every week at my forge and workshop(updated)

[stoaty1 35]

Love reading the write ups, thanks for sharing. Great results as always.

Regards, Ian

[lksopener 105]

Great work Matt, long time no speak.

 

You down at the forge now?

[midnight 657]

Hi Liam yep in the forge .

How's things with you ?

 

What was the decoy company I got my flapper and magnet from ??

[lksopener 105]

All good mate, sorry it's been a while.

 

Regarding the decoy company it was AA decoys i believe.

[midnight 657]

Ah yeah that's the one !!

 

No worries life hectic for me to and loads of big changes ,all positive ones tho !!

[lksopener 105]

Good stuff pal glad it's on the up, you deserved a change of luck.

[midnight 657]

Thanks Liam !!

[markdog 18]

Fantastic craftsmanship!!

[midnight 657]

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/331948-hand-made-knives-and-axe-quite-a-few-to-sell/

[midnight 657]

boar knife

not a true "how to" but just a little write up following the construction of a knife from a file to a "boar knife"

i had a similar knife planned but after a pm from a hunting life member asking if i could make a large knife suitable for sticking boar , a small change here and there and the outcome was this bad boy.

 

ok i started with a large double cut file from the forge , it was well past its working life, it had no cutting ability and had been chucked in a corner covered in oil rust etc. couple of quid changed hands and we had the biginings of a large knife . most of you know i love W2 steel which older files are made with , it has great properties and makes for a killer blade.

after soaking over night in engine degreser , i wire brushed all the gunk out of the teeth and cleaned it . then in to the oven at 120 for one hour . i tested the temper by surface grinding off some of the teath , now i dont know the exact HRC temper from this im going on experiance of how the steel feels to cut , after the hour it was still very very hard , to hard for a knife so back in for another hour , this time it felt much beter , harder than say a fieldcrafter which is 57-59 HRC hardness , but for what we have planned and the thickness of the steel thats ok as i will temper down as i go in the right places for a better blade.

 

ok so here is the file , its tempered in the oven , had some teeth ground off and the tang full tempered with a blow torch , iv done this because its the place that needs to give/flex and requires lots of grinding and shaping. this sort of thing you dont get from alot of "knife makers" but its been in blade making since it began.

the gun metal grey is full temper , not soft but not hardened , the blue indicats spring temper and bronze just a touch softer than a cutting edge should be .

 

here is a view of the spine , its aprox 8mm thick so a chunky blade .

 

the shapng begins

 

surface grinding .

 

 

 

iron guard fitting for cross guard

 

starting to lay out the handle which is hand picked for this blade and its intended use .

 

 

 

as you can see the gurads been shaped and rounded , the tang has a ? forged into the end so that it will lock in once i back fill with apox.

 

at this stage everything is polished and chemicaly treated , all grinding has been done and the tang has been formed and ground fo the correct fit . there is now a buffalow horn spacer fitter between the antler and guard and i have back filled the void in the antler with apoxi putty , i have tamped this in with a bamboo stick so its under presure and bonding to the metal and marrow of the antler , this is only the first 1/4 of the void of the handle i have done this as you will see why next.

 

 

as you can seel the ? is just proud of the handle but the hook sits well back into the void and doubles over on itself .

 

make up the knife and back fill with almost a whole double tube of apoxi .

 

couple of hours later i flush grind the end of the handle , removing a little steel and getting everything nice and true .

 

now i mix more apoxie and bond on a big old slab of buffalo thats been cross cut to show coulor running through it .

finnish shaping the handle and polish the living day lights out of it .

 

 

next sheath making which i didnt photo but it is a dangler style with brass fitting . 3 types of leather in this one ranging from 3.5mm should , 1.5mm shoulder and python , this is all laminated up to make a sheath of 10 components .

this is all treated with multipal coats of a very good quality wax , burnished and polished before being treated with a silicone product and burnished and polished again ..

 

the out come of all this is a 14" total lenght knife with a 9" long 1.5" wide W2 blade. red stag and buffalo horn handle with true iron cross guard .

the blade is mat finished by light acid etching , scotchbrite mopped then forced patina for easy maintanance and corrosion resistance . the blade is pretty much flat ground (costing over £25 worth of abrasives and taking almost a day to do !!) it has a micro bevel cutting edge which is about as sharp as i can make a knife , it really is frightening hor sharp this thing is ..

 

all in all a great knife i think , made right with all the right things in the right places , its got a little style to it and good grip. the chemical treatment on the blade reflects many colours in the light , its pretty cool. im pretty proud of it !

here it is all finnished and ready to go if the forum member is happy , if not its open to sale .

 

[Born Hunter 17,763]

Now THAT is a fecking knife!

 

What an absolute gem that is Mat. I'd love to see something identical but in a Bowie profile.

 

That blade could skin gators!!! LOL

[midnight 657]

its a beast isnt it !!

made for the rib cages of boar

 

i hjave a nice bowie pattern im wanting to try but i dunno if it will be this week.

[the big chief 3,099]

That's a feking sword mat lol its a beast

[midnight 657]

it is a small sword i spose your right , could have been longer to

[mushroom 12,921]

How much something like that cost midnight?? Pm if you prefer