- Joined
- Apr 12, 2006
- Messages
- 2,506
I posted these in the Custom Knives subforum with some other blades, but also wanted to show them here by themselves. They're on their way to a primitive skills gatehring in Idaho.
These are forged from brand new 4140 and hardened in commercial quench oil. After heat treatment, I brushed off the loose scale and gave them a light etch in vinegar to darken them. The three on the longer handles all have heads just under 20 ounces, while those on the shorter handles have heads 16-17 ounces. I bought a dozen commercial hickory handles of each size, only to discover when they arrived that they were overly massive and even with my large hands were very uncomfortable. It felt like trying to hold a tree trunk! So each handle was carefully cut down, ground, rasped, and sanded to probably about half of their original mass, leaving comfortable, ergonomic shapes that are stil plenty strong. The profiles of the handles were also changed, ending up looking quite a bit different than what I purchased, and thankfully feeling a lot different as well. They were given a light stain and oiled.
These are forged from brand new 4140 and hardened in commercial quench oil. After heat treatment, I brushed off the loose scale and gave them a light etch in vinegar to darken them. The three on the longer handles all have heads just under 20 ounces, while those on the shorter handles have heads 16-17 ounces. I bought a dozen commercial hickory handles of each size, only to discover when they arrived that they were overly massive and even with my large hands were very uncomfortable. It felt like trying to hold a tree trunk! So each handle was carefully cut down, ground, rasped, and sanded to probably about half of their original mass, leaving comfortable, ergonomic shapes that are stil plenty strong. The profiles of the handles were also changed, ending up looking quite a bit different than what I purchased, and thankfully feeling a lot different as well. They were given a light stain and oiled.
