Scagel research

[Coutel]

Originally posted by Mace
Chuck,
Anyone going to the Moran hammer in in Oct.?
Mace

I will be at the weekend hammer in at Texarkana ( Nov 1 and 2)..is that the same one?

[Chuck Burrows]

I have been sealing my handles with boiled linseed oil and then a coat of wax, plus when I put it all together every spacer and the tang is coated with epoxy. Don't you think the epoxy will help to keep moisture out?

Mace the linseed oil may be swelling the leather but....

What I would is make up a trial piece. Take a piece of all thread and follow your procedure exactly - make the leather section about 3 inches long. I'd then wrap a WET cloth (old towel material would probably work best) a couple of turns JUST AROUND THE LEATHER and set the tail of the cloth in a deep bowl of water so it acts like a wick to keep the cloth wet. I wouldn't just soak THE WHOLE THING in water as the water could leach along the threads - probably wouldn't if you epoxied the nuts good - but by using the cloth you remove the possibility of water getting in any other way than through the leather. Leave it wet for about a week or even longer, making sure the cloth/leather stays good and wet. Tear everything apart and if there is no moisture intrusion than everything is good to go - otherwise change your sealer/method.

If you, or anybody else, decides to do this experiment please give us a report.
Might even be worthwhile doing two or three trial pieces using different sealers/methods. I'd do it but right now I am swamped with orders and the customers got to come first.

[Coutel]

This is what I ended up making. Forged from 1095.

I etched it which brought out very deep lines...I then polished theb etch away and I was still left with the hamon lines.




Kevin.

[hammerdownnow]

Nice one Kevin. Great job. I don't see how you missed that thread. Makes me wonder how many I miss that I would like to see. Here is another thread about the trip up to the Scagel Expo hammer-in. You should come next year.

http://ckdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16059&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

[hammerdownnow]

And another. Hope this is interesting to you.
http://ckdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16305&highlight=Scagel

[Mace]

Nice Kevin!
What did you use for spacers? Nice blade shape!
Mace

[Coutel]

Originally posted by Mace
Nice Kevin!
What did you use for spacers? Nice blade shape!
Mace

Thanks.

The spacers are colored fibre board and alluminum.

Kevin.

[Mace]

Kevin,
How about a nice pic of the handle?
Mace

[Buddy Thomason]

Howdy Folks!
Just chiming in with some hopefully useful info. If you haven't seen it already, here's a link to an interesting discussion with lots of pictures of Scagel knives: http://www.ckdforums.com/showthread....threadid=14820
Here's another link to a pic of a very unusual Scagel knife: http://www.ckdforums.com/showthread....threadid=16827
And finally, here's a picture of six handles together.
Mace asked if any readers of this thread are going to the (First Ever!) Moran Hammer-In Oct. 9-12--I will be there but am not planning to display my Scagel collection. (After all--this one's all about Bill Moran, certainly a man equal in stature to Bill Scagel.) It should really be a very special event honoring Bill Moran, a living legend if there ever was one!
Good luck to all, Buddy Thomason

[Coutel]

Good photo Bud.....also nice meeting you at the SOS.

Kevin.

[Buddy Thomason]

Kevin,
Great job on the Scagel-inspired knife you made (pic above)!
Hey, thanks for stopping by my table at the Spirit of Steel Show. Hope you had a good drive home--yours was about as long as mine! See you some where down the road,
BT

[Mace]

Buddy,
Look forward to meeting you at the Moran hammer-in.
I have a question for you about the six knife set you have. We were talking in that other thread about how the spine of those knives are straight. My question is about the false edge on top. Is this edge sharp? And are those edges forged in or ground?

That double edge fighter is very cool!
Mace

[Buddy Thomason]

Mace,
Great, I look forward to meeting you at the Moran Hammer-In. I'm bringing my father-in-law and maybe (since you're interested in Scagel) I'll try and bring a knife or two. It's just such a hassle flying with knives these days, especially valuable ones!
The "false edges" along the spines of the six knives in the set are not sharpened and definitely appear to have been ground in, although Scagel, like most experienced smiths probably forged to shape as closely as possible before grinding. This image (one of the slab side pair) is one I don't think I've posted anywere until now, but I think it shows the grind line clearly as it begins near the guard:

[Mace]

Buddy,
Scagel used a Kriss blade for his stamp, did he make many or any Kriss blades? Do you know of any pictures?

I would love to see some of your collection, but I understand about the travel issues.
Thanks
Mace

[Buddy Thomason]

Mace,
I'm not aware that Scagel made any "wavy" (kris) blades--but it's a great question that I'll forward on to those that know more about this than I do. You'd think that since that was his "mark" it would also be a favorite blade to make!
This reminds me of an old piece of wisdom I was taught in medical school--"A negative test result means a whole lot less than a positive result" in the same way that "Just because one has not seen a black swan does not mean black swans don't exist"! I'll post here if I find out anything interesting.
Buddy Thomason