Here's a little project I have going...

Phillip Patton

Phillip Patton

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jul 25, 2005
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Last week, Matt Lamey posted a "Jungle Honey" he had made. Now, when I first saw this design, months or years ago, I really didn't care for it. But over time my opinion changed to where I really like it now, and when Matt posted his, I decided I had to make one. So I emailed Mr. Fikes (the guy who designed the Jungle Honey) to ask his permission to use his design. He said yes, so yesterday I forged my first one.

Here's a pic of it after forging and thermal cycling:

pattondragonfly.JPG


It's forged from some of Aldo Bruno's 1095. Overall length is about 32".


Here it is after about 2 hours of grinding:

pattondragonfly-2.JPG


More to come later....
 
I saw Matt's post and loved the looks of this thing... can't wait to see how yours turns out. Looks great right now. :thumbup:
 
Phil,
That is cool.You forging a bar I sent you is cool enough but you make it look real good.
Are you going to cord rap the handle like Matt did or did you have something else in mind.
Aldo
 
Phil...that's really cool!

i guess you are ready to forge longer steels now, huh? lemme know when you're ready for that project. :)
 
The design just looks so inviting to just swing wildly through the brush. Where are the rest of the pics? :D
 
Thanks everyone for your input thus far. :)
I was originally going to leave the forging scale on the flats, but I forged it too thick and had to grind it all off to lose some weight. So, I'll probably do a hamon instead.


Aldo Bruno said:
Phil,
That is cool.You forging a bar I sent you is cool enough but you make it look real good.
Are you going to cord rap the handle like Matt did or did you have something else in mind.
Aldo
Click to expand...

Aldo,
I'm thinking cord wrap, but I have to learn how to do it first. :eek:
A scale handle just would not look right on this style.


saint o'killers said:
Phil...that's really cool!

i guess you are ready to forge longer steels now, huh? lemme know when you're ready for that project. :)
Click to expand...

Actually, forging isn't a problem, it's the heat treating. I can do this one because the cutting edge is only 16" long, and the whole handle doesn't have to be hard.
That said, I do want to get a sword length heat treat oven very soon. Until then I could be forging your blades.
It would help if you could send me a full size drawing of what you want.


mmmotorcyle said:
The design just looks so inviting to just swing wildly through the brush. Where are the rest of the pics? :D
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I can't wait to get this thing out in my farmers corn field (with his permission, of course) and go to town. :D

I'll have more pics next week.
 
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Today I ground it almost to it's finished thickness and heat treated it:

pattondragonfly-3.JPG


pattondragonfly-4.JPG


These pics were taken after hardening, but before tempering.
 
Today I ground it to finished thickness with a slack belt, to give it a convex bevel, and did some test cutting with it. Which I learned a lot from. :)
This one will not be for sale, even though it performed very well. It's too heavy, and it warped badly in the quench. I'm going to put a scotchbrite belt finish on it and keep it for myself. Bummer. :D


Anyway, here's a very small amount of what I cut. I started with the cardboard you see in the pic, and then moved outside and cut some BIG weeds that were growing in the field, and then cut up an apple tree that's been dead for a couple years. It cut very well, and there's no damage to the edge, even from when it went through the dirt a couple times. :eek:


pattondragonfly-5.JPG




A close up of the blade end:

pattondragonfly-6.JPG
 
You sure did a great job forging that.......an addition to your line-up?!? :D
 
That's what I'm talking about. See what can be done when you start with the right ingredients. Phil, I feel good.

Thanks,
Aldo

PS- It's here!
 
where do I sign up?;)
Man thats just friggin awesome.
what are the specs on that thing?
 
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