck down to make it thinner. I could have used much more material in the handle end. Next one will be bent back full size stock so I have enough meat to taper the handle nicely and maybe have a finial or ball on the end of the handle. Probably will make the horns a bit shorter so that it looks more like a guard. I will also leave the horns square until forge welding the two parts of the handle fold together. That way there will be less chance of burning the horns at welding temp. They can be drawn out last. Interesting experiment. Thanks for the suggestion, Das. I'll improve with Mark II. Here's how it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Yeah Aus, Thats the idea. Looking at that one, I'm thinking the bull head would look good being past the handle and at the blade. I guess it would depend on what order you forged the parts. You could leave the handle beefier and maybe just forge weld the end and punch and drift a loop. It looks good. I should try one before I keep suggesting stuff to change yours haha. Mark II is always better. It works the kinks out. Next someone will recommend making the pommel look the the back end of a bull with a tail.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 Leave the handle beefier. Ha Ha, I like the pun. But yes, definitely more meat needed there. I guess if I made the handle thick enough it would look like the body of the bull. You could make a Brahman bump (except that Brhmans are not longhorns) and draw the end out to a curly tail. Ah, the possibilities are endless! Do have a try, Das. I would like to see your take on these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Will do Aus. I've only made one bull head before and I'd like to try more. If I can get past all this craziness I've been busy with. it's good to be busy tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Probably not what you had in mind, but this is the one I made for my mother's birthday last month. She has arthritis, so a larger handle is better for her grip. I really like those longhorn and ram heads though. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlasterJoe Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Letter opener slash cheese spreader slash butter knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Buzzkill that's a beaute! I haven't seen antiques as nice. Well done. Blaster Joe, gotta love multifunction nice pineapple twist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 Yeah, what Das said. Those rivets are neat. Combination barley twist and pineapple twist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Stephens Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 One of my prized possessions. Made by Larry Long of Litiz, PA. 2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 59 minutes ago, PVF Al said: One of my prized possessions. Made by Larry Long of Litiz, PA. 2005 Can see why you treasure it. Inspiring work. Love the star inlay and the forge welded heart shape. That is some tight work, think Larry has some jewelry background as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 Yep, that's heirloom quality. Looks like the work of a blacksmith/jeweller to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat pete Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Larry is famous for his ladels... he is a good guy.. this is in the same style of his ladels and forks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripleycopa Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 This is my typical letter opener project. A 9 inch or thereabouts piece of 3/8" round rod of mild steel is tapered at one end to a leaf with the blade on the other end formed on the horn of the anvil. I generally grind the edge of each side of the blade and true up the point. Then just bend, do a small twist on the leaf stem and wire brush. Although I sometimes vary the style of leaf, this is the basic project. I brass brush the leaf and finish with a clear acrylic spray. I can do one of these in less than a half hour and can sell them for $15.00 each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I dig it Ripleycopa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01tundra Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Made this one back during my greencoal class days......I sharpened it on a stone until it would shave, turned out more like a fancy prison shank . On 12/13/2016 at 6:56 AM, PVF Al said: One of my prized possessions. Made by Larry Long of Litiz, PA. 2005 Very beautiful work right there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Similar to Ripleycopa's: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 And here's another, for a colleague in the Development Office who's moving on to another job. I made her something every fundraiser should have: a combination letter- & bottle-opener! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlasterJoe Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Just did my first cable Damascus. It was a piece of an electric shovel trip cable. Turned out better than I thought it would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Might consider grinding blade section, at least, to a finer polish, oil hardening, tempering, then finish polish and light 30% ferric chloride etch. You probably have a very nice pattern weld hiding there. You did all the forge welding work, why not show it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozenforge Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Havn't put a handle on it yet. Just playing around with mokume quarters. Its been ageing for a few months and the copper is aquiring patina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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