I found this ...................H2: Dual Burner, Propane Gas Forge FurnaceThat thing is pretty. and looks quite impressive. I wonder what the price tag is?
$2,000
I found this ...................H2: Dual Burner, Propane Gas Forge FurnaceThat thing is pretty. and looks quite impressive. I wonder what the price tag is?
That looks fantastic. Is that Yew? You gotta give us the details. That carving looks as cool as heck to do. Wish I had the time to learn how, not that I would be good at it but it still looks fun. I love the handle wood. As much as I love all of the popular handle woods but that just looks different. For whatever reason it reminds me of the style I saw in Europe.
I love copper. It just ages with grace.Discovered an unfortunate delamination in this damascus I got in a trade with another maker, but felt like it was still worth finishing for myself with a rougher finish to keep as a work knife in the kitchen. Too bad, because I really like how this one was shaping up. Used copper in the handle for the first time and it was a delight to work. Looking forward to seeing how it patinas over time.
Agreed. It's one of my favorite materials. I worked for my dad's historic building restoration company growing up, and we did a lot of copper work, mostly on standing seam copper roofs, gutters and downspouts, so it has a bit of nostalgia for me as well.I love copper. It just ages with grace.
I love how it looks with a peened finish and in some ways that makes it easier to use because it can be molded a bit and then you get that twin tone patina where handling polishes the high spots.Agreed. It's one of my favorite materials. I worked for my dad's historic building restoration company growing up, and we did a lot of copper work, mostly on standing seam copper roofs, gutters and downspouts, so it has a bit of nostalgia for me as well.
Thanks! It's a Le Thiers lockback that I'm engraving for my buddy Sharp & Fiery ,the scales are juniper I believe...super peppery smelling.That looks fantastic. Is that Yew? You gotta give us the details. That carving looks as cool as heck to do. Wish I had the time to learn how, not that I would be good at it but it still looks fun. I love the handle wood. As much as I love all of the popular handle woods but that just looks different. For whatever reason it reminds me of the style I saw in Europe.
This was my first canister billet that worked out. Ball bearings and 1084.
How long did it take you to learn that?
That's actually a tough one to answer I took a summer semesters's worth of engraving and inlay courses as a teenager with a hammer and chisel, but life got in the way (plus hammer&chisel is super tedious even by engraving standards) so I never did much after that. Fast forward 20 something years to 2019, I picked up a used Airgraver setup and started cutting away...so about 2 years if you count it that way.How long did it take you to learn that?
Very cool Stacy, I bet those banknote tools would have some awesome stories to tell. The work those old guys did back then without power tools or even magnification is just amazing...I hope to be even half as good as those guys some dayThe GRS school in Kansas is a great way to learn engraving. In the past, GRS has held a weeklong class session at the ABS Moran School of Bladesmithing.
Engraving is a skill that requires frequent practice. Your brain/eyse/hands have to work in sync. If you take a long break, it means a new learning curve. I engraved a lot in the 60's and 70's, mostly with hand gravers, then with an ancient GraverMeister that sounded like a jack hammer. I didn't do much again until around 2000 when I got back into knifemaking heavily. I decided to get new equipment and got the modern GraverMeister with dozens of carbide cutters and quick change handpieces, a monster GraverMax ball, engraving microscope, etc.. It is a lot smoother and way easier to change cutters, but just fancy equipment won't make you an engraver. It took me a good while just to be able to run a clean line again. Having taken a break again while building the new shop and Covid, I suspect I'll need a couple hundred hours practice before I can engrave anything worthwhile again.
I have boxes of hand gravers and other tools I am going to get rid of soon.
One set I won't get rid of is the engraving tools of the man who did some of the plates for the large currency. in the 1920's. His family gave the boxes of gravers to an engraver friend of mine, and when that friend passed away, I got them. I never found out the name of the original owner.