Cup of Coffee
| Join The Mailing List |
7/09/2006 "Using somebody else's starting point is a great way to get lost," Mike Blue.
It has been a while since I updated the site so there will be quite few new links that I have accumulated. The reason for my inactivity is that my wife has been fighting cancer for the past five years. She passed away this Spring and it as been a long and difficult period in my life. I am slowly getting back on my feet and hopefully my productivity will come back up to speed and I will be able to devote more time to the web site and writing. I hope to resume teaching and start going to shows again, but I am being cautious with my time and taking small steps. I appreciate your support and community over these past few years, it has given me strength.
New Links: Ric Furrer posted a gallery showing the making of steel from materials to finished knife on the Bladesmith's Forum; Christopher Price posted an interesting video on how to make mokume from coins; Jesus Hernandez posted an habaki making tutorial he is doing some interesting work so check out his website; Another tutorial by Jesus Hernandez on the making of a wakishashi; Brent's Custom Filing System is an interesting tool; Calvin Nichols is selling ovens and knives on his site; Grazyna Shaw of Quintessial Knives is carrying on the business from her husband Gary who passed away. She has a good eye for quality knives and is an honest person; Darren Ellis is selling refractory and supplies for the knifemaker; Shadow Leaves is selling Japanese polishing supplies; Ernie's Knives is making custom electroetching stencils for knifemakers; David Wilson's list of common junkyard steels; Thunderbird epoxy finishes as mentioned on the Bladesmith's forum; Houghton Information for Heat Treaters good information; Practical Data for Metallurgists this is a resource pdf, large download, but full of useful information.
R.W. Mack hand forged knives; Don Hanson is doing some beautiful work; Walter Sorrells is doing some fine Japanese style pieces and has an interesting site.
1/21/06 Gray Fighter and Yakuza Bowie II two new additions to the gallery. Work this winter has been focused on refining my lines and developing a greater understanding of the hamon and its characteristics, along with learning to bring out more with the polish. This method of heat treating, more commonly associated with Japanese style blades, is finding a home in my blade work. While some may find it culturally conflicting to use this technique on American styled knives, I would encourage folks to look at the work with fresh eyes. What you are seeing is the visible record of the blade's heat treatment, it is visually compelling and at the same time contains much subtlety. As a maker, it is like painting with crystal. There are almost always surprises because the steel is so responsive to this technique and consequently there is always more to discover. Connoisseurs of Japanese blades have long ago discovered the fascination and appreciation for this technique and have invested in learning its myriad of variations. At this stage in my career, I have opened a new door and am excited by the possibilities.
New Links: Don Hanson is doing some nice work. Dan Gentile posted a new tool for tsuka, handle wrapping. Wayne's Word, an online textbook of Natural History that has a great resource on the toxicology of poisonous plants. Glossary of Ironmaking by the online group Early Iron. There are some good tutorials and information on smithing at How To Metalsmithing. Material Science course with concise definitions and diagrams, good article on annealing. Surplus Center has a good information page on hydraulics with calculators. Leeson Motors has a good motor reference.
There is a lot of new and useful information on the craft posted on the Bladesmith's forum. If you have not joined us yet, please stop by and take a look.
11/22/05 American Bowie II, second in a series of Bowies I am doing with carved handles.
New Links: Watanabe Blades, Japanese handmade kitchen knives; H˙llyn, blades and jewelry; Les George, knifemaker; Society of American Silversmiths; Jesse Frank, swordsmith and iron maker; Walter Sorrells, blades and Japanese style swords and tanto; Michael McCarthy, Ironmaking and more; Greg Bannon's Knifemaking Links; Dave Mudge Magic Hammer Forge links and how to's; JD Smith has a CD out on Damascus patterns.
10/21/05 I just posted a Robbin Hudson Damascus Bowie on the Available page. Since I last updated there have been several new knives that I put up DhaChi 2, a collaboration between Wally Hostetter and I and the New American Bowie. I wrote a section on swordmaking in the new book, Blade's Guide to Making Knives edited by Joe Kertzman.
New Links: Metallurgy of Steel for Bladesmith's by John D. Verhoven; India's Legendary Wootz Steel; Heat treating and other stuff; Sergey Osipov, netsuke carving; Andrew Jordan knives; Center Cross knifemaking videos.
6/26/05 Jimmy Fikes and I have collaborated on a couple of swords Cloud Cutter and Dragon Fly. I have also posted a new figher, the North Sea Fighter.
New Links: Dan Pfanenstiel has a new pictoral going on building a press; Francis Boyd, an American legend in the study of Japanese swordsmithing; a source for Tameshirgiri; Knotting Page; Spark testing steel; Making 17th Century Trade Axes; and finally a deal on Graphite Crucibles.
4/2/05 I posted a photo gallery of images from the 2005 Doc Price Hammerin in Plymouth, England.
New Links: Vince Evans, a wonderful smith who has taken the time to learn to reproduce authentically many cultural blades; Dan Pfanenstiel, forum contributor and excellent maker has a new site; Tsukamaki by David McDonald; Blacksmith's Forum.
3/15/05 A short tutorial on Making a Sen; a new piece, Taimu, a Polynesian fighter.
New Links: Daniel Gentile has a good tutorial on making a power hammer; early bronze casting techniques; patina forumulas; knife throwing information;
11/21/04 I have a new knife available, E.B. Fighter that features a nice blade and carved ebony handle.
New Links: Saya making tutorial by John Tirado. Dan Gentile has nice drawings of venturi burner design and controller plans. Anthony DiCristofano Japanese style work.
Japanese Swordmaking Process nice gallery of images.
10/03/04 Bill Fiorini is offering Japanese style bladesmithing hammers for sale. They are well made and perfect for the job, highly recommended. Jake Powning posted a good tutorial on Celtic carving, he is doing some exceptional work, check it out. Japanese Sword making process interesting page.
New Links: Brent Beshara, tacticals by the Canadian Special Forces pro.
You may have noticed the Click to Pay link from Knife World Books at the top of this page. It is an attempt to recoup some of my costs in offering you this site. While this started out as a hobby, it quickly has gotten to be much more work than I anticipated. If you have found this site useful and would like to support future writing, your support will be most welcome. Thank you.
I have set up an online list manager to maintain my email lists. If you would like to receive email notice of updates to the web site, notice of new available knives, and information please join the new list.
| Join The Mailing List |