Mark Cooke Camp Bowie - WIP - Coop pics added!

^^^ I quite agree Ken.

And I am doubly impressed by the quick recovery here. Mark told me he would be getting right to work on the replacement blade, but yikes - here it is already!

Version 2.0 cuts like a beast and is very nearly taken to the point of departure.

medium800.jpg


large.jpg
 
Not sure what it is, but 2.0 looks even better! Longdog gets the rebound and scores!
 
Thanks for all the great comments guys, and a big thanks to Roger, not only posting the WIP for me, but for being supportive even though i dropped the ball on the first go round. I learned a lot from the first blade so the second go round was much quicker.
I'm at school during the day, so this eveing ill finish out the blade and reveal hamon number 2! From what i can tell thus far, the hamon touches no edges and is much closer to what i had original planned :)

Again thanks for all the comments and please feel free to ask questions if y'all have any.

-Mark Cooke
LongDog Forge
 
Update time.

This is actually Blade #3 in the project :eek: yikes - poor Mark - but he still wasn't happy with the hamon. Until now.

Unfortunately I am having computer grief - ready to pitch the damned thing! :mad: and wasn't able t open the text that accompanied each photo, so we will have to go with a purely pictorial essay for this update.

But I expect you'll still get the picture.

orig.jpeg


P.S. - Mark - we need to have the shop dog take a proper bow.

orig.jpeg


I happen to know that this was a consequence of polishing the sharpened clip - I guess we know it cuts!

standard.jpg


Now we're rockin'!

orig.jpeg


Guard time.

orig.jpeg


orig.jpeg


orig.jpeg


orig.jpeg


orig.jpeg


orig.jpeg
 
Mark - damn fine work!
I have had good luck with coating blades with anti-scale from Brownells and just grinding the tad of decarb off when they need to be rehardened. So, that may help you if you have a similar problem in the future.

What school do you attend? I grew up in Texas, and lived there until I was almost 30.

You are doing great stuff, especially for the amount of experience you have. Keep sharing your work with us, we love to watch people develop.

take care,
kc
 
Hey Kevin,
Thank ya sir! I've heard plenty of good things about brownells product, i really need to order some. However, the satinite seemed to work really well.

And to answer your question I'm a Sophomore at the University of Houston.... the place where the GOP debate is at today :D
I'm studying sculpture and intend to become a full time bladesmith/maker of "things" once i graduate.

I need to upgrade my BF account so i can post up my work. I'll do that after this project is done.

Thanks Again!
Mark Cooke
http://longdogforge.com
 
Okay, we are rolling right along, folks.

deciding spacer combos to go with the ironwood. Went with vintage Natural linen micarta and SS

orig.jpeg


just a quick mock-up to see if its a combo i want to roll with. I think it will look good all finished up, plus i’ve never seen this paring before :)

orig.jpeg


filed all 4 spacers out. the jewelers saw really came in handy here…

orig.jpeg


and here we are with all spacers in place, snuggly against the guard.

orig.jpeg



i think its very important, design wise, to maker the face of the guard and all the spacers parallel with the plunge lines….. IMHO at least.

orig.jpeg
 
roughing out the oval of the guard. what you don’t see is that my platen is tilted forward slightly to account for a taper i will grind into the handle later.

orig.jpeg


roughing in the lug with a 60x belt and my flat platen

orig.jpeg



and all those ugly scratches get smoothed out with a 220x 1” scalloped belt. (this is actually a different guard but i did the same exact thing)

orig.jpg


finger scallops ground in on the 2” wheel…


orig.jpeg


and the pieces of the puzzle thus far! shooting for a weekend completion :D


orig.jpeg
 
More from Mark:

My broach made from two Reciprocating saw blades tapped together. got the idea from Scott MCghee of Guinea hog forge!

orig.jpeg


ugly but works like a charm.

orig.jpeg


about halfway on….

orig.jpeg


boom we are flush and ready to go.

orig.jpeg


profile the handle block. i don’t get it right down to the profile so i have insurance when shaping the handle later on.

orig.jpeg



etching my logo in!

orig.jpeg


My logo! what do y’all think? Get it “LongDog Forge” ;D

orig.jpeg
 
orig.jpeg



finishing the face of the guard! i climb grits that are temporally glued to my piece of granite.

orig.jpeg



checking my guard fitment one last time... Im happy!

orig.jpeg



have everything dry fit and ready to be drilled. first i drill through one side of the block…


orig.jpeg



just far enough to “knick” the tang as to give me an indication.

orig.jpeg
 
I then use a drill bit one size up to bore the hole…..

orig.jpeg



and clean it up with a countersink.

orig.jpeg


ts kind of hard to tell in the picture, but i take a round punch and knock the sides of the guard in. this really grips the tang well, so well that i have to hammer it on…

orig.jpeg



ok so now the WORK begins. to achieve the white hamon i have to use a vinegar etch. this will truly bring out all the activity that my hamon has to offer.



orig.jpeg



its a two steps forward one step back approach. i did 12 cycles of “etch, polish, degrease” over and over

it really did a number on my hands! LOL

orig.jpeg




And this is where I got after 12 cycles. Next up I polish the blade with 1500 grit silicon powder, a little oil, and my finger.
I didn’t get a picture of that process due to the fact that my hands were too dirty to use a camera haha

orig.jpeg


I quite literally used, verbatim, Nick Wheeler’s guide to Hamons


orig.jpeg


orig.jpeg
 
getting ready for glue up. i use G -Flex

orig.jpeg


And plenty of it! I want to have epoxy oozing out when i put the tang in, to ensure it filled every square millimeter of space.
I let it slowly sink down with gravity, then use my little surgical rubber/leather clamp to snug it all down tight.

orig.jpeg


And there she sits! i should be able to wrap it up monday evening! i cannot wait to shape the handle; thats my favorite part!
As always feel free to ask question etc…

orig.jpeg
 
Mark - it's really coming together well - and that Hamon is fantastic! Nick is a great how-to source for that and just about any other aspect of knifemaking.
 
RogerP said:
Mark - it's really coming together well - and that Hamon is fantastic! Nick is a great how-to source for that and just about any other aspect of knifemaking.
Click to expand...

Thanks Roger! Oh yeah, Nick has gifted the community with some of , if not the, best tutorials and WIPs out there. On top of that he, as well as many others, have been incredibly patient and open to any and all questions that i've had. Thanks guys, y'all know who y'all are. ;D

I'm hoping to get after the handle today! beginning my commute home from school as we speak.
 
So, what was the final length of the blade in versions 1 & 2?

I know someone who may be interested in taking them off your hands for a reasonable costs to recoup some of your effort, if you're interested.

Love that blade shape, especially the bigger.

Larry
Tinkerr
 
Hello,
Both blades 1&2 are exactly the same dimensions.
The blade length came out right @ 7.75"
I only forged two blades (the second one i had to reheat treat for hamon reasons...)

Thanks! I really appreciate the kind comments and suggestions... However, ounce something hits the scrap bin in my shop it will not be coming back out :P

However, I've grown quite fond of this design myself and hope to do a run of these sometime in the future! If i decide to do that, i will undoubtedly vocalize my intentions well enough to make sure those who want to be included are able to join in!

-Mark Cooke
www.LongDogForge.com
 
You do some damn fine work, Mark! (This is Paul Loran from FB btw...) I'm glad I was able to point you towards Nick's hamon tutorial, it really has paid off on this blade, especially after seeing that hamon dance in the light in the short video you shared. :thumbup:

I'm glad to hear that your were able to salvage the second blade with a re-heat treat, as forging a third "simply" due to the hamon placement would've, well, sucked lol.

Can't wait to see this finished up. Also, hurry up and get your KnifeMaker's membership! We need to see more of your work on here bro! :D

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been quite a while since I've posted any new vids)
 
Last edited:
Hey Paul, thanks for the help and for chiming in :D
this hamon stuff is ADDICTING!

i plan on getting the proper membership as soon as this blade ships. Until then its "Ramen" dinners! ;D lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top