RyanW
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- Jul 17, 2009
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RyanW / Mike Turner SanMai Chopper WIP (Virtual BBQ Addition)
I started a “Camp Chopper” thread a while ago HERE. RogerP pointed out it was more of a “Tweener”. With input from some great people I worked out a larger version. Mike Turner Cut me a sweet deal on one of his HUGE pieces of SanMai. We discussed doing a quick WIP, so here it is.
As some of you may know I am headed to the OKCA knife show this month. I plan to have this finished up for that show, time is short I leave town on April 12th. After the show Mike is putting on a forging clinic for a few of us. I plan on moving in that direction in my knife making endeavors.
The Design:
SPECS:
Steel: Mike Turner SanMai (Wrought Iron with Cru Forge V Core)
OAL: 15.5”
Blade: 9.5”
Handle: Undecided Stabilized Wood
Misc: Brute De Forge Finish on Flats, Tapered Tang
I cut out the pattern and sent it Mike so he could get the billet forged to the rough shape.
The Billet:
Wrought Iron Anchor cut up and rebar welded to it for drawing.
1 1/2" round wrought Iron sitting on my 300 pound Vulcan anvil waiting for the forge to warm up, I threw this one in as Ryan's chopper is drawn on the anvil for reference while forging out the san mai billet.
Heat number 2 on the 2 Wrought Iron Bars, the first heat we straightened the bars out and managed to square them up a bit.
I have drawn the wrought iron down to the thickness need for this san mai. Not all of this wrought Iron will go into Ryan's billet, I wanted to make sure I had enough plus I always draw out extra wrought iron for future projects.
Here we are ripping down some Cru Forge V stock for the core.
Here we have our materials gathered.
Here we have ground clean all the materials.
Have the pieces clamped up in an orientation that we will have 2 pieces of Cru Forge V in the blade end and 1 piece in the handle end.
Sorry missed a few shots as it is hard to take pictures of the action shots working alone, so here we have the bar forged down to what Ryan has asked for and I have pre bent the bar to fit his chopper. Now get to work Ryan.
Mike was very quick and I had the billet in my hands a few days later.
I marked the pattern on the billet with a White out pen for higher contrast for my old eyes.
Profiling:
If I was doing this chopper by my usual method of stock removal I would need a huge piece of steel and most would have ended up on the floor. Mike was kind enough to shape the billet to my design, one of the big advantages of forging, not to mention the beautiful piece of SanMai.
... Stay Tuned
I started a “Camp Chopper” thread a while ago HERE. RogerP pointed out it was more of a “Tweener”. With input from some great people I worked out a larger version. Mike Turner Cut me a sweet deal on one of his HUGE pieces of SanMai. We discussed doing a quick WIP, so here it is.
As some of you may know I am headed to the OKCA knife show this month. I plan to have this finished up for that show, time is short I leave town on April 12th. After the show Mike is putting on a forging clinic for a few of us. I plan on moving in that direction in my knife making endeavors.
The Design:
SPECS:
Steel: Mike Turner SanMai (Wrought Iron with Cru Forge V Core)
OAL: 15.5”
Blade: 9.5”
Handle: Undecided Stabilized Wood
Misc: Brute De Forge Finish on Flats, Tapered Tang
I cut out the pattern and sent it Mike so he could get the billet forged to the rough shape.
The Billet:
Wrought Iron Anchor cut up and rebar welded to it for drawing.
1 1/2" round wrought Iron sitting on my 300 pound Vulcan anvil waiting for the forge to warm up, I threw this one in as Ryan's chopper is drawn on the anvil for reference while forging out the san mai billet.
Heat number 2 on the 2 Wrought Iron Bars, the first heat we straightened the bars out and managed to square them up a bit.
I have drawn the wrought iron down to the thickness need for this san mai. Not all of this wrought Iron will go into Ryan's billet, I wanted to make sure I had enough plus I always draw out extra wrought iron for future projects.
Here we are ripping down some Cru Forge V stock for the core.
Here we have our materials gathered.
Here we have ground clean all the materials.
Have the pieces clamped up in an orientation that we will have 2 pieces of Cru Forge V in the blade end and 1 piece in the handle end.
Sorry missed a few shots as it is hard to take pictures of the action shots working alone, so here we have the bar forged down to what Ryan has asked for and I have pre bent the bar to fit his chopper. Now get to work Ryan.
Mike was very quick and I had the billet in my hands a few days later.
I marked the pattern on the billet with a White out pen for higher contrast for my old eyes.
Profiling:
If I was doing this chopper by my usual method of stock removal I would need a huge piece of steel and most would have ended up on the floor. Mike was kind enough to shape the billet to my design, one of the big advantages of forging, not to mention the beautiful piece of SanMai.
... Stay Tuned
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