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JLP Services Inc (Jennifer) about me thread..


jlpservicesinc

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So,  let me introduce myself..   My name is Jennifer..    i have forged for 43 years.. Will be 44 as of 2020. February of 2020 to be exact. 

My first exposure to blacksmithing was at Old Sturbridge Villiage in 1976 as a class field trip...    I was completely shocked and awed with the experience.. 

I was involved with both hunting and fishing and knives from an early age as well as Martial arts (Ninjutsu to be exact)..  

So with my new found excitement, I got home and we had a wood fired boiler and in my excitement approached my Father with my over exuberance with what I had seen.. I asked him how they did that and he took me down to the wood fired boiler, gave me a 3ft long 1/2" round rod, an 8lbs  anvil and a claw hammer, explained the idea behind it..   Looked at me and said " Don't burn the house down and don't burn yourself".. And walked away..    Well I spent the next few months just pounding on this rod..  I could only swing the hammer 3 or 4 time before I was too tired.. 

So, after this I went to the library and found "Practical Blacksmithing" and it became my constant read...  

With all the hunting, and fishing and such I became interested in blades so started forging blades.. I bought several other books and as I read them I would try what they mentioned..  This went on for 8 years on and off.. Eventually making a coal forge, a blower setup and getting a little better anvil.. 

Fast forwards to 16 and a guy used to drag me around to help him do carpentry type work..  Roofing, framing, drywall..   His boss heard I could forge metal and had a little blacksmith shop.. 

At this point I had no hardware experience and he asked if I could make him a thumblatch for some folk art furniture he was making..    In my bravado  I said sure..  I could forge out a knife or a spear in short order.. why not a latch.. 

It was a disaster..  It was hideous.    Of course I brought this back to the guy and he was like no..  Of course he gave me an Acorn latch to copy , but they were both hideous anyhow. 

After this experience, I was ashamed of my abilities and gave up bladesmithing to just focus on hardware..   

So, day in and day out i would just read, and trial and error on hardware.. I'd go and look at old farm houses and barns (Living in New England there were plenty of examples) and trying to find books on the subject..  What I discovered was there were no good books on forging them.. What was available were books on mass production or production blacksmithing.. Of which I wanted nothing to do with..  

I was a purist thru and thru..  In fact my idea of a shop was basically straight out of the 1700's..   

So, I started to perfect my latch making skill set as well as the other basic skill sets above and beyond blade smithing..  About a year had passed and I got a call from the guy from the orginal latch messup and he said he had some carpentry work if I were interested..  I said sure.. 

I went to work for this guy part time..

After that initial latch I had made substantial progress..  Each model of latch made marked improvements.  So, with this new meeting,  he asked if I had kept up the blacksmithing stuff and I said yes..  I brought a sample of my work and he said.. Ok, I have a book and I'd like you to make some copies of the hardware in the book..  Early American Wrought iron by Albert H. Sonn. 

I had been forge welding by this point and my hardware making ability was starting to get good enough..  This one encounter lead to a bunch of jobs.. All custom forgings from that wonderful book. 

What this also did was created a challenge to make the hardware..  I worked doing carpentry with him for about 6 months with doing hardware on my off time for him.. All sorts of latches, hinges, etc, etc..   The Guy.. Derek, knew others in the area looking for hardware and eventually these other contacted me to make them hardware also..  

during this time frame I had started to do demonstrations outside at fair venues and schools shops and at age 18 went full time as a smith.. Specializing in you guessed it "Hardware".. .But with this I had also branched out to carriage repairs, tooling, fixing, etc, etc. and became obsessed with early hardware, tools, etc, etc..  I studied how they were used, at what and where.. etc, etc.   

All the demos, the getting to know people, the connections of this person to that person kept me going..  I learned so much over the years and being self taught by reading books  and taking some business courses and reaching out to the BBS and such gave me insights but..

So, the way it worked was I'd read something and then go and try it 5, 10, 20 times till I had it or until I got frustrated enough to put it down.  

So, over the years I have made hundreds of pieces of crappola..  Lots and lots of scrap. 

I'll add more to this thread maybe tomorrow.. 



here are some photos of earlier work..   
 

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Forging hardware coincidentally is my main interest also. Right before I got shut down I started forging the hinges  and latches pictured in The Art of Blacksmithing. I only finished the hook latch and a hinge before I had to stop. My goal is working up to thumb latches like the Suffolk latch pictured In Mr. Bealer's book. I will try to locate a copy of the book you mentioned. 

I enjoyed learning a little more about your journey to today. Thanks. 

Pnut

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16 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

In my bravado  I said sure..  I could forge out a knife or a spear in short order.. why not a latch.. 

Ah, youthful bravado. I have to remind myself that it can still be around when you're in your fifties!

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So, in the last installment there were some photos..  the first forays into hardware.. You can see that the 2 textured handles.. this was enough to turn me off from texture..  Never textured anything like this again..  

I'm not opposed to texture.. Just has to be applied in the right place..  

Here is forge number 4.. Custom firepot and tue iron.. It was a large sheet of 1/4"..  In the photo it looks like there is some space between the forge hearth and the tub. It was like 8".. it was terrible and worked terrible..  I had gone thru about 1 to 2 forges per year as I developed skill.. This was the last example before I bought a real firepot and did a masonry forge. 

Ok, so I worked for the guys with the Folk Art  Here are a few examples.. Sadly I was so sporadic about photo's in the early days..   German Dutch hinges had the hinge part of the front of the door outside.  I wish I have photos of the outside.. they were a neat.  But no photos.. 

At this point in my journey I was struggling terribly to forge good hardware..  I mean struggling..  I had some forge welding under my belt and the ideas were plenty, but I had no real affinity for it..   So each piece brought up  new challenges..    Each dollar went back into equipment and coal. Lots and lots of coal. 


 

 

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So the mention into lighting brings us here:  

I was still struggling with forging what I wanted and while I could forge for a long time, There was a bunch of scrap and failed items..  Failed welds were the largest set backs.. I tried to avoid forge welding when and where ever I could..  I knew what welds I could get away with and which ones bit me everytime..  

Lighting was interesting because of the level of fit up.. Also the level of diversity..  And adaption that could be brought to the pieces..   

Keep in mind I was struggling so every short cut I could use I did use.. I used modern nails for rivets a time or two..   

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Th

4 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

.. Sadly I was so sporadic about photo's in the early days

You bring up a good point. I haven't taken a single photo of anything I've forged. At the forge taking pictures is the farthest thing from my mind. What's weird is photography is something I love and have even been paid to do. I'm going to make an effort to get a picture of everything I complete even if I don't ever show it to anyone. It's something I'm sure I will regret if I don't. 

Pnut

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I couldn't make candle cups to any great extent and each forged one would shear at the bottom as I was forging them from plate hot..  so lots of the holders were just wrapped. 

I eventually figured out how to do a welded version out of plate and still use this method today.. Kind of neat actually.  Good for any size cup and pretty easy to do..  Of course now I know a whole bunch more ways of making them..  But we all have our favorites. 

On January 27, 2020 at 12:30 PM, pnut said:

 I haven't taken a single photo of anything I've forged. photography is something I love and have even been paid to do. I'm going to make an effort to get a picture of everything I complete even if I don't ever show it to anyone. It's something I'm sure I will regret if I don't.

don't be afraid to show them to anyone..  Often times we look around us and think we will be judged by others..   So what.. there is only one who to me makes any matter at all.. And He does not judge..  Only humans do.. :) 

I'm not afraid of showing anything to anyone... it's "MY" journey and I have nothing to be :"Ashamed of"..  We all start somewhere.. 

I still make mistakes all the time..   

I am not sure about as much stuff now, ( I have to process the 200 ways of doing it before I pick the best way), so it takes longer to process thought wise what I am doing..   ETC, Etc.. 

When the new shop goes up.. I will take all of my early hardware which is around  and will hang it up just like I did in my original shop.. In a spot i can see it from the forge..  Nothing at all to be ashamed of.. :) 

 

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This is good for showing that everybody has to start somewhere. You won't be good at this overnight. It takes a lot of work. We see what people do now and think that's where we need to be, right now. Realizing that they put in time and hard work to get to that point is something we all need to be aware of. I have a tendency to think I need to be perfect every time. But I am far from it. In fact, I've realized recently that it's not really about the project, ( as Jennifer has been saying) it's learning method and and developing technique. Then you can feel more free to fly and go on to be able to make anything. Not just what you have in mind at this moment. pnut, do take pictures and show your work. Don't be afraid of it. I decided awhile back I was going to show my work, good or bad. It's where I am at the moment. Granted, I may not show an utter failure. But most everything I have done, y'all have seen it here. I debated on these but I need to put my money where my mouth is.  My first forays into real knife making. The top one is mild steel. The bottom is coil spring. Both are done without knowing what I was doing. With Jennifer's un-ending patience, I have a whole new, very informed starting point. I hope everyone here starts sharing their work more freely and not be afraid of it

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Ok,  So with all this extra practice i was getting in, and the paying jobs it allowed for me to build my forge out of cinder block.. 

So, I will also explain a little now..    We have a very unique family set..  Both my parents really didn't want to be parents..  From a very, very early age I was told if I wanted something that I would have to work for it..   I grew up like a gypsy..  and what my parents really meant was.. it's going to be a bumpy ride..   

When I was 16 I dropped from high school..  I did well in class but just didn't find the right connections with the kids or the teachers.  Really I can see now, that I needed to go to these teachers and tell them what I needed..  Sadly, i didn't know talking with a teacher was even a thing..  I had no one in my corner (Parents didn't really want to be parents) and so anyhow, I bailed..  At this point I had 9th, 10th, and 11th grade classes..  Was crazy and anyhow, I bounced at 16 and the reason why my buddy used to drag me around everywhere.. 

And back to the journey.   All along I had been getting these little jobs and selling things to tourist and people would complain about the cost.. Oise vay..  How much is this gonna cost me.. LOL..  Not enough.. So, this money aspect of what to charge started up early.. I started at 10.00 per hour.. I think I was making 5 per working carpentry.. :) 

The knife, fork,  and dutch oven were the only photos from this time frame besides the lighting..    These are Real wrought iron roses forged by my lonesome the old fashioned way.. Upsetting a round bar, and then hot cutting around, then flattening (IE Upsetting it more). Then separating the pedals.   the stem was part of the parent bar and was forged out. 

I still to this day am very proud of the first one..  The pedals were about the same thickness of a real rose pedal and they had this texture to them.. Was amazing.. 

This knife is actually a very early dagger.. i made it when i was about 9.. LOL.. the blade had huge file lines in it from draw filing.  I was terrible with handles but could forge a blade.. :)  the fork is from this time frame..  this is about 1985.. 

the thing attached to the board was for keys about 1985.  the pot rack was about the same time frame and it had some really neat design features to it.. Each chain link is in the shape of a heart and each heart grabs the next section at the top..  I think back then it went for 150.00..  Was about 40hrs of work.  Huge learning curve but was into the fork making thing.. 

So anything that could be slit, opened and forged out I was all for.  refining a learned skill set. 

Still sporadic with photos.. :( 




 

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During this time frame in the mid to late 80's I had been working on martial arts tools/weapons.. I had done a whole bunch of different throwing stars. Straight stars (much like throwing knives) and grapnel hooks..  And a bunch of swords..  

During this time frame there was still industry in the towns nearby and the scrap was plentiful..  There were no scrappers so even on the sides of the roads there was stuff to be had.. Old silage hoops, wagon tires.. All sorts of goodies. The scrap guy to sell the stuff was getting like 5cents a pound and he was getting in all sorts of stuff.. Sadly this is when the industry started closing up..  Little did I know that this would proceed.. 

This I forgot to mention earlier..   I forged my first grapnel hook at 8.. Out of that section of 1/2" round stock.. LOL.. I still have it today.     it was monsterous..  Crazy good fun.. 

My Pops arc welded it together for me after i shaped the 3 legs..   That was like a 2 month project..  It was so cool.. 

If I wasn't climbing and using the hook, I was forging..   

I retired the hook finally 2017 when I noticed it was getting stress cracks..  I'm always amazed when something comes into my life and plays such a large roll in learning..  It had taken some severe beatings..  

Sorry, got diverted.. 

So now i'm doing fairs every year and starting to get a little more well known..  This lead to more smallish jobs..  I then had a conflict which side lined me on and off for a few years.. I'd forge then stop, then forge then stop.. I was still part time so wasn't a problem..  

So by 1987 I was back in the saddle again..  i doubled my efforts and get working..   this is when I started to get more jobs and with this came more books, more gear and at this point had had a real forge, anvil, vise and was ready to get moving.   up till this point it really was just a part time gig though the work was getting more stead.. 

I had gone threw this experience of charging 10 per hour and everyone would complain.. "HIGHWAY robbery"..   So I said to bad. I went to 20.00 in 87.. by 1990 I was 60 per hour and had work coming in like crazy..  

So, in 89 at one of the demos a guy approaches me and says.. .Hi do you happen to do any gate work..   I said "OF course I do"..  (wagons, carriages, hardware Oh, my)..  He introduced himself and made plans to meet.. I went straight over to the Old Sturbridge village museum who had a wonderful book store and bought the Corsira books on Wrought iron work..  I studied these books day and night and did some experimenting..

  A week later I  met with him and his lovely wife..    At this point I had been doing some pretty decent work.. Not great but decent..  (we will come back to this story in a minute about the gate)..

Every job was a quoted job..   i would be contacted and i would sit with the people and draw a sketch based on what they described or they would have a photo or I'd dig out Albert H. Sonn's book..     Since each job is quoted..  And no body likes to pay more then expected  I started working even more diligently on becoming more effective while forging.. 

I started literally trying to figure out how to forge things the fastest i could so I could then come under the quote.. Not so much for the people but a challenge to myself..  

I stopped relying on finishing with files and grinders to make the forged item..  i started to forge everything to the finished shape.. i also stopped drilling holes and started punching holes when ever possible.  Every thing possible to come under quote time wise..   This time frame was the most important time frame from the stand point of learning how to really forge.. 

This completely changed everything..   I was getting 60.00 per hour in 1990 plus materials and misc.. this included bolts, washers, nuts, paint, coal, anything that was attributed to the job..  Now I had to start keeping track of all the expenses, the billing, the stock.. All of it..    so i could them bill it out to the customer..    Why was this so important..  

I had gone and taken a business course and met with a few others in the BBS..  It used to be for businesses looking for funding and such.. College professors and Business owners would meet and discuss how to make the business better.  

This really opened my eyes to what I had to do  it if I wanted to run it as a business instead of a hobby..   I also knew right off that these professionals did not understand the Blacksmithing business  but it did give me insight into charging more for the work performed. 

So back to the meeting..   the guy gave me a drawing and said this is what we are looking for..  the sketch was rather empty but showed the main frame and a Lyre in the middle.. 

I said let me have this drawing i need about a week.. LOL..    A week went by and I called the guy and said.. I have redesigned the gate.. I have filled in the panels  and added some finishing touches..    We met the very next day and he approved the design changes..   

This was completely done by hand.. the Lyre's in the centers are 30ft long.  Most the holes were drilled on a hand operated post drill..  :) I love that drill. Kidding by the way.. a modern electric drill was used for 90% of the holes.. the post drill was used for the remainder.. :) 

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Something I want to point out for all of you guys..   

I had no internet.. I had no videos.. I had no blacksmithing friends..    I had a bunch of books and many of them were a dollar or 2 at the book bear and were in the trash pile because no one else wanted them..  I loved these old books as they were perfect for the information I was looking for.. :) 

I literally would try something over and over and over again..  Till it looked reasonable.. 
:) 

Enough for today.. 

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Thanks Jon..  


Ok, so sadly I have been trying to line up information in a time based fashion.. Sadly there was some back tracking..  The memory just is not what it used to be and frankly all the years kinda blend together..  

So,  the gate was finished and these very nice people also ordered a few other items..  Of which was a fireplace set of custom design. 

At this point I was really starting to head into a direction which I never thought.   Larger orders.. Argh..  And car parts for Pierce Arrows.  

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After the gate, the business side of things coalesced like I would never imagine..    I was doing about 6 to 8 paid demonstrations a year.. I was going through a few thousand cards a year.. 

Business cards were important..  This was one of the things I had to come to understand...   There were different markets for the forged items.. 

There were smiths who sold smaller items, there were smiths doing wrought iron work.. There were smiths doing hardware..  There were blade smiths.. 

So, this is where we go back some..  

Back to the Bladesmithing work..    So, i had started to really dig in with the hardware about  86 or 87..  Really working my butt off.. 

A friend of mine who we had threw a demo and was a bladesmith and worked in Japan, on the east coast. etc, etc,. he was really into it.. He also had and engineering degree and he'd come over and we'd start jabberin about stuff, metals,  swords, knives,  and  and he'd stop by to see what I had going on.. i'd show him the knives and swords i was working on and we'd compare notes..   LOL.. Was a bunch of fun.. LOL..    We had known each other about 2 years and he comes into the shop and I was forging out a Katana for my own use and he looks at me and said,  We gotta talk"..    I said, " What's up"..   He looked right at me and with Dead pan eyes said " You gotta cut this hardware crap out"..    I immediately was like but.. He said.. No, no.. hear me out..   I will sell every blade you make.. You don't have to do anything but forge the blade and finish it.. I don't even care what you make.. Just do what you do..  I will sell them all.. I only want 10%..    I waited a few seconds  and since I was still young.. I looked at him and said.. " I appreciate the offer".. I am honored you would even consider it..  

He then said.. "I think your talents would be best used doing blades vs hardware..   He laughed and said.. There is no money in hardware..  The knife scene is blowing up.. LOL.. " 

I pretty much totally dismissed him..  I said  " Right now, I am trying to learn something to me. which before I thought I was an expert.. I thought I could forge metal and move it to my whim..  I learned the hard way this was not so..  Right now I need to figure this out.. "..  He shook his head, shook my hand and said.. "We will see"..   What a neat guy..  He was like part magician, part ninja,..   We hung out on and off with visits to my shop for about 3 years..  He was working at Hyde tools in the engineering department..  When that shop closed He moved away..    

Few years back I ran into a family member of his and Everett called but I got the message later.. There was no number to call him back..  Like I said. A magician or ninja.. 

I learned a bunch from him in such a short period of time..  We would talk about refining metals, heat treatment, Japanese Tatara's, sword making.. taps and dies.. All sorts of stuff but it was really weird..  

Anyhow..    I moved on with hardware..  and he was right.. The knife scene was totally crazy.. I could have been famous and rich.. :)  And never have been involved with customer relations which I'm sure most of you can tell.. I'm not very good at.. LOL 

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During this period of time from about 88-89 I noticed something about the items I was forging.. 

I had seen it time and time and time again in Wrought iron old examples  of forge hardware..   i could mimic it if I was working in wrought iron, but I could not mimic it in mild steel.. 

Items that are forged will have a softness to the metal.. Wrought iron in particular will feel different as forged vs mild steel.. There is a matt or softness of the edges that one does not typically see in or feel in mild steel.  

I started to notice one day while forging that the latches I was forging had this softness.. Had this certain texture where previously it only occurred when working with wrought iron..  I had been chasing this softness for a few years.   And now, nearly everything i forged had it..     I was so stoked.. 

I was on fire..  Business was good, my skill set was getting good.    This last Arrow latch has it.. that softness of being forged..   You can see it in the photo.. It's really cool.. 

Here are a few more examples..  this time frame was the fluxing of that softness in the forgings.. Some have it some don't..  Also note.. These were forged to shape.. Even arrow pattern latch was forged to shape. 

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Great story Jennifer! Keep going.

Re/ your friend and the offer for moving more into bladesmithing.... "hindsight is a wonderful thing". Would you have made a different decision if you could go back?

Your hardware stuff is beautiful, and all the videos etc online are incredibly helpful for beginners like myself. Maybe if you had ended up a "rich and famous" bladesmith you'd have missed many other good things along the way :)

 

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thanks..  There are a bunch of photo's left out but I think it give a good sense of what I was doing.. 

I loved forging blades..  I still do..

What I am about to say sounds bad or condescending..     Forging knives is rudimentary.. All of the blade shapes are based off that same flat piece of metal..  Different thickness of metal, slightly difference shape but from a 5/16" X 2" bar nearly any knife or sword can be made.. YES, I am globalizing on stock sizes and results  but it really is a very simple aspect of forging. 
Besides,  I love forging knives and finishing the blades but hate handle work. LOL..    

So, if you have a blade that is properly forged, heat treated and tempered it will perform if function no matter..   What separates a good knife from a great knife is the fit and finish.. If the forging is good and it had a good heat treat, it is literally the fit and finish that dictates what the knife is worth..     the forging aspect gets minimized and anybody can do a stock removal knife and spend 10 days on the handle and fittings as well as fitting and it is a great looking knife..  It kind of defeats what I was starting to move towards.. 

The preforms video is a great example of the challenge that I liked to incur..  Can I make the blade as its supposed to be without corrections???  This and only this became the mantra..  it does not seem as fast but in the end it can be very fast..  In sword work especially..   the other facet that starts to rear its head is the equipment intensity of knife making.. For a really nice quality job by hand, it is both laborious  and time consuming..    Someone setup with a grinder can have a knife done in just over 1hr.. I can forge out a full knife out of 5160 in 40minutes. But to file it, polish it, heat treat it, etc, etc, it adds on hours quickly.. 

But someone can rough forge a blade, heat treat it and have it ground in that same 1 hr time frame..   :)    Thats not what I was about.. I love hand work..  Not a big fan of machines.  I'd rather do it all by hand but its not time effective when trying to make a living.. 

There are challenges for sure with blade making but they are minimal..      When I started making hardware, thumblatchs in particular the essence that metal could in fact be moved only in one direction opposite to that flat bar was mind blowing crazy..    The act of forging anything into anything was completely foreign.. Until I made hardware.. 

So, since we are talking blades here are some photos.. 

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Those are beautiful draw knives. Are those scorps or tools for trimming hoofs? One more question if you don't mind. I'm not familiar with the knife in the third picture down. Is it a diving knife or shucking knife? I'm sure when you say what it is it's use will be glaringly obvious, but I have never seen a knife like it except one for cutting rope. Thanks.

Pnut

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Nice set of garden gates. Joinery is what makes it for me. There are a few places that are not easy to make out.

Looks like you are using half square for your pickets etc. Maybe half by one for the frame? Did you use mortise and tenon's on your pickets and cross bars? Must be counter sunk and peened flush. Mortise and tenon's on an angle are not easy.

I think the bottom scrolls and frame are called "dog bars". How did you join the second horizontal from bottom with the verticals that frame in the lyre?

What are the 5 points of joinery that holds the lyra into place?

Same with the top scrolls, countersunk rivits?

Forged right angles on the main frame corners?

Good job.

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10 hours ago, pnut said:

Those are beautiful draw knives. Are those scorps or tools for trimming hoofs? One more question if you don't mind. I'm not familiar with the knife in the third picture down. Is it a diving knife or shucking knife? I'm sure when you say what it is it's use will be glaringly obvious, but I have never seen a knife like it except one for cutting rope. Thanks.

Pnut

the bottom one is a drawer knife I made when i was 13.. the handles are cut off on one side from a sledge hammer handle, the other handle was cut off from a wood working tool. 

the top piece was made at a fair demonstration as I needed to make a handle for a hammer and my draw knife was at home.. the handles on this one are pear tree all fitting were hand forged and finished in the trailer.  this was trailer version #3 and the last trailer i had used before retiring. 

the knife is a diving knife.. It was also used for cutting lines..   When a person scuba dives most the knives out there have very sharp tips or square ended.. WE dive in dry suits and the risk of cutting the suit can be catastrophic with in water requirements of up to 3hrs at depth and 29F I've dove in water as cold at 23F.   I could not buy a good diving knife that met the requirements I was looking for... this is a cold forged 304SS with delrin handle and but cap..  The round tip was designed to slide over the suit if you cants see the line and the blade was angled so even if the black of the blade was flat against the suit, all you had to do was push the blade forwards and it would cut 1" manila rope with that one push. 

7 hours ago, anvil said:

Nice set of garden gates. Joinery is what makes it for me. There are a few places that are not easy to make out.

Looks like you are using half square for your pickets etc. Maybe half by one for the frame? Did you use mortise and tenon's on your pickets and cross bars? Must be counter sunk and peened flush. Mortise and tenon's on an angle are not easy.

I think the bottom scrolls and frame are called "dog bars". How did you join the second horizontal from bottom with the verticals that frame in the lyre?

What are the 5 points of joinery that holds the lyra into place?

Same with the top scrolls, countersunk rivits?

Forged right angles on the main frame corners?

Good job.

Thanks, The Frame is 7/8Sq, the main inside frame is 3/4, the little pickets are 1/2" sq, the Lyre are 5/8 x 3/4" the S scrolls are 1/4X 3/4,  in bars inside the lyre are 1/2" sq. the tenons were put on holes in the lyre and flush riveted.  Yes  all mortise and tenon,  Also the stile was forged and inserted and adjusted for rise. 

the bottom of the lyre has the bottom tenon from the upright sandwiched at the mortise and at the top outside scrolls it is blind riveted.  the bar directly above it is also blind riveted. The lyres were set into the frame.And they were an exact slip fit. 

The bars that form the verticals on both sizes are Tenoned at the bottoms and fit inside the dog bars on the bottom in square mortise. the mortise was made swelled on both sides and then once together and pretension at the correct offset the top and bottom sides were compressed with a sledge hammer.  Locking them in place.. I had tested out this method and it was locked.. 

It was an interesting assembly when putting it together as it was a little bit of a puzzle.. 

all of the scroll work was collared IIRC..  I really don't remember at this point..   It as a fun project..   It took me about a month and a 1/2 to do. 

Here is a table I made while working on funky joinery.   I was experimenting with different facets.. I which I had photos of the top corners.. 

2014-09-27 14.20.56.jpg

Photo_111909_001.jpg

20200126_201555.jpg

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