One of the dynamics I always like about making things is that you get into a weird loop in which you’re making things to help you make things – and you spend a lot of time making preparatory things before you can go full production. [Read more…]
I’ve been continuing to experiment with welding, and have tried to actually make a few things out of some of the steels I’ve been assembling.
I love my oxy/acetylene torch. Somehow, I have never gotten one before. Now I am the death-god that can shoot 6000F flame and burn through all that stands before me!
One of the things I love about science is that it proceeds not just by learning what is true, or what works – but by learning what is not true or what does not work. Naturally, we’d all rather make great leaps of understanding, but sometimes we can learn a bit, and push things in a good direction if we can handle a bit of failure.
Today, I advanced the art of blade-smithing a tiny bit by discovering another thing that does not quite work.
The last run of mokume was nearly a disaster. This time, it was nearly a cakewalk. For me, that’s the fun of doing crafts: figuring them out and getting better and understanding them more. And not hurting myself.
This is not a weapon (the weapons of war are unfortunate instruments) – it’s a Japanese-style box cutter, a “kiridashi.”
So far, everything I have tried to do, today, has failed. Everything. I’m afraid to even try to boil an egg for lunch.
Today when I went over to the shop there were signs of ninjas in the sand-tray.
We left the story (and the milling machine) sitting in the middle of the hallway, about 100 feet from the shop.
This is what I have on my workbench right now. I’m pretty pleased with how they came out because they’re all my metallurgy. There’s still plenty of time to ruin them, though.