Last year while in Little Rock for the Arkansas Knife Show I was quizzing Lin about how he forged the ball guards he's been doing. I have done a couple but struggled with all kinds of problems so figured I'd ask the expert. In typically generous Lin fashion he just took me over to the Blacksmith Shop at the Arkansas Historical Museum where he works and gave me a first class demonstration of his method. I didn't get a chance to try out what I'd learned last Spring before getting covered up with ranch work and having to shut the knife shop down for the summer...
Fast forward to Jan 15 and the upcoming Arkansas Knife Show and a particular style Bowie I'd been thinking about for a while. It is in process right now and I'm hoping I can get it done before we fly out next Thursday...
Well Lin likes to do these “teaser” posts so figured I'd throw up a pic of how she's going so far. The blade is finished, guard forged (forgot to get an “as forged” pic, in case you can't tell that's an acorn on the top) handle and fitting material is getting there. More to follow.
After many hours of grinding, filing and sanding here is the guard in the flat...
More to follow...