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Main Boards => Hunting Knives and Crafters => Topic started by: tippit on August 15, 2008, 03:36:00 PM
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I have had a hard time figuring out how to do this on a full tang blade. What I'm now using is a very small pean hammer called a repousse' hammer. With my forged blank red-orange hot I hammer/push the metal out from my finger guard. It seems to come out OK. Just wondering if anyone else is doing this and what is your method...tippit
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FlaredFingerGroove003.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FlaredFingerGroove004.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FlaredFingerGroove001.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FlaredFingerGroove007.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FlaredFingerGroove014.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knives/FlaredFingerGroove020.jpg)
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Hmmmmmm....Honestly Jeff, I've never seen that done before. I have been thinking (purely coincidentally) about the exact same thing though.
It looks like you've pretty much figured it out. A quick sand up with a wheel or round stick & it'll be there.
The only option I came up with was to form the curve in flat steel & then either weld or braze it in place. Tht's the fabricator in me though! :D
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I likey... I copy!!!! :readit: :saywhat: I just got done hammering a file into a knife and would have given this a whirl if'n I would have seen it first . :knothead: I do think I seen it done on a knife somewhere before? Looks great Doc.<><
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You talkin' about the "Joe Keeslar look"?
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Joe Keeslar does a lot of his knives with a similar finger guard, but I don't know what method he uses to do it.
Here's a pic of some samples Joe had out at Batson's bladesmithing symposium, but I was there for the silver inlay demo so I did't see him forge these:
(http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/Hogbear/IMG_0033.jpg)
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he could have made a special tool to do it that is the simplest way i could think of to get that good of a look...from an engineers perspective
sorry i have no room to talk here i am by no means a smithy
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Does Joe make the knives for Great Northern? If not, the custom knives that Rick and Jerry sell have the same finger guard and I was thinking about trying to add it to one of mine.
Robo - I was thinking of adding it with the ole mig welder as well - I am an old fabricator too.
Bob Urban
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Does anyone know what Joe Keeslar uses to do that. Dan Winkler also does something similar. I seem to be more blacksmith than bladesmith...just trying new ideas with my hammers ;) tippit
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looks to me like he has a tool specifically made to do it,like a piece of round bar as a "sideways" hammer? What do you think,Jeff?
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Can that be done with a hammer or is it a power hammer thing? Maybe pound a round piece of bar stock into the groove at orange hot? I have tried using my round hardies but seem to get too much distorsion on back of the blade. Help...tippit
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This is just another reason to get our Aiken house & barn finished so Molly can be there for the winter and I have a resting place to go to the Batson's bladesmithing symposium and hunt hogs with Ray! Of course this is mainly for Molly :bigsmyl: tippit
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karl thats where I seen it. There was 3 of hism older knives on E=ay awhile back. bids went higher then I could spend at the time.Doc I like the rough look you got better.<><<><
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See that second one from the right? Still has the square tip?
OK - just set the square tip on the anvil with the handle up in the air and use your cross pein and beat it down!
There's no special tools - just a hammer.
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Hammer??>>> that's what I gotta get a good hammer. <><
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Karl, So simple and I was trying to do it by beating down on my round harty. The anvil will protect the back of the blade. Thanks...tippit
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Karl beat me to it (pun intended). I spent an afternoon in a blacksmith shop last year and watched him work on a bunch of stuff, asking questions as he worked. It's amazing how much you can move metal around with just a hammer!
MS Ray Smith does a similar guard as well, but couples it with some fancy scroll work. Anyone wondering where I got the inspiration for the St Jude knife two years ago should check out His Site (http://www.theanvilsedge.com/) . I talked with him a bunch and got my dad a day at his forge for Christmas.
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This thread has got me thinkin'!
I'm thinkin' W2 with a clayed hamon and black cord wrap starting off with a turk's head....
hhmmmmmm........
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Ok I have a ??? for ya Karl. How do you keep the blade from bending when ya hammer the finger gaurd? <><
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Guys,
Joe Keeslar was one who taught me to forge. The way he forges the Brute de forge is like this:
He forges the handle to shape including the distal taper.
After heating what will soon be the guard area to orange, He then turns the handle up in a strong vise, the guard area just above the jaws and clamped tight. The bottom of the knife is now toward you.
Using a hammer made for this, he then strikes down toward the vice onto the small ledge that is to form the guard. The material is upset in an even manner to form a sort of guard.
All of the above has to be thought out in advance so as not to waste the heat. It might take a couple or more heats, being that the vise will soak it away so fast.
Only after he is satisfied with the handle/ guard area will he forge the blade. This backwards to the steps for forging most blades. The pictures in the post above are accurate and can be used to picture what I'm saying. One thing, in the above photo, the sequence starts from right to left.
I have made myself a hammer to perform the forging of the guard from an old brick hammer. I just rounded the claw to about a 1/4 inch radius leaving the actual thickness to about 1/2 inch.
I hope this helps. I'll try to clarify, if I can. It's really neat way to construct a knife. Lin
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Lin ya got a pic of the prize custom hammer? If it is a secret i understand.<><
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Lin, That is exactly the way I did it...in that I could not coordinate holding the pre-forged blade in my tongs and trying to hit the flared groove. Once I put it in the vice it became very manageable. Thanks...tippit
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I gotta say this forum is remarkable in the sharing of info! Thanks again to the pros who are so willing to help...Karl, Lin, Jon, Doug, etc... :notworthy: Us wannabes are forever grateful...tippit
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DITTO to what Doc said. I thought about putting the one I was messing with today in the vise but did not. It will be there first thing in the morning!LOL <><
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The hammer type that Joe uses is called a planishing hammer. If you do a search, you'll come up with some of the large metal working tools, but keep looking and you'll see the hand held hammers. You'll also see that you may be able to manufacture one that will do the job. But, looking at it will give you the idea of the shape.
Lin
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ok this may make me sound like an idiot (well even more so than other things i say) and i know little about forging but,
couldnt you put the knife in a vice like lin said then lay a piece of round stock where you want the gaurd to be and knock the piss out of the round stock? that way you could have more control and not need a different hammer?
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I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Get a piece of 7/8" O1, heat it up with a little soak, quench it. Temper it a couple of times at 350. It'll stay hard until it's been used a couple times.
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joe picks up all kinds of special little hammer heads when he goes to france every year, he and his wife own a house over there. osageo