A Wood man's Wanderings and Ramblings

New friction folder, this one with a bottle opener

2012-01-25T08:23:00.000-08:00

This is a commission for a friction folder incorporating a bottle opener on the tang. The client wanted a short blade, very sharp, with filework and a nice wood for the scales.

The dimensions: 5" long (127mm) closed , 6 1/4" (160mm) open and the cutting edge is 2 3/8" (60mm). The wood for the scales is quilted Mahogany, lovely bit of wood. I only have enough left over for another set of scales now. The steel is 01 tool steel. All the parts are brass except the steel liners. Everything is made by hand including the washers.

These little knives are lovely and I like to make them but they are fiddly and time consuming to make right. I thought you might like to see all the bits that go into them:

The parts. You can't see the steel liners on this photo

Ok. What are your thoughts on this

2012-01-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas [live on the water], but I can't afford it."

What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life? ”
― Sterling Hayden, Wanderer

This really strikes a chord with me. Come to think of it, I pretty much have done this all my life, putting security first, and when our children came, they definitely always came first. Now I am 60 and I feel a real urgency to do something about it before it's too late. Problem is: I am not entirely sure what the "do something about it" is.

This quote came from the book "Wanderer" by Strling Hayden.. This is what they say about it.

Since its publication in 1963, Sterling Hayden's autobiography, Wanderer, has been surrounded by controversy. The author was at the peak of his earning power as a movie star when he suddenly quit. He walked out on Hollywood, walked out of a shattered marriage, defied the courts, broke as an outlaw, set sail with his four children in the schooner Wanderer-bound for the South Seas. His attempt to escape launched his autobiography. It is the candid, sometimes painfully revealing confession of a man who scrutinized his every self-defeat and self-betrayal in the unblinking light of conscience.

Blogger playing up?

2012-01-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

I think it is. I can't access some sites, and can't write any comments on some sites either. The pages go blank and nothing happens...Arghhh... The wonders of the modern technology we actually got no control over...

Maybe the gremlins are doing it...


...or the governements spies who don't want us to communicate...

...or the machines are taking over the world...

...I am not paranoid, honest... but...

Horace Kephart's knife

2012-01-03T05:14:00.000-08:00

This is the photo of H Kephart's knife, along a drawing of it, taken from the online Kephart museum

This was the photo I used when I started making my versions a few years ago. Now, it is quite possible (probable?) the knife on the photo started life looking like the one on the drawing, with the curved cutting edge and, after years of sharpening & service in the field, ended with the straight cutting edge. Or the drawing has a certain amount of "artistic license" applied to it...who knows. It's hard to tell for sure, but the drawing appears to show a flat grind, so the section on the blade would be triangular, but the photo seem to tell a slightly different story.

Either way, I think Kephart still considered his knife servicable enough with the straight cutting edge, as he still had it and kept it long enough for it to become available to go into a "museum".

There were different lengths available too. Even then, the manufacturers tried to "cash in" on his notoriety.

It would be quite easy to make the knife with the curved blade and the sheath exactly the same as the original. Either way the pointy bit is sharper on bo the the drawing and the photo than many reproductions are. I think I may well have a go at it, soon-ish.

Mind you, inflation has worked it's magic, hasn't it!

A recent commission

2012-01-02T02:25:00.000-08:00

This knife was a recent commission and it was sent on time for Xmas. I am pleased to say my customer was very happy! The leather was dyed with iron oxide mixed with Neats foot oil, followed by a bit of antiquing paste. Once this was dried, I used a little shoe polish to bring the shine.

Spalted Hornbeam scales, horizontal carry sheath

The sheath is closed by two strong press studs

There is the option to carry it vertically too

A happy new year

2011-12-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Xmas and a Happy new year! Be merry and happy. Thank you to all the people who visit my blog...And I'll make a early new year resolution: to keep up regular blogging!

Hand made stuff

2011-12-21T01:24:00.000-08:00

I came across these two blogs recently and would like to recommend them.

The first one because of the exceptional quality of the work created by a man who works exclusively with hand tools. No electric gizmos involved, except perhaps electric lighting... If you like hand made things, do yourself a favour and go over there!

This man is Peter Follansbee and you can find his blog here.

A box made by Peter out of riven Oak.

The second blog I want to highlight belongs to Doug Stowe and in his words "is dedicated to sharing the concept that our hands are essential to learning- that we engage the world and its wonders, sensing and creating primarily through the agency of our hands. We abandon our children to education in boredom and intellectual escapism by failing to engage their hands in learning and making".

You can find the blog here: Wisdom of the Hands

Our local school officials are pleased that standardized test scores are on the rise. According to an article in our local Carroll County Newspaper, "Carroll County schools were among several listed for improved test scores on the Benchmark and End-of-Course (EOC) exams given this year." Unfortunately, there is no direct correlation between what the tests measure and the qualities of hand, mind and heart required for student long term success. Others on the horizon are looking at what they've termed "non-cognitive," behavioral or emotional predictors of success. According to Paul R. Sackett, professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, the greatest predictors of student success are "conscientiousness (e.g. work ethic, dependability and perseverance) agreeableness (teamwork, emotional stability) and various kinds of extroversion and openness to new experience." Those are qualities that don't show up on standardized tests.

I have become suspicious of the use of terms like "non-cognitive". The implication is that there are elements of human behavior that do not require thought. For instance, the waiter serving you tonight's dinner might be assumed mindless by those who've fallen on the less comprehending side of the academic divide. And yet he deserves only to be considered mindless if he has forgotten nearly everything in delivering what you've ordered.

You can read the rest of this post on his blog.

The religion of stuff...

2011-12-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

From time to time, I come across a interesting article which really resonate with my own views and this is one of them. Posted on The Tiny Life by Ryan Mitchell and well worth a read. In fact, The Tiny Life blog is full packed of thought provoking articles on Living Small without ruining our little planet. This is an American blog, but it applies anywhere I believe.

It occurred to me the other day that consumerism has reached a level of socially ingrained fanaticism. This isn’t by accident, marketers have gotten us here on purpose. For many of us or those we know, we simply lust after ______ consumer good. It pervades our country, politics, social interactions, and economics.

Here is the definition of consumerism:
A social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts.
The entire premise of consumerism is that we must consume, but more importantly we must do so at a constantly growing rate. This seems to be at odds in a finite world, but many people don’t concern themselves with it. I wanted to break down this word a bit more, because the ending –ism struck me as interesting, it was something I never considered before really, what does –ism really mean?
Looking up the definition of the ending –ism I found these four possible meanings:

a political belief or religion based on a particular principle or the ideas
the action or process of doing something
illness caused by too much of something
the practice of treating people unfairly because of something

If you think about political issues or stances on religion you will quick notice they are really contentious issues. They often define a line which many fight over. You find that many people choose friends, business partners, and other large decisions on the parameters of their political and religious stances. One of the largest lines is to consume or not. Think about it, essentially there is a hard line drawn that many don’t cross, but those who do are subject to great social pressure! Essentially society discriminates against those who don’t consume. Don’t buy lots of clothes, you don’t get a job or a date. Don’t feel the need to buy things when what you have is working just fine or even, you don’t want a huge house; you are seen as cheap, lazy, poor, etc.
I had to simply laugh when I looked at the third bullet point, an illness cause by too much of something, the irony of that when considering consumerism is astounding. What if we really could get people to treat this behavior like a disease?
It certainly is interesting the implication of this word, how it has such a tight hold on us and defends itself through strong social pressures.

I am a zombie...!

2011-11-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

According to the Health Minister Simon burns, an MP (member of Parliament) here in the UK, I, and other people who excercise their rights to ask questions to our MPs, have been called zombies in parliament. After all, the UK is still supposed to be a democracy.

When said governement was hell bent on selling off national woodlands, I added my name to the petition that eventually forced them to climb down, also added my name to questions about the NHS.

So, please add you name to the petition against this sort of behaviour at 38 Degrees.

I hope this will force an apology from him. Not that I believe politicians apologies are worth the air used to utter them, but it will show the little man that we (the zombies) still have some power and give him a public slap.

Creating a friction folder. Part one.

2011-11-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

I have recently been commissioned to create a friction folder. The client has seen my Rustic Oak friction folder on my website and wanted something similar for his owm use.

Rustic Oak

There are a few differences in what my client wanted for his folder:

A beer bottle opener
A longer tang
A shorter blade
A higher grind line
A 3mm thick blade
Filework on the spine

So the first thing to do is to produce a drawing, then a simple working model. I tend to use thin ply and/or thin cardboard to make those simple models. Here is the first drawing, along with my Rustic Oak.

First drawing and my own Rustic Oak

Here are a couple of pictures of the working model. At this stage it's the same size as the original, but with the bottle opening tang.

Model of new Rustic Oak, open.

Model of new Rustic Oak, closed.

After a few discussions, I drew the revised version and Emailed it to my client for approval (or otherwise!)


New Rustic Oak, with approximate dimensions.

My client was happy with the sketch and the dimensions. So, the next step now will be to draw the knife again and make another simple working model using the revised dimensions.

Pricing your work

2011-10-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

I always seem to find it hard to ask for what I consider a fair price for my work, and I am sure a lot a artists and craft people have the same problem. Cheap imported stuff has sort of conditioned people to expect cheap prices. I have even been told once (obviously by someone who'd never made a thing in their lives because they would know not to ask such idiotic questions) that because it's handmade it should be cheaper to make????

I found this article some time back and copied it, to remind myself to be fair to myself. After all the stuff I make is entirely handmade, with good quality material, and it took a lot of time to acquire the skills I now have. So why should I buckle and devalue what I do? I have to pay the bills too!

Unfortunately, I can't remember where I found this article, or who wrote it.

Pricing

I don't really work at selling my stuff either... and, like Rebecca, I remake things I know will sell. (can you say... "pens"?) But.... I always price for my time and my materials. I never devalue my time by marking an item down. I trial market a piece and if it doesn't sell I just don't make that item for sale anymore... or I might just keep one or two in stock and replace them only as they sell. I have marked things that sell really well up a bit.... it offsets losses.

Pricing is a real sore spot with me. I don't know anybody who works for less than minimum wage... even at a job they love! And they'd be offended & angry if it were suggested. I feel like that about my craftwork. Golly, it's a skill!!! I don't know any skilled worker that would work for less than $10 hr, do you? Another thing about under pricing your work is that, unintentionally, you hurt every crafter out there who's trying to make a living from theirs. Because the market gets used to crafters undervaluing their work and begin to expect it. It takes our work to a flea market level when a customer thinks they should be able to bargain you down. I always chuckle and say... "I price for the time I worked on that piece... would you take a dollar an hour less if your boss asked you to?" It puts it in perspective.

I know a lot of crafters will swear that the area they live in just won't pay crafters for their time. But, again, I suggest it's the crafters in the area that have generated that mindset. You have to gently re-educate the public and other crafters every chance you get in order to effect change. It has to start somewhere and why not with you? I really believe that people will pay a fair price for a really well made item, if they love it, no matter where they live. Of course fair price is the key. Examine your skill level and price accordingly. Are you just starting and feel unsure of your skill level? Give yourself at least minimum wage. As you get better... give yourself a raise. Be steadfast and I know you'll find this works for you. In fact, I've found as I've given myself raises, I'm at $10 hr now, I sell more!! Go figure.

If your things just aren't selling.... analyze why. Can you display them better? I truly believe display can make all the difference. You'd pay way more for the same item if you found it in a gallery as opposed to a garage sale or flea market. I also find that if I cluster 3 or 4 of one item together, it catches attention better and sells faster than when there's only one sitting by itself. Unless, of course, it's a fabulous and expensive one of a kind piece. Display those in a really stand out way. Can you improve the item in some way? Sometimes the smallest little additional detail can really make an item move! Are you using a good color scheme? Can you refine your technique somehow? Take the extra time to make sure all the *rough edges* are worked on.

And do one or two fabulous and expensive one-of-a-kind pieces. They don't need to sell!! They will draw people to your booth like nobody's business. And if they come... they look at what else is there. How many times have I been drawn to an exquisite piece, I could never afford, and walked away with some little doodad item... that I wouldn't ordinarily buy... just to have a piece by someone who could make that fabulous piece? Oh let me count the times. When I look at the little doodad, though... I remember the *wonder*.

This happens to me all the time.... my kaleidoscopes draw them in droves!! But... they're really expensive and don't sell that often. But nearly everybody who stops to look through them... every single one of them ... buys a pen or figure or pin. It adds up. And when one of those scopes do sell... it really jumps up my income for that show. I consider it a bonus. Is it the type of show you're choosing to do? Different shows bring in a different arrays of shoppers. Find a venue where your type of creation does sell... then choose your shows accordingly. Sometimes you'll make way more traveling to one good show... than you would in all the shows that might be offered in your area throughout the year. Sometimes it just has nothing to do with what you have to offer. If you just can't figure it out... move on to new creations. Some things just won't sell... or will sell slowly. It's just the way it is.

And sometimes an item that doesn't sell at one show will fairly fly off the table at the next! Of course, if you gave it away at a last minute markdown in the last show, you'll never know that. Personally, I just will not mark an item down. I think it shows a lack of confidence in my own work. I won't do that. If an item isn't selling I use it as a personal gift to someone that I know will appreciate the effort that went into it. That's right... I'd rather giveit away than mark it down for some bargain hunter. I want my work to be valued by the buyer. When one of your pieces really shoots to the heart of someone... you know it... you can see it in their eyes. And they don't try to bargain you down, they already value it at way more than you're asking already. Try to make things you really enjoy working on... Make things that sing to you.... Make things for yourself. That way if they don't sell it won't really bother you. (too much. heheh) If you work on things you enjoy... it shows... you find yourself lingering over the details... and, funnily enough, it sells!
And, in time, you will discover reliable sellers. You'll build a whole line of them that you can count on... so don't be too discouraged at the beginning!!

Waiting for the tools...

2011-10-16T00:59:00.000-07:00

...to arrive, so that I can get on with finishing this:

Carving the flap decoration

This is the cover/flap for a leather bag I am making. I know, I should have waited for the tools to arrive before I made a start...But, hey ho, I just couldn't wait that long. Now though, I am stuck!!

The bag from the front

The bag from the bottom

I'll put some more pictures when the bag is finished.

A new knife commission. And a bit of leatherwork too...

2011-10-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

I received a commission for a new knife from a gentleman who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada, and has another of my knives.

This is the list of his requirement for the new knife:

Hi Joel. We chatted some time ago via pm on BCUK about a knife you made, the Highland Bushcraft, which I had acquired. I still have this knife and every time I use it I like it even more. It's just such a great design- comfortable to use for long periods, well balanced and has a natural feel in hand. Not to mention taking and holding an excellent edge. Altogether a superb knife.

I've decided I'd like to have another of your great knives, if you're willing to make it of course!
This is what I have in mind: This blade shape:(somewhere between these two)
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j376/oldbushrat/sharps/?action=view&current=e305c72a.jpg
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j376/oldbushrat/sharps/?action=view&current=camilluswestern.jpg

Handle material: tan canvas micarta. Wood is beautiful but I'd rather have micarta for durability (even over stabilized wood).

Handle length: 4 1/2'' with the scales beveled somewhat at the front rather than square cut. I would like the handle shape to be the most comfortable possible in all cutting positions. I'm open to suggestions on handle shape. Woodlore, Skookum Bush Tool, Highland Bushcraft, Spyderco BCUK? A combination of these? Comfort takes priority over looks. Liners? Probably...maybe red? I'm thinking three rivets with lanyard tube.

Blade: O1 steel, full flat grind is what I'm leaning towards for something different but haven't ruled out a scandi.

Blade length: a full 4'' cutting edge with the grind close to the scales as on the Highland Bushcraft.

Blade thickness: 2.5mm minimum/3mm maximum

Blade width: 1 1/8'' /30mm

Blade finish: low polish. A high degree of polish is not necessary or desirable as this is to be a working knife.

Sheath: A deep pouch style sheath of the dangler type but with no firesteel loop. I really have no colour preference.

I really enjoy this sort of commission, working in co-operation with a client and coming up with something that, hopefully will fulfil his wishes. We decide to call the knife the SBK: Saskatchewan Bush Knife.

After a few emails to and from this is the pattern that emerged:

Thin ply and pine model of the SBK

And here is the blade fresh off the coarse grinding belt:

SBK blade fresh off the coarse grinding belt

There is a bit more work to be done to the blade such a fine grinding, drilling the holes for the pins and lanyard tube, heat treating, putting the knife together etc, but I am pleased with the progress so far.

As to the leather work? For the fun of it, I made this steampunk wrist cuff!

Steampunk cuff, leather, brass & a magnifying glass!

Most of the stuff I make has a practical use to it. It's different when you're trying to try and get your head around to making something that hasn't! More art for the sake of it! I am quite pleased with it. It still have a potential practical use though: It's possible to light a fire with the glass! If you have some sun...

Working on a range of leather work

2011-09-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, I have been experiencing a decline in the sale of my knives. Not that this is my main source of income, but it was a useful, even essential part of my income. There is little doubt that the economic situation generally is contributing to this decline. So I am working on creating a range of leather work items that I am going to offer up for sale on Etsy.

It takes time, and some money of course, to start creating a small stock of items. The trickiest part is to create something with my particular style as I don't want to copy other people's work. Most of the leather work I have made over the past few years have been geared toward the outdoor, bushcraft particularly. I am trying now to create something that will (hopefully!) appeal to a wider range of people as well.

So, there are going to be bags, belts, pouch-belts, mobile phone pouches, Kindles book covers...that sort of thing.

Here are 3 examples of (as yet incomplete) prototype I am working on.

This double-pouch is going to be part of a belt. I only made it yesterday and although I am happy with it, from a bushcraft point of view, I think I need to soften/refine the appearance a bit.

Double belt-pouches

Largish bag

Softer shaped handbag that can be personalised

These are not yet complete. I am waiting on a bunch of brass hardware and need to order some extra leather. I think there is perhaps most to be gained with the personalisation of those bag with carvings of, say, a favourite pet or some such idea.

I intend to continue making the knives of course, perhaps concentrate more on the folding pocket knives.

Two knives from a lawnmower blade

2011-08-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

My daughter's boyfriend gave me an old lawnmower blade the other day, so I got to work to see what I could come up with.

The steel from lawn mower blades is a bit of an unknown, could be good or not for knives. I cut off a small bit of the steel and heat treated it. It came up trumps, which I was pleased about. The blades are forged, I tried to give a nice smooth forge finish to them. Only the cutting edge is ground. After heat treat, I soaked them into some vinegar overnight to remove the forge scale.
The handles are wrapped with thick cotton thread and I used brown shellac to soak and stick the threads together, which worked quite well. They are not the best looking handes, but for what they are, it's fine.

The finished stockwhip

2011-08-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

This is the finished whip. It went better than I had expected and I am very happy with it. I have been able to get a few crackings out of it, as well as some hits on my hand and the back of my arm!! It's a good idea to wear a thick shirt, a glove and a hat when you first start practising...

The finished whip

I had to replace the fall because the leather I had used was not strong enough and broke within 3 attempt at cracking it! I replaced it with some 550 paracord for now. Also replaced the cracker, because I lost it when the fall broke, and also because I had used some waxed thread and thatdidn't work so well.

Detail of the handle plaiting

Turk's head covere on the handle's end

Spanish Ring Knot

Nowt to do with knives: I am making a stockwhip!

2011-08-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

This is something I have wanted to have a go at making for sometimes. There are all sorts of whips: bull whips, snake whips, stockwhips etc
They look complicated to make, but if you can follow instructions, you can make a whip. Ok, it won't win championships, but it's possible to make a decent leather whip. And making this one is giving me an appreciation of the work of some professionals you can see on the web.

So, this stockwhip of mine is going to be a simple 4 plait Australian stockwhip. I am following the instructions in a book, and so far I have made the whip, complet with the fall and the cracker.


This is the core, a twisted strand of leather

This is the leather cut to make the 4 plait whip itself

Plaiting done. We have a whip! I really enjoyed doing this bit

Detail of the plaiting

I have started to work on the handle (no pics yet) It's going to have an 8 strand plait covering, a turk's head knot at the end of the handle. A french whipping will finish the end where the keeper is fitted.

I'll put up the pictures of the handle tomorrow.

I forgot to say, I have never made one of those before: this is streching my leather work skills a couple of notches!

Naomi's made it to Paris

2011-07-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, Naomi's made it to Paris..We just found this picture on Twitter. She is not in it, but her bike is!

The one on the ground in the foreground, with the flower on the handlebar!

Well done Naomi. We're proud of you!

A simple knife, inspired by H Kephart

2011-07-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

I used Horace Kephart's own knife as the starting point for this version. The shape of the blade, the 3/32" (about 2.3mm) thichness, the size, about 3 1/2" blade and 4" handle, is pretty much the same, as far as I can ascertain from the few photos available. The shape of the handle is a bit different. I wanted a very simple knife with a comfortable, more rounded handle. I used some old Teak that came from a old Victorian warehouse in London for the scales, epoxied on and riveted with two steel pins. There is a lanyard tube and a leather lanyard, which is absent on Kephart's knife. I chose the teak for its very oily properties, it also has a nice patina.

The sheath is completely different from his too. I made it deep, as simple as I could think. To that effect, the narrow (1/2") leather forms a loop and is part of the hand sewn welt. Actually, the sheath can be used either left or right handed, without any modifications. It hangs at a small angle, but that's no problem. The long narrow loop is also quite flexible, which I find more comfortable when on the belt.

The new knife and sheath

In the deep sheath, wide soft leather lanyard

Naomi's London To Paris Cycle Ride

2011-07-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Naomi on her new bike

Well, the time has finally arrived. Naomi's cycle ride start on Thursday from London. The first leg is from London to Southampton to catch the ferry to France. The other 2 legs will be in France, On Friday, the longuest leg at over 90 miles. Tthe last leg on will be on Saturday. They will see the arrival of the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday, then return to London on the train.

It's been a lot of hard work getting to this point. We have not managed to get any sponsorship at all. So all the money raised so far has been our own effort, and a lot was raised with the help of the members on this forum, for which we say a big thank you. We raised, so far, over £1000, all of which will go to The Big Issue Foundation.

The other hard work was getting enough training in! What with work, University Summer School, some knee problems and now a cold....

I'll keep you posted with what's happening in the next few days. At least, it looks like the weather, although some rain is predicted, should be pushing in the right direction!

Baskets and basket making knife

2011-07-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

Freyja, my eldest daughter has been getting into making willow baskets recently. She went on to a basket making course and has been practising on her own since her course. She has been wanting a good knife for herself, so I made this basket makers' knife based on the original her instructor had. He has had it a long time and it is very worn. I re-sharpened it for him. The blade for my copy is made of 3mm 01 tool steel, with a convex blade. I have embellished the blade with file work on the spine.

My daughter Freyja's first basket

Basket makers' knife

Very worn riginal (top knife) with my copy

File work on the spine

Collecting rainwater now illegal...

2011-07-11T00:46:00.000-07:00

...in many states ....

as Big Government claims ownership over our water

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/029286_rainwater_collection_water.html#ixzz1RmSCl4H4

Now I know this refers to the USA. BUT...as everyone knows, what happens in the States generally happens in the UK soon afterwards. So, the question is how long will it take for it to happen over here, or in SpainFrance...Germany...Poland...etc

Or maybe it's already happening. Am I paranoid? I hope so.

Long handled knives from around the world

2011-06-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is the Pfeil Shoulder knife Markus mentioned in his comment in the precedeeng post. I had never heard of this one until now. Based on knives used in medieval times for veneering, and providing more control by resting the handle on the shoulder, therefore the user has more control as to where the blade goes.

The SAK of the Dayaks

Here is a picture of some Sarawak parangs and other smaller knives that have long handles. I know there are other pictures of those long handled knives but can't find them at the moment..

So here are some beauties to drool over!

Long handled craft knife

2011-06-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

Another tool I made recently is this knife based on the medieval quill knife. the long handle, together with the short blade gives excellent control for general craft work, such as leather work and wood carving. It has a full tang blade, Yew scales and a poured pewter bolster. It is a strong knife, despite its slim looking handle.

Pruning knives

2011-06-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently by a keen gardener for a pruning knife. I made both a fixed blade and folding pruning knives. Here are a few photos.


Fixed blade with Olivewood handle

Friction folder with Osage

Orange handle

Folder in use

Both knives have file work on the spine

Hand carved wood signs

2011-06-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

I have done a bit more wood carving lately. For a few years, I have made carved signs, and the only advertisement I have used was a couple of wood carved plaques by the side of the road. They have over the years become very tatty, and I finally took them down a few months ago, and had a break from making signs. I finally got down to making a new one to replace them. Here are a couple of pictures, taken prior to varnishing. I have used Oak for the board and Mahogany for the Hare carving.

Most of the signs I have made over the years have been house signs. I never made a forturne with them though. I am now going to try harder to attract "business signs" and the above sign is only going to be part of the advertising! I hope it's going to work...

Blogging is dead....long live Blogging

2011-05-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

there seems to be that some fellow bloggers are having problems with accessing their own and others blogs at the moment. I like mine and the fact that other people from around the world can follow it, and that I can follow other bloggers stories too. So I felt a bit of concern as to why: Is Blogger going down the pan? It appears not just yet...

Another misleading story reports that blogs ‘r’ dead

February 21, 2011 by Scott Rosenberg

The technology press has been keen on the “blogging is dead” (or “dying”) meme for some time now, but it’s tough to find actual data or evidence supporting the notion. Blogging, of course, is changing; in the digital world, all is flux. But if you’re going to declare, as today’s New York Times headline does, that blogging is “waning,” it would be good to be able to show a decline in numbers. And that, sadly, is missing from the Times story — which cherry-picks statistics that look very different in their original contexts.

The rest of the story...

Corsican working knives

2011-05-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have been looking back at French regional knives recently. I have been particularly drawn towards the Corsican Shepherd's knife, as being an attractive design, of a workaday tool. Those knives were simple "deux clous" (two nails) models, ie, the pivot and one pin. Made, using goats' horn for the handle, steel pins, and with a forged blade

A little background info, I have roughly translated from the french:

Often made by the users themselves, the old Corsican knives were primarily designed as tools for work every day.

They are called - incorrectly today - shepherd's knives. But the shepherds were not the only users, far from it. These knives were put to many other uses: "stoccu", whose shape varied from valley to valley (from very small to large knives), used to bleed livestock or big game for field work, used a sickle Folding ("insitaghjola", literally "grafting", also called "runchetta" in the south), strongly curved blades were used for basket-makers ... Others knives had a very rounded tip for carving spoons and other wooden utensils for the kitchen. The "tarabisco" on the back of some blades were used to debark, burn or carve wood, the word refers to the coarse serrations on the back of some blades.

Most of these knives have common characteristics: a deep, broad blade, which can take repeated sharpening on the grindstone and repeated passages on "limaghjola" (grinding stone), and can have a long useful life.

Long before the industrial era, each village (in Corsica) had several blacksmiths. This explains why today we find across regions, substantial differences in the forms and even in their names.

Nevertheless, similarities exist: all of these blades cannot deny the influences of the Saracens, Moors, Iberian and Italian people that have shaped Corsica during its history.

Even if some "tools" have sometimes been used to drain a quarrel, they were not intended to be used as weapons. For that, there were other knives with a sharp blade that was worn under the jacket, slipped into the waist ...

Throughout its history, the Corsican Nation has seen bloody battles and violence such that, despite the appearance of firearms - and because of their prohibition by the occupant genoa - a robust "stilettu" has long guaranteed the survival of its owner ...

Unfortunately, I haven't got any goats horns (yet!) so have used some Olive wood to make the handle on mine!

I am really pleased with this knife. I am planning further tweaking on this model, and another one with a simple lock blade.

Meanwhile a few pics.

Hopefuly this will prove interesting to some people.

2 new friction folders

2011-05-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have finished a pair of new friction folders.

Hand forged blade with Boxwood handle

Mexican Rosewood, stock removal blade

The second folder, the one with the Rosewood handle, sold within 5 minutes of being advertised...I must have done something right!

Unfortunately, I'll not be able to use Rosewood again: I have become allergic to the dust, that gave me a nasty rash on my face, neck, and hands. Shame because this wood is really nice. Cocobolo was a favourite wood too, but that is also out of bound as I reacted very badly to the dust.

Luckily for me, there are still plenty of woods I can use!

3rd folder this week

2011-05-14T05:34:00.000-07:00

I am on a roll at the moment, making folders! Walnut scales, all brass furniture and 01 tool steel, stock removal. It can be a bit hit and miss sometimes, but the etching has come out really well on this one.

Weird goings on

2011-05-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

My last two posts have been missing all day. Not sure why, can only assume Blogger had some funny turn! Even weirder, they're now back tonight, but minus the 3 or 4 comments...

Carving with a crooked knife

2011-05-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

I found this short video on Youtube by folk artist Bubby Mooers carving with a crooked knife. Actually he's making a feather stick with a crooked knife to demonstrate how to use the crooked knife.

The finished knife

2011-05-03T10:10:00.000-07:00

New design, a spring-back locking folder

2011-05-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

I am quite fond of small friction folders, and because I haven't worked on any new designs recently, I decided to start working on a new folder design.

I have used an old design as a starting point. I was going to make a friction folder, but the design and work sort of wandered off on a tangent and became a spring-back locking folder instead. This is the first time I have made a spring-back locking knife. I am really happy with it. The spring I made for it would be a worthy addition to a bear trap I think!

It is only dry fitted together at the moment, but even so, there is no play at all anywhere.

I am going to fit a ring into the small hole on the top of the spring, fitted with a short lanyard. To open the spring and unlock the blade, you pull on the ring and fold the blade.

This is the first of this design and there are a few details to iron out, but I think this is going to be really solid folding knife. This one has a 3" scandi grind blade, and I am also going to make a 4" blade with more of a drop point, scandi grind model. I have thought before about making a folding bushcraft knife and I think this going to be it!

What's happening with my knife making?

2011-04-26T01:21:00.000-07:00

Sharp eyed readers might have noticed that I haven't blogged much about knives & knife making recently...;-)

Well, I am still making knives, but they tend to be repeats of what I have done before, and I think it would be boring for everyone, including me, to write about things I have already done.

Having said that, I have a few ideas twirling in my mind and it's just a question of finding the time to apply them.

I also want to have a go at tutorial videos on knife making, and perhaps wood carving too, but I am not very savvy on the technology of film making, so I am practising first to get something that does not look like a dog's dinner, after it's gone throught the dog....

Variety is the spice of life, so they say. I'll continue to post on various other things too, leather work, more horn making, knife making, and try to keep it interesting.

My new hicking stick

2011-04-26T01:10:00.000-07:00

Ever since I had torn tendons in my foot, I have been using a stick of some sort. Generally my foot does no cause me too much problems, but sometimes it can get quite painful still. Besides, I have come to enjoy having a good stick with me, as they are really quite useful. I used the aluminium poles to start with but they are not something you can like very much, so I ended up making a variety of hicking sticks. This one is my latest creation.
The stick itself is Hickory about 3/4" diameter and 48" long, left over piece from a bow I made some while back. The handle is leather and incorporate a miniature compass.

The lanyard is a 4 strand leather sennit (plait) stained, passed through the hole in the stick, each end of the lanyard separated into 2 and joinded together to form the loop. The join is covered by a leather turk's head knot. It should have been 3 strand turk's, but ended up 2 strands, because I ran out of leather lace!

I turned a wooden ball, epoxied the compass in place on top and covered it in leather. I should really have recessed the compass into the ball, and so had to add the compass/start leather design to recess the compass fully. The star is tacked into place with proper brass pins. (not brassed steel pins!) And I think it looks nicer now thant what I had planned in the first place.

It's maybe on the slightly heavier side, but that was quite a nice project as I enjoy working with leather; this stick is now my new favourite!

The powder horn is finished

2011-04-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

The powder horn I have been working on the past few days is finished. At least, it's gone as far as I want it to go. When is something "finished"? I could fuss over it and do some more work but I think it would be over doing it.

So here it is.

I have found the Mahogany I used for the butt plug to be very porous, so I warmed up the wood, using a heat gun, and melted some beeswax onto the plug. With the heat, it was readily absorbed into the wood, in the same way leather soaks up beeswax, plugging up the pores. I have carved a simple design engrailment at the start of the neck, and continued the 6 sided design on the other side of the neck rings, and deepened the groove between the rings to accomodate the leather strap.

The strap itself is a 4 strand plait. To attache the plug, I secured it to the horn with a small amount of wood glue, followed by 4 wood pins.

All in all, I am very happy with the result of my first attempt, and, of course, I am now planning the next one...

Making a powder horn. Part 4

2011-04-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Only a little work done the past couple of days. I was waiting for the spout to arrive. Here is the horn with the spout in place. It's 12 3/4" long along the outside curve. There is a little more shaping of the tip of the horn to do, then some more sanding/scrapping/sanding.

Making a powder horn. Part 3

2011-04-17T13:02:00.000-07:00

A bit more work done on the horn today. I cut off the tip, drilled the hole, and decided to shape the neck in an hexagonal shape. With hindsight, I think an octogon would have been better than hexagonal. I need to do some more scrapping and fine sanding, and I'll wait to finish the tip to receive the brass fitting I'm going to use.

Making a powder horn. Part 2

2011-04-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

I've done a bit more work on the powder horn today, namely, rasping, filing, sanding, scrapping, then more sanding of the horn. The surface was quite rough and irregular, with a lot of scratches etc.

I made this small bench with the central post, it makes it easier to hold and file the horn.

And much easier to wet sand it too!

The colour has changedand the pattern has come out beautifully.

Making a powder horn

2011-04-14T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have started to make a powder horn for someone who's into muzzleloaders. It's going to be a simple one as I was asked not to "go overboard" with it!!

So, here are a couple of pictures of what I have done so far. I have rounded the end of the horn and flattened it. To achieve a nice round end, I made a soft wood, cone plug to round the horn with, with the careful use of a heat gun; I say careful because I didn't want to burn the horn itself. As it is, the plug got a bit singed!

It is a fairly small horn I am using, so, to give the horn a bit more storage space for the powder, I am making a hollowed domed "butt plug", which will also add a couple of inches in length to the horn. Overall it's going to be about 12" long.

That's it so far. I am keeping the horn on the cone until I have cleaned it up and fitted the butt plug, as I am not sure if the horn would revert to its original shape unsupported.

I finished the domed plug on the lather this afternoon. Here are some pictures of it.

Playing with my new toy!

2011-04-11T23:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I have gone all modern and bought a Sony Handycam. This is the first short film I have made with it. It's a bit amateurish of course, but I have learned a lot from making it, not least that a tripod will be very useful... Due to the bright sunshine, I could hardly see what was on the screen while taking the pictures, so it has not turned out too badly.

I am now waiting for my invitation to the Cannes Festival!

Patrick's story

2011-04-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"

Mahatma Gandhi

How sad to see what some humans can do.

Eagle Goes Dancing blog

2011-04-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

Fiddled enough!

2011-03-30T01:55:00.000-07:00

As the title says: I have been fiddling with the photo at the top and the tittle for my blog. I am going to keep the blog name I started with and leave it alone now!

The Iceman's kit

2011-03-30T01:51:00.000-07:00

The Iceman's knife and sheath

I'd like to draw attention to this blog's post about Otzi, the Iceman, whose body was discovered coming out of a glacier in the Alps some years ago. The Iceman's kit

It is a very good re-assement of what the kit the Iceman carried and the author gives some reasons why he thinks some of the kit was missed.

Kitchen knives

2011-03-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

I am now working on a small range of new kitchen knives. No photos as yet but I will be adding them as soon as the real work on the knives has taken place. All will be carbon steel blades from about 2" to 8" long cutting edges. Stay tuned!

Improving and tidying my blog

2011-03-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am changing the design of my blog somewhat and I am also tidying it up, the electronic version of a spring clean! I have also added my most popular posts to the side-bar.

Hopefully this will make it easier for you the visitor to find what interests you the most.

On knife making

2011-03-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking lately. Where am I going with my knife making? To be frank I like making knives, but I also need to sell as many as I can. That creates a conflict in me between what I'd like to spend my time doing, and what I need to do. I like to create knives one at a time, I like to take my time, do a bit today, nothing tomorrow, and a maybe a lot the next day, and I can fit that between the other things in my life.. When I make knives on commission, that changes things, it is obvious the person who orders the knife probably wants it as soon as possible, which is understandable. So I need to discipline myself to do it as rapidly as possible, and that create the confict I mentioned above.

The problem for me is that I have an artist view of things. I am not a businessman. I may need money, like everybody else there are bills to pay, but I am not motivated by money. I can understand what made some artists, like Van Gogh, die in poverty!!!

So I need to find a solution to my dilemma. Perhaps what I need to do is to stop taking commissions, That would permit me to make the knives I want to make, at the speed and to the standard I wish. Perhaps also, I need to concentrate more on some type of knives: I am thinking folders and kitchen knives in priority over the other type of knives I have made... I feel those may have a more extensive market that other knives,

The folders because it maybe easier to sell a really nice folding pocket knife, with blades under 3" in this country, and people may be more prepared to carry one in their pocket without fear (real or perceived) of getting into trouble with the law.

The kitchen knives? There are plenty of cooks, and everyone need kitchen knives!!

Gotta do some more thinking!

My first old Kukri

2011-03-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

Discounting the one my daughter got for herself, this is the first Kukri I have just received through a deal with a gentleman who wanted one of my knives. I am certainly happy with my side of the deal and I hope he will be too.

I don't know much about it, except I think it's a lovely piece. There is a carving around the middle of the handle, only a little piece of wood missing on the ridge in the middle of the handle, and a few rust marks on the blade. It is quite a long and fine Kukri. Overall it's 20" (558mm) with a 15" (381mm) blade. The blade is 1 7/8" (48mm) wide at the belly.

I'll be trying to find out a bit of history, if possible. I'll also be making a scabbard for it, as it did not come with one. This will be an interesting project as Kukris scabbards are made of wood and covered in leather.

Couple more pictures. The carved ring. This is really neatly done. The small missing part of the ring, and a thin crack on top of the handle near the bolster are the only damages, apart for some rust pitting on the blade.

View of the bolster and the Cho.

The consensus so far on the Forum is that this is an old "hanshee" kukri, very good quality, almost certainly made in Nepal in the early part of the 19th Century. The term Hanshee was used by collectors to describe kukris looking exactly like this one, long handle and slender blade, describing an almost perfect arc. The term is not known in Nepal.

I am really chuffed with it!

Bishnu Shrestha. A brave man

2011-03-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

Lone Nepali Gorkha who subdued 40 train robbers
	MANOJ ADHIKARI/SANTOSH POKHAREL POKHARA, Jan 13: Gorkha soldiers have long been known the world over for their valor and these khukuri-wielding warriors winning the British many a battle have become folklore. A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey. He is in line to receive three gallantry awards from the Indian government. Slave girl Morgiana in the Arabian Nights used her cunning to finish off Ali Baba´s 40 thieves, but Bishnu Shrestha of Baidam, Pokhara-6 did not have time to plot against the 40 train robbers. He, however, made good use of his khukuri to save the chastity of a girl and hundreds of thousands in loot. Shrestha, who was in the Maurya Express to Gorakhpur from Ranchi on September 2 while returning home following voluntary retirement from the Indian army--saved the girl who was going to be raped by the robbers in front of her hapless parents, and in doing so won plaudits from everybody. The Indian government is to decorate Shrestha with its Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Medal and the 35-year-old is leaving for India Saturday to receive the first of the awards on the occasion of India´s Republic Day on January 26. “The formal announcement of the awards will be made on Republic Day and on Independence Day on August 15,” said Shrestha, whose father Gopal Babu also retired from the same 7/8 Platoon of the Gorkha Regiment around 29 years ago. His regiment has already given him a cash award of Indian rupees 50,000, and decided to terminate his voluntary retirement. He will get the customary promotion after receiving the medals. The Indian government will also announce a cash bounty for him and special discounts on international air tickets and domestic train tickets. The band of about 40 robbers, some of whom were travelling as passengers, stopped the train in the Chittaranjan jungles in West Bengal around midnight. Shrestha-- who had boarded the train at Ranchi in Jharkhand, the place of his posting--was in seat no. 47 in coach AC3. “They started snatching jewelry, cell phones, cash, laptops and other belongings from the passengers,” Shrestha recalled. The soldier had somehow remained a silent spectator amidst the melee, but not for long. He had had enough when the robbers stripped an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him and tried to rape her right in front of her parents. He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers. “The girl cried for help, saying ´You are a soldier, please save a sister´,” Shrestha recalled. “I prevented her from being raped, thinking of her as my own sister,” he added. He took one of the robbers under control and then started to attack the others. He said the rest of the robbers fled after he killed three of them with his khukuri and injured eight others. During the scuffle he received serious blade injury to his left hand while the girl also had a minor cut on her neck. “They had carried out their robbery with swords, blades and pistols. The pistols may have been fake as they didn´t open fire,” he surmised. The train resumed its journey after some 20 minutes and a horde of media persons and police were present when it reached Chittaranja station. Police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered around 400,000 Indian rupees in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items that the fleeing robbers dropped in the train. Police escorted Shrestha to the Railways Hospital after the rescued girl told them about his heroic deed. Mainstream Indian media carried the story. The parents of the girl, who was going for her MBBS studies, also announced a cash award of Indian rupees 300,000 for him but he has not met them since. “Even the veins and arteries in my left hand were slit but the injury has now healed after two months of neurological treatment at the Command Hospital in Kolkata,” he said showing the scar. “Fighting the enemy in battle is my duty as a soldier; taking on the dacoits in the train was my duty as a human being,” said the Indian army nayak, who has been given two guards during his month-long holidays in Nepal. “I am proud to be able to prove that a Gorkha soldier with a khukuri is really a handful. I would have been a meek spectator had I not carried that khukuri,” he said. He still finds it hard to believe that he took on 40 armed robbers alone. “They may have feared that more of my army friends were traveling with me and fled after fighting me for around 20 minutes,” he explained. Following on from the above story. I have a suggestion. Let's sack all the useless coppers (and yes, they're not ALL useless !) and replace them, at a ratio of 1:40 with our retired gurkhas. Naturally, they will not need stab-vests, tasers, truncheons, Health & Safety Guidelines in their top pocket, a thieving group like ACPO to "administer" them, two-way radios, Blackberries, or even blue serge. The Gurkhas can dress however they wish. You will never know when they are nearby, armed only with a Khukri. Crime will be eradicated overnight. J D Riddell

A junk shop find

2011-03-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately for me, my daughter and her boyfriend found it :-( But never mind, I get to play with it a bit...I found the handle as it is, is not confortable for me. The ridge in the middle of the handle is rubbing on the middle of my finger. The handle is a bit too small for my hand.

It's a very nice, old Kukhri, 17 1/2" long (445mm)! Despite this is really is quite light, just 450g. The blade is hollow ground, the spine is 5/16" (8mm) thick, and the whole knife is in very good condition, apart from a crack in the handle and a bit missing at the pommel. The blade also has a bit of a twist to it. I am not sure if this is deliberate or not.

I'll now let the pictures do the talking.

It came with it's scabbard and a Chakmak. The sheath is falling apart, but it's very interesting to find out how it was made. I am going to make a new sheath, copying the old one as closely as I can. The Chakmak is a blunt knife used to sharpen the Kukhri with, or to light fire with a piece of flint, that can be kept in the separate tinder pouch. We really are not inventing anything new!


Even has it's separate tinder pouch!

According to members on British Blades, it's probably between 60 and a 100 years old.

I have found out a bit more . It is a Longleaf Kukhri, military issue, late Victorian era, probably around 1900. This style of choil (the notch) is known as a Chorten style, named after the silhouette of the budhist shrines found in parts of Nepal.

Not bad for £33.00!

Large Nessie: finished

2011-03-05T13:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finally finished my large Nessie. I had difficulties finding a suitable crown antler. Lets the pictures do the talking.

15" long, with the blade being 8". The knife weights a hefty 550grams The blade is fixed through the handle with a long stick tang, that is riveted at the pommel. I have used pewter to make a bolster and fix the blade in the handle.

Next to a Swiss Army Knife for scale.

The view of the pommel, with the riveted stick tang. The steel pommel is epoxied to the antler, so no moisture can get in there. It's hard to see, but some of the fur is still attached to the antler. I left it on as I think it add to the look of the knife.

This is one hefty beast! I am very pleased with it.

Texturing blades

2011-02-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

Not much action on my blog recently, I am finishing a few jobs and making the odd new knife now and again. I like experimenting, it keeps the interest in making things, if they are not always the same.

This little knife, well, 8 1/2", 215 mm is such a case. The blade is a 01 tool steel stock removal, with a bit of forging. I experimented with texturing the blade, in a similar fashion to my big Nessie in the previous post. More densely textured, then wire brushed on the pillar drill, and finally polished finely to give a good contrast on the blade. The indentations would not be cause problems with keeping the knife clean, the edges of the dents are very smooth, and clean easily.

The handle scale is also a wood I haven't used before on a knife, namely Box wood. Box wood used to be popular as tool handle, such as chisels, small plane bodies and such. I have to say, I am impressed. This is a very fine grained, very dense wood, and it takes a very high polish. I have a couple of old chisels with boxwood handles, and they are darker, I am not sure if the wood was darker in the first place, or whether it's darkened with age.

Making a large Nessie. Part one

2011-02-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

About 18 months ago, I started to make a large Nessie to a pattern drawn by a member on BCUK. The blade was cut but put aside for more pressing work. I only got around to starting again on it!

This is the blade today. It has a 210 mm (8') cutting edge. The blade is 01 tool steel. The piece of 01 was only just longer than the blade, so I welded a piece of mild steel to make a stick tang. I will round the tang up and it will go through the handle, with a large pommel washer and will be riveted.

I did not want a highly polished blade so added texture with a texturing hammer. The texturing hammer took about 2 minutes to make with my arc welder.

I also wanted to experiment a bit with the cutting edge. So approximately 2/3 of the cutting edge is convex and the last 1/3 is a scandi grind. I have placed the convex edge part nearer the handle, because convex edges are somewhat stronger so thought that his was approppriate for chopping, while the scandi grind will be more useful at the end of the blade. That's the theory anyway! I'll have to see how it works in practice.

Making a folding knife. Part three

2011-01-22T08:53:00.000-08:00

Well, the knife is now finished. I did thin and shorten the tang. I also straightened it a bit and gave the curl, well, more of a curl!. The blade was then hardened, tempered, followed by an overnight soak in vinegar to disolve the scale that forms during forging. I then wire brushed the blade and finally sharpened it so that I can shave the hair on the back of my hand!

I decided to do some file work on the spine of the blade, linking it to the twisted tang.

Onto the assembly. I made some thick conical brass washers because I could not find any to buy. The pivot is 4mm brass from a DIY shop. I also made some thin brass washers to go between the blade and handle. They provide a nice smooth motion for the blade.

The knife, half open.

Overall, I am very pleased with the result. I have learned a lot about forging, from making it. There are just a few details I will refine in the next knife. Although I like the look of the tang, I think it's a bit too long, the handle is 3 3/4" (95 mm) long but with that long tang the length goes up to 6" (150mm), that makes it a bit too long to carry easily and comfortably inside a pocket, although it could be carried as a necker in a leather pouch. The tang will also be finer and the blade a little thinner in profile.

Making a folding knife. Part two

2011-01-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

Ok. The next step I took was to mark where the slot is going to be.

Then, off to the bansaw to cut the first part of the slot. I had to make sure the cut was parallel to the centreline of the tine. Then I had to cut a second time to create the slot of the right width for the blade.

The rest of the slot for the blade was cut with a hand saw, and finished with my trusty 120mm diameter angle grinder, with a thin cutting disk. I secured the tine in a vice with some leather to protect the tine and carefuly finished the slot. It's definitely a very good idea to wear a dust mask...:-( Next time, I'll be doing this outside on a windy day, rain or shine...

The tang needs to be straightened up a bit to centre it. I still think it's a bit too long & a little thick, so I'll take the blade back to the forge at the weekend, as I am working tomorrow and Friday. As well, I'll have to make sure the tang lies closer to the back of the antler handle.

Making a folding knife. Part one.

2011-01-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a "work in progress" sort of posting. I have started to make a friction folder knife with a antler tine I just got hold of, and I am going to use a blade I forged tonight.

The first picture shows the antler tine, with the cardboard model of the shape of the blade I had in mind.

This is the blade that emerged during the forging. I used a 9mm round bar of silver steel. Not quite the same as the pattern I made, but still quite nice I think, so I'll be using it.

The blade after a bit of work with a file. I made the cutting edge just under 3" to keep it "legal" in the UK. The tang looks a bit too long and I think I am probably going to shorten it a bit.

This is what it looks like with the handle on top of the blade. The tang follows the cuve of the antler and I quite like it that way. Nevertheless, when folded it looks like its going to be quite a long knife, so I still might shorten the tang... It would be about 6 1/4" long folded and by cutting the tang, I could shorten it to about 5 1/2". Is it worth it? I need a bit more thinking time!

A bit of forging practice...:-)

2011-01-17T08:28:00.000-08:00

I managed to find a little time to squeeze in a bit of forging practice today. I fired the gas forge and, using some bits of mild steel, made these two knives. Being mild steel, they obviously can't be hardened, but they'll make perfect letter openers! They were just fun and relaxing to make, nice things to do to loose yourself in. Number 1 is 7" (175mm) long and number 2, 6 1/2" long (165mm)

Back to reality

2011-01-03T00:16:00.000-08:00

Well, the Xmas and new year period is over, and it's back to reality. I gave myself a few days off over the holiday, and have done little work. I needed that.

Now, I have been trying to make a living over the past year, out of making knives and leather work and turning that into a proper small business. I don't think it's going to go anywhere much. Just as well I have a part time job that I like doing. I was selling quite a few knives when I started last year. It didn't last long! Now? I have a couple of fixed blade knives to make and a folder. That's it. The recession is obviously bitting, or, what I make people don't want, or I am not good enough at promoting my work. Probably a combination of all these. Besides, it costs to promote your work. It won't help to have the VAT increase, the fuel price increase we had in the last few days, and of course the VAT increase will make the price of fuel increase yet again. Can't have those big businesses and bank make a loss now, can we? Never mind the little people. Who care about them? Certainly not the government, despite their "Big Society" and "we're all in this together" meaningless crap.

Maybe I don't make enough stuff. But then I am not a factory in China, churning out millions of cheap tat, which it seems is what people want, not an "expensive" hand made knife.

How is a craftsman supposed to make even a modest living? and does anybody really care, except other crafsmen & women and their family? "I don't know" and "I don't think so".

Any one with any ideas? I'd love to hear.

Funnily enough, I am not feeling terribly down about it all. It wouldn't help anyway. More pissed off with, and detached from, it...wondering what's going to come next!

Jest to nowy rok ...

2011-01-01T03:57:00.000-08:00

... i mam nadzieję, że przyniesie to dobre rzeczy, a niektóre szczęśliwy czas, aby ludzie na całym świecie. Nie jestem tak naiwny, aby uwierzyć, że to wszystko będzie usłane różami chociaż. Miejmy nadzieję, że politycy wszędzie są nieco bardziej ludzkie i nieco mniej chciwi.

Kto to jest, który rzekł: Wierzę, że złego rządu jest zazwyczaj ze względu na rząd za dużo? Czy będą się uczyć? jury jest jeszcze na ten jeden.

W każdym razie, nie sądzę, wszystko się zmieni, ponieważ rządy na całym świecie chcemy, idą zbyt wiele zainteresowania w status quo. Co spowoduje wyłącznie zmianę kiedy zwykli ludzie mogą realizować je zmienić. Jakoś, my zwykli ludzie, ale na życie polityków do wprowadzenia kilku nowych batteires w, i włączyć ich w aparatach słuchowych!

Udaliśmy się na promenadzie i plaży w nocy, aby zobaczyć w nowym roku w dość spokojnym miejscu z kilku ludzi, z wyjątkiem wokół otworów podlewania! Było miło impronptu pokaz sztucznych ogni przez jednego z klubów wzdłuż promenady, która bawiliśmy.

Życzę szczęśliwego nowego roku dla wszystkich!

Es el año nuevo ...

2011-01-01T03:55:00.001-08:00

... y espero que cosas buenas y en algún momento feliz a la gente en todas partes. No soy tan ingenuo como para creer que todo va a ser un lecho de rosas sin embargo. Esperemos que los políticos en todas partes son un poco más humano y un poco menos codiciosos.

¿Quién es el que dijo: Yo creo que el mal gobierno se debe generalmente a un gobierno demasiado? ¿Van a aprender? El jurado está todavía fuera de éste.

De todos modos, no creo que las cosas van a cambiar porque los gobiernos de todo el mundo quiere que, van demasiado interés en el status quo. Las cosas sólo cambiarán cuando la gente común se dan cuenta que puede hacer el cambio. De alguna manera, que la gente común tienen que obligar a los políticos para poner un poco de batteires nuevo, y convertir sus audífonos!

Nos fuimos en el paseo marítimo y la playa la noche anterior para ver el nuevo año pulgadas Muy tranquilo, con poca gente fuera, excepto alrededor de los pozos de agua! Hubo una exhibición de fuegos artificiales agradable impronptu por uno de los clubes a lo largo del paseo marítimo que hemos disfrutado.

Deseo un feliz año nuevo a todos!

Es ist das neue Jahr ...

2011-01-01T03:53:00.000-08:00

... und ich hoffe, es wird gute Dinge und einige glückliche Zeit, um die Menschen überall zu bringen. Ich bin nicht so naiv zu glauben, es läuft alles auf ein Bett aus Rosen obwohl sein. Hoffen wir, die Politiker sind überall ein bisschen mehr Menschen und ein bisschen weniger gierig.

Wer ist es, der sagte: Ich glaube, schlechte Regierung ist in der Regel durch zu viel Regierung? Werden sie lernen? Das Urteil steht noch aus in diesem Fall.

Anyway, ich glaube nicht, dass die Dinge sich ändern, weil die Regierungen überall finden wollen, gehen sie zu viel Interesse an den Status quo. Die Dinge werden sich erst ändern, wenn normale Menschen können sie es ändern zu realisieren. Irgendwie haben wir die einfachen Leute haben zu zwingen die Politiker, um einige neue batteires in setzen und drehen ihre Hörgeräte auf!

Wir gingen auf die Promenade und der Strand letzte Nacht in das neue Jahr auf ganz ruhig sehen, mit wenigen Menschen, die, außer um die Wasserstellen! Es war eine schöne impronptu Feuerwerk von einem der Vereine entlang der Promenade, die wir genossen.

Ich wünsche ein frohes neues Jahr an alle!

S'est la nouvelle annee...

2011-01-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

... et je souhaite qu'elle vous apporte de bonnes choses et quelques moments de bonheur aux gens partout dans le monde. Je ne suis pas assez naïf pour croire que tout va être un lit de roses. Espérons que les politiciens partout dans le monde deviennent un peu plus humain et un peu moins gourmand.

Qui est-ce qui a dit: Je crois que les mauvais gouvernements sont généralement due à trop de gouvernement? Vont-ils apprendre? Le jury n'est pas encore pret a juger.

Quoi qu'il en soit, je ne pense pas que les choses vont changer parce que les gouvernements partout dans le monde le souhaitez, ils vont trop d'intérêt dans le statu quo. Les choses ne changeront que lorsque les gens ordinaires se rendent compte qu'ils peuvent le faire changer. D'une certaine façon, nous les gens ordinaires devront forcer les politiciens à mettre des nouvelles piles, et à allumer leurs appareils auditifs!

Nous sommes allés sur la promenade et sur la plage la nuit dernière pour voir la nouvelle année. S'etait assez tranquille avec peu de gens dehors, sauf autour des bistros et des clubs! Il y avait un feu d'artifice agréable et impromptu par l'un des clubs le long de la promenade que nous avons apprécié.

Alors bonne annee et bonne sante a tous!

It's the new year...

2011-01-01T03:42:00.000-08:00

...and I hope it will bring good things and some happy time to people everywhere. I am not so naive to believe it's all going to be a bed of roses though. Let's hope the politicians everywhere are a bit more human and a bit less greedy.

Who is it who said: I believe bad government is generally due to too much government? Will they learn? The jury is still out on this one.

Anyway, I don't think things will change because the governments everywhere want it to, they go too much interest in the status quo. Things will only change when ordinary people realise they can make it change. Somehow, we the ordinary people have got to force the politicians to put some new batteires in, and turn their hearing aids on!

We went onto the promenade and the beach last night to see the new year in. Quite quiet with few people out, except around the watering holes! There was a nice impronptu firework display by one of the clubs along the promenade which we enjoyed.

Happy new year to the many people who visit my blog!

The finished viking knife

2010-12-30T07:37:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to get a fresh bottle of gas for my forge and got around to finishing the viking style knife. It's turned out quite well. I used some piece of re-bar I found and considering it's an unknown bit of steel, and despite having developed some long cracks in the blade and tang, I am very pleased with it.

It's not going to see much service, except in the kitchen, chopping onions and such. The joint betwen the blade and the tang has a crack and it probably would not take much effort to brake the blade off. So it's going to have an easy life.

The blade is about 4 3/4" (120mm) long, overall 9 1/2" long. The only grinding I have done is give a nice curve to the cutting edge and sharpened it, and about 3/4" on the top of the blade at the tip to give it a point. The rest is as forged.

I have learned a lot from making this knife and will apply that new found knowledge to the next ones!

Well, it is Christmas...

2010-12-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

....and I would like to wish everyone who visit my blog a happy Xmas and a good New Year.

Although I know it is unlikely to happen, I wil still hope for peace and for people to have more regards & respects for each other's values and lives. And, too, that people learn to love and give more respect to their little planet and all it's inhabitants.

Why the crack...

2010-12-24T04:44:00.000-08:00

It is as I suspected. The crack in the viking knife was most likely due to not enough heat. The piece of rebar is really an unknown quality of steel, and there is no way to know what the composition was/is. My little two-brick forge is great for small blades of known quality of steel, such as silver steel and 01. Certainly, nothing much bigger than 4" in length. As well, it didn't help that my bottle of gas started to run on empty...

So, not enough heat from lack of gas, the limitations of the forge, an unknown steel quality, all contributed to the failure of the steel. All good learning opportunities!

I'll still finish the knife, that is, if it does not break before the end of the process. It won't see much active service of course, but it might still be a useful addition to the kitchen!

Forging a viking knife

2010-12-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

I found a piece of 1/2" (12mm) re-bar today and I started to forge a one piece viking knife. Play was stopped when I ran out of gas...:-(

For now I just have a couple of pictures to show where play stopped!

Now...the not so good bit:

A long crack along the top of the blade and along most of the tang as well...doh! Going from the principle than we often learn more from our mistakes than from what goes well, I am not dissapointed, because this is a learning experiment for me, and I am anxious to discover what caused that crack... Anyone knows? Possibly a mix of not quite enough heat and hitting the steel too hard? I think that the size of this blade may be a little too much for my little gas forge!

I am still going to finish that knife as it's a good exercise in forging.

Touchmark, part two

2010-12-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

The three stamps...

I have done a bit more work on creating a touchmark. I chose two of th stamps I made earlier in the week and tried to improve on them. I partially succeeded, They make better marks, but it's not quite there yet. I made a stamps with my initials JD. That marks quite well, because the lines are thinner, The D is a bit wonky, as it's more difficult to do the inside of the letter. The S stamp leaves a nice mark I think.

They all can be improved upon and I'll continue to work to improve them, while I try and think up a touchmark design for myself.

...and the marks they makes.

Making a blacksmith's touchmark

2010-12-19T07:20:00.000-08:00

I found out this morning that to have a touckmark make professionally would cost me from £70.00 for a small simple design... So I started thinking that if I can make a knife, I should be able to come up with a suitable mark for my forged knives.I decided to experiment a bit. The steel I used on these tools are small left over silver steel, 1/4" and 3/8".

Some lessons I learned from this experiment.

I now know why they are expensive to make!

I also know its possible to home make a blacksmith's mark, so long as I keep it simple.

The ones that worked best were the squiggly S stamp and the arrow, in that order.

1/4" is too thin, I bent it the second time I hit it.

The stamps should be about 6" long, any shorter and it places your fingers too close to the hot metal you want to stamp.

3/8" should be ok for the thinner marks such as the arrow.

1/2" should be used for the somewhat bigger stamps, because it needs a fairly hefty wallop to make a mark.

So, I am going to experiment some more, and I am fairly confident I can come up with a mark that will suit the style of knives I intend to make in the near future.

A couple of results from the experiment

A bit of forging...AKA...hot metal bashing!

2010-12-14T12:12:00.000-08:00

I had a bit of time this afternoon, so I fired my new 2 brick forge and made a couple of things. One is a medieval dining skewer, precursor to the fork as we know it? I followed this picture to make my copy.

Here is mine. It started as a 4 mm square bar of mild steel. The taper is not so easy to get right as it looks. Also, I should have forged the whole length before I twisted the bar, as I think it would have looked better. Getting the round, tapering tail need to do the handle was relatively easy to do. Getting a nice round shape was not as easy either, and I haven't quite succedeed. But all in all though, I am very pleased with it

What I am trying for is to get the feel for manipulating the metal. It is quite different from working wood, which is within my comfort zone: what you do is to remove material. Same with stock removal. . Forging is more intuitive I believe. you need to learn through your hammer what it feels like, where the metal is moving to, because, with wood, you remove material. With forging hot metal, you displace mass. I made this skewer to get the feel for making a long taper. Also to get the feel of how the hot metal moves when you make a round out of a square.

The other object I made is this wrist band. On the face of it, a simple shape. But it's not that easy to get that simple shape! I started from a 4mm square mild steel from the local DIY shop I had kicking about. I am quite pleased with this one as well. I'll be wearing it for now!

I am really enjoying forging, and will be making more small objects as practice. Next will probably be a try at a two prong fork. There is a lot to learn!

Knife Raffle for the benefit of The Big Issue Foundation

2010-12-12T07:51:00.000-08:00

In order to help my daughter achieve her goal of raising £1300 for The Big Issue, and therefore be able to take part on the London to Paris 2011 Bike Ride, I am holding two raffles for two of my handmade knives at the same time on two different forums: on Bushcraftuk and on Planet Bushcraft . Both owners have very kindly agreed to let me hold the raffles on their forums. For this, I'd like to offer my thanks to them.

The two new knives

2010-12-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the two knives I have made with the blades I forged a couple of days ago.

The smaller one has a handle of Yew, dipped into Linseed oil. It's a little whittling knife for a young man's Christmas present.

The larger one has a deer antler and pewter handle it still need a bit of finishing work and then, both want a sheath, of course.

My new two brick gas forge

2010-12-07T14:01:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to making my new small, 2 brick gas forge. I used some Insulation Bricks, 23GD - 230 x 152 x 76mm, so they are a bit bigger than ordinary bricks. It's easier to do the work in two halves, because you can carve the 1/2 chambers out much more easily. I used a spoon, as the bricks are quite soft, and used a rasp to finish. My blow torch is not a beast by any means, but it does the job well enough. The fire cement has not cracked at all, so far anyway, but the bricks have developed a few cracks. I don't think they are much of a problem though.

Once carved, both halves of the chamber are lined with refractory cement, then attached together, simply by using garden wire. I also removed the two bars across the chamber. The joints between both bricks received some refractory cement, that was a bit more difficult due to the relative narrowness of the chamber, but not too bad. Then I folded a sheet of aluminium around it to protect the soft bricks.

Once finished, I put the whole caboodle into the cooker's oven for a couple of hours to cure the cement. I fired it today and forged a couple of blades out of some 3/8" Silver Steel . So far, I am very pleased with it: it gives out plenty of heat for small blades and I can use it inside my workshop, with the door open of course! Until I can come up with a more imaginative maker's mark, I'll be stamping my initials JD on the blades.

The blades are 3" and 2" long

I did a bit of file work to tidy up both blades, as my forging is still in its enfancy. I have put the whole thing on top of some more reflactory bricks, to prevent any risk of scorching the bench. The outside of the forge does get warm but not too badly so there shouldn't be any problems.

A short walk by the river

2010-12-07T05:07:00.000-08:00

Ice on the trees and reeds along the Waveney River

We went for a walk this morning, me and Jack, our English Bull Terrier. The weather was cold and misty, not much Sun around, although it did make the briefest of appearances.


One of the many drainage dikes

I am lucky that I can just walk out of the door and within 1/2 hour, I am along the river. It's all farm land and I am of course restricted to the tracks and footpaths, and there not a lot of places with trees. The trees along the river are flooded at the moment because the river water level is high, and there is some flooding in the marshes. But it's still a beautiful walk along the river. Generally, particularly during the week, there are only a few people, so, I tend to have the place almost to myself.

This morning, I saw Herons, a Barn Owl working the edge of the banks along the river, swans, I even got a glimpse of what I think was a Weasel, scuttling across the path.

The Waveney River, looking South

Rainbow, looking North

There was a deer grazing in the field, too far to take a picture of it and I'd forgotten to take my binoculars too...:-(

Unfortunately, we can't see it, but the deer was grazing in the field, right under the bottom of the rainbow!

Not a terribly good picture of the swan!

One of the many herons on the marshes

That swan nearly flew overhead, but obviously didn't like the look of me and the dog, and quickly veered off course!

What is a crooked Knife?

2010-12-04T04:38:00.000-08:00

There are many different type of carving knives with curved blades. People seem to call anything with a curved blade a crooked knife.

The proper Crooked Knife or, to give it it's Native American names, the Wagikoman, Mocotaugan, Mukutakan, Bikahtagenigan, Couteau Croche, appear to have originally been a Native American tool made using beaver teeth and, most probably other material such as stones. Later, when white people turned up uninvited, taking over the show and bringing many unwanted things, they also brought steel with them. Presumably because steel is stronger than beaver's teeth, (I assume, having never used a beaver's tooth, to make a knife, I wouldn't mind trying to make one, if someone out there has any beaver's teeth to spare!) the crooked knives acquired steel blades.

Depending on what you read, the word crooked refers to the shape of the handle rather than the blade, but other texts assert the name refers to the shape of the blade and not to the handle.

So to me, a Mocotoguan is a tool like this:

Mocotoguan with forged blade

And you hold it like this:

Holding a right-handed crooked knife

It is a very versatile tool, and was used primarily to work green woods, rather than dry woods.

Apart from an ushtashku (axe), one can think of no other tool as important to the Innu hunter as the mukutakan (crooked knife). This multi-purpose knife was used to shave thin planking and ribs for canoes and toboggans, make stretching boards to dry furs, carve wooden dolls for the children, fashion snowshoe frames and drums, and many other objects out of wood...

Using the crooked knife

Another of the characteristics of this tool is that you pull it towards you, rather than pushing it away from you. It is more akin to using a draw knife, albeit a one-handed one. Native Woodsmen didn't carry a bench or a vice in the woods with them, so they held the piece to be worked in one hand and then held the knife in the other hand. A obsession with Health & Safety has conditioned people to worry about pulling a sharp blade towards themselves, in fear of cutting themselves open. If you hold the Mocotogan correctly, hold your elbow against your side and work green wood as was intented, there is no more reason to cut yourself than with any other tools.

The blades can be many shapes and sizes, from a straight blade, sticking straight out of the handle, to a curved blade with compound angles . From my own experience, the curve at the end of the blade is there more to prevent digging into the work with the tip rather than to be used for hollowing . It can be used for hollowing, but I don't think this was the entended purpose for the majority of the knives. Again from my own experience, I believe the blades need to be thick enough not to bend.

Other curved blade knives.

There are other curved knife blades available, and I have seen most of them called crooked knives, though they definitely are not.

Hoof knife, as used by farriers


Loop knife

The good old Mora spoon knife

Then, there are the carving blades made by Kestrel Tools. These are high quality, I would almost say dainty, carving tools blades. They are carving knives blades rather than crooked knives.

Complete set of Kestrel's carving blades

Of course, a crooked knife is a very versatile tool. It's not just wood you can use it on!

Removing meat from a bone

In my view then, it's horse for courses . Spoon knives for hollowing, curved carving blades for carving, hoof and loop knives for horses' feet.

So then, crooked knife for all purpose green wood work, or for dry softwood.

So, in my (not humble or apologetic at all!) opinion the Crooked knife is, and deserves to be the true, versatile, Bushcraft knife.

The Village Blacksmith

2010-12-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his haul, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Canoe at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London???

2010-12-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

I recently received this very interesting Email from a researcher from the V&A Museum in London.

Dear Mr Delorme
I am currently conducting research on behalf of the Victoria & Albert
Museum, London, for a forthcoming show slated for Sept 2011 about
skills and making. At this stage of our reseach, we would like to
inquire about the availability of one of your bespoke canoes found
through: http://www.birchcanoes.com/bespoke.htm

Could you please let us know what the availability of the piece is --
is there one already built , for example. It would be great if you
could also share with us some basic object information such as
dimenions, materials used and weightage.

Many thanks for your help with this. Please do not hesitate to contact
me if you have any questions at this time.

The canoe in question is this one. I built it a few years ago now.

I am really pleased my work interested the researcher enough that it might be part of a show at the V&A !

I hope something will come out of this.

Customer service....

2010-11-27T02:21:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a small rant, but I feel I need to have it..:-(((

What is it with people...
I went into the local Tesco Express earlier, having run out of milk and coffee. Got to my turn to pay, I rummaged a bit in my pocket for change and found I was short of 40p, so I had to get my card out. Now how long do you think this all took? 20/30 seconds ? The look of exasperation on Grumpy's face (that's the name of the guy at the till now), because I obviously was taking far too much of his time. You'd think I was taking half his day with my transaction....Maybe I am old fashion now. It's not cool to be polite, let alone pleasant, for a shop worker it seems. In most shops, you get bored, grumpy, unpleasant people serving you. And it was not just Grumpy who was grumpy looking. The woman behind me had the same exasperated look on her face when I turned around, and made no effort to let me pass, she had to in the end but really...Maybe I am just a "past it" ol'codger.. But at least I do my best to be pleasant to people.

Carving knives

2010-11-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

About 2 weeks ago, I posted about a small spoon carving knife I had made with a forged silver steel blade. I have now replaced the handle for something longer and simpler. Also, I have forged a few more blades, both left and right handed ones. Here are a couple of pictures of one left handed and one right handed blades.

The handles are hand carved Ash, slightly burned with a blow torch to give them a bit of character, then oiled with Linseed oil. The blades are epoxied into a hole in the handle. The holes are drilled at an angle into the handle to give the blade a slight up and back sweep.

I am going to forge some more of those carving blades, with different curves on them, from flatter curves to some with tighter curves. Watch this space!

I forgot to say, I used some 1/4" (6mm) round silver steel bar for those blades.

Simple design for a crooked knife

2010-11-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

I made this simple left handed crooked knife yesterday, the blade is forged from a 1/4" silver steel round bar. It has a slight curve along its length with a more upsweep curve at the end. The purpose of that upsweep is to prevent the tip of the blade from digging in when you want to carve a flat surface such as a paddle blade, not to carve hollows such as spoons or kuksas. The blade has both a upsweep angle and a backward angle, the purpose of these being to make it easier to keep the wrist in line with the forearm, therefore making it easier and less tiring to carve with

it. The handle is a simple piece of Oak, curved to suit my hand in this case, then carved with a knife, singed with a blow torch ans lightly sanded. The blade, which has a 90 degrees point at the end of the tang, is fitted into a groove in the handle and glued with pitch pine, wrapped with some thick rough linen thread which is then saturated with melted beeswax.

The whole handle is then coated with beeswax too. Using a heat gun made it easy to saturate the thread and the handle.

I like to think that Wallace McLean would have approved!

A viking sheath

2010-11-22T09:48:00.000-08:00

I have thought before about making a copy of one of those viking sheath, and so when I finished my knife with the long handle I thought that the viking style would go quite well with it.

The leather part of the sheath is quite conventional, with a welt glued in. I did not do any sewing on this sheath. The brass fittings are all cut from some thinnish brass plate I got from a model shop. The rivets are round headed brass nails. I made some thin cardboard patterns for all the pieces before cutting them, card being easier to work without damaging the leather surface and dye. The hardest part of making this sheath was drilling the rivet holes square to the sheath so they would come out at the right place on the other side of the sheath. It proved easier to drill through half way, then turn the sheath around and drill from the other side.
The surface of the brass fittings are hammered lightly with a bronze peen hammer to give a slight texture which I think contrast very nicely with the texture and colour of the leather.

I loosely copied the design of the brass fittings, and modifed them to suit the shape of the knife to ensure a good tight fit.

How to make a crooked knife

2010-11-21T01:02:00.000-08:00

I was doing a bit of searching for crooked knives and found this interesting short article by a chap called Wallace McLean.

The crooked knife I got is an old one that I got from an old Indian feller a long time ago. I made one myself about five years ago.

A lot of people, when they makes a crooked knife, got to have a certain kind of wood to make their fire burn. Some says it got to be birch. Some says it got to be balsam. Me, I don't care what it is.

Crooked Knife by Wallace McLean

You take a set of knives or a bunch of axes, they all look alike, but you get some good ones and some bad ones. 'Tis the same with crooked knives. My one, I made out of an old trap spring, which is the best steel you can get. You might make one that will turn out number one, and you might make a dozen and not get a good one among them.

First you got to take the temper out of the steel. What I do is this. I red hot the steel and cut it to shape with a file. Once you burn the temper out it becomes easy to cut, so then you files it down to the shape you wants. When 'tis finished you heat it up again. Now you dip it in salt water, weak pickle. When you take it out of the pickle, you run your file over it. If the file won't take hold, well, 'tis too hard, and if the file digs in, then 'tis too soft. If 'tis too hard you heat it up on the stove until the file will take hold to your likin'. If 'tis too soft you heat it again and put it back in the pickle.

Wallace McLean

You file a crooked knife on one side. A crooked knife, a plane and a draw-knife is only bevelled on one side.

What I can't do with a crooked knife I can't do at all. The crooked knife is the most tool I ever used in my life. There's lots of people who don't know how to use a crooked knife. I've seen people use them upside down. You can't use it like that. If I was goin' to make a shavin' with a pocket knife. I'd cut away from me. If I was makin' a shavin' with a crooked knife, I'd cut towards me. That's how 'tis done.
WALLACE McLEAN
NORTH WEST RIVER

THEM DAYS VOL. 5.1

London to Paris Bike Ride

2010-11-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

No doubt you noticed the large Logo about this. Well, my daughter has signed up to do this ride on behalf of the Big Issue Foundation. 230 miles in 3 days, one of the days will be 90 miles! Now, I sometimes cycle the 10 miles to where I work. It takes me about an hour. So 90 miles would take me about 9 hours +... I am certain my daughter is fitter than I am! Still, it's not an easy thing to do and no doubt she will be saddle sore by the end of the day.

She has to raise the sponsorship money herself, plus all the equipment she'll need. She would appreciate any support you can give her, particularly money, so she can achieve the goal to raise the money for the Big Issue, and in the process, to achieve her personal goal to cycle to Paris!

Thank you for any help.

My blog's evolving!

2010-11-19T09:32:00.000-08:00

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed a few changes on my blog recently. From the picture at the top, to the addition of a definition of what I think my blog is about, to a different colour scheme.

I have been pondering about what my blog is about and came to the conclusion that I was not clear, even to myself, where I was going with it. So far it's been mainly "about" the things I make. Mainly knives of course, after all, I am now trying to make and sell them to supplement my income, so this is part of a proper business. So it is important for me to continue talking about my newest designs. Of course, I am not giving up the day job just yet! I am not making a fortune here...

However important making things is to me, there is more to life. There is also the why and the how, and I would like to give back a bit more by showing how I makethose objects. So I'll be making some more video tutorials and write more about how I make knives and other artifacts.

I have noticed too that I have done more Ramblings than Wanderings. So, I'll be adding more of those in the near future. I'll be doing/showing a bit more bushcraft and carving than I have done recently too.

If anyone has suggestions about what they'd like to see here, I would appreciate if you would please post some comments here.

My latest knife. The Kestrel

2010-11-16T12:48:00.001-08:00

This is my latest knife and I called it the Kestrel. As all my stock removal knives, I have used 3mm thick 01 tool steel stock for the full tang blade. It is just 8" long and the cutting edge of the blade is 3 3/4" long with a blade width of 1". I have used a nice piece of English Yew for the scales and once again poured a pewter bolster. The scales are epoxied to the blade and I used some steel pins as well. The handle needs a little more sanding and soaking in boiled Linseed oil to finish. I have made the handle a little chunky and, with the added weight of the pewter bolster, the Kestrel feels like quite a solid knife.

The pictures are slightly blurred but I have now purchased a tripod so I am hoping my photography will improve!

Carving a spoon. Part one

2010-11-10T13:39:00.001-08:00

This is my first venture into making short videos, but I'll be making more short videos to show how I carve a spoon. Apart from cutting the blank on the band saw to save timber, I'll try to only use that curved carving tool. I haven't got a plan as to what the spoon will look like when it's done, and I hope it will prove interesting to a few people.

So, here goes...

New spoon carving tool

2010-11-10T00:19:00.000-08:00

I decided to fire up my little gas "forge" yesterday. Well, forge is a rather grand name for a few fire bricks held together with fencing wire, but it work well enough for small stuff!

Not feeling up to big works at the moment, I have been thinking about small carving tools, such as spoon knives and crooked knives and came up with this little spoon knife. The blade is forged out of some 1/4" silver steel rod. I have given it a good curve and the cutting edge is 1 3/4" long. It's about 3/8" wide. I have given it a bit of sweep back and up, just like a crooked knife blade. The handle is an old chisel handle I had lying about the workshop. I don't think this handle is the most practical shape for a carving tool, but I wanted to finish it quickly so used what I had at hand.

Once forged, I hardened it and then tempered it. Now its sharpened and has a wickedly sharp edge. I am going to give it a work out today and carve a spoon. I'll post pictures when done.

Forging even a small tool like this one is a very satisfying way to spend a few moments or two!

Snowshoes

2010-11-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

Now I know that where I live there is not a great need for a pair of snow shoes, even in the worst that Winter will throw at me here. But I have had a desire to make a pair of snow shoes myself. I have no experience of snowshoes making. I have on the other hand a deep appreciation of the skills required to achieve a good pair of snow shoes, even half as good as Bill's.

I have the wood prepared for that first pair. I want to use rawhide, babiche, to make my pair. I need to collect enough rawhide to start making enough babiche.

In the meanwhile, I came across the site of a craftman who make, among other superb things, some superb snow shoes too.

His name is Bill Mackomski, and you can see his work on his site.

Just as a taster, here are a couple of pictures of some of his work. Please take note of how finely his work is done.

The snowshoes below are by another maker, but nowhere as finely made. Just to illustrate the drop in quality between Bill's reproductions of traditional, Native made, snowshoes, and subsequent loss of quality. This is not to be critical of the last pair or it's maker. I doubt mine will be anywhere near as good as the modern way of making them.

But simply to show the loss of ability and knowledge of the Old Timers, when those old timers die and there were no-one following in their foot steps. It is good that there are craftsmen out there that have the will and the knowledge to continue producing high quality articles such as Bill's work.

Second knife of a set of three

2010-11-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

To go with the new Nessie, I have created another 2 knives. This is the second of the set. The knife is unusual because it has a very long and slim handle. The length is slightly over 8 1/2", a bit longer thaan the Nessie, but the blade is only 2 1/2" long. The reason is that I am growing to like long handle on my knives. I have fairly large hands and I found it easier to manipulate a knife with a long handle.

Tutorial. How to make a pewter bolster

2010-11-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

I have written this post to show how I am making the pewter bolsters on some of my knives.

This is the knife I am going to use to make the bolster.

The two holes in the blades are there to anchor the pewter bolter onto the blade. You can see the 1/2 round scallop on the wood part of the handle, this is both to look nice and to hold on to the wood handle. It could be said the holes in the blade will weaken it, but I think the bolster pewter compensates for that.

First thing to do is to wrap about 10 turns of masking tape around the handle below the 1/2 round scallop. This compensate for the slight shrinkage when the pewter cools down.

Next, I cut a strip of thin cardboard, the sort of stuff you find on a breakfast cereal box. I wrapped it around the handle, with the top about where I wanted the pewter to end. Then I used masking tape to secure the cardboard to the handle.

A (poor) view of the well into which the pewter is going to be poured.

The knife being held in the vice, ready for the pewter to be poured.

This is the ladle I bought for pouring the pewter. It's not particularly good. Basically, I find it too small and the spouts are also a bit on the short side. It would have been better and cheaper to use a small tin/can and bend a pouring spout onto it. Also on the pic is a bar of pewter. I tried to find some pewter pots and such in second hand shops, to no avail unfortunately, so ended buying some. On the plus side, it's pretty pure pewter with little lead in it.

The pewter, chopped up into the laddle and being melted with a blow torch. I made sure to heat it up well, to give a little more pouring time, as it hardens very quickly. Also it is worth warming the blade up, I used a hot air gun. This also add a bit more time, and helps the pewter stick to the blade better. Then I quickly poured the molten pewter in one smooth move into the cardboard well. I was careful here: the molten pewter is VERY hot, and it will spatter droplets all over the place if it fall onto the floor. Not a good idea to do it wearing open toe sandals! Also it is important to make sure everything it completely dry. If there is any moisture anywhere when the pewter is being poured, it will sort of explode all over the place. It is not a good idea.

The cooled pewter bolster, fresh out of the cardboard.

Finally, a picture of the finished bolster. The pewter bolster is easy to finish with hand files and increasingly finer wet/dry sand paper.

My new Nessie design

2010-11-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

I have made many Nessies of various shapes and sizes in the recent past, and never managed to keep one to myself yet! So I decided to make one for me...I'll try to hang on to it, for a while anyway! It's a strange thing, but because I know I can makes knives, I am not so inclined to hang on to them, and If I get an good offer...well, you know...

All my Nessies to date have been closely following Nessmuk's drawings, with the more extreme curve than most bushcrafters are comfortable with regarding knives. I decided to design and make a new knife, unmistakenly Nessie, but which would be a middle ground in abilities between a Woodlore type and a full on Nessie.

It definitely has the Nessie's spirit and good looks. The cutting edge is not as curved as on "normal" Nessies. The handle is also a bit flattened out and a little more chunkie to fit into my hand better. I have used Yew slabs and cast a pewter bolter and because of that, it has a very solid, hefty feel to it, but without being too heavy. The pins are steel and the lanyard tube is brass. To go with the overall style, I would have prefered a steel tube but couldn't find one. The 3mm thick, 01 tool steel blade, is etched.

By being less "extreme" in Nessie design terms, it should be a good all round woodcraft knife. Oz, from Canadian Bushcraft, filmed a video where he shows a different technique for making fuzz sticks, and he uses a normal Nessie to do it. So the Nessie design does works as a general woodcraft knife, not just as a full on hunting/butchering knife, which is why I think this little Nessie will work well.

It needs a little more sanding on the handle and then a bath in boiled linseed oil. And of course, a sheath.

Overall, the Nessie is 8 1/4" long. The cutting edge is just 4" long.

An update on my tablet weaving

2010-11-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I have persevered with the tablet weaving and finished my first strap. It's 2" wide and 4ft long. I am very happy with it as my first proper attempt at making something useful with weaving. I am going to use it to make the strap for a possible's/hunting bag, sort of mountaiman-ish! I have also made my first sample of double faced weaving. I am also happy with that because I have learned a lot from making those and I will continue tablet weaving. Here are a couple of pictures.

Here's the double-faced sample. It's a very simple design, designed by me! But it's was enough to help me understand how it works

This is the strap I am going to use for the bag. There are a few hiccups in the pattern, but it's barely noticeable, and I am very happy with it regardless!

The completed tablet woven band

2010-10-25T02:19:00.000-07:00

Well, this is it, my first completed, tablet woven, band. About 6ft long. There a a few mistakes on it, the selvedge is a bit irregular, but I am pleased nevetherless and have learned quite a lot from it.

First attempt at tablet weaving

2010-10-23T00:31:00.001-07:00

One of the advantages in temporarily not being able to do what I do normally do, is that it gives a good excuse to try something else. Tablet weaving has been on my list of things to try for a while. This is my first attempt.

I read somewhere that it's almost impossible to learn this skill on your own...bah...not true!

I built that inkle loom some while back and decided to use it to have a go. The tablets I bought. I searched the net for instructions and followed (to the letter) those instructions that seemed comprehensible and this is the result. I think it's quite good and I have learned quite a bit from it already, such as keeping tension (but not too much, as you can wear the warp threads down with the cards) and trying to get the band to stay the same width is somewhat tricky.

There are some beautiful and complicated looking tablet weaving patterns and techniques, such as using double sets of tablets to writes things on the bands, and this is all part of the fun. I am now waiting for a book to arrive to have a go at these!

Got to keep that ol' brain from getting addled!

A couple of new knives for myself

2010-10-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

One problem with being a knifemaker, is that it can be difficult to keep a knife for yourself! So those two, I am going to keep. But, having said that, anyone who would like one of those know where toask!

I only got as far as making the blades at the moment. I had abdominal surgery last Friday, and can't do too much for a while, so I thought I'd just show the blades for now.

Both blades are about 8" long with cutting edges about 4" long. The top one came about as a fixed blade version of the folder I made for Sticks65, over on Planet Bushcraft, when he thought that, with a longer blade than the folder, it might make a very good fixed blade for Bushcraft.

The bottom blade is undeniably Nessmuk in shape! I wanted a slightly more flattened curve to the blade, but keeping the Nessie's general shape. I think I have succeeded quite well in this.

Both are going to have a pewter bolster, hence the two holes nearer the cutting edge. The holes are necessary for anchoring the pewter in place on the blades. I think they are both going to have horn handle just like the folder I made for Sticks65, hence the many small pin holes.

When I get around to finishing the knives and make the pewter bolsters I'll take some pictures of the process and post them, probably as a short tuturial.

I am back...!

2010-10-13T12:06:00.001-07:00

Well, I must apologies to my followers. I have been a bit lax lately with my blogging. In my defence, I have been rather preoccupied with trying to earn money (aarrghh...) .

As well, I am going to have an op on a hernia which has caused me a bit of grienf lately. I am having my op this Friday coming (the day after tomorrow) It's meant to be a day operation, but on my last visit at the hospital, I was told I'll most probably will stay in for the night. Then it will be anything between 2 and 8 weeks off...:-( This is going to drive me up the wall! I'll have to avoid any lifting (not even a saucespan) for a few days and "refrain" from manual work too..

So I have lined up a few books to read, I am going to have a go at learning a bit of tablet weaving! I have made a few knife blades (some new designs...:-) ) and if I don't feel too bad I may have a go at finishing the handles! And I have got some fresh new veg tan leather to play with!

Woods Master Junior with leather handle

2010-08-06T10:23:00.001-07:00

I have had this Woods Master Junior blade sitting around my shop for ages. I also had some really thick leather I bought ages ago and didn't make use of for the purpose for which I'd bought it in the first place. So I decided to use some of that leather to make a handle on a knife to see how well it could do. Of course, leather has been used for centuries to make leather handles, particularly Scandinavian knives.

The leather I used is 1/4" thick, epoxied to the blade, then riveted with large saddler's rivets, textured, then dipped into hot beeswax.

The leather is now almost hard as nail, although it still feels soft and warm to the touch, and has some slight give. With hindsight, the rivets probably don't need to be as big as they are. I used them because I had them at hand, and thought the bigger rivets would support the scales better. I should also have dyed the leather first, it's taken a funny toffee colour. And I should have sanded the rivets before setting them, as they look a bit rough, but I think these are only minor cosmetic changes.

All in all, I am pleased with this first experiment with a leather handle and I am already planning my next knife. I think this is going to be a practical material for knife handle, if not as pretty as some woods or antler. It's less slippery wet than dry too, although I used only water. It may prove more slippery with gunge on it! And much nicer to work than Micarta!

My new crooked knife

2010-07-31T12:42:00.001-07:00

Crooked knives can be used to make many practical and necessary every day objects: birch bark canoes, paddles, bows and arrows, snow shoes, axe handles...the list was endless for the native people of the Woodlands. I think it's a shame that modern buscrafters don't use the Mocautogan (it's Native name) vey much at all. It is such a practical tool. Holding it with the palm of the hand up, and pulling towards you, takes some getting use to, but once mastered it is a very versatile tool.

I have made various models of crooked knives, or Mocautogan, over the past few years and this is my latest variation on the theme.

This one is a left handed tool, it has a very hard and dense Walnut handle, shaped to my hand. The blade is 4" long, with a slight curve for most of the length, with the curve increasing towards the tip. The blade is fixed to the handle with a couple of small screws, but that was more for convenience than necessity. I have cast the pewter ferrule directly onto the handle and this holds the blade very securely.

This is only the second time I have cast a pewter ferrule on a knife, and it was a little more complicated and tricky than the first one, but I think it was well worth it and that it looks very nice.

It needs some more sanding with fine wet & dry paper, but I have run out at the moment!