Jason Fry Posted June 16, 2020 Posted June 16, 2020 Finished out my 666th knife over the weekend. It's also the first one I've done out of canister Damascus. The blade and fittings are from the same billet, a "trashcan" billet of ends and pieces canister welded with 1095 powder. It's also my first time to try a subhilt. Handle is gidgee. Took some still pics last night. Quote
Jason Fry Posted July 14, 2020 Author Posted July 14, 2020 And after a little bit of Jim Cooper's wizardry... Quote
RToons Posted July 15, 2020 Posted July 15, 2020 Very very Very nice! I have forged my 6th knife and someday I will try the canister. Should a canaster of scrap metal be tried if I have NO power hammer or press. I do it all by hand and a foot rope operated 15lb sludge I call a leg power hammer? My handle making leaves a lot to be desired and I am working towards one day making a handle like yours. I use old Christmas trees and black walnut branches for my handles. I learned to soak them in 50/50 boiled linseed oil & like paint stripper[forget name] a month ago. Cannot profile worth a penny but will continue to try. I was told there is a discussion about handle cracking on this site but I cannot seem to find the correct search combinations to find it. I have splitting issues and want to resolve it. Profiling a handle is my lack of artistic ability. My wife says I am an old man working slow and never doing it to her acceptance.. I tell her thank you for the complement and remind her she is only 2 year younger- OLD ladies why are you going to do? Quote
ThomasPowers Posted July 15, 2020 Posted July 15, 2020 Be very very careful about what you eat and where you sleep after saying such things! (My wife is 74 and likes to remind me "You gotta sleep sometime!) BTW shouldn't that be paint thinner rather than stripper? Are your cracking issues due to the wood drying or due to it being brittle and not liking pins peened? I always try to use as dry a wood as I can source and stabilize it if I have any doubts. Quote
Jason Fry Posted July 17, 2020 Author Posted July 17, 2020 I'm with Thomas. Cracking comes either from wood that isn't properly dried, or from mechanical fasteners that are force fit. Old Christmas trees are going to give you other problems... that sap will fight your ability to put on a clean finish. Profiling "skills" come with two things... practice, and drawing. Doodle/sketch handles ALOT and your ability to see and make shapes that you like will improve. Then it just becomes a matter of executing the drawing shape onto the knife. Quote
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