I've always wanted a dagger.... I had this nice big piece of stone and went for it.






Its interesting to me how the shapes for these handles works out. There's no scales, so the whole handle is very thin, which means it has to be broad to fill the hand...

The center of balance is basically right in the middle of your palm. It feels like it weighs nothing when you're holding it.

Still more work to do on the edges. I think I'm going to leave the sides as-is, it reflects the primitive nature of the material.

Looking nice Momaw <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> can you take some pics when you grinding it? how you do it?

That's looking good! And here I thought this thread was going to be about this guy:

jbombelli: who is that guy? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/paperbag.gif" alt="" />

That's Number 6. He was a character in a British TV show from the 60's called The Prisoner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14eUKogPF7s


I am not a number, I am a free man!

okey thanx <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I recognize that phrase from the adventuregame Simon the sourcerer 2 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Very cool. I imagine that took quite a bit of time.

I am not a number. I am a free man. I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

Why?

LOL...we still get to see this over here!!!

Sweet! Have you seen the movie called "The Hunted"? There's a scene in there where Tommy Lee Jones makes this stone knife.

^ The dagger so far, and the tools I will use to finish it. The stone is just a stone I picked up off the ground at a place where the earth was all torn up from caterpillars. The shape is, I think, too regular to be totally natural, as it's a nearly perfect circle with one side flattened a bit. It is a nice feeling to imagine that I'm using the same tool as somebody thousands of years ago. (And it's actually not too unlikely) The little bar of slate I made myself (and at the rate it's wearing out, is highly disposable)


^ When grinding the edge, it must be supported to prevent knocking chips out of it. Slate is very brittle. So here I am supporting the back of the edge with a finger.



^ I already did the aggressive grinding yesterday, on a chunk of very rough granite which removed material quickly (a little took quickly, which gave me a big chip in one side <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ). Today was all about finesse and patience. Here I am shallowing out the steep angle from initial shaping into a more gradual convex shape, by grinding away the "ridge line".


^ I'm happy with the shape of the edge now. It is much more obtuse than any metal edge, because the stone is so fragile and I want this to be more of an all-around knife. I have made thinner edges but it would destroy them to use them on anything but kitchen work.


^ Trying to show how I hold the polishing stone. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Again, I support the edge from the back side as I work on it. Because slate doesn't form a burr during sharpening, it doesn't really matter which way you grind it. I sideways or orbital motion depending on the length of the edge.


^ A tedious job which gets more fun as you progress, because of the wonderful messiness of it!


^ The freshly sharpened edge. Again note the deep chip near the point from overly aggressive shaping! Patience! And treat slate knives very gently.


^ After a little use cutting tough grass, the edge is already showing damage. This is simply unavoidable. Though the rate of damage slows down of course, as the edge gets more blunted and obtuse. The knife would have to be sharpened fairly regularly, taking off a little bit more stone each time (though nowhere near as much as re-knapping a flint knife). This is why slate knives were not, I believe, ever expected to last for more than a few years or be heirloom gifts. This is also why metal blades, even copper, which can be reforged and sharpened for an entire lifetime, are such a huge advance.