WaddWatsonEllis Belduque WIP

[Josh Dabney]

Now we've got both holes drilled and everything straightened up where we want it so we can see how this contraption is going to work.




When I had everything lined up exactly where I wanted it I scribed a line around the body so I could line it up in the same spot to solder the top onto the collar.  I also used a file to get the collar part dead flat to get as tight as a seem as possible for the solder to hold.   Here we are clamped up and ready to go.


Nice !


NOT nice    Enough heat bled through the collar to pop the entire seam open.  (Insert a bunch-o-cuss-words here !)

[Josh Dabney]

It's not looking good but I figure I've still got one chance to get this sucker back together successfully.  This is the side that was open.


This is pretty ugly but there's nothing to lose now pards so might as well give it a go, LOL


Due to over heating the thin edges of this seam several times and doing it really badly this final time I actually melted a little away from the edge which basically makes this part scrap.

When faced with a situation like this I'm the kinda guy who feels it a bit therapudic (sp) to throw some stuff around and grab the nearest hammer and make certain no more time is wasted trying to fix something that even if fixed would still be a sub-standard part,  LOL      As you'll notice I did give the throat a final tuning with the hammer.

[Josh Dabney]

I feel much better now,  LOL   

WWE dont worry Pard, we'll get there.

I do have some thoughts about my process thus far that should give a better chance at success the next time around.   

I think I may come out ahead if making the collar 2 pieces next time with a seam on both sides and soldering one side to the top, then the other. then the side seams on the collar. 

Because the top is so much thicker than the collar it takes alot more heat to get it to soldering temp. which as I mentioned is what caused the seam to pop open.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

So close ...

But I have total faith that the next one will please you even better than this one ....

Hang in there ...

[Josh Dabney]

This is also a situation where I'm at a serious disadvantage because the torch I got is a new-fangled piece of junk that doesn't have any adjustment for the flame,  it just runs full tilt.  I think I'll pick up a good ole fashioned style so I can tone my flame down and take things a bit slower and try to keep from over heating things too much.  

I'm not sure if I'm going to get any shop time tomorrow or not but if not I'll be starting Silver Throat,  take two on Saturday.  

This is really not a huge surprize so not to worry,  I ordered 2 sheets of the silver so I'd plenty on hand for just such a senario  

WWE-  Glad you like the retension "gate".   Not sure what else to call it or if it would be deemed "period correct" that could be supported by documentation of past examples but it's certainly nothing modern or fancy  

-Josh

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Josh,

In all my 'research' (for lack of a better word), very very few things were produced in Californio ... they remained dependent on the rich trade from South America, Spain and the Orient.

So if a knifemaker in Toledo Spain or the Cartagena could come up with it, it is quite possible that it coulda/mighta ended up here in 'Alta California'

I also read that, much like Spain in the time of Cervantes and later in Mexico, blood was everything. A person able to trace even one of his ancestors back to Spain was considered too good to work a normal job, but was requred to have the best of everything. Hence a Californio might be wondering where his next meal was coming from, but his saddle and bridle would be inlaid with silver and all of his trappings would/must be only the best ...

It almost seems like a plot of a 20th century Russian play....

So I am comfortable that such a knife would reach San Francisco, only an overnight passage on a steamer away from Sacramento ...

[GunClick Rick]

Trials and Tribulations should be the name of that knife when it is finished

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Rick,

True indeed.

Although Josh has to be commemded for  1.) taking on new challenges rather than resting on his great skills, and 2.) Doing it all on a public venue.

It makes me think of New Yankee Workshop ... Norm and his crew never seem to show a mistake, and I am sure there are many prototypes before the final one is completed on the TV Show ... it would be so much easier for Josh to show just his successes without the failures ...

But to me, I feel like I am getting to sit aside him and watch the knife take shape, with all the good and frustrations that brings ...

[Josh Dabney]

Sorry for the lack of updates Pards,

I did get a new torch which makes a world of difference when it comes to soldering, LOL.   

Also our good pal John Cohea gave  me a call and offered a couple suggestions and confirmed one of my fears, that the sheet I got for the project is really just too thin for this application.      When I ordered the materials I was on the fence of which thickness to get and unfortunately I went the wrong way.  This isn't a huge problem other than I've got to order another sheet of silver and wait for it's arrival and the supplier is closed on the weekend.  I'll get it ordered tomorrow and be back in the works in no time.

Another tip John gave was to use silver brazing rod to do the side seams.  This is a great tip because the brazing rod will melt at around 1100 degrees and the silver solder melts at 430 degrees.  Using the high temp rod on the side seams will prevent the sides from comming apart when soldering the top on so I'm gonna try and track down some brazing rod also.  It should be available from the local welders supply and easy to obtain but I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Learning on the fly can be tough at times but I find sevaral things.    1.  Lessons learned by the school of hard knocks are not soon forgotten.   2.  Many folks limit their own abilities by remaining fence sitters who say,  Oh I'll learn to do that one day.

Shouldn't take but a day or 2 to get the new silver sheet so stick with us pards 

-Josh

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Josh,

Sounds like a great plan to get the silver, and congradulations on the new torch ...

I am reminded of myself re the 'fence sitters' .... from taking a spanish class to learning to play the mandolin, my 'bucket list' is so large that I will probably never empty it ... but I should start making a list at least ...

Well, church is calling, so I had best be off.

Best wishes!

[The Elderly Kid]

This is something like that apprenticeship experience I wrote of earlier. Here, Josh is doing almost everything for the first time. Next time someone comes to him with a project like this, the customer will get his knife much faster, with Josh getting most steps right on the forst try, or at least the second. After that, the process will be almost routine for him, and he'll be known as the go-to guy for belduques and all similar knives. How big a market that might be I can't say.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Elderly Kid,

I pretty much agree ... but I think it just shows a creativity and a desire to work out of the box that will always lead to a customer recieving far more than he expects.

Besides, this project is very similar to the Searles Bowie that I left a pic of earlier, and the scabbard (it seems to much to simply call it a sheath) has much of the same charactaristics of the Rifleman's knife.

So, be it a Rifleman's knife, a Bowie, or just about anything formal in a knife, I think this shows that he can do it ... and will do it if that is what the customer wants ....

[Josh Dabney]

Heya Pards just a short update to tell yall I got my hands on some of the high temp silver brazing rod and flux from a local welders supply and ordered the thicker sheet today so we'll be back to workin on our sheath in a snap 

-Josh

[Messerist]

Well hurry up dagnabit!  I'm reduced to watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island here!

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Pretty much the same thing here .... I look forward to a new post every morning, and now am reduced to, shudder, AM cleaning!

Best wishes, though, Josh; you certainly deserve some time off ...

[Forty Rod]

 

Great men are seldom allowed any rest.

[kflach]

Wow. My email updates for this thread stopped and I wondered what was happening. Today I got to read 6 pages.

This is fascinating, and I'm so grateful that WWE is willing to pay for our knife-making tutorial...

...and that Josh is willing to take the time to post it!!!! <grin>

[WaddWatsonEllis]

"This is fascinating, and I'm so grateful that WWE is willing to pay for our knife-making tutorial..."

*L* If there is any speicial time for aYogi Berra-ism, this has got to be it!

So, 'Include me out' of this one ... it is very kind of you, but the tutorial and everything else is all Josh ... as the father of the bride was heard to say, "Hell, I'm  just paying for all of this!"  LOL

As I have said before, when all the gray in my beard is snowy white, I will show this knife to some whippersnapper who will reverently whisper, "Wow, an early Josh Dabney!" ...

[kflach]

Awwwww, don't be so modest. You've at least paid for the materials!

<grin>

[Josh Dabney]

Glad yall are enjoying the thread 

Like Forty said,  NO rest for the wicked     LOL.

I usually try to keep a side project going that's not on any deadlines or rush at all so I can tinker with that when a few minutes of free time presents itself.

This time I put the finishing touches on a small kitchen utility knife and holder thats about a good days work and has been comming along 5 minutes at a time for the last couple months. 

The other thing I decided to work on while waiting for the new silver sheet to arrive was my very first forged blade that I forged out at a hammer-in   in january.  It's forged from W1 and I decided to shoot for a Hamon with the heat treating of the blade. 

It's about a 5" blade, hidden tang, guard and spacer made from architectual bronze and will be blackened once finished, wood is african blackwood.




Of course this one is back on the shelf now that we're back under way with our Belduque sheath