|
|
Post by connrock on Oct 5, 2009 17:12:01 GMT -5
One of our members,rockyblue sort of got me into making knives. It's a long story so we'll leave it at that. I had no idea what I was getting into and it was a lot more difficult to do then I had thought. I don't have the proper tools for machining metal so I did a LOT of the metal work by hand using files,emery cloth and my drill press as a milling machine. I would have to say that the most difficult part of the entire job was making the 6 tube settings for the gemstones in the guard.I doubt VERY seriously if I would ever do that again. Rockyblue sent me the blade and slabs for the handles and off I went into the wonderful world of knife making. The photo's pretty much explain the story except for mentioning that I had to order 2 cases of Bengay for my arm and shoulders! lol Before I sign off here I want to thank rockyblue from the bottom of my heart for all he has done for me and all he has given me,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,especially his friendship!    connrock |
|
|
|
Post by catmandewe on Oct 5, 2009 18:18:45 GMT -5
Wow, I almost broke a tooth out when my jaw hit the desk!
That is fantabulous, a true collectors piece!
WOW.......................Tony
|
|
|
|
Post by superioragates on Oct 5, 2009 18:21:02 GMT -5
very very nice work!! Gorgeous! Marie
|
|
|
|
Post by akansan on Oct 5, 2009 18:51:21 GMT -5
That's fantastic!!
|
|
RockyBlue
fully equipped rock polisher
Go U.K.
Member since June 2006
Posts: 1,719
|
Post by RockyBlue on Oct 5, 2009 18:52:19 GMT -5
Very outstanding work Tom!It shows that something like this can be made without $9000 dollars worth of equipment, You did an excellent job with the minium of equipment.It is I Tom that should be thanking you for restoring my desire to do something like this.I value you as a good friend.Thank You Tom!
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,494
|
Post by Sabre52 on Oct 5, 2009 19:46:33 GMT -5
Wow! Still wiping the drool from my keyboard! being a knife nut and a rock nut, a knife that pretty is like a wet dream! Great work Need to see many more of those!.....Mel
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Oct 5, 2009 21:04:09 GMT -5
Beautiful Tom! A fitting tribute!
Nate
|
|
|
|
Post by tkrueger3 on Oct 5, 2009 22:43:45 GMT -5
What an accomplishment! Congrats on producing such a beautiful piece! It's absolutely gorgeous.
Tom
|
|
|
|
Post by stonesthatrock on Oct 6, 2009 0:16:37 GMT -5
After 20 mins. of looking at it over and over....................Saying its beautiful doesn't seem to be enough........ but ITS BEAUTFUL.......... I love it.
mary ann
|
|
adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,790
|
Post by adrian65 on Oct 6, 2009 1:00:18 GMT -5
WOW! A truly proffesional work of art! I would had sworn it's made by Jay Fisher if I wouldn't had known who made it. I cannot congratulate you enough for what you've done.
Adrian
|
|
|
|
Post by connrock on Oct 6, 2009 5:36:55 GMT -5
Tony,Marie,akansan,Rockyblue,Mel,Nate,Tom,Mary Ann and Adrian,,,, I have found that working with knives in this manner is truly an art in itself.There is soooooooooooooooo much to it yet it looks simple enough to do. If you do a little research you will find that there aren't too many people crazy enough to use semi-precious stone as a handle material.To say the least,,,it is very unforgiving. A great example of precision fitting is shown in the talents of our own rockmanken's work.He doesn't know it but I've been peeking over his shoulder trying to pick up on a few pointers! For those of you who don't know what it takes to "re-fit" knives with stone handles take a look here,,,, www.allaboutpocketknives.com/tutorials/art_in_stone/index.phpIt was after seeing rockmanken's work that I did a search and found Mike Hoover's great tutorial on the subject. There aren't many people who will show you everything they have learned and worked very hard to accomplish but Mike opened his brain and mostly his heart to help people like me who had no idea where to start. Adrian mentioned Jay Fisher www.jayfisher.com/ who ,in my opinion is the Master at this but Jay doesn't tell you the in's and out's of the trade! I had no want to get into this part of our hobby but when rockyblue(Glen Haney) was....lets say,,,"down in the dumps"sent me all of his knife making tools and materials there was no way that I could let it just sit here.I HAD to show him my appreciation and thanks him in a way that would maybe get him off of his duff and start looking at life in a different way. Well that stinker got me into this and I LOVE it!! There are sooooooooooooooo may challenges i doing this with the right tools let alone doing it the "caveman" way! lol For example,,,try taking out a scratch in the blade made of highly polished 440C stainless Steel by hand!!!Bengay City,,,,fer sure! I actually scratched the blade rockyblue sent me soooooooooo bad I had to quit rubbing on it and buy another blade. It was way cheaper then ordering more cases of Bengay! lol This knife means more to me then just a fancy looking piece of metal and rocks all put together and shining like a star. It actually represents friendship as the blade and handle came material came from rockyblue and the beautiful faceted topaz was a gift to me from an Australian friend,Darren Jones.Darren dug them up and had them faceted for me and I think a lot of him and call him,,,friend! When silver soldering the guard and bolster it brings me back to all of the guys who helped me learn when I was an apprentice back in the 60's. When I turn on my would be milling machine (drill press) it reminds me of all the great guys who taught me about basic machining when my job was in jeopardy. It brings to mind allllllllll of the great people here and elsewhere who shared their knowledge and friendship with me to help me achieve something that was only a twinkle in my mind. Without the help of a lot of people none of you would have ever seen this knife,,,, The credit and thanks go out to them,,,,,not me!! connrock |
|
|
|
Post by rockmanken on Oct 6, 2009 8:06:32 GMT -5
WOW! How did I miss this. Super work. Up there with Jay Fisher and Reddrum and the Yellowhorse knives. I cannot do the blade part. I have to start with someone elses work. You have to have the desire to be able to do it all from scratch. I also do not know how to machine.
I started and learned the hard way, then found Mike Hoover's tutorial. I picked up quite a bit from him, especially how to polish the metal.
My first one was all stone, blade and handle.
You need to do more of this. Outstandingly excellent workmanship.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tonyterner on Oct 6, 2009 11:06:20 GMT -5
Tom that is truly a work of art. Did you facet the stones? How did you put your name on the blade? Your metal working skills always amaze me.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bejewelme on Oct 6, 2009 14:18:47 GMT -5
Tom:
I gotta say that knives are not really my thing, except for hacking away at a huge hunk of steak, but dang Tom, that is one fine looking knife!!!! I can't imagine all the work that went into that,and the photgraphs are so nice as well. You should enter these into some kind of contest. Very beautiful, you constantly amaze me with your talents!!!
Amber
|
|
adrian65
Cave Dweller
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,790
|
Post by adrian65 on Oct 7, 2009 0:09:56 GMT -5
Do you have any pictures taken while making this knife? It would be so interesting to see the progress!
Adrian
|
|
|
|
Post by sitnwrap on Oct 7, 2009 2:22:19 GMT -5
Tom, I saw your knife when you first posted and I'm glad I waited to reply because with all the info that you shared, I see much more.
You created a truely breathtaking treasure.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Oct 7, 2009 5:32:28 GMT -5
Amazing
Thats just it Amazingly beautifull craftmanship
jack
Yorkshire uk
|
|
|
|
Post by connrock on Oct 7, 2009 6:30:18 GMT -5
Well the compliments still come rolling in and it makes me feel soooooooooooooooooooooooo good to hear all of them. I have to clear something up here I did NOT make the blade. To even have my name mentioned along with Jay Fisher,Reddrum and the Yellowhorse knives would be a total insult to them!These are the Masters and I'm still in their kinnygarden! lol I didn't facet the stones and that's one aspect of lapidary I REFUSE to get into.Although(in my opinion) faceting is truly an art of it's own I just can't picture myself sitting there clicking an index and watching a diamond disk go round and round.To each his/her own! I bought an inexpensive acid etcher and had stencils made to get that personal,professional touch of having my name on the blade.I think it adds a lot to the knife as a whole. I kinda cheated on the photographs this time.(am i gettin old and lazy or what?) I scanned the knife!!MUCH easier and less time consuming. I didn't take photos of the knife's progress because it would only be a comedy of errors!Not that I'm ashamed to show and admit I make errors but there were just WAY too many of them this time. It would have been like taking photos of an apprentice tight rope walker,,,,,,,too may spills! lol Although I read a LOT of info on the web about knife making I didn't really see a "constant" in making them.Every person has his/her own ideas of how to do it and there's really not all that much out there about the stone handles. Did I mention I scrapped the first 2 sets??? I was soooooooo angry with myself and disgusted because this material is a once in a lifetime find,(thanks to rockyblue) and I ended up using 2 slabs that weren't a matched set. This was a HUGE set back for me but I learned a LOT from it,,,,and Adrian wants photos??? lol I started another knife.It's a fillet knife for my g'son for Christmas. So far after a weeks work I have the guard silver soldered onto the blade,,,,,well I didn't say "this" Christmas did I? LOL As usual I've worked myself into a corner and if I can pull off making "these" handles I will definitely surprise myself.  (rambling here) Just finding slabs of the material you want that are flawless and big enough to make the handles is a miracle. Well folks I'm burnin daylight and have to hit the jewelery/knife making/machinist/design/bench. Thanks soooooooooooooooo much for you support and kind works! God Bless you all! connrock |
|
|
|
Post by rockmanken on Oct 7, 2009 8:21:31 GMT -5
Woah! You hit the nail on the head when you said it takes a miracle to find 2 slabs 'good enough' to be able to cut them to fit on a knife.
AND, when you start trimming the slab, one out of 10 breaks along a fault line you didn't see and you don't have a replacement for it. BUMMER Then you have to find something else.
I have some Australian agate I got from Mary Ann that I am itching to use. Going to order a high dollar Damascus blade from Smokey Mountain Knife Works to put it on. Will be a high dollar custom knife. Can hardly wait to get on it.
Thanks for the post.
Ken
|
|
|
|
Post by rockds on Oct 7, 2009 10:02:42 GMT -5
That is amazing! As a collector of knives, I would buy that in a heart beat. Beautiful work!
|
|
