Summer Forging Schedule (with pics!)

D

deker

Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Messages
3,496
So, This is really a continuation of my thread from yesterday, but I decided to put it in a thread with a more appropriate name....mostly because I hate it when I'm looking for a post about one thing and the title doesn't "match".

So, yesterday's work gave us this before 7AM:

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Today I was out early (I actually woke up 3 minutes before the alarm was set to go off at 4:30...) and working before 5AM. I had planned to do rough bevel grinding on the 2 blades from yesterday to get them ready for HT. Since I need to order some PBC (I have a VERY small amount given to me by somebody...it gets saved for "special" things until I order some) I just left these at a 36 grit finish. Got 4 done instead of the planned 2 :) And no, the blades aren't that small, the bricks are big. The big blade at the top has about a 6" blade and is about 10 3/4" OAL.

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And got a little more work done on my jig for holding blades while I mill the tang shoulders, and was out of the shop by 6:15! I know I could have done more, but I met my goals for the day so I quit. Since I'll be out early I'll have time to stop at my favorite bakery on the way to work. Everybody at the office gets treated to some of the best apple fritters PA has to offer. :)

-d
 
Dam....Just think of what you could do if you didn't have to bother with that work thing:rolleyes:
 
Nowicki said:
Dam....Just think of what you could do if you didn't have to bother with that work thing:rolleyes:
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Tell me about it! Really I blame the banks though. Without those evil bastids I wouldn't have to pay the mortgage! It's the man keeping me down! I swear it is! :)

-d

P.S. The 2nd one down is the one I forged on the second day of demos at Blacksmith Days...Look familiar Larry? ;)
 
Not to high jack your thread but...........by the way, you're using a time management system similar to the system that Ernest Mooney Warther (Grandfather of knifemaker Dale Warther) used. Ernest Mooney Warther carved the history of steam power (think steam locomotives, etc.) out of Walnut, Ivory and Mother of Pearl. Beautiful carvings. He would get up early each morning and carve for 3 hours. Each carving would have 3000+ perfectly scaled down parts. Then he would have breakfast with his children. Then he would work for 8 hours in his kitchen cutlery shop (it's still in business today, run by his grandchildren in Dover, Ohio). He'd have dinner with his family, then relax for a few hours and off to bed at 8 or 9 p.m. He followed this schedule his entire life, and the amount of carving work he accomplished in 3 hours each and every day was astonishing.

He was considered the greatest Master Carver in history. There's a museum at the knife shop in Dover. Dale Warther is also an accomplished custom knife maker, in his own right.

If you ever get a chance to stop in at Warthers Museum and Cutlery shop, it's well worth the visit!

Ickie
 
scottickes said:
If you ever get a chance to stop in at Warthers Museum and Cutlery shop, it's well worth the visit!
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That's Dover, OH right? My grandmother has been telling me I need to go there for years...it's on the list.

-d
 
deker said:
That's Dover, OH right? My grandmother has been telling me I need to go there for years...it's on the list.

-d
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yup. Dover, Ohio. I put Warthers Museum on the list of places I recommend people should see.

If you like fine artistry, and we knifemakers are amazed by the creations of fine artists, you'll walk out of their having witnessed true artistry.

If you think the fit and finish of some of our mentors here is phenomenol (spelling?), it's nothing compared to the carvings of Mr. Warther (God rest his soul).
 
There is a fantastic article about Mooney Warther, his carvings and his museum in the July issue of Woodcraft magazine. There are a few pictures of the trains and his workshop. The magazine can be found at your local Woodcraft store or at Barnes and Noble.

Phil
 
pso said:
There is a fantastic article about Mooney Warther, his carvings and his museum in the July issue of Woodcraft magazine. There are a few pictures of the trains and his workshop. The magazine can be found at your local Woodcraft store or at Barnes and Noble.

Phil
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Thanks Phil. You just cost me the price of a magazine. :p
 
deker said:
P.S. The 2nd one down is the one I forged on the second day of demos at Blacksmith Days...Look familiar Larry? ;)
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I thought it looked familiar, slightly more profiled..... I finished the one from day 1. Guess I'll have to work on that second one too. Got to finish a recurve and a bowie for an order first.
I'll have to check out Mooney Warther too.

Larry
 
So here's today's update. I decided to forego heat treating for a couple of reasons (I really need a proper quench tank for my new Parks #50 and I hope to do the HT of the bigger one from Monday/Tuesday over at Butch's so I can get a more even heat with his oven). But, when I awoke this morning I had an idea in my head to I went out to the forge to do a bit of a design study. Here's what I came up with (both W1).

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I figure on these being kind of "Gent's Knives" when finished. The larger one is a bit big, but hey, there's got to be a gent out there with large hands right? :)

I have a 3rd one planned that will be a "Gent's Steak Knife" in a similar style using a piece of damascus I had laying around from a previous project (679 layer double twist...the piece ended up being too small for the original project, but should work well for this). I was running a little short on time though and didn't want to screw up forging that piece out so it'll get finished up later.

So, what do you guys think of the general shapes here? I'm looking for some critique on these.

-d
 
They should make some realy nice cutters....something to use in a public resturant... A custom is always better than what they use. We should all use customs and raise the standard. O yea and they should buy them from makers like us. :) .
 
Nowicki said:
They should make some realy nice cutters....something to use in a public resturant... A custom is always better than what they use. We should all use customs and raise the standard. O yea and they should buy them from makers like us. :) .
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Oh, I've thought about making myself a custom eating set for a while now...I need to sell some stuff first though :)

-d
 
So, this morning I went back out to the forge to try and make use of a little piece of damascus that I had from a previous project that didn't work out (some of you may remember me fighting with it in my bowie design thread a while back...). I had salvaged what I could by cutting off the ends that didn't weld right which left me with a small, but solid, piece of 679 layer double bar twist made from banding strap and bandsaw blade. It's not just a straight 679 layers though. There's some high layer count twist that was welded up to some fresh steel, etc so the banding is pretty wide, but some really nice detail should come through in the final finish.

Due to the small size of this piece I really had to be careful with my forging. I haven't done forging this close to finish in a long time and I realize I've gotten lazy....very lazy...This one literally just had the scale knocked off of it on the grinder. I took it to 220 grit for a test etching. The banding at the center is where I tied the dental floss to hold it up in the FeCL since there weren't any holes drilled yet.

Anyways, here it is, the damascus gentleman's steak knife :)

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And here's some pattern detail from laying it on the scanner. Click the picture to go see the "insane size" version.





I think this one will be really nice....

-d
 
Nowicki said:
Hey Rob, You going to the BGCM meeting this mounth?
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I'll be there with bells on! (or maybe that'll be a wind chime made from all my unfinished blades!) I should even be around in the morning this time...

-d
 
jhlarri said:
that damascus looks great rob, cant wait to see the finished knife. see you sunday:thumbup:
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Glad to hear you're making it! I probably won't have any of these done by then, but maybe if I'm lucky I'll have something heat treated and cleaned up a bit....

-d
 
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