Great day in the shop

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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Today has been a good day.I got into the shop about 1PM and forged out three blades that I have been trying to get to.One was a tanto for a friends grandson. Photos of it are below.It is clay-coated in the pics.I'll post hamon photos later.After the forging,I got to work on those 9 blades of Bill Moran. They are all ground out,now, and ready to start the hand work. I have to forge out the tangs on a couple,since they were still on the bars of steel when I got them.Then I finally got to finishing a fancy machete I forged and HTed back in April.A funny thing happened while grinding out the blade. I had my Trend Airshield hood on (as always) and was making sparks like crazy on a 120 grit belt at full scream. I noticed it was getting warm under my chin. I lifted the hood to rub my chin and discovered that I had set my work shirt on fire. I had not put the leather grinding smock on! No big deal, but quite a start when I realized it was burning.
Now I am going to build a nice fire in the fireplace, open a Guinness,and relax with the Mrs.
Stacy
 
Hopefully that's today for me. Minus the burning:eek:I hate when that happens:( I have a few "on the bench" and a bit of a cleaning to do before the winter hits.Tonight I'll let everyone know the secret of getting 10 tons of junk into a 5 ton shop :D
 
sounds like a plan to me :) Do you heattreat your clay coated blades while the clay is still wet or will you let that dry (it still looks wet in the pics) prior to going in ? Just curious ......... I let mine dry first . I have heard guys do it both ways & wondered how you do it
 
bladsmth said:
Today has been a good day.I got into the shop about 1PM and forged out three blades that I have been trying to get to.One was a tanto for a friends grandson. Photos of it are below.It is clay-coated in the pics.I'll post hamon photos later.After the forging,I got to work on those 9 blades of Bill Moran. They are all ground out,now, and ready to start the hand work. I have to forge out the tangs on a couple,since they were still on the bars of steel when I got them.Then I finally got to finishing a fancy machete I forged and HTed back in April.A funny thing happened while grinding out the blade. I had my Trend Airshield hood on (as always) and was making sparks like crazy on a 120 grit belt at full scream. I noticed it was getting warm under my chin. I lifted the hood to rub my chin and discovered that I had set my work shirt on fire. I had not put the leather grinding smock on! No big deal, but quite a start when I realized it was burning.
Now I am going to build a nice fire in the fireplace, open a Guinness,and relax with the Mrs.
Stacy
Click to expand...

9 Moran blades?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Did you get them at the auction? You MUST post pics.........andalso sell me one of them:D I just won a "rode hard and put up wet" Lime Kiln Airman fighter on EvilBay. Paid about half of what one in any kind of decent condition would cost, but as you might imagine, even the discounted price was pretty steep!!!!! Some guy did a last minute ambush bid and cost me an extra $650!!!!!!! It may be old, crusty and abushed, but hey......i finally have my Moran:thumbup:
 
I will post photos when the blades are ready for the handles. I ordered a special stamp from Ever's that says:

FORGED BY
W.F.MORAN

The other side of the blade will have my mark.I have the provenance papers from the estate, so these will be some of my most valued possessions. I haven't decided if I will sell any of them,yet.These are all blades Bill made for his 50 Years knives,I believe. They are exact doubles for the ones he made for the book. For one reason or another he didn't use these ones. He forged them in batches,and used the ones that came out the way he wanted.The box of cut out handles I bought was from the same group of knives,too. The board of curly hickory that he marked with five handle profiles,and cut out one,is surely the source for the small utility knife in the book. It was the first (and only as far as I know) time Bill used curly hickory.
The blades are: one Persian style fighter (like the cover photo),one ST-23 style,two small bowie,one small hunter, three small utility, and a cute little "ladies" bowie.I plan on doing them exactly as the anniversary knives,using the wood from Bill,and replicating Bill's silver inlay and sheaths.I have a lot of his select curly maple.( The ladies bowie may be a blade Bill forges a couple years ago. He made one for Nancy Hendricks for a Christmas present in 2003 or 2004. It is the only other one like this I know of.)

When they are all done (which will take a good while,obviously) I will forge similar blades from Bill's steel in the same shape ( I have made templates from all these). I will use all Moran materials to finish them.I will mark these, "MATERIAL FROM W.F. MORAN" and my mark on the reverse. These will be for sale.
The other project is to finish off the billet of damascus I bought. It is still on the handle bar.I paid $5 ,I think,for it as a "block of steel on a rod". I thought it was a quench tank heater,and would have used it as such,until I noticed that it was striated on the sides. A quick sand and etch revealed the truth. It is a 2X 4X1" block of damascus, ready to draw out.I also purchased a 1.5X4X1/4" piece of damascus that Bill had made. It cost about $150,but I wanted it. I will forge it into an "S" guard,and forge the billet into a Southwestern Camp Knife. That should be quite a stunning knife when done.
As you can tell,I will have plenty to keep me out of trouble for a while.
Stacy
 
Put me down for the first "For Sale Blade" marked "Material from W.F. Moran" if it is available. We can take care of any details through email later. I'm serious :) kckw@jamadots.com Thanks Stacy
 
David, I do it both ways.I let that blade sit overnight and it worked fine. I did another one today, and just put it in and out of the forge until it was cured. It is mostly the type of coating that counts. I use Darren Ellis' APG #36. It is superb for holding onto the blade. I put a few drops of water on a little bit of the mortar and rub this on the whole blade. I then put on the thicker stuff,and shape it with my fingers (wash it off well,.it contains a strong caustic) , I then stick it in the forge a moment,pull it out and let it steam ,repeat a time or two, and then put it in for the soak.It turns into an almost concrete like material. When I quench it sometimes it comes off after the blade has cooled enough. Usually I give it a scrape on the side of the work table and it falls off as one piece.A tub will last a long time.The hamon is good with this stuff,too.
Stacy
http://forgegallery.elliscustomknifeworks.com/
 
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