Irons in the Fire

My thumb has healed from its stabbing – oh yeah, I didn’t tell you about that. So I was finishing up Rocketpants’ knife…wait I didn’t tell you about that either. Sigh.

OK, so if you remember a few (many) months ago, I had some of the guys over and let them pound on some hot metal? Well, other opportunities haven’t presented themselves, and Rocketpants’ birthday was coming up, so I thought I would finish up the knife he started. It was a nice little thing, made from O1 tool steel I think – always hard to remember which scrap is what. So, I did a little hammering, quenching, tempering, grinding and polishing, and put the handle on, and then some more polishing, and some more polishing, and there were still a couple of little scratches in the mirror finish. So, more polishing, and it was about time for bed, and I was so proud of not stabbing myself during the whole polishing process…that I stabbed myself in the right thumb.

Now, this isn’t all that infrequent of an experience, so I can’t say that it was surprising. In fact, my wife, sitting 3 feet away working on the computer, didn’t even notice that I had stabbed myself. You’d be amazed how quickly you can apply direct pressure to a thumb, so, no big spurts of blood either. Unlike that time with the razor – Note to self - don’t ever show people how to shave with a straight razor after a couple glasses of wine.

Anyway, I got myself patched up. Finished up the polishing (with Kevlar gloves) a few days later, sharpened it some more, made a sheath, and gave it to Rocketpants AFTER winning the Twinkie Cup. So no one would accuse me of bribery.

Mind you, I have never eaten a twinkie (despite a picture that floated around facebook a while back), but won a very large margarita glass full of them. What!!?? You don’t know what the Twinkie Cup is?

Every year for the past 3, Rocketpants has put on a race at the Albuquerque Indoor Karting. This year, the theme was Mario Cart. Now, I don’t do the dressing up (because I am lame), and I am not the world’s greatest driver, but somehow I managed to be consistent enough between the two races to tie for 1^st, and then with my random powerup (again, a la Mario Kart), I edged out the other first place winner.

In other news, I tried forging the bronze chunk that I cast and it crumbled. I hit it when it was too hot, not that I knew it until it was too late. As it cooled, it became clear that it was forgeable at lower temps, but how was I to know. I guess I will have to melt it again later and try lost wax next.

Gratuitous picture of Autumn

That's all for now folks...

A

Tidbits from the end of 2010

Goodbye 2010

I think this year went by faster than any other that I’ve experienced.I know that perspectives change a little as you age, but I think that this is about the most stable year I’ve had in recent memory, and that lack of upheavals may have had something to do with the speed with which it passed. Just hypothesizing. We’ll see how 2011 goes.

Since the last post, almost two months ago, I can’t say that I have spent all that much time in the shop, and in the last week or so it has been cold enough that I haven’t wanted too. Despite that, I have wrapped up a few projects, and am almost finished with a couple others.

The revised AR36 – now known as the pear knife, is much cooler now.I did some wood burning on the pearwood handle, and almost finished up a stand made of a couple of pears that I turned out of the same pear wood. They are waiting for stems, but this is what they look like now.

AR56 - I made a hunting knife for one of Erica’s dad’s friends. It’s a pretty simple one – basic drop point hunter, hidden tang, Madrone Burl handle, with a stainless guard. Simple leather sheath, but it turned out OK.

AR57 – Finally wrapping up the Dog Bowie. Sub-hilt fighter with Bowie style Stainless blade, finished with a gloss gunmetal blue bake-on Gun-kote protectant. I tried my hand at casting bronze for the guards, and set dog teeth (provided by the customer) between the guards. The sheath also has an inset panel with a cast bronze dog footprint. The handle is ebony and spalted maple.

I didn’t make any jewelry this year, but I did make a door. A fairy door that is. Not my usual thing, but Mom asked, so I gave it a shot.This one is cut from Ancient (30,000+ y.o.) Kauri from New Zealand, with a Pear stoop. The frame is domestic wood. I did some wood burning and painting, and Erica printed the stained glass window.Sadly it doesn’t open, but I’ve heard that only faeries can open them anyway.

The Door and The Door showing stained "glass".

I’ve got some idea’s for the shop, but you’ll just have to wait and see.

A

Adventures in Knifeland: On the Bench

So Erica tells me that my title is lame and that I am stealing her "thing". But if you look back at my blog you'll see "the workbench" there first. So I don't care :)

I know that you don't see a whole lot of my work on this blog, but I tend to think of it as more "guy" oriented. However, I've been thinking about general marketability lately, and think that I should probably be aiming more towards kitchen knives and folding knives than the hunting knives that I have been making. That doesn't meant that all of these are kitchen or folding knives mind you. Just that I think it would be a better idea in general.

I'll go in knifological order here:

I decided that I didn't like the hand on my knife AR36

Not that it doesn't look pretty good in this picture (handle is coccobolo and brass), but it didn't feel right and the balance was all wrong. Believe me, that makes more of a difference than you might think. Pick up your favorite and least favorite knives in the kitchen if you don't believe me.

Anyway, I decided to remake it. It's not done yet, and I think that I might do some wood burning on the handle, but haven't decided what to burn yet. This is what it looks like now:

The wood isn't quite so fancy, but I think it feels waaaaay better. The handle is now fruiting pear and brass.

Next is AR39, which was a big Machete last time, but didn't quench right, so the edge didn't hold.

It's a lot smaller now. But it holds its edge.

The handle is sycamore and purpleheart.

Then we jump forward to the current knives.

First, a new big machete-like thing....

AR52

The handle is curly maple, and it's a pretty big knife - that's my hand, not Erica's in the picture.

And lastly we have a couple of knives that just came out of their second forging session:

I'm not quite sure what they will look like in the end, but I am enjoying making them.

Any suggestions?

That's all for now,

Adam

We've Been Busy!

This past holiday weekend proved to be very productive for Adam and I, and between our two stores ( http://www.acrylicandsteel.etsy.com/ and http://www.causticthreads.etsy.com/ ) I have about 50 new items to list. I almost said "We have 50 new items to list" but as Adam has the full time job that supports us- and I complain about Adams tagging and photo abilities (though I could surely take better pictures myself)- I am the one that lists things on etsy.


This banksia pod knife was actually already listed, but Adam has decided to make sheaths for all of the knives that don't already have them. The sheath on this one is new.




I got a wild hair and finished some patterns I was working on, and then also made some additional patterns. I finished a dress that has been sitting in muslin for about 4 months, and made two new shirt patterns and 2 new skirt patterns. This skirt is pretty simple so I was able to pop one out this weekend. It is about a size 6, denim nautical inspired, and looks REALLY awesome with my Mermaid tee. I cut out two more in different fabrics, another one that is about a size 6 and one that is about a 10. The 10 just needs to be hemmed and the other 6 is not sewn yet. I have not decided how to photograph these yet, so I am not sure when these will be listed.




The place I get my shirts, an overstock retailer (to answer T's question about how I keep my prices so low) had these really great fold over yoga shorts! I think I may have to keep a pair for myself! This pair is printed on the booty with silver roller skates.





As you may know, these awesome bearing necklaces are Adams brain child. He made one for me as a gift when we started dating, and I wear a turquoise one that he made me almost every day. They have gone through a few phases of evolution, we have learned how to make them more efficiently -meaning we can offer a better price for them- and now each one is a collaboration. I love working on these, because it is something Adam and I do together. We got 10 of them finished this weekend.






I had been wanting to buy more french netting for a while, and I finally gave in. I bought from two sellers and got a wide variety of fun colors... I ordered more this weekend and may just be addicted. The store I reordered from was http://www.etsy.com/shop/pocketsaurus and I was extremely impressed. The product was awesome, the prices were unbeatable and the service was excellent! I received my order within a few days AND it came with a coupon. I couldn't help reordering, and I may just be addicted. I went to the store to copy the link and ALMOST made another purchase. (yikes! how many yards of veiling do I need?)

I made two new black veils with facinators and two new hot pink ones. I also made a new white facinator that I will be making a veil for soon. Yesterday I received green netting and red netting and I am waiting on some ivory and ♥turquoise♥ (swoon). So... expect a lot of veils to start popping up in my shop too.

Tomorrow I hope to post some fun family pictures. I will be back this evening to post my treasury of the day. Any suggestions for today's theme?

XOXO
-Erica

Creepy Cool...

My wife is the coolest! Who else would say…you should make me a creepy knife?! I’m itching to get started. I have just the chunk of steel… and that was 3 months ago.

If you know Erica, you know she likes creepy things. Creepy dolls, creepy paintings, zombies, skulls, etc.. I think that is fantastic, so obviously this was a project that I wanted to do, and to put a little thought into...

So…what is a creepy knife? I guess its one that you can imagine seeing in a horror movie, rusty or bloody or sinister. Is it creepier to have an odd bone saw or a bloody butcher knife, or a rusty machete, or… what about a cleaver?

I’ve seen butcher knives with blood stains enameled on. But that just isn’t going to…cut it.

Something super rusty would be cool, but unusable. Lightly rusted is ok. So nothing stainless.

Mostly I just kinda like the idea of a rusty cleaver.

So I started it…

It all started with the chunk of steel, in this case 1095 high carbon steel, which is what I started forging knives with a few years ago. This particular chunk is the heaviest I've worked with, at 1 5/8ths wide and 3/8ths of an inch thick. That’s a lot of metal to move with a little hammer. Makes me wish I had a power hammer, although I do like hand forging. Sometimes I wish for a hotter forge too, but charcoal is pretty good and it feels like being back in time (except for the Dustdevil blower that I use).

Here's the chunk, with Autumn's hand for scale:

And an intermediate stage:

I thought I had a couple more intermediate stages, but I can't find the pictures anywhere, its a pretty big jump to go from the above stage, to the below stage.

Before Quenching:

After a few forging sessions, and a little grinding, I got the shape about where I wanted, quenched it, and ground an edge to it, leaving the forging and quenching patina on the back edge, while polishing the actual edge.

After Quenching:

I decided to go with oak as the handle, because it looks kinda basic, and was torn between rough twine and leather for the keeper cord that it will hang from. In the creepy theme I probably should have tied it off in a noose, but didn't. Oh yeah, and I used framing nails for the pins. Nice!

Anyway, I think it is pretty awesome, its heavy like a cleaver should be, sharp enough that you could probably shave with it, and creepy enough to meet the desired goal. We both kinda think that it should have a block to store it in, ya know, a head or skull or ribcage or something, but for now its going to hang on the wall.

I know its not rusty, but it did cut me a couple of times - I have all kinds of nicks on my hands - so its a little blood thirsty.

And I finished it on Mothers day :) Happy Mothers Day Honey!

What do you think?

Knives in the Kitchen

I don’t know what it is with guys and knives. We love them. I’m sure there are guys out there that don’t like them, or don’t care, but for most of us, knives are just something special. Mind you, not all guys like the same kind of knives, but most guys at least will express interest in one kind or another.

If you and your fiancée are filling out your wedding registry, and he isn’t all that thrilled, take him to the kitchen knives, you can share outrage at how expensive the ones he wants are, and maybe he’ll complain a little less about the process. Or let him register for power tools.

A guy may have no interest at all in cooking, but still want to carve the turkey or ham. Or he may be a culinary artiste, and have a full collection of the finest knives that money can buy.

Personally, I want a knife that doesn’t catch on anything. If I could use a lightsaber I would, but it might cook the meat, melt the cheese, burn the veggies etc… and they don’t exist. Barring that a knife that cuts like a razor and doesn’t ever need to be sharpened.

Some people claim that sharper knives make food taste better because the food isn’t bruised by the blade. I just want a tool that works properly.

So, in the interest of making my knives more approachable to more people, I have been focusing a little more on kitchen knives and utility knives (with the odd outside project: a lord-of-the-rings-esqe machete, a custom camp knife, and such).

I recently finished this stainless steel Japanese style chopper:

And this high carbon chef’s knife:

And I’m really close on these two kitchen carver/boners (they are farther along than this picture shows:

And now I’m fixing a Henkel’s Santoku for my Aunt, we’ll see if quenching it again destroys it. Henkel’s apparently welds bolsters and tang to their slightly higher quality blades. And they use non-stainless for the tang, because hers rusted and broke off in the handle. So, it’s changed shape a little, and hopefully it isn’t destroyed in the next step. It’s a little thinner than I like for quenching.

Let me know what you’d like to see in a knife and maybe I’ll make one just for you.

Adam

Busy with Custom Orders!

I have been sparse lately, partially for reasons that I can't explain, and mostly because we are busy with several custom orders, and I am very busy with roller derby. I am skating 4+ days a week again, which is fun, but I also spend a lot of time planning the 2 practices that I run, researching teams and drills and doing other things behind the scenes. We have also started climbing every Friday again.

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Michigan:


Adam and Autumn looking into a koi pond

A nice picture of the two of us

Autumn looking gleefully into the donation box as though at 14 months she already knows the power and importance of money in this world.


Also, last Saturday I died my hair black. I like it.

So, these are our custom orders:




Yesterday I finished these adorable Martial Arts Kiddos. There are 12 of them, 6 boys and 6 girls. I tried to make a good multicultural mix. I think they are cute but am a little worried that they are fragile.


Adam also recently finished this awesome kitchen chopper. I really love it and am encouraging him to make more. He does have a few kitchen knives on the bench though, including a stainless steel one. I cant wait to see how they turn out. I will be shipping this one very soon.


Then there is the wedding dress I am working on. All I have left to do is cut the stray strings, and make the veil. I also decided today when I put this dress on the form to take pictures that I wanted to add some strings to tie up the skirt from the inside to make the raised skirt a little easier to accomplish and also create a more even billowy drape. I will take some nicer pictures when the dress is done.

I also am feeling a little sick. Bleh. It's a tired achy flue-ish cold.

Also, I have had several people ask me for cards that they can hand out.... so I guess I need to design some new cards, eh?

Take care for now, folks.

XO -Erica

Finishing touches

Given that I feel like I never have enough time to work on my knives, it appears that I have actually gotten quite a bit done. I also received some knife related gifts this holiday season, including some wood for handles, and a magazine about Japanese chef's knives. I didn't learn a whole lot about the Japanese knives, but it was an interesting article anyway.

Anyway, this post is about the visual change from relatively raw blades, to finished products. On the next forging session maybe I'll take the idea a little farther, from raw metal to finished product.

But I digress...

At the end of November I posted this picture:

Since then I have finished 4 of these, as well as forging an additional custom knife, and two custom letter openers.

Many of my knives change shape quite a bit during the creative process – for a dramatic example, look back at the November 30^th post on Kitchen knives.

Of the knives above, starting at the left: The big Kukri styled chopper is still languishing unfinished on a shelf; the heat stained santuku styled knife (third from left) was finished as seen below, and sold!

The hunter (second from the left) changed shape and became hidden tang, and is at the far right in the picture below; the big and small daggers are waiting for me to acquire a little patience and are unfinished; the scalpel (top) is finished and in the middle of the picture below.

The knife on the left in the picture below is the custom kitchen chopper that I made for a friends mother.

And finally the knife all the way on the right changed shape a little, was finished and given to my dad for Christmas.

I know some of these pics aren’t new, but it seems relevant to have them all in the same place for this post.

That’s all for now folks. I’ll probably be posting the official specs and maybe some better pictures of individual knives over at hangedmandesigns.

Holiday Season Kickoff!

I hope everyone enjoyed their thanksgiving, and I hope that those who decide to brave the retailers this weekend come out of the event unscathed!

Adam and I spent thanksgiving a few hours south of Albuquerque, in Las Cruses. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner prepared by Nick and his wife, and had a great time with them, and also my dad and his wife.


If you are not so into the crowds at the mall this time of year, you can buy more meaningful gifts this year on etsy.

Many stores are having sales this weekend. Here is ours:

HUGE BLACK FRIDAY/CYBER MONDAY SALE November 27, 2009- November 30, 2009
Free Worldwide Shipping! (on all orders)
Store wide discounts already taken, some up to 50%!
ACEO's marked down to $7.50 (25% discount)
$5 coupon Toward a future purchase WITH ALL ORDERS PLACED DURING THE SALE :)

These are our current treasuries! Please check them out while they last!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=77283
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=96909

We sell Art, Hand Forged Knives (great gifts for men), Arm Warmers, Baby Items and much much more !
_______________-Happy Holidays-__________________

ALSO, ONLY FOR BLOG READERS WE ARE OFFERING AN ADDITIONAL 15% off! Use promo code "blog" in a convo or in message to seller. This offer is only good for a weekend.

Also, I would love to see everyone else's sales for the weekend! If you are having a sale please post it in the comments, along with a link to your store! I would love to check it out, and I still have some holiday shopping to do.

Our other blogs.

Hi! Adam posted an awesome new post on his -gasp- *other* blog. The link is www.hangedmandesigns.blogspot.com

I have another blog too... it always makes me sad when people only go to that one and don't come to this one, that I spend so much time and energy on.

But.... since you are already here, you can check it out if you want: www.ericasart.blogspot.com but this is the blog I really love.

Finally Forging!

Happy fall!

I don’t write too many of these blogs between work and commuting and trying to spend time with the family, but today is a red-letter day….the new forge is functioning and functional! It’s a new version of the old one a made in ABQ, firebricks, and black iron pipe mostly, this time with the addition of ceramic insulation, and a second tulare line for more even air distribution. I use hardwood charcoal as fuel, and it seems to work pretty well so far. Too bad I don’t have an anvil stand yet. I guess the crouching and standing should be good for my knees.

I now have three anvils also. Two pieces of railroad track, which I haven’t shaped quite to my liking, and my old steel block. I’m planning on making the little railroad piece into a fairly convex shape, to help in drawing out steel. I’ll eventually cut a chunk off my big steel block too, for similar reasons, and a different arc.

So, you’d think that I would start small after a couple of years off. Not me. The first two projects to go into the new fire are a nice long Santuko style kitchen knife (maybe 10-12”) from a heavy duty dodge leaf spring and (ok this one is pretty small) a paring knife from some O1 round stock. After they cool off, maybe I will take some pictures and you can watch them progress….very….very slowly. Obviously there is a little way to go on both of these.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited that the new forge is running, so I thought I would share.

Cheers!

Adam

Unpacking is hard.

We have been in our new house for a little over a month now- and there is still SO MUCH unpacking to do. All of the important things are done so it is really easy to push off what is left for another day... the problem is that the things that are not unpacked yet are all of the good things... art needs to be hung, and my sewing/art/craft room needs to be organized desperately.

This is the current state of my art room. The worst part is that since I have needed to get things from there it is an even bigger disaster!

Adam has started to make some progess in his shop though! this weekend he made and organized this work bench!



Saddly, it is pretty unlikely that I will get my room more organized before the close of august. Fortunately that is because I will be doing something I love-playing roller derby!

I have already been fortunate enough to play in three bouts since I have been here. On monday I returned to Albuquerque from Tucson, where my team- The Munecas Muertas- played the Saddle Tramps. The Tucson Saddle Tramps have long been a personal favorite team, but it still nice to win a game! I felt really good about this game. It was the first time since Autumns birtrh that I have felt like I was playing effectively. It made me sad to see some dramma about strategy conflicts unfold on the bench. Also, I had to walk away from some critisism, because in the middle of a game it was not going to help.

I hope to get some pictures soon.

Next weekend I will be in Taos for a home game, and then we will be in portland to play the Wheels of Justice.

Great Deals on Great Knives

We have just reduced the prices on Adams beautiful hand forged knives! Please check them out!
www.acrylicandsteel.etsy.com

First Post...

So, the first post, I suppose, is an excellent opportunity to tell you a little bit about ourselves. When Broken down to the simplest of terms "We" are a family. My husband and I make cool things, and we sell them on esty. I just had a baby girl in November. Her name is Autumn and she is growing fast! She is only 4 months old and she already weighs 18 lbs 6 oz!

My Husband Adam is a wildlife biologist. He also makes beautiful jewelry and hand forges knives. I have an AA in Fashion design from FIDM in Los Angeles, but am now an artist and stay at home mom. I paint, sew, needle felt... and lots of other miscellaneous crafts. I also play Roller Derby. I started playing in November of 2005 for Duke City Derby. I love talking derby... so I will save that for another post.

Adam and I recently moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Portland, Or- and it has been a little bit of a culture shock for both of us. I grew up in Albuquerque, and while I spent a little time in Los Angeles, Ca and in Savannah, Ga I cant help missing the wide open spaces and vivid sunsets of the desert southwest.