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Post by aussie-rabbit on Oct 31, 2014 9:06:35 GMT
I know him !
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2014 13:07:43 GMT
Yeah, a FIG BUCKIN´TURTLE!!!
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Post by John Greybeard on Oct 31, 2014 14:35:01 GMT
Thanks LG!!! Ahhh, Edward, we are getting SO close to your sword!!! Keep hanging in with me and it’ll soon be your turn to be “amazed” - when you get that beautiful brute in your hands!!! Thank You for the good words!!! I really appreciate your support for my work and your concern for my aikey-breaky damn health too. Thanks Dave! I think this one will definitely be a good, if distant, colleague to yours. And thanks re the knee - I’m actually beginning to remember that I got the damn thing replaced so it would end up being better than the falling apart original... light at the end of the tunnel... hahahahaYou betcha Rob - shiny shiny - and getting sharper and pointy too!!! hahahaha Thanks!Hahahahaha - just be sure to have the choji at hand before you slop too much over that Cimmerean Steel, Sean!!! Thanks!“if I’m on my feet too long...” yup, A-R, thats the damn problem... numb-nuts here doesn’t register there’s a swelling going on until it’s full-on pumped... then it’s catch-up time - on the couch with my foot in the air and the wife walking by rolling her eyes,,, “aren’t you better yet?” hahahahahaand Thanks for sharing our little friend all growed up - boy he sure did grow into those choppers, eh? hahahahaha
I think maybe there's some "frilled shark" DNA in there too: yeah, this sucker is real!Hahahahaha - yeah, IH, thats it exactly!!! a fig bucking' ugly scaly one!!! from little bronze acorns the mighty oak grows...
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ecovolo
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Post by ecovolo on Nov 20, 2014 16:37:37 GMT
John and Rob:
What's the latest news on this project?
--Edward
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Post by John Greybeard on Nov 22, 2014 0:53:38 GMT
Since my last post I’ve mostly been working on refining the blade. That needs to be done before I can start affixing the bronze to steel, which is next.
This particular blade doesn’t need too much work, basically bringing down the edges and reducing the thickness of the area around the point. Its a good one for me to" work my way into" dealing with the steel. Like I said in an earlier post, I’m primarily a bronze guy... less so a steel guy.
I’ve been reducing the edges from the unfinished 1/16th inch to a thickness that will appropriately support an apple-seed edge. Sounds easy enough, right? But these are Jody Sampson designed blades - with a serious hollow grind from the fuller to edge. So thinning the edges down while keeping the integrity of that beautiful hollow grind is a little more challenging than working down a diamond or lenticular geometry.
And I think I’m getting it. Takes time, but I think its happening. I tried to take pics for you, but I just couldn’t get a good shot of the edge. Yet.
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ecovolo
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Post by ecovolo on Nov 25, 2014 19:57:23 GMT
(2nd attempt. First post didn't go through.)
Awesome! Good to hear, John. Definitely take your time to get the blades done just right, and pictures would be good when they can happen.
--Edward
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ecovolo
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Post by ecovolo on Dec 18, 2014 22:37:18 GMT
So,
John and Rob! It's been a while; what's the news?
--Edward
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Post by Stromlo_Swords_USA on Dec 19, 2014 7:29:59 GMT
Hey Ed,
I'm here! I talked to John a couple days ago - and I'm just checking if he has an update pic of Chris's sword ready to share.
Stay tuned...
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Post by Stromlo_Swords_USA on Dec 22, 2014 8:05:26 GMT
Ok - seems ol'Greybeard can't get a post up here, but sent me the following: OK, I don’t know about you all, but for me the whole holiday season has turned into a gigantic black hole of energy drain, time squandering, and social and family obligations looming from here into the distant horizon. Sorry but I’m just getting comfortable with my inner grinch... I’d say “bah, humbug” but Scrooge was in a very different socio-economic strata and I can’t relate... How’s that for an introductory note, eh? ahhh, bah humbug anyway... So here’s what we’ve got right now: Blade #3 for Chris - I quote Rob on this one: “achingly close” to completion - Bronze complete, Runes complete, Blade in final clean-up/sharpening stage in anticipation of grip and final assembly Blade #4 for Dave - Raw Bronze cast, Blade unfinished Blade #5 for Edward - Bronze guard cast, Pommel in wax, Blade unfinished Blade #6 for Sean - Wax molded, Blade unfinished I’m sure that after I get my Ho Ho Ho jollies over and done with I’ll be able to show you some more... Sooooo... Happy Holidays everybody!!! And - a picture - ENJOY!
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ecovolo
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Post by ecovolo on Dec 22, 2014 23:02:58 GMT
Blade #5 for Edward - Bronze guard cast, Pommel in wax, Blade unfinished. Thanks for the info! I'll be sending a PM about it. --Edward
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ecovolo
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Post by ecovolo on Jan 15, 2015 23:42:54 GMT
So, it's 2015. What's the news?
--Edward
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Post by John Greybeard on Jan 19, 2015 2:57:23 GMT
I’m sorry Edward, but I don’t have much new to share with you right now; but I am presently marshalling my energies for an imminent great leap forward of productivity. Stay tuned!
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ecovolo
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Post by ecovolo on Feb 18, 2015 0:31:33 GMT
Hey, so it's been a month.
Has the great leap happened yet?
--Edward
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Post by John Greybeard on Feb 19, 2015 1:27:55 GMT
looking back on that post, Edward, maybe “a great leap” was something of an overstatement... however - there has been productivity. The story: I told you earlier that the work on the steel was going better than I had anticipated: which meant that the technique/tool I was using was in fact shaping the blade exactly as I wished it to. As you know, I had approached working with steel with some apprehensions - not as much experience with it as I’d like before digging into the fabled blade. But there it was - I was moving that steel! And it was shaping up well!
So I had to set it aside for a couple of days... and when I came back, upon closer inspection I realized that while the shape was good (spoiler - it still is good...) perhaps I had been a tad too aggressive in my choice of abrasive. Not being confident about the smallish (2 inch) grinder I was using, I had used a pretty rough grit wheel. and while it did the job, it left some deeper scratches than I had expected to see...
And I didn’t freak out... exactly... OMFG I ruined the blade!!! Arrrrggghhhh!!!!
See, when you’ve done a particular job enough - lots of - times, you know when something is really F’ed up. Or when the remedy is just some hard work that you wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to engage in. That kind of knowledge is what I’m now aquiring regarding steel work.
Didn’t ruin the blade at all... just aquired, along with said knowledge, some blistered fingers from a lot of hand sanding... hahahaha And much additional respect for JohnnyOdin, Brenno, Jeffery, Wes, L Driggers and all the other brothers that do this all the time!
So I’m now finishing up the shaping of the other edge, hopefully with more finesse and a few less blisters (hey - aren’t you guys relieved to hear me just complaining about blisters this time, instead of existential despair and old age?! hahahahaha) Here’s a couple of not that informative pics - I just can’t seem to photograph the subtlety of steel surface textures...
Attachments:
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Feb 19, 2015 2:36:47 GMT
GLORIOUS!!!!!! stop pretending your not used to working in steel!!!
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Post by John Greybeard on Feb 19, 2015 3:26:53 GMT
No Pretense Wes - 10 years working with bronze, I never got blisters on my fingers… I got burnt, sliced, diced, smashed and crushed - but no blisters. Steel is hard stuff, Brother!
But then we all already knew that, eh? hahahahaha
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Feb 19, 2015 3:36:01 GMT
hehehehe. someone has to give you a hard time brother
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Post by L Driggers (fallen) on Feb 19, 2015 7:19:08 GMT
Next you will start forging then you can go back to being burn. Last week was a new one for me at least, I got burned/sliced. First time I ever cut myself and it didn't bleed.
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Post by John Greybeard on Feb 19, 2015 12:25:59 GMT
instant cauterization! a good thing? less to clean up, anyway, eh? hahahahaha
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Post by Lonely Wolf Forge on Feb 19, 2015 14:07:42 GMT
Next you will start forging then you can go back to being burn. Last week was a new one for me at least, I got burned/sliced. First time I ever cut myself and it didn't bleed. how did you do it? i once dropped a glowing hot knife that was pretty sharp going into heat treat and my stupid reflexes made me reach out and grab it, the blade slides through my grip and slice burned my hand before it hit the ground lol
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