Sunday 7 October 2012

I've been busy , but too lazy to update my blog

 This is my take on the 'bird and trout' style of knife , I have called them 'Frog and lizard ' . The top one has olive scales , the bottom one has walnut (Thanx Stew)

The steel is 3mm 01 and the overall length is 220mm
 This little box cutter has been christened 'The 4 spotted toad' and was made from a farriers rasp

 The top one in this pic is called ' The newt ' and has a matching Kiridashi , made from an off cut of 01

Walnut scales with brass pins and tube
 Another kiridashi made from a piece of rasp called 'the Leech
 and then a flat ground bushy with orange liners and wenge scales , called 'The salamander'
and lastly another little box cutter called ' The chameleon '

I have now started naming my blades (cos its fun ) as well as making templates so that I can reproduce the shapes if I'm asked to .

This is a 'frog and lizard ' with a matching fork







The kiridashi's are always going to be one offs because they are made from offcuts and I work with the shape of the piece of steel

Saturday 4 August 2012

The first few pieces from my new workshop

Although mu workshop is still far from complete I have been making a few things

First was a few bits of hessian 'micarta' for a Britishblades forum member








and then a bushy shaped file knife , although I flat ground the blade , I think it looks better than a scandi grind . The scales are wenge with home made  orange 'micarta ' liners








I do admit to cheating a bit with the liners . The problem with using old files is that you need to flatten the teeth , you never get tang completely flat with a belt grinder . This makes fitting the scales a pain .
So the answer is to make the liners by compressing the wet cloth between the scales and tang and letting the resin harden to get  a perfect fit






  these are two blades that I knocked up for the show , but didn't get chance to handle until now










The scales are lace wood (just a fancy name for plane tree) and padauk

these will be getting KYDEX neck sheaths in the next week before being offered for sale on British blades 

Tuesday 10 July 2012

The new workshop

Just after the show at Tredegar House we moved home and I have been without a workshop foe about 6 weeks , I started getting myself sorted this week


The new garage and the pile of moss that came off the roof










lots to do










I made a frame for the work using studwork timber and bolted it to the wall










and then used a kitchen worktop to finish it off











and then added a kitchen cupboard











Today I made up a separate bench for my belt grinder .

I am going to put some shelving under the benches and then figure out where the machines need to go . The electrics need to be moved about to get all the machines working
I hope to get most of it sorted by the weekend so i can get back to turning perfectly good steel into dust on the floor  (I might make a knife or two as well )

Sunday 15 April 2012

Getting ready for a show

I have been asked to take part in a woodworking show organised be Isca Woodcrafts on the 12th of May
so I have been trying to get some knives together
Here are the first 10








 two file knives
 A flat ground utility knife with a yew handle
 The next two are little neck knives , the first one has clear g10 over orange liners and the second one has panga panga handles













and then some carving tools using oak , plain , ash and yew for the handles .
I am busy making more blades at the moment although I don't think they will get handles before the show , hopefully some will sell as bare blades or as DIY kits

Sunday 11 March 2012

A few more

File neck knives . these were made from the same file
3mm 01 
190mm OAL
85mm sharp
yew and brass bits 







this is a modified nessmuck

3mm 01 
190mm OAL
85mm sharp
yew and brass bits 












this is a little carver made with an over sized handle 
the handle is 'panga panga ' and 'padauk'


I have a few more on the workbench at the moment so I should be posting more pics in a day or so 


Saturday 14 January 2012

A few for the new year

 I had a bit of a break over Christmas and New Year , but now I'm back in the swing of things (or back to the grindstone )

The first one is a little Yew handled neck knife with a matching fire steel scraper
and then a pair of file neck knives (made from the same file