Mugging!!!

Getting mugged isn't fun. No offense to opinel I know they aren't known to be any sort of tactical, they are beautiful working knives that maintains a razor edge with its carbon blade. It was of no use to me this afternoon while I was being mugged, I could not deploy my knife with one hand. The scoundrel didn't get hold of my knife when raiding my pockets, I am safe and so is Matthew, it was a short visit to my old flatmates. In retrospect as angry as I am I'm glad that I didn't stab him Because that would of been a lot more legal business. Every body keep safe see you soon.

"Something like a Carlos"

http://www.jeffthejewelerflorida.com/hand_forged_rings.html?JCat=1&PID=170

False tension setting

Its been a good morning so far, I've just finished off the ring going to polish. It is made from sterling silver and the stone will be set in the space you see but it will have a jump ring as a seat ; "False tension setting"
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One for me one for you?

I decided to take a break and forge some kiridashi, From tomorrow we start designing and coming up with a piece for the AngloPlatinum competition. These kiridashi have just been forged and profiled, it took me around about 4 hour to get h of them done

Rustic Kiridashi begins

This some round bar I had. after referring to spark testing chart I'm still unsure as to what type of steel it is. What I do know is that it is either low carbon steel and, medium carbon steel based on the characteristics of the sparks. The sparks and few, light yellow in colour and fork off at the end, not as many splits as tool steel but not as few as cast iron and wrought iron. The sparks tell me there is a fir amount of carbon in the steel.

LOOK AT THIS

I love it, this is not a new idea but I love it. It just makes everything neat and tidy and accessible. Thanks Nick!
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Anvils

I thought it would a great idea to look up a thing or two about the types of anvils. More for my own trivial pursuit, it's one of the things people don't worry about much anymore . To most people an anvil is an anvil is an anvil(that was fun to type), little do people think that the different items needing to be smithed require different anvils. This picture depicts just a handful of different anvils.

Kiridashi!

This Is a Type of knife called a kiridashi, the Japanese name gives to tools made for cutting referring to blades. I will be make a rustic kiridashi, Leaving evidence of the forging and heat treating process. The Primary bevel will be a saturn finished. This an idea of they kiridashi look generally. A kiridashi usually features a chisel grind, with a small micro bevel. Kiridashi and used my craftsmen as general carving and cutting blades; from wood word to leather work to to Musical instrument making.

Finished

I finally got it all together. What a stress, there are still little rough stops like chips in the wood and carving marks in the scroll. For some reason I'm stuck in between fixing them and leaving them. A thought says to leave them because it's designed after a bird and sorts, so a bit of roughness will be fine.Then another thought says to make it as perfect as I could but I think ill stay right where it is.

Karabit martial arts

This video is from insidemartialarts.tv, its just a promo for the martial art. It looks like a brutal manner to defend one self.  

Karambit Knife

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karambit

This is a knife I have just stumbled across, It is called the karambit. It finds its origins in Indonesia , the design was derived from an agricultural implement usually used for uprooting plants. It has been further modified over the hundreds of years to resemble the claws of the big cats such as the tiger and puma. This picture is a modern design of the traditional, this is what you would call a Tactical model karambit.

It's coming together

The crown hornbill-scimitar knife is together, the sheath is curing I was busy gluing the two halves together. Tomorrow I will be finishing up, I will touch up the scroll of this item as well. A long story, Earlier I thought I would darken the handle with linseed oil to accentuation t he grooves. That turned out to be disastrous, so I had to sand it all down to bare wood again. That explains why I'm not entirely happy with the scroll on the bottom end of the handle, it's still looks scruffy for my liking 

Finished flower pendant

This is the flower pendant I was working on earlier, all done. The stone just needs to be set, I managed to polish the inside of the flower with a mini mop. Its did a nice job of getting in there. This was a nice change of scene from making engagement and wedding bands.
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Hornbill Scrimtar knife

Here is my knife for the arrows exhibition, using a two wood handle made from teak and African blackwood. I started carving the scroll design in the handle and it's going very well, I've only stabbed myself once YAY! Please take note that factory sharpened tools aren't always as sharp as they need to be, and the unexperienced craftsmen it may seem satisfactory but they need a finer sharpening because blunt tools are more dangerous than sharp ones. By that I mean when tools are factory sharpened they just now sharp enough and it require the user to apply more pressure increasing risk of grievous bodily harm. So please test your wood working tool before hand carving, Sharpen and strop and get to shaving sharp; TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!

Hidden tang

http://www.customknifecollectorsassociation.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=1021&page=2

I came across this interesting method of making a threaded hidden tang knife.

Flower pendant

Someone saw the earrings I had made for a previous customer and liked it so much, they asked for a pendant to be made. I still need to solder the setting on in the middle and shape the flower into a cup like flower shape.
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Second thoughts

Holding this rough blade blank in my hand, I am really loving this little Ninja assasin looking blade. I must make another one at some time. It reminds me of the varieties of tooth pick knives. It will feature a scandi grind primary bevel with a small 2mm secondary micro bevel.

PNR Arrow exhibition knife

This is the knife I'm working on for the arrow exhibition, as you can see I was taken by the beaks of birds and their natural curves. I chose to look to the birds for inspiration because I thought it would be more difficult to find and use woods found in the Palmiet nature reserve. Today I forged and profiled the blade, it will be a half hidden tang knife. The blade was forged out on mild carbon steel, it was a scrap piece of round bar I had. I then did a spark test on the bench grinder to get a general idea. Sheath and handle will be made from teak. Stay tuned to see more picture tomorrow

Drop of smile

I found this drop of water on my bench at work. It made my day!
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O my GOSH!!

This has to be one of the most over done pieces I've ever made, a perfect example of " the customer always get what they want".
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Monkey fist knott

I have just learned how to do basic monkeys fist knot, I was thinking about making a lanyard for my Opinel. I used the stiffest line I had so it would be easy to earn. Now it's just a matter of scalling it down.

Puuko 2 finished

I finally finished my Second puuko, It has turned out a lot better in  comparison to the first one. There are only two things that I'm not happy with, one is the crack just under the quillion and two is the visible peened over tang on the butt cap. I am currently working on my logo or makers mark so I can etch it onto my blades from now on.

I'm Back

Hello everybody

I apologize for the silence over the last week , I had to attend a family funeral in Laingsburg. I've been a bit lazy and struggled to get back into routine. Not to worry I'm back, and puuko 2 is looking great. I will post some photos tomorrow when there's better lighting for photos.