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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 25, 2014 16:51:46 GMT
Have the signature pics been removed? Would be fine with me, I just noticed it's gone and was wondering...
Edit: now it's back again... weird.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 25, 2014 16:47:16 GMT
Hey guys, I'm currently busy with two large commissions but in between I made this little knife for my girlfriend who has long been telling me how I've never made anything sharp and pointy for her. So here it goes, a girl-knife for Christmas ;) Steel: c60 with a hardness of about 58-60Rc overall length: 6.3" (16cm) blade length: 3" (7.5cm) weight: 0.25 lb (110g) It's a simple affair but I had fun making it and am pretty happy with how it turned out. It's light and feels great in hand yet also stout and dependable. I doubt she'll start to EDC it but it'd be pretty ideal for that. And it's really nice to work on something where you quickly see progress. I love swords but damn, they take a LONG time to make. Knives are more fun in that regard... I couldn't go outside to shoot pics so here are some mediocre ones, I might get some better ones tomorrow and add them here. Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas!
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 23, 2014 16:45:45 GMT
Ohh, shiny Good work. Regarding straightening: either you do it RIGHT after quench while the blade is still hot and smoking (you have to be quick), before the transition to full martensite or you do it after tempering, using a torch to gently heat the blade up to around 180-200°C (straw yellow color must be seen so you have to polish a "window". Or do it like me, I run the entire blade quickly over a 150 grit belt before tempering) and carefully straighten it in the vice (put in smooth brackets!). Once it's straight immediately cool in water. Likewise, if you get it too hot (you see it starting to turn purple) immediately cool it, then again polish and re-heat (more carefully this time!), straighten, etc. All this works pretty well once you get the hang of it and I practically never have to redo the HT because of warping. Though in some cases (drastic s-kurves in the edge in thin kitchen knives for example) I also chose the safer route of normalizing, straightening and again quenching.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 21, 2014 15:08:56 GMT
Awesome!
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 19, 2014 8:58:13 GMT
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 10, 2014 22:11:40 GMT
Well, being a one-piece construction and most likely pretty soft steel, it probably wouldn't fail as disastrously as most stainless steel wall hangers but I wouldn't go so far to call this thing usable.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 5, 2014 16:15:09 GMT
I'll echo the other comments, you've done a great job! Now I'm looking forward to a cutting vid!
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 5, 2014 9:16:32 GMT
I would also recommend Bryan Heff. He does very, very good work for a very reasonable price.
Regarding the other makers: Both DBK and Christian Fletcher are high-end makers. Of the two I'd go with DBK in a heartbeat. Crusader Monk is more of a low-budget maker, he does solid and dependable work but at that price you naturally can't expect such a refined product. So if you're ready to spend a good amount of money and historical accuracy is your primary concern, go with DBK. Especially if you want complex tooling, etc. Otherwise I'd suggest you shoot Bryan a PM.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 4, 2014 22:12:31 GMT
Very appropriate choice of music Good cutting, looks like you gave her a very nice edge. Also like the sound the sword makes. The clear ring of a well-put together hilt assembly...
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 3, 2014 12:26:44 GMT
The Kindjal is a good choice if it fits the type of sword you want.
Something else: whatever type of sword you end up getting, get a matching blunt trainer/waster and practice with that before you go around swinging a sharp piece of steel. Or get the Kindjal unsharpened (Windlasses usually come that way, I'm sure you could write KoA and ask if they can either sell you a blunt one or take the edge off a sharp one. You can always later sharpen the blade yourself or send it in to be sharpened). Like you, I started pretty early with this hobby (was around 15 years old I think) and while nothing happened I kinda shudder when remembering what kind of stuff I did back then. Could have easily gone wrong. So I absolutely recommend getting a blunt trainer and becoming comfortable with it before taking a sharp. Build a pell to practice on or just do solo drills cutting the air. Also, if you don't want to/can't join a club that does sword fighting (HEMA, etc), watch videos to get a basic understanding on how to use a sword. Despite being dangerous, learning-by-doing without any guidance can lead to learning bad habits that you'll have the hardest time to unlearn later.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 2, 2014 21:52:12 GMT
Excellent!! Good work. Indeed, by-knives are often seen on historical bladed weapons, very often on Messer but also on longswords so you're right on.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 1, 2014 18:18:42 GMT
Exactly. Most sword enthusiasts know that swords were absolutely not smashing crowbars but cutting (and thrusting) implements and therefore need good edge geometry and sharpness. An idea that is however still often propagated even in forums like SBG is that very sharp also means very fragile so terms like "sword-sharp" or "battle-sharp" imply that swords can be too sharp for their own good. I don't believe that to be the case. Yes, a sword can absolutely have the wrong edge geometry (for the type or use) and that can mean both too steep/blunt or too thin/fragile. But sharpness is something else... yes, it's strongly related to edge geometry but it's not the same thing. I consider sharpness more of a measure for the degree of polish than for edge shape. So I say, no, a sword can't be too sharp, it should be as sharp as possible, meaning its edge should be as highly polished and smooth as possible. That has nothing to do with durability. A 40° edge, which Peter Johnsson says is historically accurate for many sword types, can be both shaving sharp and quite blunt. Same goes for a 20° or 50° edge. What geometry and degree you chose is dependent on the sword type and its intended use. The sharpness or degree of polish however is not. I'm convinced that no matter the sword, a higher polish and therefore sharper edge is always preferable. Of course, two swords of the same sharpness can still cut with varying degree of efficiency. That's where edge shape, blade geometry, blade profile, sword weight, etc all come to play a role. But there's absolutely no reason for a sword to be less sharp than another or in fact anything but razor sharp (a term I hate, btw but you get the point).
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 30, 2014 22:06:21 GMT
That's the spirit I'll repeat again that I don't know how it'll go with jeans... I recommend using the material they had back then, linen and sheep wool. I do know that medium to heavy linen can absolutely ruin your cutting experience unless your sword is really very sharp. If it is, no more resistance than without. If it isn't most likely the sword will just bounce off or maybe leave a little gash. No idea what the result will be when using other material. Well, except leather. That stuff is worthless as protection. A barely sharp blade will cut it with ease while completely failing to do anything to linen.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 30, 2014 21:44:51 GMT
Well, that would be just grand. I demand video In that case, you could do various tests, too. Experiment with varying number of layers, try cuts, thrusts (those will go through without trouble), use different body parts. Naturally if there is a hard surface (like bone) right underneath the clothing, it's much easier for a blade to cut through the material. An anvil effect if you will. So I'd imagine it would be easier to cut jeans wrapped around a forearm (leg) compared to a torso or ribcage covered with it.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 30, 2014 21:34:30 GMT
Sure, do that. I haven't done it with jeans to be honest but linen of varying thickness as that's what they wore. Jeans is pretty tough stuff too though so it could be comparable I guess. Wrap it loosely around the target (would be great to use another deer of course but newspaper rolls or so do fine, haven't tried bottles), if you stretch and fix it in place with tape it can falsify the result. Clothing moves around.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 30, 2014 8:54:35 GMT
Good cutting.
Not to derail the thread too much but don't mix up sharpness and edge geometry/shape... the two are related but not the same. A 40° appleseed edge can be utterly blunt or shave-hair-of-your-face sharp. Both are exactly the same shape, only the degree of polish is different. Both are also exactly the same durability wise. Only the second one will reliably cut clothing though. A paper-cutting sharp blade will just bounce off a single layer of linen and be reduced to a blunt-trauma weapon. Naturally the same goes for a blade that's even less sharp. There is no reason for a sword to not be razor sharp (at least throughout the cutting portion of the blade). I agree that for cutting bare flesh it's not needed but people weren't running around naked back then.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 28, 2014 10:15:29 GMT
The main problem with nylons is that their feel in the bind is completely sempriniesque. I don't do rapier but I can't imagine that binding and winding actions don't play an important role. So if you can afford it, always go with steel. Having one steel and one nylon makes the steel pointless. The Rawlings at least are pretty durable, I think chewing up shouldn't be a huge concern if you go easy.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 24, 2014 21:44:37 GMT
Damn, wish I could... the last game was a lot of fun. However I can't cut here at University and only go home once a month... but I'll certainly watch you guys cut stuff up!!
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 24, 2014 12:09:18 GMT
Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I'll redo the edge, should be a superb cutter when properly sharpened. Hell, even with all the nicks it cut well. And handling is fun, as mentioned. I need to get out CS and Windlass sabers that I have to directly compare. Can't remember what models they are but it seems to me I like the French cut and thrust stuff better than the cutting-focused models. I read that some 1822 sabers were made for exercise, not actual use. Don't have the saber here right now so I can't check if there is the "SM" stamp in the guard but that might explain the heavy wear.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Nov 23, 2014 16:47:53 GMT
Hi guys, now for something you don't see very often: cutting with an original! I wish I had a nice 16th century longsword to cut with but this saber is pretty cool as well. The saber is from Bill so for any questions you'd best ask him, I have zero knowledge about modern sabers (or how to use them). All I did with this one was straighten the blade, the edge is as far as I can tell still the original edge, it's severely nicked in multiple places (from combat use I'd wager) but otherwise easily cuts paper. And as you'll see it still gets the job done I only cut light targets with it since I don't want to run the risk of damaging it. I wasn't sure if it could cut plastic bottles with the damaged edge so I stuck to tetra packs. I'm still on the fence whether I want to restore the edge to its original condition (which would obviously involve taking a file to it) and then try it out against some tatami mats... would be very interesting for sure. Since this model is so widespread and this particular one doesn't have any unusual features, it wouldn't feel too sacrilegious Anyway: As mentioned, I have no training in military saber but the blade cut very nicely and without effort. Handling is great, the saber feels very aggressive in the cut yet also light and responsive. Very much unlike the Cold Steel and Windlass sabers I have... I just love how original sabers are designed, they start massively thick at the base (this one is 9mm thick) and distally taper to nothing at the tip. Functionally very cool and interesting weapons. But I ramble... Thanks for looking!
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