What's going on in your shop? Show us whats going on, and talk a bit about your work!

Taking a break from grinding razors and give tapered tangs a try.

1084 Hollow Ground Skinner

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Wow Nathan, you just hung the Mona Lisa next to my crayon drawing. :D

Those look amazing! I'm going to have to buy one someday, but for now I'll just drool over those.
 
I finally succumbed to the tactical crowd, these are the first two dedicated tactical designs I've done. Sub-hilt recurve fighter, and hybrid grind american tanto

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Decisions, decisions, decisions.....

Matching up blades to handle materials. These are all heat treated, clay-quenched 1095. Most have been final ground and sanded to 320.


I think the set of three on the left "get their stripes".


A handsome piece of quilted Sugar Maple to fill a specific request:


Ya gotta' love a fine slab of Thuya burl:


And, two, forged 52110 kitchen blades. The bottom one is the thinnest I've forged yet at just under 1/8". Both still need to be heath treated, finished ground, and to get their final profiles.


I also have a couple of sheaths under way and several other blades/knives in varying stages.

Oh, and finishing up a display case for the shop. And, re-building my anvil stand, and drilling string holes in melted plastic bead sun catchers for my 6 yr old daughter. :D

Busy, busy, busy.

-Peter
 
I pretty much called a halt to all of my other work, finishing, design, etc. and have been working nothing but roughing blanks this week. I decided to just stop everything and do one giant HT batch, so once it is back I can just concentrate on finishing and leatherwork for a while.

I'm on my third bar of steel so far. Today I started rough grinding bevels, it was a looooooong day in the shop. Amongst other things, got the two tacticals from above rough ground for HT.

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Ian- on the sub-hilt- do you cover the finger notch with handle material or are you going to leave it open? Interested to see your process on this one!
 
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Ian,

Those look great. Burning some midnight oil there?
 
HallHandmade said:
I pretty much called a halt to all of my other work, finishing, design, etc. and have been working nothing but roughing blanks this week. I decided to just stop everything and do one giant HT batch, so once it is back I can just concentrate on finishing and leatherwork for a while.

I'm on my third bar of steel so far. Today I started rough grinding bevels, it was a looooooong day in the shop. Amongst other things, got the two tacticals from above rough ground for HT.

fUd3AOU.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks good. Did you grind the tip flat and and the major cutting edge concave?
 
Looks like he hollow ground the edge and convexed the tip. For whatever reason, that combination has always looked cool to me. It penetrates my being... or perforates... either way, it looks "stabby". Funny part is that the other spear tip would penetrate more efficiently, I think.
 
^ Nice work guys! :cool:


I've been very busy... have several hundred hours into these. I forgot a bunch of knives too, I have about 30 in my house ready to sign.

[video=youtube_share;thTlDY_cbzU]http://youtu.be/thTlDY_cbzU[/video]
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Ian,

Those look great. Burning some midnight oil there?
Click to expand...

Haha yeah you could say that. I set a deadline tomorrow for however many knives I get into this HT batch, so I'm trying to get as much work as possible done. Definitely some late nights.

PT Doc said:
Looks good. Did you grind the tip flat and and the major cutting edge concave?
Click to expand...

Rick Marchand said:
Looks like he hollow ground the edge and convexed the tip. For whatever reason, that combination has always looked cool to me. It penetrates my being... or perforates... either way, it looks "stabby". Funny part is that the other spear tip would penetrate more efficiently, I think.
Click to expand...

Yep, the main bevels are hollow and the tip is flat/slightly convex.

I actually was not a tanto fan for a long time, but this particular grind makes a lot of sense to me. Has been growing on me steadily.
 
Feeling some sharp false edge love today. Feeling stabby...

stabby.jpg~original
 
Great stuff guys! :)

Nathan- Those rock! :cool:

Daniel- At first I was going to question your ability to count hours... ;) Then I saw the bazillions of projects you've got going. Crazy and awesome buddy! :)

Ian- Those look great! Don't worry too much about trying to conform to the stereotype of a "tactical" knife. Not saying that you are with those two shown. I'm saying that because you've mentioned struggling with the idea of making tactical stuff. :)

To a person that actually knows how to handle a blade (no, not talking about myself here, LMAO) the current project in my shop is about as tactical at heart as they come... but I don't think it falls within the stereotype much at all. Make what trips your trigger, and do it well (which I know you will) and people will be interested. :thumbup: :cool:


Speaking of what's on the workbench.... here's the prototype for my big project. I'm making 12 of these :eek: :) Sheath is by Master leather craftsman Mr. Paul Long, and stellar photos are by Mr. Jim Cooper (sharpbycoop.com)... :)


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silverforgestudio said:
Ian- on the sub-hilt- do you cover the finger notch with handle material or are you going to leave it open? Interested to see your process on this one!
Click to expand...

Hi,

To be honest I haven't decided. I'll be sure to check back in when I am finishing it.

NickWheeler said:
Ian- Those look great! Don't worry too much about trying to conform to the stereotype of a "tactical" knife. Not saying that you are with those two shown. I'm saying that because you've mentioned struggling with the idea of making tactical stuff. :)

To a person that actually knows how to handle a blade (no, not talking about myself here, LMAO) the current project in my shop is about as tactical at heart as they come... but I don't think it falls within the stereotype much at all. Make what trips your trigger, and do it well (which I know you will) and people will be interested. :thumbup: :cool:
Click to expand...

It's funny, if I had most of the knives I see billed as "tactical" and had to get into a knife fight with them, I would just run away instead (even the two I posted above, although the 5.5 recurve is a good bit of knife).

For instance, as mean looking and cool as they are, I couldn't imagine trying to get into a fight with some of the Busses I've seen. I don't know if a lot of folks realize just how much differently a knife such as you posted above handles in real life.

Trying to use some of those knives would be like trying to fence with a baseball bat. It's just not gonna work.

I would want something big enough to give me a significant reach advantage, and enough mass to inflict blunt force trauma if all else fails, while being "fast" enough to actually use. That said, I don't plan on getting in a knife fight any time soon, and I wouldn't ever carry a knife large enough to give me a real advantage anyways.

That said, I do like the "tactical" look, although it isn't my personal favorite style. I don't find doing tactical designs as effortless as my normal design work. I guess my brain just isnt tactical enough. :p
 
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Ian...

"Tactical" does not necessarily mean it is for fighting.
 
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Almost finished up this one. Just some hand sanding/sharpening left and making the sheath.
Its a custom in 3V
 

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