A letter opener

[T Blade]

Well after a year of telling Mom that I would make her something from my forge, I've finally got it finished, (I've only been at this for a year).

http://groups.msn.com/BladeBlacksmit...hoto&PhotoID=8

Should have had it done last week, but sometimes things don't go according to plan. I'm sure that Mom'll like it, seeing as how it's made by # 1 son (1 out of 3).

I reckon that if it had an edge on it, I could call it a knife, though it was quenched and tempered for one cycle only.

Material list:

blade, fine german steel (Volks Wagon coil spring)
guard & pommel, brass
handle, broom stick

[shengq]

Larry, could you pls tell me the dimension of the knife? Also, what is the diameter of the coil spring?

Thanks.

Sheng

[Phillip Jones]

Larry,

Daggers can be difficult but it looks like you have done quite well on this one.

Is that your first knife?

Don't worry about it being sharp. Daggers aren't for slicing.

[T Blade]

Sheng,

The overall length is 9 ??, the blade is 5 ??, the thickness tapers down from the tang end of the ricasso/choil, starting at 1/8? to 3/32?, (a failed attempt at an integral bolster), the distal taper begins about 2? from the tip. The blade width from the ricasso is around ??. I encountered very little distortion in the heat treating process, just enough for a letter opener to work well.

I got the coil spring from a VW mechanic that I know. The thickness is about 11mm, I don?t know if they call it 5160 in Germany, but that is the way I forged it. I took my oxy/fuel and every ? circle, I heated and bent it about 180o, I did that to the whole spring. Using my gas forge, I straighten it as I need it.

Phillip,

If you use the link from my first posting, you can use the ?prev? button (I think) to see the other knives that I have forged. I have made another dagger about 15? overall, a skinner about 9? overall and I pattern welded a billet into 36 layers to see if I could weld, and my site has the ?snake? total length about 6?, all four of these knives are on my home page.

I?ve made a few when I was younger using stock removal.

[Dana Acker]

Larry, that's a nice letter opener. Good work on the blade--nice double edged lines. Best looking broomstick I've seen in a while.

[T Blade]

Dana,

Thanks for the positive input, it's good when someone new in the field gets good reviews from the experienced personel, etc. etc.