shop rat/ blacksmith knives

B

billf

Joined
Oct 9, 2003
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When I was out at the ACE show, one of the demos was Dave Lisch making one of his famous "Shop Rat" knives....and actually I won a damascus Rat in a drawing :D


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And then we had an opportunity to try an make one out of 1084...and here is my (amateur!) effort :D

forge finish (wire brush)

Dave is a great instructor, so I think this actually turned out pretty good


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Not up to Dave's standards, of course, but what the heck.....

Bill
 
ANyway.....when I got home, I decided to try my own version....

I had the most difficulty drawing out the "tail" of the shop rat - ie keeping it even and tapering it.

So I decided I would make a longer tail for practice....and then because I drew it out almost 12", I decided to fold it back into a ring guard of sorts :p

(again, not QUITE like Dave makes :p)

here it is, 1084 , forge finish...about 10" overall, just over 5" blade


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ALL comments welcome, pro and con....but remember I am just an amateur:D

Bill
 
That's a nice play on the theme! I like that knife. I gotta get me a venturi burner for my 2BF so I can start hammering on hot metal.


-Xander
 
Great job on the shop rat and the ring guard version. I won a Damascus shop rat in Dave's contest. The first to post pics of a shop rat with sphincter wins. I'm not real good at the sphincters, Dave's taken them to a whole new level. He's the sphincter KING, lol!
 
Haha - that's true!!

It's hard to show the sphincter on that Damascus rat....but it IS there for sure!

my rat has one as well, but it is, well,....kinda lopsided?

My home version knife is not truly a "rat" - so it has none :p

Bill
 
Thanks for the comments, everyone!

I must say, I had fun doing these !

Again, I have to credit Dave Lisch for inspiration AND for showing me a bunch of tricks that helped simplify the process

I have a few more in the works.........:D

Bill
 
Bill, those look cool. I'd love to hear about the bunch of tricks!

Here are some my latest batch of high school blacksmith students finished up today. They're forged from 1/2" 52100 rod Ray Kirk donated. (Beware free samples; I think I'm hooked!) Thanks Ray! They were quenched in Houghto-Quench 105 donated a while back by Scott MacKenzie. Thanks Scott!

I showed the kids a few samples and had them sketch up some ideas. Once we agreed on something, they then modeled it in modeling clay (two times.) Once they had the design the first time, they separated the blade and handle into two pieces. They then compressed each portion of clay into 1/2" coil to get the length of steel that was need for the blade and for the handle. That way they knew where to set the transition and make the hot cuts. They then re-sculpted the knife for reference when forging. They measured the length of drawn out handle material in clay so they could know how far to draw out the steel for their coiling and shaping.

It sure was a step up from the railroad spikes we usually work with. Might try it with some of Ray's 3/4" 5160 rod next time, which I have a stash of (as it is more affordable) and the kids would have to work a little more (always a good thing.) They would also be able to forge wider blades if they wanted to. Anyway, we had lots of fun! (A couple of the students had to leave before the photo op so their classmates are holding their knives for them.)

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Phil,
You will find that the knives will hold a very good edge. Let me know how they hold up on the things the students use them on. They can put the steel through the paces.
Thanks for sharing and may they continue to progress.
 
Great job Bill. I really like the one you finished up at home!
 
I love how they boys are are completely into it and the girls are trying to figure out what to do with these.
 
Phil,
I hope you know that in NYC you would be considered a criminal and get a life sentence for contributing to the delinquency of those kids ;)
However, at Attica you would be a very popular person with your knife making skills :)
 
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