Inspired by John Cohea & Daniel Winkler
The blade is cut from an old L6 sawmill blade, with some of the rust-spots left visible. I clay backed the flat-ground blade before I quenched in the hope of producing my first visible hamon. The quench was 10 seconds in cold oil & 20 in hot saline. HT was 1 hour at 200C followed by 40mins at 180C. I polished the blade to 600 grit before quenching & finished it at 1200 before etching in a mixture of orange juice & vinegar. A final polish with a home-made compound (light green polishing soap & 3-in-1 oil mixed Thanks Jeremy ) revealed a nicely active hamon that I'm chuffed to death with!
The handle is Sambar antler, polished smooth with just a little bark left for effect & grip. It's held in place with epoxy & 3 brass pins.
The sheath is rawhide (dog chews!) over soft, buckskin-like leather. Decorated with fringing, buffalo bone beads, horsehair, steel tacks & antique tin cones. I have to say, the sheath took a
lot of figuring out, I certainly take my hat off to Daniel, John & all those 18th Century trappers!
I hope I'm not alone in my satisfaction with the finished article!
Anyhoo, enough of the pontification..........
Topic: One for the Mountain Men.......(many pics) (Read 2468 times)
