Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted August 11, 2019 Popular Post Share #1 Posted August 11, 2019 Mostly as a way to give my 36 year old son a life experience with his old man, I've signed the two of us up for a two day class where we get to hammer on some hot steel, and take home a couple of knives that we will make in the process. https://www.thak.ca/events/category/classes/blade-forging/ The shop where the course is held is a five minute walk from the house I grew up in, and where my mom still lives. I'm so looking forward to it, and my son is mighty stoked. It's a lot of money for two days, but I think the experience will be priceless, and give the lad something to look back on when I'm gone. 8 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted August 11, 2019 Share #2 Posted August 11, 2019 I am sure you will hammer out an heirloom to be treasured. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur ★ Posted August 11, 2019 Share #3 Posted August 11, 2019 Awesome RC! An experience neither will forget. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted September 20, 2019 Author Popular Post Share #4 Posted September 20, 2019 Day one at the forge. Got 4 knives and several blisters to show for it. 7 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted September 21, 2019 Share #5 Posted September 21, 2019 3 hours ago, Rattlecan said: Day one at the forge. Got 4 knives and several blisters to show for it. This is awesome!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share #6 Posted September 22, 2019 The three on the left after heat treating and some finish work. My winter project will be to complete the finish work and fit handles. The one on the right is a mild steel practice piece they had us do to get a couple of basics down. I might shine it up too just for fun, or maybe I'll leave it rough. Not sure about that yet. Anyway, the whole thing was an awesome experience and a great time with my son. He has ambitions of pursuing knife making as a hobby and perhaps even a vocation. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted September 22, 2019 Share #7 Posted September 22, 2019 There is something elemental about making a knife. I hammered one out of an old file once. Coal in a fire ring with a hair dryer to supply the air was my forge. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted September 22, 2019 Share #8 Posted September 22, 2019 This is an absolutely awesome video about making a samurai sword Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share #9 Posted September 22, 2019 14 hours ago, Further said: This is an absolutely awesome video about making a samurai sword That was awesome. Some people can elevate a craft to almost super human levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted September 22, 2019 Author Popular Post Share #10 Posted September 22, 2019 I stitched together a few clips I shot during the course. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris... Posted September 22, 2019 Share #11 Posted September 22, 2019 I’d like to take a class. I’ve made knives from flat stock but never hammered out any. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share #12 Posted September 24, 2019 The owner of the shop, and our trainer for the class was this guy. I got to hold the weapon you see being made here in my hand. It will keeeelll. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted January 23, 2020 Author Popular Post Share #13 Posted January 23, 2020 As promised, the handle fitting has begun. I was given a few nice pieces of hardwood by one of by luthier friends. The pieces were too small to be of use to make guitars, but fine for knife handles. I'm using flame maple for the handle on this one. Taking my time, because after all, there is no clock on the wall counting down. Going to try to make it purdy as well as functional. Still working on grinding it to shape. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsnip Totin Jack ★ Posted January 23, 2020 Share #14 Posted January 23, 2020 Nice work and a great experience for your son. I hope he remembers this 20 years or more from now. I was at Arlington National Cemetery several years ago and this marker caught my attention. Nothing says “badass” like Medal of Honor, Blacksmith, and Spanish-American War all in a row. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted January 24, 2020 Author Popular Post Share #15 Posted January 24, 2020 I gave it a bit of buffing wheel treatment today. I can see my reflection in it. About ready to glue the handle on. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted January 26, 2020 Author Popular Post Share #16 Posted January 26, 2020 Calling this one done. Handle epoxied on, finish sanded, and oiled. The oil really brings out the flame pattern. I have some cherry and walnut scales, so the next one will probably be cherry. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted January 26, 2020 Share #17 Posted January 26, 2020 13 minutes ago, Rattlecan said: Calling this one done. Handle epoxied on, finish sanded, and oiled. The oil really brings out the flame pattern. I have some cherry and walnut scales, so the next one will probably be cherry. Do you have any idea how many hours are involved in this labor of love? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share #18 Posted January 26, 2020 4 minutes ago, Longjohn said: Do you have any idea how many hours are involved in this labor of love? Nope, did not keep track. It is certainly the most expensive knife I will ever own in any case. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted January 26, 2020 Share #19 Posted January 26, 2020 All the hand forged stuff I made was function over form. I didn’t waste time on pretty, time was money. We had guys that would spend hours grinding and polishing their tongs. Most of them looked pretty but poor design and didn’t work very well. What you made is entirely different. Once you have it done and looking pretty you probably won’t actually use it very much. If the steel is hard enough it should work quite well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted January 26, 2020 Author Share #20 Posted January 26, 2020 Just now, Longjohn said: All the hand forged stuff I made was function over form. I didn’t waste time on pretty, time was money. We had guys that would spend hours grinding and polishing their tongs. Most of them looked pretty but poor design and didn’t work very well. What you made is entirely different. Once you have it done and looking pretty you probably won’t actually use it very much. If the steel is hard enough it should work quite well. Yeah, it's hard alright. Sanding the little imperfections out of the steel was a real chore. It will cut, and shave. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted February 21, 2020 Author Popular Post Share #21 Posted February 21, 2020 Working on the second little beauty. Got the forging divots and grinding gouges sanded out. It's a lot of work hand sanding hardened 5160, but it's good to have an indoor project this time of year. Still some marks to smooth out' Sanded smooth and about half an hour on the buffing wheel. A couple more hours to go I think. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted February 21, 2020 Share #22 Posted February 21, 2020 There are amateur telescope makers that make homemade aluminum parts for their inventive telescope mounts. making molds and using cut-up aluminum beverage cans for the raw material and employing a clever "furnace" made of steel cans! They use two 5 gallon steel cans as their furnace. They take one can and cut a large V-shaped opening along about 1/4 of the top rim and drill lots of 1/2" holes across the bottom. They stand it upside down on the ground. The drill holes the same way in the bottom of the 2nd can and then stand it on top of the first can. They fill the top can with charcoal and sit a steel "boat" in it, surrounded along the sides and bottom by charcoal, to hold the cut-up aluminum can chips - for which they've calculated how much weight of aluminum they need. They light the charcoal and aim a small house fan at the V in the bottom can to pump air through the bottom can, up into the top can, and into the charcoal to heat it to higher than normal temperatures. This all suffices to easily melt the aluminum. The "slag" or whatever you call the stuff floating on top, if any (the beverage can label, etc. burns off), is skimmed off the top of the aluminum with virtually anything including cardboard. The aluminum is then ready to be poured into a mold. The mold is made in the traditional way with green sand or your choice or molding sand and molding box. A mockup, usually wooden, mockup of the piece to be made in aluminum is used to shape the inside of the mold. The liquid aluminum is very carefully poured into the mold and, after it cools, it is hacksawed or filed or run through a lathe to correct any errors in the mold into process. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsharr ★ Posted February 21, 2020 Share #23 Posted February 21, 2020 I love this thread. Nice work Mr. Le Can. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kzoo Posted February 21, 2020 Share #24 Posted February 21, 2020 Who needs steel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickinMD ★ Posted February 21, 2020 Share #25 Posted February 21, 2020 Before I realized the possibility of working my way through college, I planned to be a Draftsman and took two years of mechanical drawing in high school The teacher, Mr. Myers, realized that most of us in the class were academic types and had never had a shop class. He wanted us to understand what our blueprints would be directing blue-collar workers to do. So, each year we did at least once week of foundry work including liquid metal and molds and hammering copper, brass and steel, one week or more of electric arc welding, and at least one week of metal and wood lathe work. It's amazed me that I've had to use each of those skills during my life - and I had the chance to tell and thank my teacher years later! When I was about 50, we began keeping our 21' pleasure boat in a boatel next to an old house on the Chesapeake whose long yard had several boats up on blocks. "Who lives there?" I asked, "A Mr. Myers," was the reply. I remembered my old mechanical drawing teacher had a house on the Chesapeake where he rented do-it-yourself boat storage. I knocked on the door, he answered and recognized me immediately. He was in his mid-80's and we talked for a while over a couple beers. I mentioned his shop class lessons, how I had used them, and thanked him for it. I felt great to see the old man's grin when I did that. I'd stop in just to say hi every so often while we were using that boatel. He passed away a few years later. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share #26 Posted February 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Kzoo said: Who needs steel... But will it keeeel? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted February 22, 2020 Author Share #27 Posted February 22, 2020 37 minutes ago, MickinMD said: Before I realized the possibility of working my way through college, I planned to be a Draftsman and took two years of mechanical drawing in high school The teacher, Mr. Myers, realized that most of us in the class were academic types and had never had a shop class. He wanted us to understand what our blueprints would be directing blue-collar workers to do. So, each year we did at least once week of foundry work including liquid metal and molds and hammering copper, brass and steel, one week or more of electric arc welding, and at least one week of metal and wood lathe work. It's amazed me that I've had to use each of those skills during my life - and I had the chance to tell and thank my teacher years later! When I was about 50, we began keeping our 21' pleasure boat in a boatel next to an old house on the Chesapeake whose long yard had several boats up on blocks. "Who lives there?" I asked, "A Mr. Myers," was the reply. I remembered my old mechanical drawing teacher had a house on the Chesapeake where he rented do-it-yourself boat storage. I knocked on the door, he answered and recognized me immediately. He was in his mid-80's and we talked for a while over a couple beers. I mentioned his shop class lessons, how I had used them, and thanked him for it. I felt great to see the old man's grin when I did that. I'd stop in just to say hi every so often while we were using that boatel. He passed away a few years later. I had the great fortune to attend a high school with a fantastic shop program. We had two fully equipped shops each for auto, electrical, drafting and machine shop. I chose machine shop as my major which automatically meant drafting as a minor. The major was not chosen until the third year, so in years one and two, you got all four shops, two in each semester. About twenty years after high school, I was at a small airport about three hours away with a cousin who was a flier. We were chatting up a couple of other fliers there, and I happened to mention where I was from. One guy said, hey, I used to teach at the high school there. I asked his name, as I didn't recognize him with the straw hat, sunglasses, and the extra twenty years. When he told me his name, the years dropped away, and I recognized him. I said, "hey, you were my grade nine electric shop teacher." I doubt if he's still around, as another thirty years have passed since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted March 11, 2020 Author Share #28 Posted March 11, 2020 Blade is polished to a high luster and handle fitting has begun. Going with cherry wood for this one. I wrapped the handle in paper shop towel so the clamps would not get epoxied on. Paper will grind off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rattlecan ★ Posted March 15, 2020 Author Popular Post Share #29 Posted March 15, 2020 All finished. On to the next project. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Square Wheels Posted March 15, 2020 Share #30 Posted March 15, 2020 I'll take a set of 10 please. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share #31 Posted March 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Square Wheels said: I'll take a set of 10 please. Sure. at the current rate of production, delivery will be in about 5 years. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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