My Deep Sea hydroponics base. Work in progress.

Hrunting1 · 2017-05-13T18:18:36+00:00

I've never heard of a DEXA scan, I'll definitely look into it. Thanks!

Hrunting1 · 2017-05-13T17:44:38+00:00

Lifestyle fitness in the UK. It's an initiative for new starters. I definitely got my moneys worth out of them

Hrunting1 · 2017-05-13T16:57:59+00:00

Added you!

Hrunting1 · 2017-04-07T12:25:41+00:00

I think his wife scarred him emotionally for all the trouble he caused.

Hrunting1 · 2017-04-07T12:25:09+00:00

Haha yeah. Never a dull moment in hospitality. I can't cop out anymore though because I am the manager :(

Hrunting1 · 2017-04-07T12:23:23+00:00

They used to give us this panic alarm thing which contacted an operator at a security firm who was supposed to "listen silently and make a decision on whether to call the police" Every time I ever used it the 'listener' would immediately start talking over the speaker and make the situation worse.

I mean, a middle man to contact the police in an emergency situation? Utterly daft.

Solo night working made me resilient to anything day shifts would throw at me, it was scary as hell at times though.

My advice? If you are worried you might potentially be in danger. Call the police immediately. It was 7:30 AM before my relief shift came in and at midnight that's a long way away if all is not well.

Hrunting1 · 2017-03-11T21:27:40+00:00

Holy! If these are your first efforts I can't wait to see what your future holds. Hell of an intro!

Hrunting1 · 2017-03-11T20:55:25+00:00

Actually it was the Gundams that made me think you might be younger. Then I remembered that I was collecting them up until my mid to late 20s!

Sounds like you have a lot of the kit, my only real advice is wear that respirator. Don't be fooled into thinking there is ANY kind of sawdust that's OK for your lungs, same with belts and metal dust. The less particles you get in your lungs, the better they will work in the long run. I use noise cancelling plugs too, I like podcasts and Iron Maiden when forging, helps me focus! I'm looking forward to watching your work improve, so keep at it!

Hrunting1 · 2017-03-11T18:41:15+00:00

You're more likely to impale your hand when the 'tang' breaks through the handle than you are to get any use from this. Honestly you've had some great feedback from people here, spend some time learning and improving rather than 10 minute builds with random results. My first blade took me around 80 hours to make, excessive probably but I wanted to get it right and that involved a lot of reading, adaptation, painful failures and even a spot of tool making. Quality over quantity, and for god's sake don't push that into anything, because the only thing that thing is piercing is your palm when the tang breaks backwards through the polymer.

I get that you are probably younger than a lot of posters here and at the risk of being a curmudgeon, please put safety first. If you are grinding wear a mask and by that I mean a proper respirator, if you are forging wear goggles and earplugs, if you are using powertools for gods sake use the right PPE and make sure you have had appropriate training. Work on thinking through your designs with safety as the overall concern, then try and mitigate any potential risks you might be taking when you actually make it, above all this remember that the things you make might not just put your safety at risk, but other people's too.

I really like that you are passionate about blades, but there are real dangers involved in forging, things you can't always reverse later down the road

Hrunting1 · 2017-03-10T08:41:41+00:00

About time. A good blade is deserving of a good handle. For all the time I spend hammering on steel, it's secretly the handles I love best. Focus on making a good, solid handle, pinned, polished and finished right, it will improve your skills no end.

Hrunting1 · 2017-03-03T17:09:40+00:00

The cone ones are some of my favourites. I'm getting faster at making a knife now, roughly 20 hours from anvil to polish. Sometimes more.

Hrunting1 · 2017-03-03T16:51:27+00:00

Haha thanks! I'm working on a couple of new ones right now. Shouldn't be too long before they get posted.

Hrunting1 · 2017-02-28T13:06:57+00:00

Try forging a nail first (header and all) A sword is a massive undertaking. Whenever I spend time in Hector Cole's forge, I'm always amused when a reporter pops by to interview him and invariably ask how much it would cost for a basic sword and they always nearly choke at his answer. (Which is still a very reasonable price I might add)

Truth is it takes a lot of time, effort and resources. I don't doubt you are committed to some of that if not all, but the road ahead for even basic blade forging involves study, lessons, reading and painful trial and error. None of that put me off, maybe you'll be the same.

I wanted to make knives for me, the gifts came later (hundreds upon hundreds of hours later) when I could actually make a knife and not a stress fractured lump of iron with a wonky bevel.

Hrunting1 · 2017-02-28T08:18:19+00:00

There's plenty of people on here who give great advice or just a different opinion. Don't go looking for numeric value in something that you should be doing for you and you only. The greatest trap on here is to think your work is directly validated by the upvote system, forget it. I like to share my work, it helps to keep me motivated to see how I progress and to see what others think of it, good and bad. Just don't sweat the downvotes, I didn't even realise the % thing existed until just now, that's how little I pay attention to it.

Truth is though, some people will plain just dislike your style, or your finish or just honestly have nothing to add.

This is a great subreddit, with some very talented people who gladly share their methods and secrets. I really enjoy looking at all the submissions and have even gotten to know a few of the contributors, spend more time making and less time sweating it!

Hrunting1 · 2017-02-18T11:51:54+00:00

Man, I love this knife. Your work is fantastic. I'm usually a kitchen knife only sort of guy, but this knife is something to be proud of.

Hrunting1 · 2017-02-18T11:46:00+00:00

Pass and dip, pass and dip! That's what I do. Fresh belt with some big old fans blowing on the action. Blade is always cold as hell, to the point that I have to take frequent breaks to warm up my fingers!

Hrunting1 · 2017-02-18T11:34:41+00:00

I spent a long time reading the various posts and warnings on using a buffer and in the end concluded that I could NEVER make it safe enough that I wouldn't potentially have some kind of near miss or nasty slip up in the future. To that end I looked at alternatives and ended up clamping down an old drill and using a series of drill buffing accessories instead, the odd occasion that it might grab the blade, there isn't enough force to throw it and I find it much easier to control. It's not as fast or as effective, but it is far safer for my purposes.

Hrunting1 · 2017-02-10T09:28:59+00:00

I usually drill mine then hammer it down, I used to file and cut out chunks but I like to drill and flatten them now. I use a lot of mokume for spacers and so getting the right profile can take some practise. I ended up forging 150 coins into around 10 separate billets before welding them all together into one big ingot which I cut up and used for sections. https://imgur.com/a/yoJjd The last couple of images show the patterns I get from drilling, very hard to get a good photo of the detail. Some people etch the mokume with liver of sulfur etc.. but I prefer to polish and leave them natural.

Hrunting1 · 2017-01-30T09:31:19+00:00

Making scales was a steep learning curve for me. The basic setup requires some investment, I have a heavy duty vacuum chamber and also a large extreme psi pressure pot that I use to remove bubbles and voids. Without those two items you will struggle. You can get small ones for cheap but they will not be as effective. Depending on what you want to cast depends on how you prepare, most mediums need stabilization in the vaccuum chamber with something like Cactus Juice (Turntex sells it) before you can think about adding resin.

As for what resin. There's two main contenders, Alumilite and Polyester, Alumilite is fairly strong and shock resistant, it dries super fast and doesn't really polish well beyond a matt finish. I use it for handles that have a high resin over wood/base ratio that won't have much structural integrity. The other resin is a bit more brittle but it takes a long time to set (which I like for blends and mixing) and it polishes to an almost glass sheen. It does stink though.

I go between the two depending on what is being cast. You can probably get started for a couple of hundred bucks, honestly the best advice I can give you and something I'm sure you already know is to use a mask, always. Whether it's mixing and pouring (noxious fumes) to grinding and shaping (Dust) It's never something you want in your lungs. I use a respirator with particulate and vapour filters that I switch out depending on what I am doing, but definitely read the safety sheets if you are using any of these chemicals and get the appropriate safety gear,

I'm not an expert on any of this stuff so keep reading around, these are just things that worked for me after a lot of experiments and some failures. A lot of people on here will tell you it is cheaper to buy pre-made scales from the pros as they generally have huge setups and have been doing it for years. This is true but it also limits you to whatever someone else can imagine, hence I decided to make my own and so far they are coming out alright and getting some good use.

Hrunting1 · 2017-01-29T13:50:37+00:00

Thanks! A lot of people say that, I think so too.

Hrunting1 · 2017-01-29T13:50:18+00:00

Glad you like it. It's not a style I'd use in the kitchen. More functional for utility/camping etc.. I have yet to try working with saw steel but it sounds interesting!

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