Small Talk

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Many like to see the minis I make at work when I am caught up.

These are just a few of what I am in the process of. The round tray is a watch parts case, to hold pieces when disassembling a watch. I stick the minis in them while I am gluing up handles, and working on shaping. I have a plain small plastic box to keep the blades in while I am making those. These are nothing special, just some pieces I am making for some friends. There will be a butchers block with a set of knives for my butcher. Then there will be a sushi set for my good friend Kyung Soo Pang. A few outdoorsman sets are in the works too. Photos are fast and poor, but you will get the idea. Sizes shown go from the large butchering knife at 27mm, to the drop point hunter at about 7mm.

The parrying dagger is made in platinum with a gold guard. The handle is wrapped in platinum wire. Length is 30mm. All parts are separate, and the pommel threads on the tang. Sorry the focus was off.

I will be setting up the macro unit soon, and take a bunch of good shots.

I would be willing to do a beginning to end tutorial on a mini if you chaps want.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Stacy, that's truly amazing work.

 

[Fletch Helical]

I would be willing to do a beginning to end tutorial on a mini if you chaps want.

Go man, go!!!

 

[Deweyknives]

Looks like a neat little hatchet in there.....................

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, it is a belt axe with a stag crown handle. More on that one later.

 

[Stuart Willis]

Awesome work Stacy. I would like to see the tutorial

 

[tryppyr]

This is interesting to me. I'd considered making a mini before, but nothing THAT small. Mine was going to be a quarter scale piece using a scrap piece of damascus. This is a completely differentl level of detail, though. Maybe I will finish that project after all.

By the way, Stacy, do you do watch work as well? Watches are another of my hobbies. I never got the knack of repairing them, but I have disassembled and reassembled many, so I'm familiar with the watch part holders.

- Greg

 

[David Loukides]

Stacy,
I have a mini of you made and when I show it off the first comment is "How did he make that????"

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I am going to post a bunch of shots of those pieces. I finished them up today. There care a lot of photos, so I will post them five at a time.

The stag is hand carved from ancient elephant ivory, and looks better than the photos, which makes the brownish color look garish.
Dark brown handle wood is old Brazilian rosewood.
Black is ebony.
The bulk of these are make from broken scalpel blade steel. I left the name "Swan and Morton" ( England) on a few, and the #11 on the two axes.
The fighters are W1 steel and gold guards. Tangs are threaded and pommel caps tapped and screwed on.

The sword pin project I will detail when I get to that series. I designed the clasp and lock.

First five:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Up next:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More later

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Here are some family photos:
Notice the funny looking sword in the middle of the bunch. It is a sword pin with the sword blade in two parts. The sword tip part of the pin goes through the cloth ( tie/lapel) and snaps into the top/handle part. The release is by squeezing the guard. The disassembled shots are the next set.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

And more:

The mini tanto is to be a pendant, and sits between two glass domes in a silver frame.
The sword pin is taken apart to show all the parts. The last shot is a close up of the pommel nut and the finial ball. They are screwed together, with the finial ball still connected to the piece of wire I turned it from ( makes threading/tapping/assembling something that small easier). Once finally assembled, I will cut this off and polish the ball.
Bowies are W1 steel, and have bolsters ,guards, and pommel nuts. All are threaded on except the smallest one ,which is about 6mm long. The camera angle distorts the small ones shape.

 

[Burton Harruff]

Cool. That is some fine detail work.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

More detail shots of the pin:
The notch on the pin stem snaps into the slot in the guard, which is sticking into the tang/pin tube through the slot cut in it. Because the guard threads onto the tang tube, and is locked tight by the pommel nut, this allows the end at the ricasso to move a tiny amount, thus snapping tight against the notch and holding the pin stem securely. To release it you just press the guard toward the handle a minute amount. I'll shoot a shot of it on a piece of cloth tonight.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

And the last ones:
You can see the slot in the tube and how the pommel/guard screw together ( BTW,the fluted handle is acidentally put in backwards for the photo )

 

[Fiddleback]

I love seeing all these pics of your mini's Stacey. Really neato stuff. Pure knife passion! Great work.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Here is a shot of the pin on the lapel of my Tweed day jacket. Even with magnification, it looks just like it pierces the material.