Thread: What are you working on?

What I have learned through hard experience is the meaning of the adage "fools rush in." My modis operandi for things I recognize and even suspect are out of my strong suit is to set it aside and wait. Years ago I was doing a transmission swap. It had gotten late in the day but I was trying to get it done. I got stuck trying to get something loose or out, I honestly don't remember what and at my wits end got out the saw. Fortunately I had a moment of clarity and thought, "Wait. The engineers definitely did not design this car to need a saw to do this job." So I went in and took a shower and went to bed. In the morning after a good night's sleep I went back to it and got it done right away... WITHOUT the saw.

In these situations I try to always remember that lesson.

Freshly etched wootz blade

Wow B. I can look into that pattern for hours,,wait do I see the Virgin Mary in there,, maybe Waldo too!
Beautiful grain structure.
Well done sir.

The patterns in Bruno’s Wootz is rather mesmerizing.

Oooohhh prettttyyyyyy....

I am in love!!

Originally Posted by Bruno

Freshly etched wootz blade

Outstanding!

So while I'm install pattern on the S. Crookes & Son I decided to work on a wedge that needed a regrind redone. Someone started a regrind on it and did a really poor job. Basically gouged out the middle of the blade and left it thick at the bevel so the bevel was about an ⅛" wide.

I only had one decent before picture.
It also had some pretty deep pitting and I still have not gotten all of that out. There's some really deep pitting on top of the spine too, which I don't know if I can sand deep to remove.

Knowing I was going to regrind the regrind I left the scales on it because I find that it makes it easier to hold on to. I'll remove them when it comes time to work on them and the rest of the blade. Still more to go

I've said many times 'I think I'm starting to understand wootz' and many times I was wrong. Or at least, I understood yet another aspect of wootz but then there was something else that eluded me. I'm starting to get more and more reproducable results so at least I've got that going for me.
It helps that I finally have a good working relationship with a smelter who is willing to provide whole ingots and also discuss the chemistry with me. Niko loves smelting steel. I love forging steel.

forging a knife with my youngest