Village made machete.

[Mack The Knife]

Akshay (aksd on here) had gone for a holiday to his grand dad's coffee estate and had the estate carpenter make me a machete to my specs (longer blade - 15", instead of 12").

Truck leaf spring and rosewood were the materials used.

Akshay has taken pics of the manufacturing process and will post them on here.

















The smith sells the 12" version in the village for Rs.250.00 Will give Akshay the drawing of a knife to have made. If the quality is good enough, it could become an IFG knife for those who are interested.

Mack The Knife


Will post more pics after I have removed the rust spots. May blue it as well.

Mack The Knife

[Pran]

The matchet looks sturdy.

Will post more pics after I have removed the rust spots. May blue it as well.

With the 'cold blue' you have?
Pran

[eljefe]

coorgi pichakathi geneology?
That rose wood is recogniseable here! Would love to work on a piece...Lets see it after its had the Mack The Knife touch. This will be a good candidate for rust bluing-if you're planning to use it outdoors, rust bluing will really laaast.

[Mark]

Nice machete Mack The Knife!

That, a bottle of rum, and a few coconuts and you're set!

Oh yeah, a couple straws too!

[Pran]

Picked this from a local blacksmith Coorg.

[kanwar76]

Nice piece but what happened to Jonah's IFG knife?

Can't we get some knives from curious house and engrave IFG on them? Or even from "Himalyan knives". I am sure if ordered in bulk they can arrange something in INDIA.

Just a thought.

-Inder

[Mack The Knife]

Pran, not sure if I have any cold blue left at the moment, apart from a G96 touch bluing pen. Does it say Rs.125.00 on that handle? Picked a similarish one for a Malaysian friend for Rs.70.00 near Russel Market.

Asif, what are the ingredients for a rust blue?

Mark, you forgot the umbrella shaped swivel sticks for my Pinacolada.

Inder, I believe Jonah delivered two to Asif but I haven't heard anything about them beyond that.

Mack The Knife

[Mark]

Mack The Knife,


How could I have forgotten the umbrellas!


The Niedner rust blue formula in metric is 6.4 grams hydrocloric acid , density 1.19 grams /cc or 7.55 grams density 1.16 grams /cc ; 8 grams nitric acid , density 1.42 grams / cc dilutes with 25 cc destilled water and 1.6 grams of pure iron filling , bring the solution to 100 cc with destilled water. Not that I ever mixed that one up, but am relaying it here for you. It is the classic rust blue formula.

[Mack The Knife]

Thanks, Mark.

I will now leave it to Asif to cook that up in his lab....for me.

BTW, when do we get to see the steps taken to refurbish the FS. You mentioned rust, something I don't recall seeing on it.

Mack The Knife

[Mark]

OK I'll do it tomorrow as it is late here right now.

I got a new camera and the software is loaded on a different computer than my internet one, so I need to D/L to the other puter then transfer it over to this one, then host and post them.

I'm ready to blue the blade, but due to one thing or another haven't gotten past fishing out and setting up the equipment, hopefully I can get it done this week.

[Mark]

Also, I don't remember talking about rust on the blade, oh wait, I might have mentioned some small pitting but it wasn't active rust.

I did use "Naval Jelly" rust remover to take the blue off though.

[Pran]

Mack The Knife,
Yes, that's Rs 125 written on the blade.The finishing is not all that good as yours.
Do let us know how the other knife comes out so we may have that as the IFG knife.
Pran

[Pran]

Mark,
Did you get the pics of the furnace?
Pran

[Mack The Knife]

No hurry, Mark. I thought you had finished working on it, hence the request.

Mack The Knife

[eljefe]

Mack The Knife, Try that whole row of chem supply shops at end of Avenue road-the no entry end from BVK Iyengar or Vidhana Saudha-provided the riots are over and you can step out from the house!
The classic neidner rust blue is all you'll want.
I use -60ml Nitric, 40 ml Hydrochloric + iron fillings.let all the iron dissolve, let it sit for a day or two, decant into another clean dry container.
Thanks Mark for the precise dilution and Sp.Gr etc.
Prep blade, apply with cloth 'rubber' and tongs, not faux sponge.
let it dry, boil for a few min-try 15min? , leave to rust-toilet is best place, serious-you'll get all the humidity there-try leaving a half bucket of hot water.
Repeat for 2-3 days/ coats at a daily interval.
Final carding-steel wool and oil.remember to wash steel wool in nail polish remover or surgical spirit before use to remove any oily storage residue.
Yes, its really as simple as that-its the metal prep which is a B***h !
Use eye and hand protection??!!
Best
Axx