Two other recent knives: One a 5" utility/camper, the other a 6.5" "tough situation" knife, pattern shamelessly stolen from the incredible Jay Fisher- I hope he considers imitation to be flattery!

Both are made from a fairly small circular sawmill blade, L-6 type material.

Though it's a very serviceable knife which could easily outlast generations, I think of it as the knife where I realized that to produce hollow ground edge to my standards I DO need mechanical guides.

The blade foto of the "camper" is terrible- the texture on the blade is from heat treatment, I decided to leave it, just for fun, and have gotten universally good reviews- however, it would have been much better, had I planned it out, to clean it up much more before heat treatment.

Can't believe I haven't posted in so long! It hasn't been for lack of new things coming out of the shop, though.

Lets start with the latest...

This is a 6" Santoku style chef's knife.

I made the steel from 1095 (high carbon, known for holding a fine edge) and 15n20 (a very tough light-colored steel) folded to 240 layers.

The handle is brass and Macassar ebony.

Stubbornly, I didn't do the Good American Thing and just throw out the burned out BBQ that I got for free- only thing wrong with it was that the burner seemed to have been constructed of foil instead of sturdy metal...so I built a new one.

Also, a bucket-0-hooks to hold anti-hawk netting on a neighbor's chicken house. 25, about 4" long, 3/8" round bar.

A few more of the Sunflower gate.

This one is called, Dialogue.

I swear, sometimes the things I get to help bring into the world just leave me breathless- this one give me the shivers it's so good. 

Hope it brings a smile to another face somewhere.

Well, is it surprising that the metalsmith's house is the last one on the block to get a nice fire tool set? Sad but universal phenomenon. I'm engaged in a serious flirtation with conic sections and developments of same, such as superellipse (widely used in Scandinavian design).

Here's a parabola, roped and tamed for use in our living room. 

About 2' wide, 3' tall

A nice design for a portable condiment shelf in the kitchen.

About 18" tall, 2' wide.

Mild steel, wax finish.

A few more photos of the completed entry roofs on Orcas Island.

A Tub'o'Knives from the Adrift Cafe kitchen- I said, Yes, I'd be HAPPY to sharpen all your knives on the one day a week when you're closed, Sunday, and guess what...? I was.

Eighteen in all, in trade for some mighty good eatin'.

Here are some knives that found a home around Christmas.

These are forged and ground of steel from a small sawmill blade- handles are purple heart and bubinga: his'n'hers kitchen/boning knives.

For New Year's Eve celebrations, here are a couple of big (three feet across!) commercial soup pots getting made into fire cauldrons.
Only one got decorated, welding game called because of rain!
One goes to the Guemes Island store, one to the store owners' family home.

Here's a tool commissioned by a neighbor on Guemes.
A sickle for cutting the bushes that grow so enthusiastically around here, the original was beautifully forged long ago by a local logger/blacksmith/wild-man.
In hopes of a simpler, more rugged attachment, I drilled and bolted the tangs to an axe handle- Phil was thrilled, and the recipient of the gift, I'm sure, thought that it looked like a lot of backbreaking work was coming his way...since there's no way to dodge it, why not use a tool forged with love?
Both the original and my reproduction were forged from automotive leaf springs, hammered out to the proper thickness, split, flattened, and ground to a robust and mean edge.

Here's a knife that sold right away- a christmas gift for a retired gentleman who at 71 was still playing goaltender for our hockey group...quite well, I might add.
The blade is made from a worn out chain saw chain, heated screaming hot and hammered into a billet.
Handle is African brown Ebony. About 9" overall.

Installation of the entry roofs has begun.
Here's David working out placement for one of the first pieces.

Here are some recent photos of the Orcas Island project.
The patio roofs are complete, and panels installed in longest runs of railing.