Yes, the blacksmithing is still going, some things just got in the way for a bit. First, my teacher sustained an injury to his hand which slowed us down significantly for a couple days. Then, right as things were picking up again, we ran out of gas for the forge on a day when we could not get more. So yeah, kind of had an unexpected break. But, we are back on track!
Two Steps Forward, one Step Back
The project I have to present this time, is one that I maybe should have opted to do before my proper knife, but hey, sometimes things work out that way. Plus, I really wanted to make that knife. What we did was something I am told is a common thing for beginning smiths. Making a shop knife out of an old file.
We started by tapering the end that would be the handle, and made an indent for a better grip.
The curved part, which would be sharpened latter, was done all on the belt sander.
Once the blade had a preliminary sharpening before final quenching, there were only two steps left. First, bend the bottom in on itself for a smooth point to go up against the hand. Then, my teacher wanted to do something special, something that could help me make my mark, literally.
My own stamp! The phoenix.
Those who know me would not be surprised that I chose the phoenix. Not only is it my favorite mythological creature, but I absolutely love what it represents. Powerful, yet graceful. Should it ever falter or fail, it will always rise from the ashes and fly again. So many great things symbolized by this one creature, it had to be my mark.
So, once the stamp was done, we bent the end of the handle, stamped it, and did the final quench. After letting it normalize for a while, we sharpened it and got a pretty cool and useful blade.
I left a lot of the filing because it gives a great feel.
You've come so far! Keep up the great work and use your imagination to take you further! So proud of you.