Bear "Fun", "Jungle" Tools, Ideas and Special / Member Projects

Yup... sometimes the owners want a sterile blade....

LOL @kellory I think the new owner will be glad to know that they have a one of kind... sort of the like the 5 Bladed Toss'n Tool Roll set...


In my old age... limited to very limited... to I'm only making one of these... is the route I'd like to take... making a bunch of the same thing is no "Fun" and my mind wanders to the next project...

Besides... there are a bunch of these blades out there on this forum... it's just that there is only gonna be one with this handle and a curly koa handle...

Thanks for the kind words...

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Have you ever made a blade out of dragline /crane cable?

 

That's an interesting question @Gator 45/70 Thanks for asking... actually I have forge welded cable and made a couple knives with it... the type of cable is important... first it needs to be carbon steel... preferably high carbon... and then it needs to be all steel... some cables have other types of rope inside them... that ruins the cable "damascus" and the resulting billet will be full of inclusions and faults....

You need to weld the ends of the cut cable first, make sure it fits in your forge or that your forge has open ends... then weld a bar or holder... heat it in the forge to burn off all the grease and grime... add some "flux" to clean out all the nooks and crannies... when that baby looks like it coated in syrup ... pull it out, clamp it in a vise and give it a good twist.... that first twist or two... is actually the first weld... you can feel the steel lock up solid when you twist it.... then back in the forge and careful tapping and hammering produces your solid steel billet to forge your knife...

Etching the final product brings out the beautiful patterns... I've used lemon juice, heated distilled white vinegar and of course ferric chloride...

It's a lot of fun to make... but takes some time... the flux eats up the floor of your forge and after all your trouble... you still make end up with a billet full of inclusions, cold shuts and imperfections... toss and try again

 

knife porn, i think i'll have to get my hands on one of your knifes at one point too Bear

 

Sounds good, Thanks.

 

@kellory I will give this a go and see... if I follow your previous instructions... you wanted the 1/16th (large paper clip) 3" from tip and 1/8" 4" from rear? This is about a 10 stick.... I'll clean them up today....

 

Make it simple, 2" from each end that will leave 6" between holes for the fish's body.

 

I started my day by washing windows to loosen up a bit, on a 7 foot ladder and a wind at my back. Washy left, washy right, loosen up and keep your balance on the ladder.

First tries at the target started at 10 feet. Old skills are starting to come back. Basic job is to end with your arm in the direction of the thrown blade. Any follow thru will spoil your shot.

Sheath and Blade combo help to aid the session by having the blade handy between throws.

Fun over now back to work.

 

Well @kellory this old Bear knows when to call it .... drilled a test piece of titanium and got it done in about a minute going slow, light pressure and slow speed... then I marked up the finished chop sticks and started expecting the same result... then the first brand new cobalt bit snapped... then I went to a second brand new cobalt bit and after 20 minutes only got this far.... and the bit is dulled...

What did I learn?... forging seems to work/air harden the titanium... you need carbide bits....

Gonna turn that payment right around when it arrives as this set of chop sticks is ruined IMHO with that incomplete hole in one of them and chalk this up to a good lesson in forging titanium... this pair goes in the reject pile

"A man's got to know his limitations" Clint Eastwood or... too much time in this one... time to learn the lessons, lick the pride wounds and move on

Sincere apologies.... but thanks for the challenge and the lessons learned....

Have a great weekend!

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Awesome! Hope she threw well!

Thanks for sharing @HK_User

 

No. Send them. I'll take them as you made them. Perhaps I shall attempt to finish them myself. You gave it your best, and that is all I ask from any man.

 

OH the blade did good.

My skills are the limiting factor and yet another reason to keep the blade handy on my daily rounds. Practice, practice.

I'll finally get to the "Far Side" of the place by tomorrow and retrieve some stainless steel wire.

And then I'll take a few more pictures and show what a real drought does to your land. The wood cutters helped clear a group of Oaks that took 30 years to grow, But now I can seed that area and have a bit more pasture and someone else has some good fire wood.

Later

HK

 

Bummer :{

 

One more done and checked off the project list
Veg tanned leather, 1/4" welt, hand peened copper rivets, nice snug secure fit... ready for potential new owners final approval tomorrow...
Comments, thoughts and opinions are always welcome... not too old to learn something new

Working on the 3rd variation of that kydex replacement sheath... sure is taking this old fart a little time to figure this out that is the next one I want to finish

Thanks for looking...

Take Care and God Bless,

Bear

 

strong work there bear!

 

Thanks @KAS I sure appreciate the kind comment....

LOL @ghrit I had a leather tooling kit as a kid and never quite got into it... now I sort of wish I did... I've got several books on it and someday hope to be able to create some of the beautiful designs that some very talented folks can do... for now... I suppose I'll just stick to mashing metal and gluing wood

 

Aloha Monkeys,

A quick abuse video for my buddy @Mountainman after our discussion about running over my blades

Here you go...

Thanks to our famous @Hanzo who held the camera and served to make sure there were no tricks and that the blade was not bent or cracked by the abuse... you can ask him about his examination of my "Sammy" blade after doing this twice (once covered in leather to make sure nothing was going to fly out - not shown)....

Thanks @Hanzo and thanks for lunch too

Thanks for looking Monkeys.... hope this gives some of you who own the sisters and brothers of "Sammy" some confidence in their toughness... at least if you forget them and run over them

Have a great Day!...

Take care and God Bless,

Bear

 

Sammy was unscathed after repeated running over by @Bear's truck. I attest that I examined it and no problemo. I just kept the camera on Sammie to ensure no trickery.

Happy to have Sammie's brother.