Blade of Woe

Do at least have a high tension hack saw?
If not, go get one first, they are well with the money, and it will save you lots of time!
 
A.McPherson said:
Do at least have a high tension hack saw?
If not, go get one first, they are well with the money, and it will save you lots of time!
Click to expand...
Yes I do, and 6 new 18 tpi blades.
I'll time myself to cut a couple of inches and then I'll know what I'm in for.
I haven't started yet as I'm still chiseling out the saya for my waki.
 
Well, I started with the hacksaw and timed myself at about 10 minutes for 2 inches of cut.
That is bad enough, but I then realized that I would soon bump into the frame of the saw and need to mount the blade on an angled part of the saw that is at least three times slower to use.
I took it into the machine shop and got most of it profiled on the bandsaw, except the handle which still needs some design work.

I got more excited about what I might do with a scrap piece.
I decided to attempt a Bagwell bird's head Bowie, hoping that I can do justice to such an iconic piece. I still have a nice piece of African Blackwood...
I got it profiled just as the saw blade stopped cutting. I didn't want to mess around welding up another blade so I took it home.
The piece was 0.75" thick, more than enough for the Bagwell design which can exceed 0.3" at the ricasso, before taking a strong distal taper.
I wondered about hogging off all the material, when a "brilliant idea" struck me.
If I split it right down the middle, I can make two.
Believe it or not I split it using a hacksaw yesterday with heat in the 90s. The combination of stupid and stubborn is pretty powerful.
After clean up the two pieces sit at 0.350" and 0.325" at their respective ricassos.
I plan to grind the tapers to about 0.14 near the tip to leave a bit of leeway for the swedge.
The rest should be smooth sailing from here, right?
Z7NV2tV.jpg

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Ezlxxaw.jpg
 
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Are you Sam Salvati's twin brother? Those who have been around a while will understand. Newer folks might have to do some searching.
 
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Not much progress on the Blade of Woe itself.
(turns out that working with 3/4" thick stock is quite a pain)
On the other hand the side project of the pair of Bagwell style bowies is coming along.
I have been shaping the African Blackwood handles while waiting for the blades to come back from heat treat.
They just came back today, but I'm not quite finished with the handles.
They need the ruby eyes put in place and the stainless pin on each diamond of the wings.
After fit up they will need some final shaping and polishing.

Anyway, here are Huginn and Muninn.
(my wife cruelly said that she would rather they become salt/pepper shakers than knives...)
Z7NV2tV.jpg

RrJdkDO.jpg
 
weo said:
Do you mean Sam Salvati?
Click to expand...

Yes, dang you spell checker.

Richard, Sam was/is a guy who was known for taking on crazy projects and doing them by hand. He could swing an 8 pound hammer like it was nothing. He would take a piece of 1" round stock and profile a blade in two heats and then draw out the bevels in two more.
I haven't seen him in a few years, but he was fun to be around. Last time I remember he was working with a group of Long Island artist blacksmiths and a group of bladesmiths who created insane swords and things.
 
Fun thread. I feel your hack saw pain....though 1/4 inch 5160 is the thickest I've ever sawn. I would love a bandsaw.

Neat that you had enough scrap to cut out two Bagwell inspired bowies!!!

The handles look fantastic so far.
 
I got all the pins and ruby eyes installed on the handles. They just need a final touch-up.
The blades and guard parts are nearly complete.
I took the main bevels of the blades to 800 grit and they look great to me.
My last few grinds have been "lucky", so I'm cautiously thinking my grinding skills might be improving.
The swedges are still at 220 from the disc and need some careful polishing.
Hoping to put it all together over the weekend.

7ovUrUL.jpg
 
Richard338 said:
Not much progress on the Blade of Woe itself.
(turns out that working with 3/4" thick stock is quite a pain)
On the other hand the side project of the pair of Bagwell style bowies is coming along.
I have been shaping the African Blackwood handles while waiting for the blades to come back from heat treat.
They just came back today, but I'm not quite finished with the handles.
They need the ruby eyes put in place and the stainless pin on each diamond of the wings.
After fit up they will need some final shaping and polishing.

Anyway, here are Huginn and Muninn.
(my wife cruelly said that she would rather they become salt/pepper shakers than knives...)
Z7NV2tV.jpg

RrJdkDO.jpg
Click to expand...
Very cool handles. It's great when you have put so many hours into something and your spouse just doesn't see it the same way!!
 
Hengelo_77 said:
looking good, but how about that Woe blade :D
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my thoughts exactly....(I've been feeling these last few posts have been a little bait-'n-switch;))

But yeah, not to neglect these, they do look really nice. Can we get close-ups of the huginn and muninn?
 
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