A couple hunters

Raymond Richard

Forum Owner & Moderator
Here's a couple knives I've been messing with for sometime now. Both were forged from leaf springs and left forge finished. Both have iron fittings and curly maple handles salvaged from a piece of fire wood. The larger knife has a 6" blade and is around 11 1/2" overall. The smaller knife has a 4 1/2" blade and is around 9" overall. Must have been feeling patriotic on the smaller sheath. Tried making the 4th Inf Ivy Division shield and it actually turned out. 1st of the 22nd was the unit I was with in Nam.


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That is some incredible work, Raymond. There is some tremendous hammer control going on there, to be able to leave a forge finish that looks that clean.
 
Awesome work Ray. Very neo-tribal! :)

How are you getting the patina on the blades?
 
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Awesome work Ray. Very neo-tribal! :)

How are you getting the patina on the blades?

One T, I had bought a container of the Plum Brown finish at a gun store several months ago and finally got around to trying it. Had some once before and didn't quite understand the process and just forgot about using it. This time I cleaned the blades off real good and gave it another shot or should I say several shots. To use it you need to heat the steel up to 275 degrees. While the steel is at this temp you dob on the chemical and put it back in the oven. I did that 5 different times to get it as dark as it is. After it is done you want to soak it in oil to kill the chemical reaction. I treated the blades before I assembled the knives.
 
ray - pretty cool knives. I like the sheaths, too. One of them looks sort of, "Easter Island" like.

The patina is nice, also. Never used plum brown, only bluing or rusting for fittings. I noticed a long time ago that if I wanted to leave part of a knife as-forged, but then I goofed and accidentally hit part of it with the grinder and took off the oxides, I could blue it and the look would be the same. The little bit of bluing, when surrounded by forge scale/oxide looks just like the rest. It is an illusion, I guess. works, though. Like liquid paper for grinder or filing errors.
kc
 
ray - pretty cool knives. I like the sheaths, too. One of them looks sort of, "Easter Island" like.

The patina is nice, also. Never used plum brown, only bluing or rusting for fittings. I noticed a long time ago that if I wanted to leave part of a knife as-forged, but then I goofed and accidentally hit part of it with the grinder and took off the oxides, I could blue it and the look would be the same. The little bit of bluing, when surrounded by forge scale/oxide looks just like the rest. It is an illusion, I guess. works, though. Like liquid paper for grinder or filing errors.
kc

Tai, I was out in the shop 3 or 4 times yesterday and forgot to see what brand the plum brown was. Maybe I'll remember today.

Kevin, One of the things I have discovered in the 18 years I've been messing around with the knives is there's a lot more than one way to accomplish many different knife related things. I bet you didn't know you could etch a damascus blade in pee. :D You were not to far off with your "Easter Island" look. I discovered this forum about a month ago: http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/index.php that keeps on giving.

Long story short about 3 years ago I located one of the fellows I played high school football back in 1964 living about 6 miles from me. At the time we were both living in the San Diego area. He's 100% Samoan and I had made a small knife for him as a thank you gift for feeding my cows while I was away at a knife show and I was looking for something with an island thyme when I found that link. I still need to finish off the knife for him but at least I have the idea I want to use for his knife.
 
Love the two knives great character! The sheaths compliment them perfectly and I have to say Raymond that I believe you just raised the bar in the custom knife sheath making
industry!. Very unique leather work..
 
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