Ryan's knife

 

The start.

This is a stack of 1/8" 1095 steel and .010" pure nickel. I will weld the ends together, then a handle on.

Into the forge and up to welding temperature.

The forge was made by Riverside Machine, of DeQueen Arkansas. Uncle Al makes some real nice tools. I would recommend his forge and forging presses to anyone.

Drawing out the billet.

I will draw out this billet until it is around a foot long, cut it into 3 pieces, restack, reweld, redraw, then  do it all over again until I have the steel and nickel mixed up enough to hopefully make a good looking knife.

I intend to take as many pictures as possible all the way through the finished product, as Ryan follows the blog and might want to change something as it goes along. You can check out his blog  http://raranch.blogspot.com/   He is real handy with a camera, as well as mules!

Attention Roper;
Here are some real good things to read through until you can come spend some time in the shop.
http://www.knifedogs.com/
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/789-Knife-Maker-s-Discussion-Forums
I learned a lot through these 2 forums, as well as others. One can pick up a lot about the art of knife making through things like these before he ever picks up a tool. I wished I had found them before I started, I wouldn't have wasted near as much time trying to teach myself.