January 31Jan 31 I use Trewax! Frosty recommended it, so I took it as coming from the Burning Bush itself...as if he were the Great Santini addressing his new squadron for the first time. Also, I ran out.
January 31Jan 31 Good Morning Socks, If you get lines in your work you may want to feather the radius at the edges. Neil
January 31Jan 31 Today I finished all the forging and rough grinding on this blacksmith's folding knife. I saw the idea in a reel by Ace Kitchen & Co. on Facebook and just had to copy it. (He copied it from someone else, too,I think) The body is one piece of mild steel, cut like a Friedrich's cross but without the cuts overlapping. Two sides make the "scales" of the knife and the other two sections are drawn out to make a pocket clip and the back lock spring. The blade is low layer count Damascus and I nearly cried when I found a delamination when I was rough grinding it, but I managed to grind it out. It's just loosely pinned with a nail at the moment. I still need to put in a nail nick, heat treat the blade and etch it, then reassemble. I might do a peened textured finish on the scales, too.
February 1Feb 1 Neil, that's been suggested. I did radius the edges, but not drastically. I'll likely grind them some more. Hefty, that's a very interesting knife. Could you post pictures of it disassembled? I'm not quite following the mechanism.
February 1Feb 1 Looking at the photos now, I see what you mean. Hopefully these will make it a little clearer. One end of the handle "assembly" is just split (I cut it with a grinder and a 1mm cutting disc), spread a tiny bit for the blade to fit between, and the edges are softened a little bit. The other end (first photo) is split, but at 90 degrees to the first split, and both halves of this are drawn out. One of the drawn sections wraps around and becomes a pocket clip. The other section folds straight over, running along back of the handle "assembly" and becomes the back lock spring (easier to see in second photo, where the spring has not quite engaged into the lock-open position). I'm not quite happy with the forging on the pocket clip and spring, but I'll definitely be making more of these so I'll sort it out over the next few iterations.
February 1Feb 1 That knife looks great. I'll have to add this to my "try it" list. I did some googling and found the video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2014942532383510
February 1Feb 1 I traveled over 300 km to the other end of the region to get the dimensions of the stair railing. I previously built a chandelier and gallery railing in this house. I took some photos.
February 3Feb 3 On 1/31/2026 at 5:56 AM, Hefty said: just had to copy it Me too! I'm not generally a knife person but I just thought that was so cool looking and the fact that it started similar to a Friedrich's cross felt very do-able The trade item for the Blacksmith Association of Missouri club meeting (this Saturday) is "something sharp" so I'm trying to get this made for the trade item. A friend of mine suggested making a straight razor as the blade. We'll see, lol I grabbed screenshots from the 3 videos he posted of the making-of, and made a document. I'm better with something I can hang on the wall versus pulling out my phone. Oh - and it was inspired from a demo he saw at the recent Phillip Simmons Guild meet. Blacksmith Folding Knife.pdf
February 3Feb 3 Alexandr, that's certainly dedication to your craft! Shaina, be careful with the fit up of the blade and back spring. I got everything done and rivetted together last night and I can barely open the blade. I know it's not just that the rivet is too tight because if I grip the blade with something and push through the tight section, the second half of the opening is free and smooth. I'm going to have to grind off the rivet and shape the closing corner of the blade a little. Lucky, I left the rivets proud, just in case. Cheers, Jono.
February 4Feb 4 Thanks for the tip Jono! I got the outer part shaped tonight. My bladesmith friend is going to help me with the blade part and then I guess I'll have the joy of trying to get the fit up just right, lol
February 4Feb 4 I have the wax cups to put on still but I pushed myself a bit on accuracy and measuring parts out to make this. The only fitup issue I had was one rivet hole was slightly off and the difference in candle heights, which was totally intentional.... I think the original I saw was an AI piece but I said I can try it. It took me a few nights to get it done but it's my first candlabra. A couple things to improve on the next one but I'm happy for the moment. Next one, slightly shorter and a bit more detail on the base.
February 4Feb 4 8 hours ago, Hefty said: Alexandr, that's certainly dedication to your craft! Thank you! I've finished another project. A young, active Doberman is running around the house and keeping me awake. The owner asked me to make a gate for the stairs. I previously made a chandelier.
February 4Feb 4 Alex, the gate and the helical chandelier are really something! You consistently show us such beautiful work and it is truly inspiring! Chad, nice job on your candelabra! --Larry
February 4Feb 4 Have a demo teaching event with a 15min or under demo. Students have 90mins to work on the skills shown. These are the sample pieces. Have a demo teaching event with a 15min or under demo. Students have 90mins to work on the skills shown. These are the sample pieces. Have a demo teaching event with a 15min or under demo. Students have 90mins to work on the skills shown. These are the sample pieces. Have a demo teaching event with a 15min or under demo. Students have 90mins to work on the skills shown. These are the sample pieces. The heart hook technique was copied from an unknown smith on Instagram. Was a quick blurb i thought was interesting. Forged like the side rake video then the point bent over and inserted into the centervof the opening. Brilliant. I would have never thought of it. Have a demo teaching event with a 15min or under demo. Students have 90mins to work on the skills shown. These are the sample pieces. The heart hook technique was copied from an unknown smith on Instagram. Was a quick blurb i thought was interesting. Forged like the side rake video then the point bent over and inserted into the centervof the opening. Brilliant. I would have never thought of it.
February 4Feb 4 easy jen, easy. I think I know who you mean on insta. I liked it and I saw you did as well, was interesting to see indeed. DBforge or something.
February 4Feb 4 8 hours ago, LarryFahnoe said: Alex, the gate and the helical chandelier are really something! Larry ,спасибо!!!
February 5Feb 5 Finished up this folding knife. Had a farrier friend in the States sent the link to me and gave me a challenge. I did, but ended up cutting off the pocket clip as I really don't like them. I used a farrier rasp (got lots of them, retired farrier) for the blade
February 5Feb 5 Beslagsmed, nice knife! Love the farriers rasp! A friend helped me put together a stand for my new vice. The base is some heavy C channel, so I could sink it in the ground. It is sooo stable! Huge upgrade from my machinists vice on a stump!
February 5Feb 5 Asa, that’s a nice vise and a nice stand. How far down does it go? also, I’m intrigued by your shop. Is it outside or inside? I can’t quite tell. I miss having a dirt floor. I have concrete now and would go back in a heartbeat.
February 5Feb 5 The C channel flanges are about 2in. The floor is so hard packed there that I dug a nice rectangle, dropped in the stand, and the dirt does not move. My shop is in the main room of a barn we use for storage. It’s a large room, and I can throw open the bay doors when I use the coal forge. The dirt is nice, though I have dug a depression where I work, just from moving around. And the “moon dust” gets everywhere. You can see in the photo that I shoved a bunch of dirt back by the anvil and wet it down, hoping to “reset.” The weight with the thin flange sitting on the vice stand in the 1st photo used to be my anvil. Served me for a long time. The cheap Harbor Freight anvil works great though!
February 5Feb 5 I finished another chandelier. It took some fiddling. To reduce shipping costs, I made it collapsible.
February 6Feb 6 I have the first of the matching fantasy messers assembled for my daughters wedding gifts. Just need to polish it and sharpen it. I also figured out how I wanted to do the owlbear head for the other. I'm quickly running out of time to finish these.
February 6Feb 6 That’s a neat idea with the C-channel. The vice sure ain’t going to rotate, and King Kong could stand on the channel and tug on something in the vise without anything moving.
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