Pig sticker started

[tomsm44]

Still haven't gotten any band saw blades to use on starting my handle for my straight razor, so I worked on this one this weekend.  I forged and rough profiled it about a year ago and never did any more work on it.  I got it profiled and rough ground yesterday.  I'll try to get the edge a little thinner and maybe get a little more distal taper.  Right now, I'm planning on this being my first try at a frame handle.  The blade is around 9 1/4" x 1 1/4"s so it's a pretty slim knife.  This is my first try grinding a clip with this much curve and its a little tricky.  I'll have do a little extra hand sanding in that area to get it evened out, but it should work out.

 

Matt Toms

[Ray Hammond]

nice Matt...good start

[Wudstix]

I can test that out for your in Texas, just let me know.  Looks like an awesome tool.

[D.Ellis]

Looking good Matt. Can't wait to see where you go with this one. It has a similar look to the fighter I'm working on........


Blood brothers?   :D  


 

Darcy:)  

[tomsm44]

Thanks guys.  That does have a similar profile, I just need to get a little better with my grind lines.  What handle material are you using?  I haven't decided for sure yet on mine, but I'll probably go with some of the wood I have on hand.  This is one I'm just doing for fun so I'm trying to keep the cost down.

[bjansen]

Good looking blades!

[D.Ellis]

Originally posted by tomsm44:
Thanks guys.  That does have a similar profile, I just need to get a little better with my grind lines.  What handle material are you using?  I haven't decided for sure yet on mine, but I'll probably go with some of the wood I have on hand.  This is one I'm just doing for fun so I'm trying to keep the cost down.

Matt,
I always do a fair bit of filing and hand sanding on the clip to get it right.......my crappy old grinder runs over 5000 FPM. I can usually get my plunges pretty nice with it, but I only rough in the clip on the grinder and do the rest with hand tools.
Frame handle eh?......what material for the frame?
If you are using dark for the frame(black micarta, blued steel etc, then it's nice to contrast with a lighter handle material......ivory, lighter colored woods etc. And vice versa. Stainless frame(or other light materials), contrasted with blackwood, cocobolo.......darker stuff. I have occasionally seen less contrasting components look good too......you just have to decide what you have to work with, and the mood you are in.
I'm sure looking forward to seeing where you take this one.......it's no secret I am a fan of bigger blades.  
Darcy:campfire:  

 
PS

Don't tell anyone, but I'll be using amber stag(elk actually).......stainless steel, along with some sculpted and textured mild steel for the fittings.......there may be some engraving involved.........oh yeah, there are 112 layers hiding in that blade  

[tomsm44]

Well, you're already making mine look bad.  Not sure about blood brothers what with the 112 layers and engraving and all.  I'm thinkin mine might be more a distant backwoods cousin that yours tries not to mention in front of its friends and in-laws.  

I'm planning on mild steel for the frame, but I'm not sure if I'll go with blued or white.  I have some more cow bone (can't afford ivory) that would go well with blued but I don't think I have any pieces big enough for this project.

[kbaknife]

Those are both cool looking blades.
Each of you could do some photos of your builds for the rest of us.
Something a little educational?
C'mon - what do ya' say?

[Track]

Looking great so far. Keep posting pics as you go.

[D.Ellis]

Originally posted by tomsm44:
Well, you're already making mine look bad.  Not sure about blood brothers what with the 112 layers and engraving and all.  I'm thinkin mine might be more a distant backwoods cousin that yours tries not to mention in front of its friends and in-laws.  

I'm planning on mild steel for the frame, but I'm not sure if I'll go with blued or white.  I have some more cow bone (can't afford ivory) that would go well with blued but I don't think I have any pieces big enough for this project.

Matt,

By Blood brothers, I meant similar clip grind, hammer finished flats......long clip, but your comment made me grin   :D  
They don't need all the bling to be cool either, so yours has as good a chance to be awesome as mine does.......the trick is taking your time, and doing the best job you can do with each step in the process.
Cow bone would look real nice if you have a piece big enough.

You'll need to consider your handle shape as well.......with the narrow blade you will probably want to pair it with a slim, simple handle design. If you do a highly sculpted handle it's gonna overpower the blade visually.
Consider also the balance. Will a frame of steel make the blade balance too far to the rear? If so you may consider a mortice tang instead to save weight.......depends on the distal taper and such.

If I can help out in any way, let me now. I've got some handle materials I'd gladly donate to the cause......

I'll start a different thread about my blade(in a day or 2) to keep from cluttering yours up.

Darcy  

[tomsm44]

Finally worked on this one a little more.  I cleaned it up a little more on the grinder, slimmed the tang down quite a bit, filed the guard shoulders, and hand sanded to 150 grit.  Still a few grinding marks, mainly around the plunges, to clean up, but it's pretty much ready for heat treat. As you can see, I've been brainstorming about the handle.  I wanted to do a blued steel frame handle with blued steel fittings and either SS or copper spacers and cow bone scales.  I don't have any cow bone long enough, so I'm looking at other options.  One is the same setup but with bocote instead of bone, something similar to the bottom sketch.  Another I've considered is a two part frame handle similar to the sketch the blade is lying on.  It would have a blued steel guard, a set of three spacers, blued sandwiched between either SS or copper, a short section of handle with blued steel frame/carbon fiber scales, a second set of spacers, and a second section of handle with blued frame/bone scales.  Or I could take the easy route and just do a simple guard/spacer combo and a solid wood handle.  I'm leaning toward the bone/carbon fiber handle right now.  It'll be by far the most complicated build I've ever done, which is pretty intimidating.  But, since Darcy called this blade a blood brother to his and then knocked his out of the park with hand forged damascus, hand engraving, etc. etc. blah blah blah, I feel like I need to step it up a little.  Maybe that was just the encouragement I needed.  Anyway, here's wher it sits now.

 

[D.Ellis]

OH YEAH! You can pull that off Matt, I have confidence in you.    
Carbon fibre and that white bone will contrast so nice.......nice looking sketches too.
FWIW I like the top sketch handle shape the best with the spacer arrangement of the one the blade is lying on.
Just take your time and make every component as clean as you can make it.
Good to see you left lots of beef in the tang up front.....
Darcy  

[Lin Rhea]

Yes sir! That is going to be a fine looking knife!

I second what Darcy is saying. Might as well make it a looker while you're at it.

   

Just take your time and make every component as clean as you can make it.
Good to see you left lots of beef in the tang up front.....
 

Excellent advice for anyone making knives.

[tomsm44]

I wanted to try a Hamon on this knife.  Since I'm just doing it for fun and not for anybody in particular, it won't be that big of a deal if I screw it up.  I clay coated the blade Friday and gave it the weekend to make sure it was good dry.  I did three thermal cycles then held my breath, crossed my fingers and toes and water quenched.  No ping!!!!     it's in the oven right now for the first of two temper cycles at 425.  The straight razor I started a while back is in there as well.  Not sure if I'll get to work on either much the rest of the week and I'll be in a class in Tulsa all next week, so it'll be a little while before I update either one.

[D.Ellis]

Water quench is always exciting!
I couldn't find where you mentioned the steel type? 1095? W-2?
Darcy  

[tomsm44]

It's Aldo's 1075.  And I've got a pretty good warp to straighten out.  I had it propped up on its spine for the first tempering cycle and it fell over without me realizing it.  Hopefully I can get it straight.