Thread: What are you working on?

One of my first's



One of my last



We've all been there

Last night I got it honed well enough and will try to shave with it tonight. It took a while because it was so loose I dropped the edge onto the hone a couple of times . I hammered it tight again and may get one whole shave out of it.

I know that I should listen to Marty, and others, but I can be a stubborn turd sometimes. So far I am just happy that I have only gotten 3 of 11 that are in the "maybe I should come back to this when I am better" category. And considering that before I signed up here I thought I'd be able to restore about half of them, I am amazed how much I've learned in such a short time.

Originally Posted by ajkenne

Just finished up the restoration of my largest FBU. Picked this up several weeks ago in local auction with broken scales. Tried to make new scales using honey horn in the exact size as originals but she refused and would not center. Tried all the tricks: many wedges, additional pivot washers, straighten scales, etc. After all that, determined new, slightly longer (1/8+”) scales would be the right solution. Worked ou perfectly. Now blade centers perfectly on dark brown horn scales. Took awhile but worked out nicely.
This big blade is 1.09” at tip and 1.01” at heel. Question to others: is this OK or should I take some off the center and toe to even it out better before honing? Want to keep it at close to 8/8+ as possible. Is this a standard problem with the Celebrated FBU? This may have had some previous steel removed to repair chips from the heel. Can’t tell but shows some previous honing on spine. Thanks for comments. Happy New Year! Austin Attachment 328243
Attachment 328244
Attachment 328288

Was never really happy with the shape of these replacement scales on my FBU. Finally got around to fixing them with a proper shape. Much happier now with these new replacement scales. Proper now they are.

Got moving again on this today. I kind of got fed up as belly isn’t even on one side. I stopped chasing the line before something catastrophic happened.

Missed it by this much! Boy the backside is perfect.
I reckon the only cure is to lose some width and be uniform on the back. Evening the front.

OR, make the top grind deeper. A lower belly.....Yeah....

You have skills, John. Good you took a break.

Looking good. You are learning lots.

I chased it a ways, any thinner above the belly and I’d start grinding a hole through it. Only way to do it now without causing irreparable harm would be hand sanding, and I abhor hand sanding. The hollows are all as ground. The flats and spine got hand sanded to 320 then buffed with a green wax bar on a 4” wheel. There are a fair amount of scratches in the finish.

I am working on some brown streaked scales for a Herder 49.

Those are sure looking nice. Is it one of those uncirculated blades you’re sticking in it? I really should have bought a bunch of those when they were going for $50-$70... that and apple stock.

Correct. I should have bought more when they were going for cheap and could be bought even cheaper in large lots. I was going through a Sheffield phase at the time.
Here it is mocked up with a bone wedge.