Ron's Primitive Skills

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T22:51:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Have a happy new year. I should be back in about 2 weeks. Take care and enjoy the holidays!

Side hafted microblade

2011-12-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

After seeing these on Elfshots blog http://elfshotgallery.blogspot.com/2010/02/palaeoeskimo-side-hafted-microblades.html I decided I had to make one. It was surprisingly easy, kind of like a Hoko knife. With modern tools (my Warren carving knife with a straight blade and a tiny gouge) it went quick, less than an hour. With stone tools and depending on experience it probably took the old ones maybe an hour or less. I used artificial sinew split up into many strands and no glue. The original article doesnt state if glue was found on the preserved artifacts and I really don't think hide glue was all that common on the Arctic and sub Arctic coastal areas. Tim Rast, the owner of Eflshot is a professional archaeologist and maker of things ancient. He has made a bunch of these out of wood, antler, and bone. Please take the time to peruse his site for the many excellent articles on Eskimo and related cultures and their artifacts.

This shows the groove where the blade sets.

Here's a shot of the handle with two notches for the cordage. I used cottonwood for this knife.

This shot shows the brace which is held snug against the blade when tied in place at the two notches on top..

This shows the notch in the brace which sets against the blade.

Here's the blade. I made it from a piece of flint I found in Colorado.

This shows everything set up ready to finish.

This is the completed knife. Overall length is 5 inches.

Closeup of the finished knife. Stone, wood, sinew-a simple but efficient tool.

Cattail arrow shafts

2011-12-11T21:54:00.000-08:00

Today I harvested five nice cattail, Typha latifolia stalks. They were just ripe for the picking since all the leaves were about dead and turning brown, These should dry out soon and then the fun begins. I like to use cattail because they are light and most times need little "tuning", such as straightening. Cattail arrows are really easy to make and being light they shoot at a fairly flat trajectory from my bow which is a 35 pound pull. I keep my arrows at 30" length more or less. I have a 28" draw so this size works best.
First thing I did was strip most of the excess junk off the shafts and now I have them bundled, butt to nose, so it makes an even bundle. This bundle will set on my book case to dry. It should only be a few weeks since its warm and dry in my home. When they are dry I'll post a DIT article on arrow making. I use my own stone points and try to use found feathers.
Heres a link to a wealth of material on cattail arrow making at Paleo Planet:http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/search/text/?q=cattail+arrows&orderby=created_at&forum=&submit=Search+Forum#.TuWPOOyCmuI
Heres a shot of the bundle, well over 3 feet in length so I have room to trim.

Adze-an update

2011-12-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

I worked on the wedge today and used it for quite a while to hog out some cottonwood logs. The cord is still as tight as when I put it on and the blade hasn't budged. I'm impressed. The blade holds an edge quite well. It still shaves off a piece of paper with no effort. The angle seems to be just right and there is very little stress to my wrist so all in all I must have got it right.

Making a wood working adze part 3 & finished!

2011-12-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

Heres the finished adze I tried it out on a piece of oak and it works pretty good. I finished the blade and cleaned it up. Then I cut the channel for the tang and cut out a wedge from the ancient wooden carpenter plane. A piece of para-cord and its all done. I see that keeping it tight is going to be a continuous exercise but thats the simplicity of the wedge. It was a lot of fun making this thing.

I really like this guys idea and his pocket adze and pack adze: http://woodsroamer.blogspot.com/2011/02/pocket-adze.html

Making a wood working adze part 2

2011-12-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

I cut the old plane iron today. I now have two blades to choose from. One is 4 1/2" x 1" and the other is 4 1/2" x 1 1/2". Thickness is 3/16". I like the shape of the off sided 1 1/2" wide blade so I'll use it. I guess I have a spare blade for a future project. I cleaned up the edges on the one I plan to use. Now I need to do the final work on that oak handle.

First off is safety gear. Eye protection and dust mask. The mask is a Northern and is the only one I could find that fits with safety glass's or reading glass's.

Here's the plane iron before cutting.

First cut.

Setting up for the second cut. I put it in the vise in a way that will hold one side and the other drop free. Notice the water jug. I kept everything cool during cutting.

Here I'm cleaning up the edge's.

This is the one I like.

The second blade.

I thought this would be interesting. This is the screw on the chip breaker that the plane iron rests on in the plane. These were made low tech and sturdy. They knew what they were doing and turned out a lot of these old wooden planes. Look at the screw. Entirely hand made.

Another shot.

And yet another.

Notice how the screw slot was made by a chisel strike. Simplicity. You can see how the screw was roughly hammered into shape.


I like this. The maker who forged these parts just did a hot punch through the chip breaker and ran a tap to thread it for the screw. I imagine they turned these things out by the dozen an hour or so.

Next::part 3 and the final setting of the blade.

Making a wood working adze part 1

2011-12-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

I've had a good assortment of valley oak limbs I collected after last years wind storm. I have one piece in particular that I knew right off was going to be an adze handle. I've seen some good stuff about Northwest coast style adzes on some of the websites like Paleo Planet. Both stone and metal is used in them for blades. Tom Mills even made a blade from copper! Its very nice looking. I will use a piece of old plane iron. I managed to grab a few of those old, old carpenters planes made completely of wood. The planes themselves are a mess and all cracked and marred. I may be able to scavenge some of this 150 year old wood for some special projects I have in mind. Something like ancient beech is just too good to pass up! I'll post more when I start working on the iron.
The ax in these pictures is an old handmade ax just a little over a foot long. It was made by a steel mill worker back in my hometown in Pennsylvania. The steel mill was in Pittsburgh and before the big bust, almost everyone worked at "the mills". It was a 45 mile commute one way but gas was cheap and the money really good. This ax had some kind of red composite handles on them but the material was starting to come apart so I replaced them with some black walnut. I've owned this little ax for about 12 years now and I use it for most of my carving. Usually just to rough out a project. Its the only tool I used in this project as far as shaping the handle. Its good practice and so far I haven't been bitten by the ax. Its good high carbon steel and holds a razor edge for a long time. The sheath is from an old long gone "Plumb" company ax, but it fits perfectly.

Tinder gathering

2011-12-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

I was out by the St Johns river the other day and finally got around to gathering some cottonwood inner bark. This is from a dead standing tree. Even still, its moist because of all the dew and frost lately. I spread it out in a soda flat to dry next to the fireplace. This stuff is great for flint and steel with char cloth. It takes flame quickly. I shred it fine and I hear if you powder it you can get a glowing coal from a ferro cerium rod. Some folks have made cordage from the live inner bark. I can see how that would work, this stuff being so fibrous. Carvers look for the thick bark, 2-6" thick, for carving material. A small chunk of bark makes a very good hand hold for bow drill fire making. I have one that is at least 10 years old and has no wear but a nice shiny polish where the spindle fits.
I like to store up nice, dry tinder for my trips into the boonies. I have those little snack size zip locks with birch bark, cottonwood inner bark, cedar/juniper inner bark, and some other natural tinders I've gathered. I throw two or three of these into my pack and no matter what the conditions, I have dry tinder.

Another tinder I gathered at the same place is a half dozen shelf fungus from a dead cottonwood log. These are polypore fungus but I don't know what species. I've been told they are good for catching spark. I can't wait till they are bone dry and I can experiment. They were dead and dry when I found them but they still have some moisture from the damp weather. They, too, are drying by the fireplace. I'll post my results with this experiment and any further information I discover.

Paleo stone micro drill

2011-11-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

I was showing some antler needles I made on a forum and one guy asked how I drilled the holes. I told him of a quartz micro drill I made. I can't find it for the life of me and the last I saw it was several years ago. The drill was a long, slender sliver that came off a huge crystal I was taking spalls from. I bought the crystal very cheap because it was dropped and the tip pulverized. I mounted the sliver in a piece of bamboo chop stick after flaking a good edge on both sides. I use a deer antler tine for this kind of flaking because I can keep the tip of the antler ground very small to a wedge shape. I retouch the edge as I work to keep a good clean working tip. The quartz drill was just under 1/4" total length and about 3/16" protruded from the end of the chop stick. The short piece of chop stick with stone tip was mounted into a larger diameter handle and twirled like a fire hand drill.

I made the drill in the photos from a piece of debitage an archaeologist friend had given me. He collected several bags from the surface of an ancient village site that was being built on. I don't know if the archaeologists ever did anything at this site before all the building took place. He was kind enough to give me several bags. This stuff is wonderful to knap and I wouldn't doubt it was heat treated by the ancient artist who made tools from the rock.

I plan to make a bow drill using this set up. I saw one on BushcraftUK a few years back and the maker did a wonderful job. Its the last picture. I did a screen capture from the original article but I can't find it on the site no longer.

Here's the finished drill. Almost 1/4" long OAL.

The shaft after taking out the notch. I used a very thin flake and made two splits and used a pointed end to cut into the base of the notch section to be removed. Then pinched the stick together and used a bit thicker flake to push the notch out of the side till it broke clean. The indents in the sides are for the sinew to get a good hold. The bamboo chop stick is whittled down to about 3/16" diameter.

Here's the drill mounted and waiting for sinew and hide glue. My hide glue is made of an old elk hoof and a few scraps of rawhide chew toy, I use a piece about the size of a nickel and had plenty left over. I use dried flakes and pieces and reconstitute with hot water.

All finished. The sinew is deer leg sinew and the hide glue is smeared over it as well as in the notch. I left this one full length, about 12" and twirl it like a fire drill. It needs to be cut off and mounted in something a little thicker for better control.

Someone at BushcraftUK made this a few years back. Admirable work and I like his set up for doing antler needle eyes. He uses twigs set in the cracks in the log to hold the antler steady. Great idea!

Castor oil plant-Bad beans

2011-11-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

I was on my favorite trail today. I always see or discover something new when I hike it. Today I went along the river and found a big patch of Castor, Ricinus communis. This plant is now a well established invader. Originally from the Ethiopia region of tropical west Africa, this escapee has taken root and can be found in any well drained soil near water courses throughout the west. It came here as a decorative outdoors ornamental. The seeds are the source of castor oil which is used in a lot of different chemical manufacturing process's. For instance, Castrol motor oil contains castor oil. As well as a lot of different lubricants, medicines, etc. Castor "beans" are not beans at all but just big seeds. They also contain the deadliest plant poison known to man:ricin. Ricin was in the news lately. A group of old guys were going to use it to get rid of some government agents. Crazy old coots. Its also been used for chemical warfare. Nasty stuff. An amount equal to a grain of salt will kill an adult. The seeds are beautiful but deadly. A small child eating just one will probably die. An adult will die if they eat two or more. The seeds have been ground up and mixed with bait to kill rodents. And, from what I've read, there aren't any insect pests that bother castor plants or seeds. If your interested in learning more about this amazing plant, go to:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plmar99.htm
and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil_plant

I can see a danger in some unknowing person thinking the pretty seeds would probably be good to eat. It would be their last bowl of beans. Nothing surprises me any more. I once asked a friend in Tucson what he was going to do with a big bag of coral beans and he said he thought he read some where that they were good to eat. Bad idea. They are another very toxic seed. His mother had gathered them years before to make rosary necklaces, a popular use for them. My advice is to research any and every plant you find. Never take a risk. When one or two seeds can kill you, its worth the time and effort. After all, you may find out some incredible things about the amazing plants around us.

A nice big, showy ornamental. At the top of the plant are the red flower panicle's.

That's a seed cluster under the leaves in the middle.

Seed pods just ripening.

Notice the pods are divided into threes. Three seeds to each pod.

A shot of a complete cluster.

Pretty, aren't they? Like the human finger print, no two seeds have the same pattern. Each is unique.

Gorilla warfare or what the USPS does to packages.

2011-11-19T13:43:00.000-08:00

I just got home and the mail man left a book I ordered from Paperback Swap. I was stunned. This isn't the first time its happened and its been a lot more than books. I had a box arrive empty with the side missing. They marked it confirmed delivery and left it at my door step. That was a hard one to work out with the company that sent me the product. Other packages have arrived looking like they went through a 5 year Euro soccer fest. Come on, guys, aint we paying you enough? I know a lot of fellow vets who work for the USPS and tell horror stories about the crappy conditions and rotten supervision at some places, but these are things people spent good money and time on. Be careful, huh?

What happened?

Anger management, maybe?

"slight damage to the packageing. everythings ok, carry on......."

Might be a little rough to read.

This happened before. At least this is only a quarter way through the book.

A day at the river

2011-11-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

I went to the river today and decided to take the camera. I just posted about this trail and thought pictures would be nice. It was very overcast so some pictures may be a little dark. Hard to believe its the middle of November and some plants are blooming and berries are still ripening. I love winters here. Enjoy the show!

A patch of horsetail equisetum. Famous for its high silica content.

A jungle of California grape Vitis californica. The trees are mostly valley oak.

See the tiny clams?

Better?

Macro setting. There are millions upon millions of these. I heard they are an invasive species.

American coots.

More American coots doing what coots do.

Curly dock or sorrel. Rumex crispus, common on the river banks. Also known as wild rhubarb because of its sour taste. This is because of the high oxalic acid content just like rhubarb. Rhubarb is related to the docks.

Late season elderberries. Sambucus mexicana. There are even new flowers blooming.

A common sight on the trail.

Smart weed, knot weed, bistort, ladys thumb print, etc. Polygonum sp. The plant and seeds were used for food by Native Americans.

Polygonum sp. Nice shot of the flowers. Pinkish ones are oldest.

Polygonum sp. Note the dark mark on the leaves. This is where ladys thumb print comes from.

A month ago this was all water. It doesn't take long for the plants to take over. This is mostly knot weed and cockle burr.

Mint, species unknown. very pungent!

Mint close up.

Mistletoe infesting cottonwood trees. These can kill a healthy tree as well as cause limb breakage.

Same as above from a little farther away.

Monkey flower in bloom. Mimulus guttatus.

Monkey flower from top side.

Monkey flower side view.

A nice stand of stinging nettles. Urtica dioica. I harvested quite a bit of nettle this year. Plants are in the 8 to 12 foot range. Incredible! Lots of good cordage.

Pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium. A very pungent member of the mint family and an invasive species.

Pennyroyal.

Pennyroyal. The bees love to hit this plant.

Sow thistle, Sonchus asper, with curly dock. The sow thistle is the plant with yellow flowers. The larger leaves at the bottom of the plant are edible but contain bitter properties. Its an invasive species.

Heres a shot looking east. The river is back to about 1/4 capacity. With more rain in the Sierra's it may get back to full capacity.

A view towards the west. The main channel is on the other side in the distance.

This is the dirt part of the trail. The paved section is on top the berm to the right.

Cliff swallow nests under a bridge.

Tree tobacco, Nicotiana glauca. An extremely toxic invasive species. The leaves can be boiled for an hour and added to a biodegradable detergent. This mixture makes an excellent natural bug killer and repellent. Don't get any on your skin!

Close up of tree tobacco flowers

Tree tobacco. The bent over look is an identification feature as well as the green trunk and distinctive color of the leaves. Its very poisonous (very high nicotine content) and should not be used as a tobacco substitute.

A wild bee hive at the base of this bent over oak. I watched these little ones for quite a while. They are still gathering from the plants that are still flowering. November honey. Who would imagine?

St. Johns:The amazing on again, off again river

2011-11-16T21:16:00.000-08:00

I live about 10 minutes walk from the Saint Johns river here in Visalia, California. There is a well maintained walking/biking trail that follows the river for quite a ways. I walk it at least every other day if possible. Its one of my favorite areas because its semi-wild in the sense there are no structures and the plant life is pretty much left alone. Also, there is a dirt trail close to the river and you can avoid any people or bike traffic on the paved trail. The river runs west out of the Sierra Nevada mountains and then swings north towards the Pacific ocean. The amazing thing is, the powers that be, Central Valley Project Water Association., can turn the river on and off at will. The river is now controlled by the Terminus damn at lake Kaweah which is in the foothills just west of Three Rivers and Sequoia National Park. By shutting a gate, the river can be left to dry up. Amazing. The river only runs a few feet deep at the most and feeds a lot of agricultural land with irrigation pumps here and there along its length. Earlier this year it was running full bore and this was due to last winters record snow fall in the mountains. About a month ago the river was "turned off" and within less than a week a person could walk the whole length without getting the soles of your shoes wet. They've since turned it back on and its running at about a 10th of its capacity. I think the recent snow and rain in the mountains has made the lake level high enough that they can do this. When I first walked the dry river bottom I was appalled at the loss of life. Thousands of dead minnows, catfish fingerlings, frogs and millions upon millions of clams. Most of the clams are in the 1/8" to 1/4" range. The smell was pretty intense. There was the occasional crawdad remains but very few of them. I found out that they burrow way down into the sand when the river is shut down. Yesterday I saw a few huge ones in the shallow water munching on some plant life. I think the clams and fish are released from the lake in the spring. The clam obviously as eggs or larva. I did see a large flock of great egrets and some other water birds taking advantage of the receding waters when they turned off the river. At least some of the aquatic life wasn't wasted.

A few more block planes

2011-11-15T21:43:00.000-08:00

I got a nice comment from DeanO, it can be read in the comment section at the bottom of the post, about collecting and using old planes. I have several that are considered collectibles and the difference is I bought them for use instead of shelf decorations. Why buy and use old tools? Because they were made very well and most of them are still in top working condition. Plus, the tools you buy today are either junk or very, very expensive. If you shop around you can pick good old tools up fairly cheap. All of my planes combined cost less than $50. total. You can pay a lot more, but careful shopping and patience will reward you.

I use these little planes for making tool handles, bows, arrows, atl atl's, and many other primitive/bushcraft kind of things. Its easy to keep the blades sharp and with patience and practice a person can adjust them to take off paper thin shavings.

This one is a "bull" or "rabbet" plane. It's about 3 1/2" long and has a 1" blade. This one is designed for sash and cabinet making. Its for cutting rabbets and to plane into blind corners. This one is similar to a Stanley #75. Its marked "H. BOKER & CO. GERMANY" in a circle on the iron

This is a cast iron block plane. Its 3 1/2' long and has a 1" blade. These come in a variety of styles and are common. This is a Stanley #101.

This is a combination wood and iron adjustable plane. Its called a "transitional". Its the biggest plane I own and measures 7 1/4" and has a 2" blade. This is for removing a lot of wood at once. I can turn out a good rabbit stick in half an hour with this plane. Manufacturer unknown.

Refurbishing a vintage wood working plane

2011-11-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

I own and use a variety of small planes in my carving and primitive woodworking projects. Nothing makes for a nice smooth ax or adze handle than a sharp plane. I use them for a lot of different jobs. I recently bought an X-Acto #29 plane on eBay for a couple bucks. It was in good shape when I received it but there was some surface rust and the blade was badly nicked. Obviously it sat in a dusty corner for many years. These were made in the 1940's up until the 90's. The latest X-Acto plane doesn't look at all like these. I don't know if they switched to plastic in later years, but the old ones like this were made from Bakelite, one of the first plastic materials. These planes came in some of the better kits and in later years I believe they were sold separately.

First off was to take the plane apart and put some 320 grit carbide paper to the sole and get rid of the rust. Fortunately, it is just a mild case of surface rust from setting around neglected for many years. Next I used some lite machine oil on a rag and wiped the surface of the plane body. This brought it back to a nice shine. Other than the Bakelite body, the sole and iron are made of steel. The cap is some kind of nonmagnetic alloy like pot metal and the adjusting screw is brass. I threw the iron away because I managed to pick up a killer deal on about 20 brand new ones quite a while back. They're still in the original wrappers and marked X-Acto #29 Made in U.S.A. That's part of the reason I wanted a #29 plane.

As it came in the mail. 3 3/4" long and the iron or blade is 15/16" wide. Body is 1 1/2" wide.

All the parts. The iron is a new one.

The sole after a good sanding. I haven't done the ends yet.

A nice shiny polish on the sole.

End view.

Mostly finished and put back together.

The more common cast iron mini block plane. These were made by Record, Stanley, and many others and are easy to find. They come in a lot of different shapes and styles. This one has only the marking "BL". 3 5/8" long by 1 1/4" wide. Iron is 1" wide. This one was made by Great Neck Tools.

Oh, and happy Veterans Day everyone!

Case for the Mora 163 curved blade carving knife

2011-11-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

I just bought a More #163 curved knife from Bens Backwoods. I like these type blades for carving spoons, bowls, trenchers, mugs, noggins, etc. It will go along well with my Mora #164 hook knife. Today I made a case from a piece of poplar wood.
Here's a link to the tutorial I did on the Mora #164 case: http://ronsprimitiveskills.blogspot.com/2008/09/crooked-knife-case-tutorial.html

First, I trace an outline of the blade and drill holes along its length.

This mark is on the side to show how deep to set the carbide drill/rasp depth for the blade.

Here the channel is drilled out. The hammer is to knock out the sawdust as I cut the channel.

These lines are where I'll cut the board.

Here's a shot of the tungsten carbide drill/rasp. These things are great for removing stock and other cutting & grinding chores.

A perfect fit.

Here's the lid. I glued on a piece of the same wood to the bottom just to even it out & make it look nice.

The lid & bottom is from a piece of basswood board 1/8" thick.

Here I made some indents with a round file into the lid and sides of the case.

The indents hold the ranger bands in place and make a nice safe home for this very sharp blade.
All I need to do is sand it a little to take off any sharp edges. This whole project took all of an hour to do.

Wood carving goodies in the mail!

2011-11-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

I just went to the mail box and gathered my new toys! I bought a Two Cherries carvers scorp, another Mora half curve knife from Bens Backwoods and a whole lot of X-acto type blades on eBay. Oh, and a nice little ceramic sharpening rod for my carving tool box. The Two Cherries scorp is 7 1/2" long and the opening is right at 1" across. I managed to find one on sale for $40. They usually run around $50 to $60. This one came from http://www.craftsmanstudio.com/html_pc/L5152275.htm Its top quality German made and very sharp! The Personna blades were in a quantity package deal. I think I'll make up a nice carving knife kit in the future using these blades. They fit the X-acto #2 and #6 handle just fine. The Mora #163 is one I've been wanting to get for quite a while but more important things kept popping up. Heres a link to better describe the #163: http://www.bensbackwoods.com/servlet/Detail?no=92
I bought the ceramic rod from Bens for all of $1.98. Looks like I'll be making a lot more shavings this winter.

Top to bottom: Two Cherries scorp, Personna USA blade, ceramic rod, and Mora #163

Primitive bone knife in use

2011-11-04T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of the bone knife I recently made in action. These will explain how I split the stinging nettle stalk for rendering the fiber.

Blade inserted after pinching stalk to split it. I use two pieces of wood slat to pinch the stalk.

starting the split

Halfway up the stalk.See how nice and even the stalk halves are? This will save a lot of fiber

A nice bundle of raw fiber. After it dries, I'll twist it into cordage. The skin falls off during this process. This is from 6 stalks.

This is what you're left with. The inside of the stalk in sections.

Close up of the blade.


Another close up.

The slats used for pinching the stalks. Just something thrown together.

Latest artwork

2011-11-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Here's an owl handled scoop made for my wife from a piece of white birch. The tree has been dead for two years and the land owner just had it cut down. This wood carves beautifully. I wash I had grabbed a lot more. This is used in the kitchen for scooping out rice, beans, etc from different containers.

6 1/2" long and 1 3/4" at widest

Polar Pure water treatment-Why the sudden price jump?

2011-11-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

Has anyone noticed the price jump with Polar Pure Iodine crystals? The bottles used to be less than $20 and now I see they have suddenly jumped to $40 plus. Crazy. Maybe they are in short supply of Iodine? I don't think so. You can still buy it cheap on eBay. One ounce for $15. I wonder whats up?

Pacific coast knapping materials

2011-11-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

My wife and I like to go to the coast as often as possible. I can indulge in some serious beach combing and she likes to sit on the beach and relax. One of my hobbies is shell collecting and I have a fairly serious collection. Occasionally I'll find a goody or two and if I really luck out there will be enough for some trading. One thing I keep an eye out for is knapping material. I've only found stuff like this where a creek or river flows into the ocean. My best spot has yielded some very good knapping rock. It comes in nice colors like red, green, brown, and gray. Some is chert and a little bit is very glossy flint. It all knaps just fine. I'll give you a clue as to where I find it:between Monterey Bay and Morro Bay.If you are cruising Highway 1, check out any place where there are streams emptying into the Pacific. Enjoy!!! Maybe you'll luck into a nice big chunk of jade!

Primitive bone knife

2011-11-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice little bone knife I threw together. I made it from bone for the purpose of helping me split those huge nettle stalks lengthwise. Doing it with just the hands was a bit of a task. I squeeze the stalks between two pieces of wooden slat. And then I use the bone blade to split them from base to tip. It works just fine and unlike a metal knife, the fibers aren't cut by the blade. The handle is a piece of cottonwood and the cordage is good old artificial sinew. I cheated and used some of my brand new Elmers Glue All Max which is Elmers answer to Gorilla Glue. That stuff is great! It set up over night and I couldn't budge the bone one bit. I like making primitive stuff but if I have modern materials like artificial sinew and modern glues, so be it. To me, its still primitive if only half of the stuff is stoneage. I could have used hide glue and some real sinew, but I save stuff like that for the really serious, showy things.

Blade is 2 1/2" total length 4 3/4"

made from a section of deer leg bone

project took about 30 minutes

Revamped spoon or crooked knife case for the Mora

2011-10-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

I did a little more work on my Mora crooked knife case. Theres a bit of confusion with these knives. Theyre called "crooked", "bent", "curved", and "spoon" knives by different dealers. I'll just call it either crooked or spoon. The old time crooked knife had a funny looking handle and the end of the blade was bent a bit. If you do a web search, you'll see for yourself. One great site that shows lots of photos is called Moctaugan and here's a link: http://www.mocotauganthebook.com/

Here are a few photos of the updated case I made. I just did a little material removal to make it a tiny bit lighter. In fact, it does look more interesting, yes?

link to tutorial: http://ronsprimitiveskills.blogspot.com/2008/09/crooked-knife-case-tutorial.html

Ax sheaths

2011-10-29T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of my ax sheaths and the "Our Own Hardware" single bit ax after hanging a new handle. The head is a bit worn and dented. I left it mostly as is after using my angle grinder to take off any excess mushrooming from the former owners bad use. I then used carbide paper to sand it down and take off any surface rust. This is one abused ax! I worked on the edge and its sharp enough for use now. It took a long time to even up the edge but its worth it. This head rings like a bell when tapped and is now a great cutter. I split some fire wood and had no trouble. If anyone knows the history of the "Our Own Hardware" company please let me know. They probably outsourced the manufacture of their tools and had companies like Plumb, Collins, True Temper, and other make them.

after scraping off varnish-this wood is quilted like tiger maple-beauty!

new sheath front

new sheath back

showing extra piece I glued inside to keep blade from cutting through

process of gluing extra piece in-this is how I clamp everything together-I just sized and cut the extra piece of leather

process of gluing extra piece in-you can see a bit of it sticking out on right-here the sheath is bent and clamped to let the rubber glue set

shot of the end of the sheath


another end shot-the rubber cement has set and I'm ready to cut to shape and rivet

I Made a similar sheath for my Norlund hatchet. Here's a shot:

Back among the living

2011-10-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've been too busy to work on my blog for a while, but now I'm caught up. I did manage to work on some projects this weekend and gather a wee bit of wild material. I harvested some of that stinging nettle for some cordage. I have to get moving to save some more before it dries dead. I have heard where some folks think its good stuff after a frost and its all dead looking but I have decided otherwise. I get it when its still got just a few leaves here and there and the plants are near death, though still somewhat green. I then tie the stalks together and hang them in my garage till dry enough to snap easily. Thats when I peel the outer skin off that has the fibers. When I peel them in this state I get nice long runs and a better chance of consistent cordage.What kills it here in the central valley is the lack of water and the incessant heat. I gathered some of the long dead (died in late July/early August) just recently and was really disappointed with the quality of the fiber. Heres a photo of the bundle.

I've been working on a piece of mine rail to make a new rail anvil. My old one grew legs and ran off when I lived in Tucson. Funny how good tools go bad. Heres a shot of the piece of rail.

And a few of the work in progress.

I'm using an angle grinder on this hunk of steel and its a lot of work! I finished the top off with several types of hand files. The horn is about 60% finished. Still a lot more undercutting at the horn and tail end.

One word of caution. I was wearing a short sleeve button up shirt and didn't have it tucked in. I turned my head for a second and WHAMMO!!!! The angle grinder bit into my shirt tail and ripped almost half of it off my body. I was a bit startled......... Lesson 1: don't wear loose fitting clothes and pay attention to what you're doing. I was all anxious to get started on this new toy.

I bought an ax off ebay and it turned into a project. Its a 3 1/2 pound "Our Own Hardware" single bit and the seller said the handle was in good shape. Well, good for firewood maybe. It was cracked length wise and eaten badly at the haft point and loose as a goose. I wouldn't swing this ax one time with a crappy handle like that! So, off to the hard ware store and a brand new hickory handle. Here are some "before" pics of the old handle as it arrived. Not very safe looking.......

nice wedge job!?!?


I see daylight!!!

Tomorrow I'll post some more about this ax and the re-handling. I made a nice sheath for it, too. Take care everyone. I'm glad to be back.