Hello All,
I'm a new "aspiring" blade smith / apprentice from Bradenton, FL. I took up smiting hot stuff about three years ago and never had the slightest bit of interest in blades except for the tooling (power hammers, presses), but that all changed about a year ago when I welcomed a couple of gents from bladeforums out to one of my hammer-ins. There I was, just using the forum as a resource for my hydraulic press build, and in some random turn of events, I got bit by the bug. I attribute my new pursuits over the past year had a lot to do with both of these gents; one reintroducing me to my fondness for forged Southeast Asian blades, the other showing me exactly how much artistic capital goes into the making of a piece of cutlery through example. I hope to drag both of them here
This past year my interests have progressed past simple blade steels and into pattern-welding. While pattern-welding is a daunting black hole of infinite possibilities where one can get lost forever, I’m firmly grounded in the creation of a complete package emphasizing function, form, fit, and finish. My intentions here are to learn and correspond with the best of the best. In my short run of rather simplistic first attempts I have received nothing but positive direction from ABS members through. Having only made a handful of blades so far, all of them ended up leaving the shop as gifts, each blade completed with the oath that the next would be better.
Sine Pari,
- Zach
<≠> SINE PARI <≠>
Zach
Welcome to the American Bladesmith Society and the ABS Forum. I know that you will find the answers to your questions on our Forum.
Dan Cassidy
Journeyman Smith
Send an email to Dan
Welcome to the ABS and the forum Zach. Let us know how we can help. I look forward to seeing your work.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
Welcome from South Florida Zack!
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Zach
Welcome to the American Bladesmith Society and the ABS Forum. I know that you will find the answers to your questions on our Forum.
|quoted:
Welcome to the ABS and the forum Zach. Let us know how we can help. I look forward to seeing your work.
Brion
|quoted:
Welcome from South Florida Zack!
Hello George! Glad to see I'm not the only glutton for punishment in this purgatory most call paradise... Starting to get hot and humid all over again... <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//sad.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':(' />
I appreciate the warm welcome guys. I have a great bit of work in front of me to even come close to the craftsmanship displayed on this forum... As soon as I finish up the 2 blades I'm working on, I'll post them up with the others for critique. I won't shy away from admitting that I have several areas that need improvement.
<≠> SINE PARI <≠>
Zack we all have areas of improvement needed. I know of two other apprentices down here Josh in Melbourne and David in Broward County. The heat doesn't really get to bad till mid July in my part of the state and gets better around mid October. I think I handle the cold better than the heat.
I forge a couple extra blades that need to be finished and put them away each month so I don't have to forge during the bad months. That way I just do my blade finish, handles and guards with A/C in the shop running.
