While my son was in the hospital for 23 days, I had nothing to do but wait. I decided to take to the internet to find a new hobby. I found aluminum casting which looked really cool and fun. That lead to blacksmith videos of guys making all kinds of really cool stuff. Once we got home and I had a few extra dollars I decided to build a temporary foundry to melt some soda cans down. Once I had it built I thought I'd throw some BBQ charcoal in it and see how hot it really got. The fire was putting out some good heat and I realised that I have nothing to use as a crucible. I looked around for a few minutes and decided to put an old metal rasp file down into the fire and see if I could get it hot enough to shape. I had no other tools but a short pair of pliers and a regular old everyday hammer. No anvil either. Well the concrete floor of my garage was going to have to do! After a few minutes of letting the file heat up I pulled it out of the fire and it was red hot!
I hammered it down into a point and put a small bevel on it. I kept referring back to some videos about quenching and heat treating. Today, June 5th of 2016, I started to put my final touches on it. I made a mahogany handle. While this is my first blade and not anything close to perfect, it was a blast to make! Its very rough but its mine and I love it! Hope you guys enjoy some of the pictures. I can't wait to share more blades soon!
