My forging experience

After sticking a broken stitching needle through the side of my finger, I have something that looks like a sheath and my step-son's initials engraved. His present is finished.

 

She's a beauty. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

 

Homerun!

 

Thanks guys!!

 

Sweet work! I'm especially a sucker for the decorative iron work. Takes me back.

 

Thanks. It's fun to make for sure.

 

Little update. Been working on a few projects.

Got these two forged and roughed in. My new veggie chopper and possibly my new EDC toy.



This one was from a very large cross between an Arkansas toothpick and a Bowie. A friend of mine told me it was a hand made gift to his father, and then it was passed down to him. He carried it while serving in South America as a machete. Now he has given it to me to see if I could use it for something. I put it on a diet and re-shaped it. Got a little more rough profiling to do so I can quench it.
The original handle was mahogany scales and a heavy lead butt cap to balance it. I wasn't able to save the scales, but I'm going to use new mahogany and try to incorporate the butt cap into a bolster. Just to try and use as much of the original as I can.



And I finally have some more progress on my daughters christmas present. Yeah, I know it's late..... Weather has really kept me out of the shop, but she understands.
It's been quenched, tempered, and ground to 80 grit. Going to finalize on the machine with 120, then hand sand and buff for the finish. It's going to have white oak scales, and I'm going to make a white oak cutting board to go with it.
I know the pins aren't matched up perfectly, but I hit a hard spot on the butt end pin and had to move it. I really need better drill bits. I have good ones, just not the size I needed...

 

Looking good Shawn. Your daughter will not mind the wait!

 

Thanks Mike! I hope it turns out good after making her wait this long.

 

Been behind in posting anything here. Got the kitchen knife done for my daughter and made a cutting board for her too. Other than that I've just been tinkering around building tools and trying some shelf bracket scrolls and paper towel holder.

 

Looking good Shawn

 

Thanks Mike! I still have a long way to go on my scrolling, but it's getting there.

 

Nice stuff, Shawn!
How you getting on with the other knives in pics?

 

Thanks Warren. I've finally gotten a little time to work on a couple. Goth them quenched and profiled down to pretty much starting to have an edge on them. The spine thickness at the heel is .130 for the longer one and .140 for the shorter "chopper". The edge at this point is about as thick as a piece of paper, so hopefully I have a decent angle on them. Starting to finish sand them next.

 

Looks like they're coming along nicely! Interesting stuff, Shawn.

 

Forgot to post these here, but I finally got those kitchen knives done. Struggled a bit on the handle of the shorter one and the copper is a last minute addition to cover up some mistakes.
Overall, I'm fairly pleased with them. Very light and cut better than my Wusthof. A few things I'd like to have done better, but I'm getting more figured out with each one I do.

This is before the finish was applied on the handles.

 

Looking good Shawn

 

Looks like a nice polish on those blades!
What are going with for the finish on the handles?

 

Thanks Warren. They have 3 coats of danish oil and then sealed with a urethane spray.
Getting a new attachment for my belt sander that will convert it to be more like a big boy 2x72 so hopefully it will make things go a little easier for the next ones.

 

These threads really get me itching to have another go at doing a knife or at least rehandling one!
Got pics of the knives with the handles finished?