Thread: What are you working on?

It would perhaps deserve another kind of blade, like



or

Originally Posted by Thaeris

It would perhaps deserve another kind of blade, like



or

No, keep the orig blade with the orig scales,unless the scales are bad,JMO

Originally Posted by Thaeris

Feel free to share your opinion on this work.
Blade from around 1840 - 60, pieces of MOP from the early 1800.

Even if the pieces of MOP of that size could be found and the Tortoise Shell were available, there would few to no crafters present day that could duplicate such workmanship. The time spent would be outrageous for little actual income.
Perhaps India or a country such as that may still have the skills and the sweat shop practices to so..
The French blade you suggest on the page would be a winner!!
I do not know of any MOP that is available even special order from Asia that will yield scales of that length. Been a long time since any were on the open market. The large est Nacre producing shells have been harvested, except by chance, long ago. I tried to get large MOP from Asia by special order and the businesses did not have any.
~Richard

That's also my opinion.

A lot of craftsmen were beginning to learn their job during their childhood (like it can still the case nowadays in Asia).

The amount of time spent on it would also make it so expensive that few of us could afford the amount of money needed to acquire it.

There is however still a few of schools teaching this kind of arts, like the Ecole Boulle in France

In the gun world, that type of decoration is more common. The amount of money that some people spend on the decoration of hunting rifles and shotguns is mind boggling. Some rifles cost more than my house, and they still have long waiting lists. To my surprise, Belgian gunsmiths and decorators are among the best in the world, and we still have a school where people learn that kind of thing.

Originally Posted by engine46

Looks great Bruno. I wish I had that knowledge!

As trite as it sounds, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. When I joined up in 2006, I knew squat about knives, razors, or steel. I started learning to hone, then spent a couple of years restoring razors (not spending much time on scales but on the steel), then I made my first blades from pre hardened blanks, and then I started forging, heat treating, grinding, etc.

Someone recently called me tenacious. That's just a fancy word for 'too stupid to know when to quit'.
Everybody can learn to do this, as long as they are willing to spend the time and effort.

Originally Posted by Bruno

As trite as it sounds, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. When I joined up in 2006, I knew squat about knives, razors, or steel. I started learning to hone, then spent a couple of years restoring razors (not spending much time on scales but on the steel), then I made my first blades from pre hardened blanks, and then I started forging, heat treating, grinding, etc.

Someone recently called me tenacious. That's just a fancy word for 'too stupid to know when to quit'.
Everybody can learn to do this, as long as they are willing to spend the time and effort.

Its called commitment. And it gets rarer each day.Keep moving forward, i am cheering for you.

Originally Posted by Bruno

As trite as it sounds, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. When I joined up in 2006, I knew squat about knives, razors, or steel. I started learning to hone, then spent a couple of years restoring razors (not spending much time on scales but on the steel), then I made my first blades from pre hardened blanks, and then I started forging, heat treating, grinding, etc.

Someone recently called me tenacious. That's just a fancy word for 'too stupid to know when to quit'.
Everybody can learn to do this, as long as they are willing to spend the time and effort.

Using your own path as my benchmark, I can't wait to see the steel i'm producing in 2020...;-) or maybe 2030,,,, tenacity aside, there is a lot to be said for innate talent. And that you have where it pertains to metal forging/forming Bruno..
nicework, again..

Recommissioning an older 1"x30" belt sander for scale work this weekend. Idler bearing was wonky so I was able to get a similar one at TSC store.
Ordered a few strips of leather on etsy for it as well. Going to make three stropping belts for it. One will be natural, one will be reversed and coated with crox, and the third diamond spray.
Will keep a lovely smooth edge on my turning tools I figure. Might even try a few kitchen knives if it works the way I hope.
Will see once I have them bonded..
Cheers.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Recommissioning an older 1"x30" belt sander for scale work this weekend. Idler bearing was wonky so I was able to get a similar one at TSC store.
Ordered a few strips of leather on etsy for it as well. Going to make three stropping belts for it. One will be natural, one will be reversed and coated with crox, and the third diamond spray.
Will keep a lovely smooth edge on my turning tools I figure. Might even try a few kitchen knives if it works the way I hope.
Will see once I have them bonded..
Cheers.

Mike.
I never thought of using a leather belt on a belt sander as a strop. That is an excellent idea as long as you do it moderately & consecutively. a little each time. It shouldn't take long to strop a blade that way.
Steve