Explosion #14

Today at F.O.E we needed to blacken some railing spindles. We got a trey of old motor oil and a lot of fire protection, and this is what happened!

NOTE: Please do not do this at home, we've been doing this a long time and while it may not seem like it, we practice many safety precautions and have extensive experience in dangerous combustion and fire safety. 

So pro tip, if you order something from us, it may very well explode/combust/decombust/burst into flames/scorch someones beard/implode/or completely go into meltdown and still come out great!

Fillet Knives

I recently started making fillet knives. These two are designed to be small enough to fit into a tackle box (one more then the other).

 

I used old band saw blades for these knives and I have to say they work great! I made a prototype with a wood handle just to fool around, and it passed every test I threw at it.

 

I could bend the blade 90% and it would just pop right back into place, the steel was very hard and held an edge well, and in terms of actually making the knife, the steel was easy to work with.

 For the handle of my prototype I took a rectangle chunk of hickory, cut a slit in it with a hand saw and slid the blade in (the width of the hand saw blade turned out to be the exact width of the band saw blade so I didn't need to tweak anything). Then I took an old stainless welding electrode, stripped the flux off and cleaned it with sandpaper, cut it about 2mm longer then the width of the handle. I put my DIY rivets in and set them, then I started working the wooden handle down with my grinder, then polished the wood up to 400 grit, stained it with a rosewood dye, and finally gave it a tounge oil finish.

 

 

The handle on these knives is natural shed deer antler. I used the same process to make the handles on these ones, exept I did not stain or oil the handle, and I polished the antler to about 800 grit. 

QUICK TIP: If you don't want the blade in the way while you grind the handle, fit the tang of your blade into your handle material like you want it, then take it off and grind some down and put it back on and see how it looks. Just repeat this process until it looks good and you can set your rivets.

I really like these knives and I'm going to make more in the future, maybe a black finish on the antler next time?

These blades are for sale on Etsy at:
First one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/244584178/deer-antler-fillet-knife?ref=shop_home_active_14
Second one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/244601518/deer-antler-mini-fillet-knife?ref=shop_home_active_5

When we want stuff done NOW

Fireplace pokers, candle holders, and a razor/brush hangers!

Some of my new work!

I've been in Colorado for the past month working with some very talented blacksmiths to improve my skill sets. This is some if the work I have done in this time.