For Hillbilly Chuck

[peter nap]

This morning I got the 4:00 AM urge to forge. This is what I feel they should look like after forging and rough grinding. If you look at your forged blade you will see that you got pretty close on your first try.

 

[Sylvester]

Looks good to me Peter.
4 AM, hell if I would turn on a drillpress at that time
the neighbors would be jumpin up an down on my head

 

[peter nap]

Thanks Sylvester. I was here for 20 years before the yuppies decided they wanted to spoil the country. I don't recall asking them to move here!

 

[peter nap]

Well here's how it looks a couple of hours later. That is brass color you see in the etch. I'll bet even Bruce Evans doesn't know how I did it and it was his idea.

 

[RHINOKNIVES]

you and i think alot alike! it always cracks me up when people move next to a airport or race track and then complain about the noise, as they say a lot around here, DUH!

 

[peter nap]

I'll never understand people Laurence. They want to move out in the country because they didn't like the city and then they try to change everything so it's more like the city. They buy a suv because they are in the country (we always called them "Trucks") then the fuss with the local government because the roads are crooked and they can't drive the speed limit.

 

[ddavelarsen]

Peter that's cool. Now I feel better about getting up early to work in the shop - it's my best time of day and the best part of each day. I'm going to hold you up as an example to my wife too, she thinks I'm obsessed...Bwwwaaaahaaaaahaaaa!!!

Dave

 

[hillbillychuck]

Hey Y'all,

Peter, that is an awesome blade, how bout cluin' us newbies in on the brass etching technique?? I'm usually up a lot during the night and I do a lot of my best knifemaking then too. I was up beatin' on some steel about 2AM this morning, as a matter of fact. I don't have to worry about what the neighbors think, my nearest one is about 2 miles away and a mile of that is the access road to my property(4WD or horse only). I hate unexpected guests(grin)!! I like to listen to rock music while I'm forging and grinding too

Here's a pic of the blade I forged this morning. It is still attached to the barstock I forged from and I haven't done any grinding to it yet. Managed to get all the hammer marks out by using a small hammer at the end to beat all the heavy hammer marks out.

Thanks for the pics, the advice and the encouragement.

Chuck

 

[hillbillychuck]

BTW,

Happy 4th of July, Y'all!!

HillbillyChuck

 

[P.K.Hansen]

Great blades - both of them. I'll have to try forging some day. The things you guys make are incredible.
When do you sleep

 

[peter nap]

That blade looks great Chuck. The brass etch comes from etching brass at one time or the other in your acid. It seems to plate everything you etch afterward. This was junk box damascus and looked pretty good with the color. Keep hammering!

 

[Bruce Evans]

Peter this Blade looks cool!!You answered the colored etch question before I got to.My feric chloride is so old and has had brass and nickel silver guards etched on the blades so much that after a good long etching the whole blade is copper coloerd.Sometimes it stays on the blade even after I try and buff it off.
Looks cool to..
Ain't we lucky to live in the country..There is a guy here that is buying most all the land around me now,it was in his family for years and when his parents got older they started selling off parts for there retirement and now he is buying it back.He has about 400 acres behind me that he is setting up as a game refuge,He does hunt and will let a few people hunt also,But he said he was setting this up so his great grandkids and great-great grandkids will have a place to see wild animals and have a place to hunt if they want.His sons are grown now and have started helping buy back the old family land plus other that they move onto ..So I don't have to worry about the urban sprawl hitting me anytime soon
Hillbilly Chuck that is a awesome looking blade also.
Bruce

 

[peter nap]

You are a lucky lucky man Bruce. Quick, make him a knife. I don't sell mine but get a lot of hunting areas in exchange for them! I found on this blade that the brass wash did stay in the etched layers after going over the blade with 1000 grit cloth. I'm not going any further with it and this is a user so we'll see how long the color lasts.
Sure wish my first couple of forged blades turned out as well as Chucks. Would have saved me a lot of time in church.

one other thing chuck. I don't know if you plan to put a guard on that one but if you do, it won't fit unless you use a half guard. You can wait until you slide the guard on and then flare the back or use a framed handle to cure the problem on future knives. That's the beauty of this. There's always a next one!

 

[hillbillychuck]

Hey Peter,

Thanks again for all of the great advice. After I cut the bar off the end there I will forge the tang down and make a scagel styled leather and spacer handle with antler buttcap. That is what I seem to be making all the time now. Those Scagel and Marble style handles just seem to come out better for me than any other style. And after I made a few of those everyone wanted one. I don't sell any of my knives either. I give my knives to my friends and neighbors and trade them for some supplies,hunting leases, and stuff like that. I do this totally as a hobby. All the people that live around us are either bretheren church or menonites, and they really appreciate handmade stuff. They don't sell their land either Thanks for the etching technique too. That will come in handy soon

Chuck