Brokenolmarine

I like them as well.

When working in a small space, a couple things will help a lot. I got these tips when I started in a 12x20 shop. I had shelves down one side, half the other, and two workbenches. Clutter is your worst enemy. Those blown molded cases the tools came in? Unless you will be hauling the tools around, donate them to your carpenter friends. Their cases are probably beat up and missing handles, they can use them, you can use the space. Scraps... I was guilty of hoarding scraps. I might need this. In most cases your space is more valuable than that 55 gallon trash can of scraps you held for a year and never used. Honestly evaluate off cuts and toss those you are likely to not use. Yes, materials are expensive, space is valuable. Organize. I was told to put one cabinet in the end of the shop, get rid of the other shelves. Opened up floor and wall space. Then, put stuff in it's place when you are done. You won't spend time looking for the last place you laid down a tool in the clutter.

I enjoyed the movie, but find it hard to link that actor to the lead in "Old Henry," an awesome movie. The strap turned out great . You did a fine job, something to be proud of.

Everything about the knife is impressive, I especially like the optical illusion of a depression the grain around the knot creates. When I make both knives and boxes the grain often choses the wood for me, and boxes are often built around their tops, chosen for the grain patterns. I'm just starting to get the hang of carving, vs. Tooling patterns. The Eagle looked great to me, though I would have added the extended talons for dramatic effect.

Dad was in the Blue Angels in the late 60s when they flew F4s. He left the Navy with 23 years active duty, and six months later started across the hanger as a civilian, managing tools and test equipment for the training squadron. Thirty two years later, retired again and went to work as a starter/maintenance guy at a private golf course there in Pensacola... He couldn't really retire. They bought the first house in a new subdivision a few miles off base in the late 60s, very nice neighborhood. The last time I visited, most of the homes were rentals... My folks had bars on the doors and windows and the alarm was ON 24/7. They could no longer sit on their porch in the evening, due to hearing gunshots in the area every night, but refused to move. This was in spite of their granddaughter, a career federal agent, begging them to. "We've lived here more than sixty years, we'll die here." Dad passed in December. One of my stepsisters moved in with my 87 year old stepmother. "You can sell it all when I join my husband," she told her. That generation doesn't scare easily.

I went to part of elementary, middle school and thru my sophomore year of high school in Tampa. Nice family neighborhood back then, and it was a pretty good period in my life. Then my mom packed it in and moved to VA. Used to hang out on the Hillsboro River, spend the day at Lowery Park, and at the rec center up from our house beside a huge church. Summer nights we'd go to fast pitch softball games and shag foul balls and trade them in at the snack bar for little debbie cakes. A lot of the streets in the neighborhood had indian names, and the main intersection near there was Sligh Ave and Florida. I hung with a group of kids and when Stephen King wrote Stand By Me, I thought he peeked into my childhood.

Nice looking set. I have made some holsters myself, but haven't tackled the belt yet, I have started slowly losing weight and want to level out before I make a belt that would end up (hopefully) too big. My plan is a strong side 7-1/2" Ruger 357 Blackhawk and a crossdraw 5-1/2" Uberti birdseye 357 on the weak side. Belt loops in the back. We'll see if I get there.

Thanks all. There are only a few things I can do these days. Working in the woodshop is one. I can reload and get down to the range and shoot on my good days when the weather allows. One of the reasons we bought the farm we did, out away from it all. 100 yard range in the pasture. Life spent in service in the Corps then in various forms of LE... I told the realtor I got paid to deal with Stupid for the last twenty five years... I don't want to deal with it anymore. Find me peace and quiet. We live a mile outside a ghost town. LOL. We have a small hobby farm... The town we live outside of has a population of 300... this is the view down into our north pasture. My range is a bit shaded, but Oklahoma temps reach triple digits in the summer. At the beginning of the month I put in some time on the tractor. We had some trees cut down on the range to open it up a bit and I had installed a culvert over a seasonal creek to level the range a bit. I spent a couple days adding more fill to bring the range more level and then added more dirt to the berm. An ongoing project. The range is really nice in the summer when the trees are full and the grass grows in... makes it hard to find the brass though. LOL.

This knife was made as a gift for a friend. He was my orthopedic surgeon for thirty years, and we both retired. He stayed in VA and I moved to Oklahoma. We email back and forth nearly every day and I wanted to do something to thank him for the NINE surgeries he performed over the years that kept me working. He didn't know what I was planning, I Just asked him if he had anything laying around with the medical emblem on it. He sent a cufflink he had lost the mate to. I made this knife, and it was the first time I had done an inlay. I knew he would NEVER use it, so I made the display case instead from this highly figured white oak. I shipped them with the knife bubble wrapped on top, and the display case on the bottom. He called and said that when he opened the package and unwrapped the knife the first thing he thought was he would have to make something to display the knife on in his home office. Then he pulled the second bubble wrapped bundle out and saw the box. He couldn't decide which was nicer. I spent a lot of time filling voids in that box top to make it glass smooth. LOL.

This knife was my most ambitious project so far. The damascus blank was going to be special so I decided to stretch my limits. The Bolster and endcap on the knife were formed from a bar of Nickel Silver. The pins in those pieces are Mosaic Pins and if you look closely you can see they are dog paws. The pins in the Cocobolo Scales are also formed from a rod of Nickel Silver. The inlay between the two scales is actual Turquoise purchased from the mine in AZ, and hand shaped from the rough pieces. It's bordered by slices of red carbon fiber. The sheath accents the knife.

To pass the time I have been making a few knives lately. I buy the blanks because my arthritis wouldn't allow me to forge them, but I do all the rest. In most cases I form the guards and pommels from bars of brass or nickel silver. The scales come from collected woods or other items I have gathered over the years and I even have begun inlaying accents. So here are a few I've finished over the last few months. This stag skinner below was my first attempt at a stag handled knife and it turned out "okay." I wasn't thrilled as the blank wasn't a hidden tang blank and I had ground it down on the grinder to form the tang, which was off center. The accent below the pommel is nicely figured walnut, a scrap from another project. The pommel and the guard were formed from a brass bar and polished. The sheath was also a first attempt, at inlaying snake skin. I used the belly as I liked the look. Next up is this stag hunter, my second attempt. The pommel and guard came as a kit, but were way oversized and were shaped down to what you see by careful sanding to match the profile of the antler, which was shaped to match the handle. Between the brass you see accent buffalo horn spacers carefully shaped to match the stag as well. There are also thin red carbon fiber accents. No sheath with this one.

Hiding firearms around the house? A gun in every room? It's like some people think the world isn't safe anymore. I spent nearly thirty years in law enforcement after my Marine Corps career, and those folks are... Right. Good Job.

You are all welcome to comment, helpful critiques are appreciated. Thanks to those who have.... jim

Last work on the project. Went out this morning and applied a good coat of wax to the wife's sewing room box. It glows softly and looks good. I'm done. I like the grain and contrast on her box even better than the letter box. I'm jealous. But then, shouldn't the boss get the nicer things.

Back out to finish Miss Tina's sewing room box. The glue had said, and a coating of oil was applied to the whole box. Can you say, Ooooh... I love it when a plan comes together. In the picture below, you can see the walnut guides attached to the inside edges of the bottom tray. The ensure the top will be in proper position when Tina puts it back on. It will only go one way, all she has to do is match the grain pattern on the front if she mixes up the top and bottom alignment. She really loved the box, and said the beautiful grain in the spalted maple really compliments the grain in the mahogany. Now both boxes are complete other than a couple buffed out coats of wax. Most of my projects are started with a basic idea, and done on the fly, with the planning done as I go. I love the flexible work and the freedom it gives. I can work from the templates or rigid plans, but had to for my first career, and enjoy this so much more. Color this one done. On to the next....