Inspired by another tread here I finally got around to playing with the busted sheep shears I acquired years ago....
I forgot to take photos of the WIP but here it is - all but finished!
The blade I chose to work with was the worst of the two (get it wrong on stuff that does not matter in the first try!) with a broken off tip and several cracks in the remaining end and in the handle... this required much regrinding, which was done on my belt grinder keeping the blade cold with a constant dipping into cold water. The handle was cut from the spring and the folded bit between handle and blade was removed using he cutting disk on an Aldi Dremmel clone.
The profile of the blade is weird - hollow one side and Sabre grind the other - so this is what I tried to follow even with the reshaped blade, which proved "interesting.
I found a couple more flaws in the steel as I ground the edge but they look fairly stable...
The handle was made from a seasoned Hazel pole, shaped to fit the shears handle and was fixed to the metal with resin and charcoal glue (once the steel had been de-rusted using the vinegar bath and wire brush method) and bound on with rawhide.
In the photos the rawhide is still drying but I have already put a razor edge on the blade - it slices free-hanging newspaper with ease.
As the knife is intended to look primitive I am leaving the scratches and pitting as they are but once the rawhide is fully dry it will get a good waxing to stop any rewetting and stretching.
I am thinking of making a thonged rawhide sheath or rawhide lined sheath for the knife with a primitive lokk to it
I forgot to take photos of the WIP but here it is - all but finished!
The blade I chose to work with was the worst of the two (get it wrong on stuff that does not matter in the first try!) with a broken off tip and several cracks in the remaining end and in the handle... this required much regrinding, which was done on my belt grinder keeping the blade cold with a constant dipping into cold water. The handle was cut from the spring and the folded bit between handle and blade was removed using he cutting disk on an Aldi Dremmel clone.
The profile of the blade is weird - hollow one side and Sabre grind the other - so this is what I tried to follow even with the reshaped blade, which proved "interesting.
I found a couple more flaws in the steel as I ground the edge but they look fairly stable...
The handle was made from a seasoned Hazel pole, shaped to fit the shears handle and was fixed to the metal with resin and charcoal glue (once the steel had been de-rusted using the vinegar bath and wire brush method) and bound on with rawhide.
In the photos the rawhide is still drying but I have already put a razor edge on the blade - it slices free-hanging newspaper with ease.
As the knife is intended to look primitive I am leaving the scratches and pitting as they are but once the rawhide is fully dry it will get a good waxing to stop any rewetting and stretching.
I am thinking of making a thonged rawhide sheath or rawhide lined sheath for the knife with a primitive lokk to it
