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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
M A S S I V E recurve bowie *WIP*
- Thread starter LongDog
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- Feb 28, 2002
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- 13,348
How she currently stands... and because i know all of y'all were wondering this entire time if it could spread peanut butter well, i went ahead and confirmed that is does indeed spread peanut butter quite well!!!!!#ItWeelKeelPeanutButter
Love that shot! Coming along nicely.
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2003
- Messages
- 1,017
You do realize that unless you include a shot of the dachshunds you're setting this WIP up for failure, right?
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 139
this is VERY true! funny you mention it too, the dogs just got a squirrel...... (poor guy)
I got pictures of them and their trophy but it may be a bit graphic for some viewers LOL
I'll get some pics of the Dacshunds role in the build as "snack procurement officers" etc...
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 139
Ok Guys so i've been hand sanding a lot this week! (two other knives along with this one) And i've still got quite a ways to go go!
Here is what ive got done thus far
First off Here is my Shop (in its entirety LOL) I'm showing you this because i just got two new lights so i can finally see my shoddy work!
It made a HUGE difference, and now i can work late into the night which is a plus, because summer is about to crank up.
Here is my hand sanding setup! Lets get the party started
Rocking the man capris again, Just for Mr. Doyle!
Also if i remember correctly i was listening to SRV
Here is my little sanding jig. I stole the idea from that Nick Wheeler guy, maybe some of you have heard of him
Basicly what it does is hold your blade in a rigid position while you sand, eliminating flex thus minimizing wasted effort.
Oh and it also keeps you from impaling yourself or severing a finger on accident, which is a plus!
I took a picture of this to give you an idea of how I'm sanding the knife. For the first grit i go diagonally towards the clip, this keeps you from washing out those crisp grind lines you worked so hard for. If you did straight pulls you would most probably wash things out.
And no, i couldn't care less about "j-hooks" right now
Another alliteration of how i sand my blades. As we climb grits i change the direction in which i sand. this makes its 100x's easier to tell if you got the scratches from the previous grit completely out. Again if you were to do straight pulls the entire time, odd's are you'll find that pesky 320 grit scratch left in the blade after having already reached what you thought was 1500! yes, thats frustrating ask me how i know LOL
Also picked that up from Señor Wheeler.
Every knife makers FAVORITE place to hand sand :roll eyes: ......
Glad thats done!!!! :thumbup:
Here's a wiener dog on an anvil for good luck!
She is so patient with me, bless her heart LOL
and the other monsters.... there is only one way to get their attention
Take note of their tails, each one is approaching light speed
Boom! we magically got to 600 grit!
So lets do a test etch, because i'm sure you guys want to see if that hamon came out alright!
The moment of glory!! Using ferric chloride and just burnishing it on.
Then i use my nose scratcher to polish the blade with 1500 grit silicon carbide powder. this will remove the oxides and expose the division in the steel.
Oh, and don't be me and try to polish hamons when your clip is razor sharp....
Boom! a little peak of what we have going on. Pretty satisfied with the outcome. However we have A LOT of work to do to bring it to its full potential.
Here is a shot of the Ashi....
So for this knife i'm going to do a "white hamon" which pretty much means the blade will look white (unlike its current state) yet at the same time revel the activity.
To achieve this i'll take the blade to around 2500 grit, then use a vinegar solution to etch the blade, and SC powder to polish the blade. I'll do a cycle of etch/polish around a dozen times which will reveal the hamon in a more subtle way, at least in comparison to a ferric chloride etch..... Secondly using this method of several etch/polish cycles i'll be able to bring the ashi to its full potential.
True Japanese smiths wouldn't use any type of etchant to bring out their temper lines, merely a keen polish, but I'm not japanese!
Still waiting on the guard material to show up, so until then....
thanks for tuning in guys!!!!
Here is what ive got done thus far
First off Here is my Shop (in its entirety LOL) I'm showing you this because i just got two new lights so i can finally see my shoddy work!
It made a HUGE difference, and now i can work late into the night which is a plus, because summer is about to crank up.
Here is my hand sanding setup! Lets get the party started
Rocking the man capris again, Just for Mr. Doyle!
Also if i remember correctly i was listening to SRV
Here is my little sanding jig. I stole the idea from that Nick Wheeler guy, maybe some of you have heard of him
Basicly what it does is hold your blade in a rigid position while you sand, eliminating flex thus minimizing wasted effort.
Oh and it also keeps you from impaling yourself or severing a finger on accident, which is a plus!
I took a picture of this to give you an idea of how I'm sanding the knife. For the first grit i go diagonally towards the clip, this keeps you from washing out those crisp grind lines you worked so hard for. If you did straight pulls you would most probably wash things out.
And no, i couldn't care less about "j-hooks" right now
Another alliteration of how i sand my blades. As we climb grits i change the direction in which i sand. this makes its 100x's easier to tell if you got the scratches from the previous grit completely out. Again if you were to do straight pulls the entire time, odd's are you'll find that pesky 320 grit scratch left in the blade after having already reached what you thought was 1500! yes, thats frustrating ask me how i know LOL
Also picked that up from Señor Wheeler.
Every knife makers FAVORITE place to hand sand :roll eyes: ......
Glad thats done!!!! :thumbup:
Here's a wiener dog on an anvil for good luck!
She is so patient with me, bless her heart LOL
and the other monsters.... there is only one way to get their attention
Take note of their tails, each one is approaching light speed
Boom! we magically got to 600 grit!
So lets do a test etch, because i'm sure you guys want to see if that hamon came out alright!
The moment of glory!! Using ferric chloride and just burnishing it on.
Then i use my nose scratcher to polish the blade with 1500 grit silicon carbide powder. this will remove the oxides and expose the division in the steel.
Oh, and don't be me and try to polish hamons when your clip is razor sharp....
Boom! a little peak of what we have going on. Pretty satisfied with the outcome. However we have A LOT of work to do to bring it to its full potential.
Here is a shot of the Ashi....
So for this knife i'm going to do a "white hamon" which pretty much means the blade will look white (unlike its current state) yet at the same time revel the activity.
To achieve this i'll take the blade to around 2500 grit, then use a vinegar solution to etch the blade, and SC powder to polish the blade. I'll do a cycle of etch/polish around a dozen times which will reveal the hamon in a more subtle way, at least in comparison to a ferric chloride etch..... Secondly using this method of several etch/polish cycles i'll be able to bring the ashi to its full potential.
True Japanese smiths wouldn't use any type of etchant to bring out their temper lines, merely a keen polish, but I'm not japanese!
Still waiting on the guard material to show up, so until then....
thanks for tuning in guys!!!!
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- Nov 15, 2007
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- 5,267
Really enjoying this Mark! Keep up the great work (and pet those pups for me when you get a break)!!!
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- Mar 13, 2013
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- 112
Your knife making skills and collection of wiener dogs are both very impressive.
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- Mar 4, 2011
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- 176
I love this thread, but the picture of the "long dog" on the anvil is one of the best!
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- Apr 25, 2009
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- 329
I love that hamon! I think this one would look great with a dark etch.
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- Oct 3, 2002
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- 12,297
Great thread, fantastic photos, killer work...
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2016
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- 89
If ya get a chance please post some pics of this step. I've been working all day trying to bring out the hamon on a blade ... No problem getting a dark hamon with the FC but having a hell of a time getting the white to "pop" when using the lemon juice or vinegar.
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- Dec 4, 2013
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- 891
Nice WIP Mark, coming along good
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 139
Hey guys, heres a short little update. As y'all already know i've been waiting on my guard stock to get here, and it did, roughly 15 minutes ago
It's the perfect size, and i cannot wait to get after it. Will be my first "S" guard variant.
Any tips? throw em my direction
So I knocked off the test etch and took the blade to a relatively clean 1500 grit finish. From here on out the blade is left alone as i shape, sculpt, and fit up the rest of the knife. I will only completely finish the blade after those things are taken care of.... Why do I do it this way? Well because even though i'll have he blade taped and protected, I'm BOUND to scratch it while fiting the guard and handle. I dunno how i manage to do it, but i'm incredibly proficient at scratching blades 
The last few passes over the blade are done with a hard leather backing between my abrasive and the sanding stick. Just to even things up a bit; also makes it look fancy.
Here is the Gnarly block of 416 i got in the mail today. It was pretty tough to find 416 stainless in 5/8" thick flat bar!
However, ebay came through with the win and a machine shop located in Mississippi was selling some drops for a reasonable price
BOOM! Fits perfectly to my drawing, totally planed on that
While I was working on the Big knife for Rick, I had my little helper working on hand finishing a small hunter; she did a great job! Howwever, the Dachshund workers union can be real nazis....
Thanks Guys! I have big updates coming this week. Going to be hitting it hard, as soon as I'm done typing, which is............ NOW
It's the perfect size, and i cannot wait to get after it. Will be my first "S" guard variant.
Any tips? throw em my direction
So I knocked off the test etch and took the blade to a relatively clean 1500 grit finish. From here on out the blade is left alone as i shape, sculpt, and fit up the rest of the knife. I will only completely finish the blade after those things are taken care of.... Why do I do it this way? Well because even though i'll have he blade taped and protected, I'm BOUND to scratch it while fiting the guard and handle. I dunno how i manage to do it, but i'm incredibly proficient at scratching blades
The last few passes over the blade are done with a hard leather backing between my abrasive and the sanding stick. Just to even things up a bit; also makes it look fancy.
Here is the Gnarly block of 416 i got in the mail today. It was pretty tough to find 416 stainless in 5/8" thick flat bar!
However, ebay came through with the win and a machine shop located in Mississippi was selling some drops for a reasonable price
BOOM! Fits perfectly to my drawing, totally planed on that
While I was working on the Big knife for Rick, I had my little helper working on hand finishing a small hunter; she did a great job! Howwever, the Dachshund workers union can be real nazis....
Thanks Guys! I have big updates coming this week. Going to be hitting it hard, as soon as I'm done typing, which is............ NOW
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