Knifemaking and other cool hobbies...

[Queso]

lately I've been rock climbing barefoot when it's not cold.

Cut my dickies and left my shirt at the foot.

[Boerseun]

Been doing the flying thing lately. Not myself, of course, a certain medical malfunction kinda puts flying outta my league, but been involved with it for a while now.

 

So, any case, this weekend a bunch of the guys decided to see if we can host inflatable pylon racing at our local airfield!

But now they had to test the structural integrity of these inflatable pylons, 'cause what if someone flies into a pylon? They must tear without any resistance to the plane. So my mate Piet 'Crash' decided to rip one of the pylons with his home-built aerobatics plane. He came barreling down the runway at 250+Kph, and missed six times before he touched the pylon! When he touched it, it promptly ripped and deflated, and Piet reckoned he didn't feel a thing. We had a high-speed camera rigged up, and on slow motion saw that the material ripped ahead of the wingtip, i.e. faster than 250Kph! Pretty awesome!

Piet was all gung-ho before his flight, but afterwards he was a bit rattled. He reckons that he's been flying for the last twenty-odd years, and he's always been taught to miss the scenery. Saturday's the first time he's ever flown into something intentionally! And he hit a ten-meter high inflatable pylon (about three meters wide) about five to six meters off the deck at 250Kph!

 

Will post the picks the moment I get if from Piet 'Crash', or as he's now known, Piet 'Slice'!

[nkt]

Hitting the scenery at speed is always a bad idea!

 

My dad chopped quite a bit off a tree one time with his R22 coming in to land. Leaves and twigs everywhere, but the main rotor was fine, fortunately!

 

Have you managed to get any of your sword/blade photos uploaded yet? I've got a lovely "medieaval" armour pericing arrow sat here, made from some steel bar I bashed. I saw a guy doing it at a ren. fair, so I asked him to show me how. Rather cool for something so hot! It has the dark blue/black colour that you talk about from the quenching. Totally different to the chemical blues I've used in the past.

[Boerseun]

Nkt, good to hear from you again! Been silent up there in good ole' England, haven't you?

...this file's a bit on the big side, but that's the latest Bowie I made a month or so ago. Don't have any photos handy of the metal blueing projects, but will post at first opportunity.

 

I WILL shrink the files next time, okay?!?!?! Don't shoot me!!! I know you don't wanna stare at my tablecloth... :rolleyes:

[Kayra]

Hmm

Boerseun, have you tried this?

As C1ay suggested, anneal and stress relieve the blade AFTER you finished the grinding.

 

After that, coat the entire blade in clay and heat treat. You can do some interesting things simply by varying the thickness of the clay, and it helps to cool the blade slower.

Put only a very thin coating of clay on the edge itself and you should get a NASTY hard edge on it.

 

For a single edged sword, keep a thicker coating on the back to keep the spring in the steel. More in the center for a double edged blade.

 

I find it odd that so many science minded folk have an interest in forging :singer:

[Turtle]

I WILL shrink the files next time, okay?!?!?! Don't shoot me!!! I know you don't wanna stare at my tablecloth... :eek2:

The knife looks beautiful Boerseun, but I admit I started staring at the tablecloth after I looked the blade over. My little habit of concentrating on the background.:hyper:

Do you make sheathes also? If so, of what materials? If not, how 'bout that tablecloth? No...really!:singer:

[Boerseun]

Here's the latest one out of the kiln. A drop-edge hunter with brass fittings. And a sheath! Although I'm not too keen on leatherwork, it was a lot of fun, though.

(Sorry 'bout the cardboard box it's sitting on, Turtle! I'll use the tablecloth next time! :))

[Chacmool]

Wow, very nice work Mr B!

[Turtle]

Here's the latest one out of the kiln. A drop-edge hunter with brass fittings. And a sheath! Although I'm not too keen on leatherwork, it was a lot of fun, though.

(Sorry 'bout the cardboard box it's sitting on, Turtle! I'll use the tablecloth next time! :))

 

Ohhhhhh....she's a beauty! And her sheath aint bad either!;) Both deserve the plain background as anything distracting the eye from them is unworthy. Do you sell your knives?:eek2:

[Boerseun]

Never sold one in my life. This one I made for my dad's 60th birthday.

I suppose if you want to sell handmade knives you've had to be at it for years, making a name for yourself. But then again, everybody's got a price! :eek2:

Why? You buying?

[Turtle]

Never sold one in my life. This one I made for my dad's 60th birthday.

I suppose if you want to sell handmade knives you've had to be at it for years, making a name for yourself. But then again, everybody's got a price! ;)

Why? You buying?

I can & have written reams on knives, but I'll try & stick to articles of the quote. My father told me never to gift a knife, that at least a penny be paid; some ancient wisdom no doubt.:eek2:

Your description of making and selling knives is the same as my experience with jewelry. It's difficult to find customers willing to pay what you know something is worth, & you kick yourself in the *** ever after selling something for less.

I do buy the occassional knife, and I don't currently have a sheath knife. Now you have me thinkin'.....

[Turtle]

Calling all blacksmiths...calling all Boerseuns...:hyper:

Got a project idea. I need a steal version of this with some minor modifications to more effectively ward off disembodied melon heads such as this melon head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRHuIywrIrM I warded off with the pictured wood bullroarer.

Is it possible? :) Whatcha think mate? :shrug: :hihi:

[Boerseun]

Sure you can!

 

The more you can protect yourself against killer zombie watermelons, the better. Dangerous things, watermelons...

[Boerseun]

Been awhile since I've seen the anvil and the kiln, but here's the latest:

 

The previous one I made for my dad's 60th got sold... before the old man's birthday! I was on my friend's farm busy with some stuff, when this guy pitched up and offered me R800 for the blade! (The previous one I posted here - it translates to about $115).

 

Needless to say, it was a deal I could not say no to, so I had to make my dad another one. It was a lot of fun, first time I used ivory in my life for anything. Don't worry, we didn't kill an elephant! I found a piece of ivory sculpture that was horribly cracked at an antique shop, and was able to cut the handle pieces out of sections that had no cracks. Bargain!

 

There's some fancy filework on the back of the handle which my camera don't seem able to resolve. Took awhile, lemme tell you. Never gonna be doin' that again, for sure.

 

I've got two designs for my next projects, the one is a utility kitchen blade (for myself, for a change), that's got a bottle opener on the back! What good is a knife if it doesn't have a bottle opener? It'll also be a short-bladed drop-edge design. Then I've got an idea for yet another bowie (you gotta love bowies - that's a knife...) with leather washers for a handle... and a stainless steel pommell... with stainless sheets breaking up the handle lines...

 

Gimme some time, okay!?!?!

[maikeru]

I have just finished off a hunting knife, and decided my next project is going to be a sword. Now - I considered posting this in the physics forum - I heat-treat my blades at 1200C, for roughly 30 minutes, after shaping them. Sometimes the blade comes out buckled, and have to be hammered on an anvil. Obviously the risk for this happening with a sword is much greater, seeing as the blade is a lot longer. Now, my question: Can the buckling be caused by uneven heating of the blade? Won't it help if I put the blade in cold, and let it heat up gradually with the kiln? The kiln takes about an hour to get up to 1200C, so I could let it heat with the kiln, and then leave it for 30 minutes? Could impurities in the steel cause the buckling? I have to build a new kiln for the annealling on the sword in any case, seeing as my knife kiln is too small, but I want to get behind the process 100% before wasting bucks on a new kiln.

 

What type of sword? I've done a lot of reading on swords in connection with the European Middle Ages and some about Japan and China, since both of those are renowned for their martial arts and weapons. I have Ewart Oakeshott books and read Medieval Swordsmanship by John Clements.

 

Any other cool hobbies out there? Share it!

 

Ballroom dance. It's kind of my substitute for martial arts these past few years and a bit more useful for dating. (Maybe I could karate chop dinner, though. Extra romantic. ) I've done 2 years of it, and I could probably start to work on competitive Latin ballroom if I could find a regular partner. My current one, although awesome, is about to leave for a few years as a Mormon missionary.

 

I used to do aikido and karate a few years ago. I'm actually rather interested in taking up judo, aikido, jiujitsu, or kendo, although I'd need to do some vigorous searching for good teachers in the area. Having a small population about, I worry about quality of teaching. I also thought about muy thai or muy boran (as if I could find a teacher for that outside of Thailand), but it could be too physical and destructive, which is the last thing I'd want--to trash my body right now.

 

I like to learn foreign languages, especially Japanese, Chinese, and older ones like Latin. Bit by bit.

[Boerseun]

At last! Finally finished the utility drop-edge kitchen blade! With a sheath, for when you're camping, and in a terrible need to cut something. Notice the awesomely nifty bottle-opener on the back. It works, too - had myself a decent hangover Sunday morning to prove it.

[Chacmool]

At last! Finally finished the utility drop-edge kitchen blade! With a sheath, for when you're camping, and in a terrible need to cut something. Notice the awesomely nifty bottle-opener on the back. It works, too - had myself a decent hangover Sunday morning to prove it.

Very cool and nifty indeed, Boerseun. Say, don't you still owe me a birthday present...? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)