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Hey Y’all - Haven’t been on in a while (life gets in the way of the hobbies sometimes) but I just wanted to share a new piece of equipment I got for the shop. It’s a Rockwell 21-100 vertical mill I found at auction ($400!). She was pretty worn and tired when she came in. Took me about 2...

Hello All - I am attempting to forge some curved flat awls from O1 rod. My question is should I be worried about decarburization when working with such a thin cross-section of steel (0.10”) and if so, how would I minimize the effects when working with a gas torch. Or possibly I’m just...

The knife shown below is typically called a Clicker knife in leatherworking. I would like to recreate this knife handle for some gifts and was hoping someone may have ideas on how to go about fabricating it. My first thoughts was to: Somehow machine a groove in a square stock of brass. Heat...

Hello All - After a long hiatus I would like to make some more leather tools. I’ve recently been using blades made from Aogami Blue and they put the blades that I’ve made from O1 to shame. They are much harder and holds an keen edge. I’m considering A2 for the next round of knives. By the...

Hello All - So I have made quite a few leather skiving knives out of O1 steel and apart from the second mess of a knife, they all came out pretty good. What I would like to try now is D2 steel hoping that it will provide not only the razor sharpness of O1 but would also help to keep the edge...

Hello folks - I was hoping to get some insight into the blackened surface appearance on the knives in the attached photos. Is this an applied treatment or merely the raw finish after hardening? Much appreciated - Ed

Hello folks - I’ve been looking around for a decent grinder for a while but finding a used 2x72 is like finding the holy grail. I did come up with this 1x32 1hp Rockwell sander/grinder and I can probably pick it up for cheap. Is this worth getting or should I pass and keep looking? Space is...

I would like to stack two hardwoods together vertically for a hidden tang knife handle. Do I need to add anything to prevent the two woods from separating over time or is two part epoxy between the sections enough? I would think that the epoxy used to join them together coupled with the knife...

Hello all - So i'm finally done with my first knife. Not the sexiest or coolest knife in the world but for what it is, a skiving tool, it works like a charm. I have big balloon hands so it's nice to have a handle that fits my hands perfectly. I'm going to use it for a while, take notes and...

Hello all - after finishing up my handle nice and smooth I went ahead and polished my bolster. In doing so I had transferred the metal dust from the sandpaper to the wood and now I have black dust in the grain. Is there a way to easily clean this up?

Hoping to get a little insight, Is there a need to temper a leather crafting blade? I can understand the need to temper a general purpose blade where you may encounter hard materials but for a leather crafting knife is it necessary? Furthermore, wouldn't you be able to get a sharper knife...

Hello folks - I just wanted to run a few things by you. As my first knife, I would like to make Skiving/trim knifes. These types of knives are used to thin and trim leather. I am looking for the best balance between an extremely sharp edge, edge retention and ease of HT. I'll be forming the...

Hello folks - just wanted to introduce myself to the forum. Been dreaming about making a knife ever since I was a wee little lad. Now married, have kids, running a business, high blood pressure, overweight, I'm finally going to do this now. Going to start small. Leatherworking is something...