My Third Folder...

Forgot my razor when I was travelling a month or so ago, so I used the last folder I made. It worked surprisingly well. Not my closest shave ever, but it did the job.

This isn't that one though. I found another folder blade that I had forged a while back. Decided that I should work on it and try to do a nice job. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

F3 - 8” open, 3 ¼” blade, 4 5/8” closed. Blade: 1095 high carbon steel, liner lock folder. Steel pins and liners. Bronze bushings on main pivot. Big Leaf maple Burl scales. Filework and copper accents on spine.

Next on the agenda is redoing the handle of AR7 which I never liked the feel of. We'll see how that goes...

My Second Folding knife

Finally finished a second folder, and personally, I think that lock-backs are a pain.

F2 - 5 7/8” open, 3 7/8” closed. Blade: 154cm stainless steel, lock back folder. Steel pins and liners. Bronze bushing on main pivot. Nickle silver thong hole. Spalted Mulberry scales.

A new Dagger and a couple of bearings

Good Morning - well, for those of us currently on the west coast.
For your viewing pleasure today we have: A new dagger, and a couple more bearing pendants on different necklaces. Hmm, that would be IF i remembered to take those pictures...
Anyway - now I've taken the pics.

SS2 – unavailable. 10 ¾” overall, 4 15/16” blade. Blade: 154cm stainless steel, rondel dagger. Hidden tang. Brass and Holly Guard and Pommel. Lacewood and Leopardwood. Leather sheath. 8/1/08.

The bearing pendants of the day are a carnelian centerpiece with the bearing ground down to show the actual bearings on magnetic wire, and a lapiz and brass on a solid choker.

The lapiz still needs a little polishing.

I'm working on another folding knife too, but I'm not sure if I will get that done before I head off to Texas on Wednesday.

Sculpture

And since I am busy posting all kinds of old projects - here are some sculptural pieces.
1. Dragon wall hanging- Carved cherry with purpleheart eye.
2. Penguins - Carved orange alabaster.
3. Skull - Variegated Rhyolite - damn that stuff was hard, found it in a bin labled rainbow alabaster, expected it to be soft.
4. Rockfish - just a little piece of rock that I found and spoke to me.

A couple more necklaces

Coyote Necklace: Sterling and mexican ebony centerpiece, freshwater pearl and glass beadwork.
Meteorite Necklace: Gibeon meteorite, copper and garnet centerpiece, sterling triple strand necklace with sterling spacers.

New and Old Jewelry

Since I haven't actually published any of my jewelry pieces on this blog, I thought it would be a fine time to do so.

1: Amber and sterling rollerskate bearing pendant.
2: Turquise and copper rollerskate bearing pendant.
3: Sterling and emerald pendant
4. Sterling and ironwood pendant

Wood Turnings

A couple months ago, when I was staying with my dad in Ann Arbor, I had the opportunity to play with his wood lathe. Here are a couple of pieces that I made, and one that I made with him.

The first - with the easter egg candy, is cherry, and dad and I made it together; the second I made from Mulberry; the third-with more candy, it was easter time - is aromatic cedar; and the forth is made from maple burl.

I think they turned out pretty well (hah hah...).

Summer Solstice Knives

Hi folks, here is the newest installment of knives.

SV1 - 8 ½” overall, 4 ¼” blade. Blade: Sandvik 13C26 steel, Warncliff style. Unforged. Hidden tang. Steel and cow bone guard. Redwood burl handle. No pommel. Gloss poly finish. 6/21/08

AR28 – Sold! - 8 7/8”overall,4 1/8” blade. Blade: O1 tool steel, Utility knife. Hidden tang. Copper and leather guard. Desert ironwood and holly handle. No pommel. Gloss polyurethane finish. 6/22/08

AR29 –10 3/8”overall,5 ¼” blade. Blade:1095 steel, Camp knife. Hidden tang. Bronze guard.Ebony and figured maple handle, brass pin and lanyard hole. No pommel. Gloss polyurethane finish. 6/22/08

AR30 –10 ½”overall, 5 1/16” blade. Blade:O1 tool steel. Full tang. Brass Guard and pins. Mexican ebony and ancient kauri handle. No pommel. Gloss polyurethane finish. 6/22/08

AR31 – 6 5/8”overall,2 7/8” blade. Blade: Thunderforged Damascus, drop point hunter. Hidden tang. Mild steel guard and corby rivets. Vulcanized spacer. Striped ebony handle. No pommel. Teak oil finish. 6/22/08

Didn't expect to finish this one this week

Well, I didn't think that I was going to finish any more knives before the move, but then as I was cleaning out the shop I saw this one, which I cut the pieces for the handle a long time ago, but never finished, so I thought...this one won't take long at all, and it didn't. No current plans to do any more before we head off to parts unknown, but one can never be sure. The lighting is a little odd on the picture, but I'm not a professional.
Specs:
Letter Opener 7. 8 3/8” overall, 4 3/8” blade. Blade: Beaten Copper. Full tang. Bolster and Pommel: Lapis Lazuli. Handle: Curly Poplar. Steel pins, Brass Corby Fastener.

Revised handle for an older knife

This knife was one of my first (AR3) and has been used a bit. The blade seems to still be in great shape, which is encouraging. I was never happy with the handle though, so I borrowed it back in order to revise it. I'm pretty happy with the result.
The new specs for this one are: 10 3/8” overall, 4 5/8”blade. Holly with Coccobolo cross inlay, vulcanized black paper and copper spacer. Brass pins.

New knives for the new year

So here's the new knives as of mid-february. 26 and 27 are gifts now you you are out of luck there, as for 24 and 25, I still haven't figured out pricing, so make an offer if you are interested.

AR24 – 6 ¼”overall, 3” blade. Blade: O1 tool steel, blacksmith knife. Heat colored twisted steel handle. 2/11/08

AR25 – 6 ¼” overall, 2 ½” blade. Blade: 1095 high carbon steel, small utility knife. Full tang. Redheart and pine burl handle, leather spacer. Brass Pins. Gloss polyurethane finish. 2/12/08

AR26 – Winds of Change. 8 ¾” overall, 4 ¼” blade. Blade: 1095 high carbon steel, drop point hunter. Hidden tang. Engraved copper bolster. Spalted curly maple and Russian Olive handle. Brass pin. 2/12/08

AR27 – 9 ½”overall, 4 ¾” blade. Blade: O1 tool steel, light scimitar curve. Hidden tang. Bloodwood and copper bolster. Cholla and tuscan red inlace handle. Bloodwood and Copper pommel with inlaid carnelian bead. 2/17/08

Christmas Knives

Howdy folks, I've been a little lax about posting lately, so I thought that I would put in an update.
So, here is the folder that I made for my grandpa. It was my first one, and most firsts are a bit of a pain. It was also my first damascus knife. You should be able to see a little bit of the damascus pattern in the blade on in the half open picture. I did some filework on the spine and blued everything. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. The specs are:

F1 – unavailable. 7” open, 4 1/8” closed. Blade: Thunderforged Damascus Twist. Liner lock drop point folder. Blued steel liners. Heat blued, hand-filed spine. Stainless screws. Madrone burl scales.

I also made a different kitchen knife for my mom. I decided that she didn't want to worry about tarnishing from cutting acidic foods, so I bought a piece of 154CM stainless and went to work. She tells me that it works very well and is staying sharp and clean. I made a nice block to hold it out of some Purple heart wood, but havn't put in a picture of that, since I don't think it is very exciting.
The specs for this one are:

SS1 – unavailable. 8 ½” overall, 4 ¾” blade. Blade: 154CM stainless steel, mini-chefs knife. Full tang. No guard. Curly maple handle, with mild steel pins. 12/16/2007. Purple heart knife block.

So, two firsts for christmas, my first Stainless steel, and my first folder. Go me. Now I am on temporary hiatus while the job search process goes on, but I do have lots of knew blades that are waiting for handles. I just have to get around to putting them all together.