Yo Kurt,
Thanks for all the great advise. I think you have
well demonstrated one of the most surprising
things I have found out about in the past 2 years,
and that is that the community of knifemakers is
one of the most generous in freely sharing their
knowledge, and more so than virtually any other group
I have been involved with. And unfortunately, that
includes many groups who are supposedly dedicated
to seeking "Truth". But, you have also found one of
the truly selfless people in the...shall we call it
... "Enlightenment Community", and that is Sandeep.
For much more of his sharing, check out his excellent
web site: http://www.the-covenant.net/
Now for some Zen and the Art of Knifemaking talk:
I have just posted the latest knife that has brought
together steel, wood, and brass to produce a tool that
should last for much longer than the physical human
body that was involved in its arising. It can be seen
in photo's #13 and 14. 1095 steel again for the 12 3/4"
blade and 17 1/2" total length. Much like a regular
practice of meditation fills one up with a stable
spiritual energy, the beautiful buckeye burl wood has
been through a process called stabilization that has
strenghtened it and will keep it from warping and
losing its functional ability for years to come. It's
hand formed brass guard will protect the users hands
just as faith and prayer are said to do. I do intend
to use other types of steel in the future as it is my
nature to want to experiment with many ways to do the
same thing (as can be seen by the dozens of different
meditation techniques on our web site, Meditation Station
http://www.meditationsociety.com ). And if I lived closer
I would certainly take you up on your kind offer of steel,
but I live in the Lancaster area, just outside Philly.
As for using proper respiratory safety equiptment, you are
100% correct. And I do. Just as we should have an environment
that is free from negative stressors when we meditate,
every place we are in should be free from toxicity.
It was after the fact that I found my work area
filled with the (potentially dangerous) stink
of odors that grinding bone had released. And that was
with using an air cleansing machine! And just like it may take
quite a while for the negative mental, emotional and physical
things we begin with to be cleansed with our meditative
practice, it took several days of keeping the doors open
and the air filtering going to get the air clean again.
In any event, I've rattled on perhaps too much.
Thanks again for sharing.
Peace and blessings,
Bob

"kurt_kurosawa" <kkurosawa@...> wrote:
>
snip
> - About the smell, it pays to wear a respirator. The particulates in
> the air can be themselves harmful, little sharp shards of steel that
> you don't want moving and grooving in your lungs when you cough.
> Then there's the chemical aspect, e.g. cocobolo is toxic and other
> natural materials may be allergens. And since you're working with
> bone from (presumably) overseas, it would be hard to completely
> discount the possibility of inhaling microorganisms/spores.
>
> - I see you're using 1095, a very good steel, but if you're getting
> a little "boomerang" in the quench, you might want to give O-1 a
> stab (so to speak). I love O-1, so forgiving and can be
> differentially drawn. For the quench, get a coffee can full of auto
> tranny fluid, heat it to 125 F (by sticking a bar of hot steel and a
> candy thermometer in it).
>
> - 5160 is cheaper; it's (as the name says) nominally 0.60% carbon
> but it also has 0.2% silicon and 0.7% chromium. A little tougher and
> can be hardened up near the 60s. I'm in the Tidewater Virginia area
> and if you live nearby (you don't want to pay shipping) I have a few
> pounds (maybe something like 30 feet in 3 or 3.5 foot lengths) of
> 1/4 x 1" 5160 I can give you free.
>
> Best, Kurt
>
> PS my favorite meditational incense is sweet coal smoke, see if the
> library has books by Alexander Weygers, he explains how to make your
> own forge from a coffee can and anvil from a piece of railroad
> track, and gives instruction on beating hot steel.
>