A couple of pieces I've made during the pandemic

Brute de forge style?

Quick snap. Will take a better picture later. My first go at forging metal.



Blade is a piece of broken off suspension spring found on the road.
Thin brass bolster is a piece of old door kick plate.
Wood is purple heart that was trimmed off a chopping board. It was destined for the wood burner.
Leather is off cuts and failed knife sheaths.
The brass pommel is the only piece that isn’t scrap. I could have used scrap brass from an old Yale lock. I wanted to use threads tapped and died into the pommel and blade rather than a through pein.

I was aiming for something Scandinavian in style. I need to order some more leather before I can have a go at a Puukko style sheath. Needless to say, the wooden insert will be from a piece of wood salvaged from an old pallet.

Superb.

Time for a touchmark

My_Teenage_Self said:

Superb.

Time for a touchmark

Click to expand...

Thanks. Looked on the Tube. Lots of intricate filing seems to be how it’s done. I will have a go in the coming weeks.

Tried a bit more forging this morning. Wowsers, that leaf spring is hard! I was almost pleased when I ran out of gas! I will measure the lengths of the two pieces and see how much (if at all) I have stretched them out.

Are you getting it hot enough? What burner are you using...? I've found a meaty burner design that can be made for only a few £;

I've had precious little time of late, so I've been itching to get going on this one. It has a deadline, less than a month.

Making Knives is kind of a therapy for me. Music on, and indulge for a few hours blocking out everything else. Other than hand sanding the damn things, it all requires 100% concentration all the time; one slip up, even for a second can wreck tens of hours of work, or, lose me a finger/eye/skin etc. With that in mind, the brief was for a UK legal slip joint; less than 3" blade, non-locking. What. Fresh. Hell. Is. This. Roughly 12 hours to this point with much of that being the fitup of the pivot area.

May I introduce you to the makings of '44'.



The green stuff is 1.6mm brass plate with the protective plastic still on it

"44"

80 layer pattern welded Sheepsfoot blade and back spring (2mm thick). 1.6mm Brass liners. Rosewood scales. Stainless pins & torx screws. Exactly 100g in weight. About 30 hours to make.

Non locking and under 3" blade to be UK legal.




"Sharp enough to shave with".

That is lovely, do you sell these?

Thanks Velofrog.

I Kinda don't sell them; That's an 80th birthday present (1944). Taking payment for a hobby makes it work I may have to sell off a few in the future, as I have a few stacking up.

Well I would love something that looks like the one above