Knives & blacksmithing and more
- Thread starter Junebuggy
- Start date
johno
Well-known member
Johno....the patchwork blade I think you're speaking of was made using some motorcycle chain.....takes a lot of borax for sure....I'm never sure how the pattern will come out using that. Thank You for the compliments too.
I never saw that answer coming
.Thanks.
DPG
Well-known member
Some of the most beautiful knives I've seen. Excellent craftsmanship
Amitygravel
Well-known member
Junebuggy ,
Beautiful pieces.
Couple of very lucky fellas to get those.
Meant to ask before , are you making your own mosaic pins ?
Beautiful pieces.
Couple of very lucky fellas to get those.
Meant to ask before , are you making your own mosaic pins ?
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Junebuggy: you have awesome talent and again sorry to hear you have to take a break from doing what you love because of health reasons. so the question i have you and other knife makers is what sort of steel should i be saving for the day when i might be able to make a few knives?
I've got a box full of old files and I've heard the old English made ones are better or which ones would work or not work?
I've got a drawer full of old railroad spikes and pick up them in buckets or one at a time when i can because I've seen a few nice knives made from them. are all RR spikes the same?
i have a lot of RR track that i'm going to sell as small cold steel anvils some day or can i make a knife from them?
i get offered square stock fairly often of steel and not sure of the quality or what it is worth or what i should pay for it. any idea or help appreciated.
thanks and keep posting anything you can because i'm sure there are many that are watching and enjoying this thread that don't or are not able to post.
I've got a box full of old files and I've heard the old English made ones are better or which ones would work or not work?
I've got a drawer full of old railroad spikes and pick up them in buckets or one at a time when i can because I've seen a few nice knives made from them. are all RR spikes the same?
i have a lot of RR track that i'm going to sell as small cold steel anvils some day or can i make a knife from them?
i get offered square stock fairly often of steel and not sure of the quality or what it is worth or what i should pay for it. any idea or help appreciated.
thanks and keep posting anything you can because i'm sure there are many that are watching and enjoying this thread that don't or are not able to post.
vintage nut
Well-known member
I have made a lot of knives from files. Old Nicholson ones are really good. The one I'm sending you is a file. I lost your address, so if you can send it again I'll get it off this week.
you can never have too many tools
you can never have too many tools
Amitygravel
Well-known member
Junebuggy ,
Sure won't second guess you on selling out the big shop.
Had to be a lot of soul searching on that.
But as you say it sure opens up a lot of other doors of opportunity.
Keep on hammerin and grindin brother !
Sure won't second guess you on selling out the big shop.
Had to be a lot of soul searching on that.
But as you say it sure opens up a lot of other doors of opportunity.
Keep on hammerin and grindin brother !
KMScott
Well-known member
June, giving up what you love to do is hard, especially when you must. The smaller forge will ease some of the emptiness and creating more of the beautiful knifes will fill some of the holes. The vises will also take up some of your time, the work you do is exceptional and we all love and wish we was as talented. Enjoy yourself in your new hobbies, keep taking the awesome pictures for we all look forward to seeing your new projects.
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: you can make posts like that anytime you like and it was a pleasure to read. while i didn't understand all that you said i just kept reading and took in what i can now and i'll go back to that post after i have time or learn more from your following posts.
sorry and happy you sold the big shop so now you can maybe have a little less stress. i used to take Advil by the handfuls back in the early to late 80's until i heard one of our local football players lost his kidneys and was on dialysis from taking maybe less than i was. i haven't taken an advil except for a toothache since i bought my inversion table. ever hung upside down on an inversion table yet and if not might i mention that you might want to try it.
my 81 year old mom is my most recent success story using one. she tweaked her back and had been on Vicodin for a month and i took her to get a MRI even though i wanted her to try my inversion table. she is a retired RN so she was sure something was broken. after MRI didn't come up with anything the Dr. wanted to give her a shot (maybe cortisone) and then she decided to stop by my house and try my www.invertalign.com inversion table made by teeter ups. anyway after using it for almost 5 minutes per day at about 75% tilt (I do 100%) she stopped taking Vicodin after the first week and after 4 weeks she is dancing and running around and helping my 6.5 dad in and out of the car and house again with no pain. not sure it will help the lungs, but i do mine as often as possible and only 5 minutes at a time. some days i do it AM and PM if i lifted heavy that day or had something i tweaked instead of grabbing some advil.
anyway I'd love to teach you to play golf if you want to teach me to make some knives once you beat that thing you have.
cheers and best wishes
sorry and happy you sold the big shop so now you can maybe have a little less stress. i used to take Advil by the handfuls back in the early to late 80's until i heard one of our local football players lost his kidneys and was on dialysis from taking maybe less than i was. i haven't taken an advil except for a toothache since i bought my inversion table. ever hung upside down on an inversion table yet and if not might i mention that you might want to try it.
my 81 year old mom is my most recent success story using one. she tweaked her back and had been on Vicodin for a month and i took her to get a MRI even though i wanted her to try my inversion table. she is a retired RN so she was sure something was broken. after MRI didn't come up with anything the Dr. wanted to give her a shot (maybe cortisone) and then she decided to stop by my house and try my www.invertalign.com inversion table made by teeter ups. anyway after using it for almost 5 minutes per day at about 75% tilt (I do 100%) she stopped taking Vicodin after the first week and after 4 weeks she is dancing and running around and helping my 6.5 dad in and out of the car and house again with no pain. not sure it will help the lungs, but i do mine as often as possible and only 5 minutes at a time. some days i do it AM and PM if i lifted heavy that day or had something i tweaked instead of grabbing some advil.
anyway I'd love to teach you to play golf if you want to teach me to make some knives once you beat that thing you have.
cheers and best wishes
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JeremyBurke
Well-known member
JB: thanks for sharing. Please post as much as you want and as often as you like. I love reading it and please don't feel bad for writing very long posts. Also feel free to share even the most basic information is very appreciated. It's a great read and remember most of us know nothing but love learning.
BoonDockSaint
Well-known member
You seem like a good man junebuggy, thanks and God bless.
countryroad82
Well-known member
My goodness Junebuggy, that is some beautiful craftsmanship. You are definitely gifted with a wonderful talent!
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: i'm hoping both you and Vintage and other members keep sharing their wisdom on steel, blacksmithing and making knives and other things as you can.
if i buy steel in solid square or round stock is there a way to tell if it is a special grade? is it stamped or a certain color or is there a pattern to look for?
also i was at a sale a while back and a knifemaker was grabbing all the English made files and leaving a pile of old US made ones for me to buy. any thoughts on making knives with files and which ones are the ones to look for or will they all work if over 20 years old?
thanks guys for all your thoughts if you have any to share
if i buy steel in solid square or round stock is there a way to tell if it is a special grade? is it stamped or a certain color or is there a pattern to look for?
also i was at a sale a while back and a knifemaker was grabbing all the English made files and leaving a pile of old US made ones for me to buy. any thoughts on making knives with files and which ones are the ones to look for or will they all work if over 20 years old?
thanks guys for all your thoughts if you have any to share
vintage nut
Well-known member
If the file is a Nicholson and stamped USA or canada, it's W2, and will make a very good knife. The only thing I will add is that unless you have a full size belt grinder (2x72) you will probably spend more on abrasives removing the teeth, then you would to order a nice new, surface ground piece of starrett O1 in a nice paper wraper from kbc tools. I started out only making file knives, and still make a few, but the more knives I make, the more I just buy new steel. So much faster and easier, and if you factor in abrasives (let alone time) it's cheaper.
And if you ever do get into knifemaking and decide to try a knife in stainless or some fancy steel, I'll offer to heat treat it.
One trick to tell if steel is any good for blades is to grind it. Take a piece of normal mild steel and grind it. Look at the sparks. Then grind a file. You'll notice that the sparks from the file are a lot more feathery. This indicates a higher carbon content. The higher the carbon, the more noticeable the feathers.
you can never have too many tools
And if you ever do get into knifemaking and decide to try a knife in stainless or some fancy steel, I'll offer to heat treat it.
One trick to tell if steel is any good for blades is to grind it. Take a piece of normal mild steel and grind it. Look at the sparks. Then grind a file. You'll notice that the sparks from the file are a lot more feathery. This indicates a higher carbon content. The higher the carbon, the more noticeable the feathers.
you can never have too many tools
vintage nut
Well-known member
Also, if you run into any canadian files, black Diamond and globe also make excellent knives. Pretty much any old file will make a good knife. The exception is cheap case hardened files which are soft steel only hard on the outside. You can identify these by grinding them, or clamping one in a vise with say 1/2" sticking out, and trying to break it off with a hammer. A good file will snap off like glass. If it doesn't break, its no good. This is a good test for any non top brand files you are unsure about.
you can never have too many tools
you can never have too many tools
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Vintage: Which files would you prefer to make your knives from in case i can find any? or would you like the Canadian ones?
thanks for sharing some more of the information you have learned. i hope others are learning as much or more than i am.
thanks for sharing some more of the information you have learned. i hope others are learning as much or more than i am.
vintage nut
Well-known member
Any old Nicholson files would be perfect. And ideally not ones that are very thick for their width. It seems to depend on what sort of file they are, but some are a lot thicker, and that just leaves me a lot more steel to grind off.
I was given about a dozen old files recently, but most of them still have a fair bit of life in them, so I tucked them away to use.
you can never have too many tools
I was given about a dozen old files recently, but most of them still have a fair bit of life in them, so I tucked them away to use.
you can never have too many tools
JeremyBurke
Well-known member
JB: that is very cool. I think I get how they are made but if you had a picture of it I would love to see it.
vintage nut
Well-known member
Those are incredible! The only thing I have seen like that is one old blacksmith I know made a very real looking octopus out of a bar of steel. Lots of hot cutting, punching, and bending. Just a little thing, but very cool!
you can never have too many tools
you can never have too many tools
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Vintage: thanks again for sending me this awesome knife you made. i know once i showed it to my wife she wouldn't let go of it until i said she could keep it in the kitchen. I agreed because even though she is only 1/4 Irish it's that part that always keeps me on my toes. it's a cool knife that is for sure and your skill is awesome and here's pictures of Vintage's knife i (my wife) now own.
JB: frying pan to the snot locker? nice and as i said above it might have been me getting the same if i had a fake spider sitting in my wife's kitchen. that little rattler isn't looking happy. so do he and his relatives visit your home or shop often?
nice looking snake made out of a file. do you have any before and during the making of some of your fine knives or fun stuff?
JB: frying pan to the snot locker? nice and as i said above it might have been me getting the same if i had a fake spider sitting in my wife's kitchen. that little rattler isn't looking happy. so do he and his relatives visit your home or shop often?
nice looking snake made out of a file. do you have any before and during the making of some of your fine knives or fun stuff?
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vintage nut
Well-known member
If anyone is wondering drives (wife's) knife is made from a file, the handle is padouk wood (thats its natural color) and the pins are bronze brazing rods.
Maybe we can figure out some sort if trade if you want one for yourself in the shop! Haha
you can never have too many tools
Maybe we can figure out some sort if trade if you want one for yourself in the shop! Haha
you can never have too many tools
drivesitfar
Well-known member
JB: check out Woody's garage thread for some hands free camera pictures. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263351&highlight=woody
Denwood started a company that has some great stuff for putting your camera or phone camera on to take pictures and time lapse ones too with the right software. he's also a great guy as you'll see if you check out his thread or PM him with any questions.
Vintage: anything is possible because the only knife i seem to use is my little Swiss army knife for opening up boxes and mainly for the toothpick.
Denwood started a company that has some great stuff for putting your camera or phone camera on to take pictures and time lapse ones too with the right software. he's also a great guy as you'll see if you check out his thread or PM him with any questions.
Vintage: anything is possible because the only knife i seem to use is my little Swiss army knife for opening up boxes and mainly for the toothpick.
Chevy-SS
Well-known member
Recently bought one. Seems to be helping. Glad to read good review.
Now all I need is one of JB's knives, and life would be just about purrrrfect, LOL
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
Chevy: my inversion table is one thing i'll never sell unless a friend needs it that day and i can buy another one. build up to 5 minutes a day and if you are really sore or kinked up try it for 5 in the AM and PM. it does work and happy it is helping you too. did you buy the Teeter up?