09-20-2012, 10:05 AM
Do any lurkers here have hobbies\other passion they like to share. Please do tell what it is, what you like about it, and any tips. K, I'll start.
Mine is amateur knife making. What I like about it, it's one of those 'easy to learn and a lifetime to master' things. It's not that hard to make a serviceable enough knife. But to make one that is seamless, well balanced, strong and beautiful of heirloom quality, yeah that can take literally years. I'm not at that stage, and I seriously doubt I'll ever ding that skill level. But it's still fun.
I've worked mostly with mild steel for basic practice, and only starting to get into higher carbon\better steels. Modern mild steel is slightly better than the ancient world's iron. It's strong, fairly cheap and readily available at most hardware stores in N. America. I've made small mild steel knives with all the different grind types that are literally, razor sharp. Problem is, it won't hold that edge for long. But hey you get an appreciation of what people used before the age of modern steel came to being.
Tips. Aside from basic safety like wear eye protection and dust masks etc. All the noobish mistakes I thought I'd avoid because in theory I read and knew about it. I still made them when it came to actual practice.
The handles being too short, overly boxy and not enough nicely rounded corners and edges. Hey at least I avoided the 'for my first project, I'm making a katana sword!'. :p Seriously, IMO it's better and you learn more by making a small letter opener for a first project over a 12 inch Bowie knife.
I thought I was learning fairly well, then I found this professional bladesmith website. I'm still just learning the ABCs compared to this guy.
http://www.jayfisher.com/Khukris_Fine_Combat_Custom.htm
Also, khukris are awesome.
Mine is amateur knife making. What I like about it, it's one of those 'easy to learn and a lifetime to master' things. It's not that hard to make a serviceable enough knife. But to make one that is seamless, well balanced, strong and beautiful of heirloom quality, yeah that can take literally years. I'm not at that stage, and I seriously doubt I'll ever ding that skill level. But it's still fun.
I've worked mostly with mild steel for basic practice, and only starting to get into higher carbon\better steels. Modern mild steel is slightly better than the ancient world's iron. It's strong, fairly cheap and readily available at most hardware stores in N. America. I've made small mild steel knives with all the different grind types that are literally, razor sharp. Problem is, it won't hold that edge for long. But hey you get an appreciation of what people used before the age of modern steel came to being.
Tips. Aside from basic safety like wear eye protection and dust masks etc. All the noobish mistakes I thought I'd avoid because in theory I read and knew about it. I still made them when it came to actual practice.
The handles being too short, overly boxy and not enough nicely rounded corners and edges. Hey at least I avoided the 'for my first project, I'm making a katana sword!'. :p Seriously, IMO it's better and you learn more by making a small letter opener for a first project over a 12 inch Bowie knife.
I thought I was learning fairly well, then I found this professional bladesmith website. I'm still just learning the ABCs compared to this guy.
http://www.jayfisher.com/Khukris_Fine_Combat_Custom.htm
Also, khukris are awesome.