This is one of her pictures of the Mountainman and a friend she met during a hike in the mountains. Well worth a read.
31 May 2010
The human footprint
Googling for info on mountaimen, I stumbled upon this blog, The human Footprint, written by a woman called Leslie and her life in Wyoming. A most interesting and fascinating read. You'll find the link, well, in the links section!
This is one of her pictures of the Mountainman and a friend she met during a hike in the mountains. Well worth a read.
This is one of her pictures of the Mountainman and a friend she met during a hike in the mountains. Well worth a read.
My more recent forged knives
I am slowly teaching myself forging. I am just beginning to be able to manipulate the steel into something I want. Here are some blades I made recently.
The first one has a 3mm thick, 4" long blade, tappered down to a sharp point.
The second is a folding knife with a 3" blade, tapered from 2 mm down to a sharp point.
The other has a1/2 tang blade, very thin and tapered down from 2 mm. The handles are Oak, which I have darkened and singed with a blow torch then rubbed with a stainless steel pot scrubber, that raised the grain really nicely, and when still warm I dipped the handles into a pot of molten beeswax. That got into all the nooks and crannies, between the blade and the handle, so there are no gaps for gunge and water to accumulate. Wiped off the excess wax with paper towels and gave them a good polish with a old shoe brush.
As far as folders are concerned, my aim is to produce lock back folders similar to the same design as this one. This is not one of my knives, I just borrowed the picture to illustrate what my goal is, minus the Damascus blade. There is a bit of work to do before I get there! I need to practice making springs for example.
Really, I want to make knives that would not have looked out of place in the possible's pouch of a mountaiman. Not quite there yet, I need to do a bit more research to achieve my goal.
The first one has a 3mm thick, 4" long blade, tappered down to a sharp point.
The second is a folding knife with a 3" blade, tapered from 2 mm down to a sharp point.
The other has a1/2 tang blade, very thin and tapered down from 2 mm. The handles are Oak, which I have darkened and singed with a blow torch then rubbed with a stainless steel pot scrubber, that raised the grain really nicely, and when still warm I dipped the handles into a pot of molten beeswax. That got into all the nooks and crannies, between the blade and the handle, so there are no gaps for gunge and water to accumulate. Wiped off the excess wax with paper towels and gave them a good polish with a old shoe brush.
As far as folders are concerned, my aim is to produce lock back folders similar to the same design as this one. This is not one of my knives, I just borrowed the picture to illustrate what my goal is, minus the Damascus blade. There is a bit of work to do before I get there! I need to practice making springs for example.
Really, I want to make knives that would not have looked out of place in the possible's pouch of a mountaiman. Not quite there yet, I need to do a bit more research to achieve my goal.
Antique shop finds
I visited an antique shop last week sometimes. I don't normally as they tend to sell a lot of cheap tat. This one though had quite nice stuff. I bought a couple of knives and a pair of sheep shears.
The shears were made by Rob Sorby of Sheffield, and are unusual insofar as the way they are made, I found out, very few are made with the unverted spring. I bought them with the thought of making 2 knives with the blades, but that's not going to happen now! They are still quite sharp and cut easily and that's before I even sharpen them. They make a very satisfying "clunk" when you close them!
This knife turns out to be a butcher's knife, at least 71 years old, as the makers, T Williamson, Southfield finally closed it's doors in 1939. The handle is unlikely to be original though. It looks to me more like a wood working tool handle than a knife. But I like it as it is. I am going to sharpen it and make a sheath for it. It's got a 10" blade and a 6" round handle. This is going to become an user!
I found this snippet of info on BB:
This is the third knife I purchased, it's more of a cleaver than a knife, the blade is just over8 3/4" long, the handle about 5 1/2" long. The blade is 3mm thick throughout its length. There is a name on the blade but I can't make it out at all at the moment as it is very faint.
The shears were made by Rob Sorby of Sheffield, and are unusual insofar as the way they are made, I found out, very few are made with the unverted spring. I bought them with the thought of making 2 knives with the blades, but that's not going to happen now! They are still quite sharp and cut easily and that's before I even sharpen them. They make a very satisfying "clunk" when you close them!
This knife turns out to be a butcher's knife, at least 71 years old, as the makers, T Williamson, Southfield finally closed it's doors in 1939. The handle is unlikely to be original though. It looks to me more like a wood working tool handle than a knife. But I like it as it is. I am going to sharpen it and make a sheath for it. It's got a 10" blade and a 6" round handle. This is going to become an user!
I found this snippet of info on BB:
Thomas Williams was my husband's grandfather. He died in 1917 and his son, also Thomas Williams took over but the business failed in the 1930's. The business was founded in 1765 by Thomas Williams, then Ebenezer Williams, then Thomas Johnson Williams, then another Thomas Johnson Williams 1851 - 1917 and then finally Thomas Johnson Williams born 1906.
We have a copy of their catalogue dated 1900. There is also a copy of a letter from Harry Wolhunter who killed the lion with one of their knives. It was used as a kind of advert.
They didn't just make knives. They were Butchers' Cutler and outfitters. My husband's grandfather was an engineer and patented many items of equipment including the "Silent Sausage Machine" mentioned in the catalogue in the British Library.
This is the third knife I purchased, it's more of a cleaver than a knife, the blade is just over8 3/4" long, the handle about 5 1/2" long. The blade is 3mm thick throughout its length. There is a name on the blade but I can't make it out at all at the moment as it is very faint.
Couldn't sleep at 2 am!
I couldn't sleep with a cold and my sore throat woke me up, So I got up and made myself drinks, watched the mouse running around the kitchen, busy little blighter! Then a bit of Googling, as you do...Checked out my favourite forums, that's BCUSA these days, then BCUK & British Blades. Then searched up blacksmithing. I found a very useful receipe:
1 part beeswax
1 part pure turpentine
1/2 part linseed oil
Shave the beeswax, to make it melt faster, put the lot in a double boiler (not in an ordinary saucepan, it will catch fire!) and heat it all together. It make a cream you can use on fabrics, you can use it on your Barbour, leather, wood and steel. I like that, I am going to make some...
I stayed up long enough to hear the dawn chorus, the birds started at about 3.45am. I stood outside to listen to them. that's got to be some of the best sounds ever, I love it. I don't care what the cold science has to say about it. I think it's just magical.
1 part beeswax
1 part pure turpentine
1/2 part linseed oil
Shave the beeswax, to make it melt faster, put the lot in a double boiler (not in an ordinary saucepan, it will catch fire!) and heat it all together. It make a cream you can use on fabrics, you can use it on your Barbour, leather, wood and steel. I like that, I am going to make some...
I stayed up long enough to hear the dawn chorus, the birds started at about 3.45am. I stood outside to listen to them. that's got to be some of the best sounds ever, I love it. I don't care what the cold science has to say about it. I think it's just magical.
22 May 2010
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