The Process

Today I'd like to share something that a friend of mine, Aaron Armstrong of Black Cat Forge, posted on the "Blacksmithing" Google+ page. The page link can be found to the right of the page. Aaron is a fellow moderator of the site and is a very accomplished blacksmith. He has an deep understanding of the trade that most people do not. 

Aaron facilitates engagement in the communities better than anyone else. He's always offering advice, how to's, and tool identifications. You can find him on Google+ and on his Etsy site located here. He has some really cool products for sale that would make great Christmas gifts. 

Here is Aaron's post. I think it's something that we all need to keep in mind when working off of demos: 

Tonight's discussion is not on the project itself but more the process.

Many of us do a lot of our first projects from "Demos". Demos are great, but I was reminded with this project, that demos are a starting point and an idea. How they are done is a guide line, not "Law". Meaning, just because one smith does it one way doesn't mean that the project has to be done the same way. What works for one smith may not work for another. There is always more than one way to complete a task, as long as the finish project equals that of the demo, then you completed the task.

Tools will sometimes play a factor too. A lot of the time we make our own tools and they are sometimes different from the smith who did the demo. I had to make a new guillotine to complete this one and I found it easier to work the horn and heel after cutting it off of the 1/2" square stock. Different hammers and anvils will play a factor too. The demo had making the horn and heel while it was still attached. Generally it is easier to work metal without tongs when you can, but for this project it was easier for me to work the horn and heel with tongs. Doesn't necessarily mean that it wouldn't work for another smith, some may find it easier to work the horn and heel while still attached to the stock, however for me it was not.

So this is just a reminder, to think for yourselves when doing demos and use what techniques you are comfortable with.

Bench Knife Revamp and Lots of Coffee

I know I've been talking about getting away from doing knives entirely... but sometimes the creation or completion of a knife is just what the soul needs.

About three years ago, I forged a rough little bench knife from a cut off I had remaining of a jackhammer bit. It was nasty, rough, and didn't even get hardened or tempered. But it was a nice little thing to have around my bench to do stuff with, so I kept it. I wrapped the short, stubby handle in some deep burgundy leather cord and called it finished.

The bench knife is on the top.
Sorry, this is the best pic I could find. 

The other day, I was waiting for a knife to come out of the tempering oven (let's be real. It's a toaster oven. Not a tempering oven, not even in the slightest. It makes me feel cool saying it's a tempering oven, so let's go with it. Deal?) and I saw my little bench knife sitting there. Having remembered it being so sharp, I picked it up and ran it down my arm. Expecting to see hair start popping off of my arm immediately, I was utterly destroyed inside when I realized the hair on my arm was in fact resilient to the knife edge. Had the eggs, bacon, and dark coffee I've been eating every morning for the last two years turned the hair on my arm to the manliest, hardiest, steeled arm hair that even Paul Bunyan himself would be impressed with? Despite what you may think, no folks, it had not. The blade was as dull as a butter knife. I rolled the little, crude knife in my hands with sad eyes and thought "This is not the end. I will change this. I must fix this"... so that's where it started.

I ran outside to my handy-dandy, second replacement Harbor Freight 1x30in belt grinder (it had been out of the package two hours before, broke it in on another knife) and went to town. The nice thing was since I hadn't hardened it, the steel was soft as butter. So shaping was easy. I cleaned the top up and ground a steeper bevel on it. I left the fire scale on the top portion of the blade cheeks, of course. I thought "Hmph... decent."

Back inside, I started looking for scraps of wood scales to start carving out a handle. At this point, I had ran back and forth from the shop to the house about six times, which prompted Wayne to come downstairs and say "Well... what wild project did you come up with all of the sudden and decide you have to complete tonight?". He knows me too well. When I get a project on my brain, I start running around and get jittery like a high school chemistry teacher who just discovered the amount of money to be made from his perfected rock recipe. Wood chips were flying from the slab of walnut I found hiding under my work bench, shavings were rolling and spiraling onto the floor from my planer, and by the end of the night I was gluing together two scales of what I was hoping would be a relatively pretty handle.

After a two day wait, due to busy life stuff, I was able to un-clamp the scales and start sawing to a rough shape. I wasn't really sure what shape I wanted, and due to the limited material I had to work with, I wanted to keep it plain but appealing to the eye, such as seems to be my style. As I shaped the wood with my planer and chisels, it began to take the shape of the handle, or tsuka, or a Japanese shirasaya style. It was a plain shape, nothing fancy, but the wood was just beautiful with blends of tan, dark brown, and purples. I cut the shape of the tang into some copper I had lying around, cut it out, sanded it flush, and glued the copper spacer to the handle. I love copper, I really do. I love the colors and the textures that it can assume. I also love just how easily the metal works and bends to your will, so long as there is a steady hand guiding it. I broke out the remaining sandpaper supply I had and went to town sanding it all nice and pretty. Once it was to my liking, it was time for my favorite part of any process when working with wood. The application of not just any stain, but boiled linseed oil.

For those of you who do not work with wood very much or happen to NOT be a fellow Ax Junkie member (look it up on Facebook if you like axes, go ahead. You know you're curious now), boiled linseed oil is the fragrant nectar of the wood working Gods. Although the nectar is not recommended for consumption, the sweet, earthy smelling liquid can breathe life back into even the most dry and weathered wood. The easy application and quick drying time makes it a go-to-finish not only on my bench, but of many hobbyists and craftsman/craftswomen who truly appreciate a natural, beautiful color and shine kissed by Gods of woodworking. Fun fact: it makes a wonderful quench for hardening, although it's expensive. I watched someone quench a tomahawk head in it at JCC and it did the job (and smelled great!).

Over all, I'm happy with out this came out... sort of. If I had a way of yanking the blade out of the handle without destroying the handle, I'd put a full polish on it and try to do a hamon to finish off the look. Maybe add some fancy filings on the spine of the blade. However, like one of my buddies says:

"If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candies and nuts, we'd all have a merry frickin' Christmas, wouldn't we?"

Thanks for reading. I had a lot of caffeine this morning whilst waiting on some things at work.