mcb
Member
So I am a fledgling blacksmith when I am not doing my day job as a mechanical engineer. Been doing this off and on for the past 4 years or so. Mostly learning and making silly things pounding on hot steel in my driveway while my wife and neighbors make fun of me. This is my third knife but the first one that I actually hand forged the primary shape (rather than just cutting and grinding it to shape). The original chunk of steel was cut off a scrapped plowshare and forged to shape. The primary bevels was started with the forging and finished with hand files on a bevel fixture. Final finish was simply hand sanded. The forging marks along the spine were left intentionally and were supposed to be more prominent but it was far from a perfect build. The handle is made form a piece of hickory rough cut on a band saw and squared with a block plane and sanding. Attached with glue and a single brass rivet. Finished with just a simple linseed oil treatment. It is far from perfect or as aesthetically well done as I would have liked but it was a fun learning experience. Despite all its design and finish short comings it appears I got the quench and temper correct this time. It took a very good edge that will shave arm-hair and paper easily.