Two of my hobbies.

[Mudcat]

This is a sheath knife I made. I made it for my brother in law. He is a pastor, so I thought putting the grip pins in a cross shape was a good touch.

I use what is called a stock removal technique, it doesn't require a lot of special tools. I take bar of steel and remove everything that doesn't look like a knife. Then temper them in a home made forge, polish, sharpen and put on bolsters and handles.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii161/MudcatStew/knife.jpg

This is a 5 string neck through body electric bass I built. I used 5 different hardwoods in its construction. I play it quite a bit.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii161/MudcatStew/bass2.jpg

[David B]

Very cool!

What sort of music do you play?

David

[Mudcat]

Very cool!

What sort of music do you play?

David
Thanks for the compliment.

For the most part "cover stuff". I gig with a band right now that does sort of a classic rock set list, though we toss in a number of motown things I enjoy. Not to mention some blues stuff.

There are a few bands who call me to fill in, if they are a man short so I suppose I am fairly versatile. I also play at church, we have a pretty nice orchestra and do a lot of that new praise and worship type stuff.

The music director gravitates towards songs that have a lot of movement in the bass part, heavy gospel sorts of stuff. So that can be fun too.

My handicap is jazz, I love the stuff.. but don't have a group of musicians who want to get into so I am a bit under developed there.

I write songs from time to time... mainly just for me. But the songs I write aren't musically complex. Sort of Jimmy Buffetish story type songs for the most part.

Regards,

Mudcat

[Jobar]

I'm a woodworker myself, and that bass is fine.

The brass tang on the knife- did you shape that yourself, too?

[Mudcat]

I'm a woodworker myself, and that bass is fine.

The brass tang on the knife- did you shape that yourself, too?

Thanks for the compliment.

Regarding the tang, I think you actually mean the bolster. But I did shape that. The knifes I make don't use a tang. In the sense that there is a slender rod behind the blade that runs into the hilt. Rather, when I shape the knife I shape the handle in the steel as well.

If you you look close towards the bottom side of the handle, you will see a streak of silver running the length of it. There is wood on both sides and brass on both sides. The steel is actually the shape of the handle. The brass bolsters and handle are both actually pinned to the steel with brass pins. It is just really hard to tell that the bolsters are pinned because both pin and bolster are made of brass. Sort of makes them invisible I suppose.

Makes for a very strong blade, a bit handle heavy though. I use high carbon steel, because of edge holding properties and because they don't require any specialty equipment to make. The forge I use is constructed of brick and a grill top from a gas grill that played out on men. I use a leaf blower for a billows. The steel has to reach a temp of about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit to be hot enough to temper, but you can reach that temp with store bought charcoal fairly easily.

What blew my mind when figuring this stuff out, was that the metal has to be quenched in oil instead of water, like you see in the movies. Apparently water boils away from the metal to quickly to provide effective rapid cooling.

My first knife was a bit of a fiasco. I got the metal way to hot and started a fire in a bucket that held 16qts. of used motor oil. I did the stupid thing and tried to put it out with a water hose. Bad move on my part.

I may get into stainless steel at some point, but they don't hold edges quite as well and the forges that can temper them are significantly hotter. Most people who use stainless, shape their blades and send them off to a kiln for tempering.

What sort of woodworking do you do Jobar?

Regards,

Mudcat