A Roving Knife

[messerist]

My friend calls this one his "Roving Knife." He wanted something he could take out in the woods with him and to the rennaisance fair as well. This is what I came up with. Forged from a leaf spring with a brass-pinned curly, maple handle. Sheath is copper and leather with a little brass accent because the copper looked boring. OAL: 15" 10" blade 5" handle. Hope you like it. -Troy

 

[kevin - the professor]

hey, that is pretty cool. What stain did you use on the maple? is that aqua fortis?
good all-around blade.
kc

 

[messerist]

Kevin, you got it. I used aqua fortis to stain followed by several coats of boiled linseed oil

 

[grafton]

Looks very nice.

 

[Church & Son]

Best I've seen out of the Troy forge to date(except for the one I have) Very nice package.......

 

[kevin - the professor]

What did you use to heat the a.f. to darken it? I have used a torch to date and it screws things up, or I do. I always scorch some spot.
what was your heat source?
kc

 

[messerist]

Kevin, I use a Wagner Heat Gun. The same kind you use for stripping paint. Works like a charm. before I got the heat gun I would heat up a chunk of steel in the forge and pass it close to the wood. That worked OK, but it is hard to beat the heat gun. Of course the Wife wonders if I am every going to use it to actually strip paint.

 

[Lagrange]

I like it.

Eric

 

[Dan Pierson]

Very handsome package. I really like the lines of the blade.

 

[jonathan creason]

Great looking package. I really like the way that aqua fortis makes the maple jump. How much heat does it take to activate it? Have you ever had any problems with the heat causing epoxy to fail?

 

[messerist]

Jonathan, The wood never gets hot enough for the epoxy to melt. I just run the heat gun about four inches away from the surface of the wood and voila! Thanks Gents for your gracious comments!