My latest creation, a feather damascus from 1084 and 15N20.  The handle is stabilized wood from Mad Scientist Knife Scales with a CA finish.  I gave leatherworking a go too and made a leather sheath.  Soaked it in beeswax to harden it and keep the blade from rusting in the humidity where I live.

Love feather damascus. Nice work. 

Oooo!

Frosty The Lucky.

That's great Doc!  I'll get the hang of forge welding and Damascus soon I hope. 

This is the solution I came up with for a one handed fleshing knife for my boss.  It isn't 100% finished, just needs some sanding and polishing,  but I wanted him to put it to use.  I want to make sure it works and then I'll remake a finished version.  Blade is from a lawnmower blade and not hardened.  It's rounded over from a 45° bevel that goes all the way around the blade.  The handle is designed to be gripped in multiple directions and still be comfortable.   This is more functional than finished right now but if it works I'll be making this one again.   He's rather happy with the design.  Handle is maple with brass pin and lanyard hole.

Edited January 21, 20224 yr by Chad J.
Autocorrect

Suggestion:  for any blade used in skinning and tanning hides; make the handle out of something that can be totally immersed and left soaking in a cleaning solution.  I like Corian countertop, used to get cutouts for sinks.  You can checker them to make sure they are not "slippery when slimy" too.

Great tip Thomas. Thanks!  I'll look into that.  And texturing the handle would be easy enough with my dremel.

Here is my latest and greatest. (Or at least largest). Heaps of fun both to build and swing!

Looks like it is sort of a cross between an axe and a machete.  What is its best chopping environment?  And what sort of steel did you use?

Thx.

GNM

Definitely falls between the two as far as potential usage goes. I was sortof going for a fantasy inspired hog splitter. That being said, I have no hogs to split, so it has been clearing up the brush in the backyard. Small palm trees and tightly growing brush seems ideal. The wide blade makes quick work of several small to medium sized plants at a time.

I used a big truck leaf spring. Have given it a good run for its money and I'm really happy with how the edge holds up.

So I have been reading posts and lurking on this site for over a year. This is my first post, but I have learned a lot from all of you. I finished my first kitchen knife this weekend, but it is my 30th knife total I think. Made of 5160 with micarta handle and copper pins.

Edit: sorry, I posted the picture in the wrong format. 

 

Not a great pic. Tang needs to be straightened with by heating or grinding. It’s going to be finished up with a guard and pommel of the same steel, a stacked leather handle, and sheath made from the same leather. Haven’t decided wether to pin or thread the pommel, kinda depends on where it goes as I work the tang some more. 
This spring it’s made from was a real surprise. It was just rolling down the street, not another vehicle in sight. It crossed my path and I got a hard breaking alert in my truck. I figured I’d be getting a phone call from my supervisor so I might as well stop and pick it up. 
 

Ranstang, welcome in from the cold.  Glad to have you aboard.  Nice looking blade.  What is the finish? Gun blue?

Thx.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Thanks, glad to be here! I coffee etched it for about 2.5 hours. I am hoping it will help keep the blade a bit more corrosion resistant. 

Why do I suddenly see: "I'll have a latte and a quadruple expresso for my knife blade..."

hmmm... yeah I would hate to see the start of a Starbuck blades trend...
Luckily I didn't invent it so none of you can blame me if it catches on. Lol 
I do like the way it comes out though, a dark brown that looks almost bronzish. I will probably use it again on other projects.

Try extremely strong tea too, like a half pound cheap loose leaf boiled for an hour.

really? I hadn't heard that one yet. what kind of finish does that create? 
I am truly glad I picked up this craft, there seems so much more to learn or be discovered than any one lifetime could provide the time for. 

When I used it on the alloys I was working with; it was more a purple black colour.

6 hours ago, SHC said:

Haven’t decided wether to pin or thread the pommel

With a stacked leather handle a threaded pommel would be best (IMO) because after a lot of use you may want to replace some of the leather rings. I did a peened tang on one and about ten years later, I had to replace the leather and lost a little handle length when I had to grind off the peen to do that. If I would have done a threaded pommel it would have been easy to replace or tighten up the leather rings due to shrinkage.

I was kind of leaning that way too. Just seems the hardest part would be cutting the threads. Could even change the handle material entirely at a later time if wanted. 

I made this as one of my first commission pieces. My friend and his wife both commissioned me to make Kukris for each other for a Christmas present to each other. The cool part was that neither of them knew that they other one had done it. and they commissioned the EXACT same blade. So they got a matching set of his and hers kukris  I was completely stressed out building them and loved every minute of it. They were super happy too. Blade is 80crv2 and the handle is ebony and rosewood with copper fittings. 

Mr. RSTG,

Beautiful work.

SLAG.

Wow!  Nice work.

Thanks!

On 1/31/2022 at 1:02 AM, Bonnskij said:

I was sortof going for a fantasy inspired hog splitter. That being said, I have no hogs to split,

Oh come ON man, it's obviously a, "Sabre Tooth Hopper Chopper!"

If you're going to fantasize let your mind go!

Here it could be a caribou / moose splitter or a grizzly trimmer. 

Frosty The Lucky.