Learning to Make Knives

      Check out the Custom Knife Shop Page for more details! 

  Forging hot steel is unlike some would think it to be before committing to the act. I imagined it to be slightly different myself. Personally I figured it to be more difficult, not to mislead you the reader, it is tough work even with a power hammer to assist the work load of hand hammering. 

The first knife

     The steel when heated to forging or welding temperature looks to be soft, and technically it is softer than it's original state, but not soft like pounding on playdough. It takes a heavy hammer blow to move the steel, and several maybe even hundreds of those same blows to forge out a knife blade or billet of steel to make a knife. 

chainsaw knives. top mine, three twist & fold. Bottom, Travis' three fold

       Although I only forged two knives, one chainsaw chain billet, and one cable knife, in the 7 days making knives with my cousin Travis Swezey, I will say the forging process is the most rewarding. To take a bundle of chainsaw chains, heated, twisted, folded and then to cut and shape a blade out of that bundle of chains is amazing. To do that in a day is even more of an excitement. I for one, am the sort that has a limit in patience and when I have the ability to see what I have made, finished in the day-through hard work-it puts a massive smile on my face.

Third and best knife I made; fathers day gift for my Dad.

         The first day was more of a family reunion than knife making. The weeks we were there half of what we actual did was make knives; the other half was talk. Stories and stories, that Travis had tons of, lots of him and his father and the slaughter truck they ran. What made the whole experience of learning so much easier was that I was learning and working along side family. Even though I had not seen Travis since I was in diapers, and then I wouldn’t remember him anyway, it felt just like any other family encounter.

            Travis started out by showing us the knifeshop, all the ins and outs, a brief run through the processes of building a quality custom knife. Then he cut out a simple knife shaped piece of wood and we got to work on the belt grinder. Travis had explained to me that he has never had a knifesmith show him how to hollow grind and he couldn’t get it right on steel, so he played around with grinding and shaping on wood and figured it out on his own. And most of what Travis has learned is just working in the shop trying new things.

Left to right: CTS XHP stainless steel, 1095 high carbon, micarta handles on first two. Far right knife used as template.

     
      








 There is three basic grinds to a knife. Flat grind is kind of like the standard just a straight grind from ricasso to tip at an angle from the back of the blade to the blade edge. This is done on a flat belt. Then you have the hollow grind, which is the primary grind used on the knives we made. Take a look at a straight razor, they are a very extreme hollow grind. You make a hollow grind on a wheel, and depending on the wheel size you will have a deep hollowed out grind or a much shallower one that almost looks like a flat grind. Then you have a convex grind which is what a hatch or axe usual has for an edge, basically opposite of the hollow grind.

            I started out hollow grinding a piece of wood to get the hang of it. There is some what of a technique to it, and it would be hard to explain. So one of these days I might put together a video or something for those of you who are really interested, or you could come by and see it first hand when I get my own shop up and running. Grinding on wood goes pretty fast and since the piece of wood I was working on was much thicker then the steels used to make knives it was much easier to see the hollow grind and how it shaped the blade. After the wood knife I went straight into some actual steel.

Second go at forging chainsaw billets.

We started with some 1095 high carbon steel. Cut out a blade profile and went to grinding, Travis had me take my time and work slow the first couple of knives, but it didn’t take long-a couple of days- to get into the grove and by the time I had finish the grind on the skinner I made from the chainsaw billet, it was like riding a bike.

Travis Swezey's twice-fold chainsaw chain knife, camel bone handle.

I really could go into some more detail on all of this, but in all reality a person really has to see it first hand to really get it. For now I will just post a bunch of pictures, if you have questions throw some comments below or something, and I'll answer with what I got. 
AJ has a Facebook page for his knives and you now order your own custom knife. Check him out at Swezey Knife & Tool on Facebook!
AJ has some great videos as well. They were too large to email/text off his phone and our USB cord is being cantankerous, but we should have them or some his father took in another post eventually.

This post is participating in the 117th Homestead Barn Hop and The Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday Blog Hop check it out for many great homesteading blogs! 

My Favorite Pancakes: the perfect recipe for substitutions

Pancakes have always been one of my family's favorite breakfasts. I have fond memories of my grandma Judy's hot cakes. There have been plenty of other pancakes I've made and eaten that have been less than memorable. Bisquick pancakes top that list, not only do they taste like powdered cardboard but as with almost any baking mix, they are very unhealthy. The one thing those mixes have going for them (sometimes) is how pretty-I mean tall and fluffy- the pancakes turn out. 
 It can be tricky to get a really pretty pancake from scratch but even a downright ugly pancake made from scratch is going to taste a thousand times better than any mix. You can make pretty, relatively healthy Pancakes from scratch with a little imagination and attention to detail. Achieving that tall, fluffy, melt in your mouth, flavorful pancake without a bought mix is a lovely little miracle to start out any day.

 I have been making this recipe for years so I have had a lot of time to perfect it and experiment with it. The original recipe is from Carol Frieberg's cookbook Breakfast in Bed , pg 189 "Apple walnut whole wheat pancakes" I have long since deviated far from the written recipe; that's not unusual for me. I don't usually follow recipes very closely. The unusual thing about this one is how adaptive it is. I have tried all sorts of variations and almost all turned out good; only my banana experiment was a complete flop. I have been experimenting with using baking soda, buttermilk and buckwheat recently. I am absolutely in love with my most recent variation, you really won't regret trying them.

Basic Recipe

 This recipe feeds my husband and me with one or two left over when we are really hunger.
1 heaping cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

 1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1-2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

 1 tbs vinegar ( white or apple cider fine) *if you use buttermilk you don't need the vinegar*

 

 Buckwheat Buttermilk Version

1/3 heaping cup each whole wheat bread flour, ground oatmeal, buckwheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk

-optional- 

ones I have tried anyway

toasted nuts

diced apples

berries

stone fruit

cinnamon

ginger

vanilla

variations

flour-

I have used everything from cake to whole wheat flours, buckwheat, oatmeal and oatmeal flour. 

The best ratios I have found are equal parts two flours or 3rds for two or three flours. If you want to use oatmeal don't use more then a 1/3 cup in a single batch, otherwise rise and texture get funky. If you grind the oatmeal into a course flour ( food processor time!) you can use it as a 1:1 ration with another flour just fine.

leaveners-

Unless you really understand how leaveners work I wouldn't recommend experimenting with them very much. The original recipe calls for 2 tsp baking powder but I have found by substituting part of that with baking soda they rise more.

 butter-

No substitutions!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, that's not true, just my feeling on the subject. Coconut oil would probably work great. Please, for the love of god, your health and good food, don't use margarine or any other imitation butter spread! That stuff is seriously bad for your health and an insult to butter. It was created in a time when we understood a lot less about what makes a fat good or bad and unfortunately the common knowledge about fats is taking it's time catching up with current science. I have a post planned about butter and a little of the science behind fats if you are interested. In a pinch, you can use any fat you have but be aware the flavor will change and if it's an oil you won't benefit from the creaming step.

eggs-

I have used duck eggs often and you can't tell the difference. I have read you can use a banana to replace eggs but have never tried it, I probably should sometime...

Anyway, If you want to make pancakes without any wheat flours, (if for instance you were eating gluten free) or want taller pancakes, use two eggs. 

sugar-

The original recipe calls for 2 tbs molasses. You can substitute with white or raw sugar as well. I haven't tried any liquid sweeteners like honey or agave but they should work. You would likely need to use less and be aware they won't work for creaming. As with margarine, zero-calorie artificial sweeteners are not a good option, instead why not cut the sugar way down or out all together.

milk-

The measurement given is really a starting point. Depending on the flours used you may need more but it's very unlikely that you will need less. This can be substituted completely with buttermilk or soured milk and partially with yogurt, creme fraiche, cream or sour cream. I think you could completely substitute with kefir but I have never used kefir for anything so that's just a hunch.

fast, less fluffy version

Whisk or fork stir your dry ingredients very well together. Melt the butter in a sauce pan, beat the eggs and sugar in bowl, when the butter is melted add the milk to it so the heat doesn't curdle the eggs. Then whisk the butter-milk mixture into the egg mixture. If you are adding any hard extras, now add them to the liquids, if they are soft, add them very last. Then whisk in your dry ingredients.

the longer, taller, fluffier version

Sift your dry ingredients three or four times. Personal experience here, you will be a lot less annoyed if you add the oatmeal or ground oatmeal after sifting and whisk it in. As you can imagine, those big chunks don't fit through sifter mesh very well. Cream your butter and sugar thoroughly, beat in the eggs, then liquid. Whisk in your dry ingredients partially then add any extras and whisk until dry patches are just gone.

 

 

 

 

Pointers and Troubleshooting

Don't heat the pan until after the batter is finished. That little bit of a rest lets more bubbles develop from the leaveners making taller pancakes. My first pancakes are always ugly, deformed, burnt things. That's perfectly normal; you are finding the right temperature and the batter might need a little more milk or a little more flour. Plus, there's always someone hungry enough to happily eat those ones.

Medium heat is usually about right. You can tell if the pan is too hot because one side will be burned before flipping it in one piece is a realistic option.

Thicker batters make taller pancakes. A good comparison is at least the consistence of store bought ranch dressing. It can also be thick enough it plops off the spoon instead of running and make great pancakes. Mine are usually somewhere in between those two. People often underestimate how forgiving pancake batter is. If you were patient and waited to heat the pan but your first pancake is too flat add a couple tablespoons of flour, if it's too thick drizzle in some milk. The thing you have to be careful with is over mixing the batter. When that happens you remove all the little bubbles and the pancakes end up flat.

 I have got in the habit of frying our pancakes in lard. To make adding more with each pancake faster and more efficient, I just scoop the lard out with a spoon. Then I run the glob of fat around the pan or press it against the sides to melt it off into the pan. This could be used for any solid fat when you need a little throughout cooking but don't want to drown your food in fat.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. I would love to hear what variations you tried and how it turned out. Good Luck!

this post is participating in The Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways Wednesday, Fresh Food Wednesday and The HomeAcre Blog Hops go check out some other blogs like ours!

-Week 2 in Review-

 Hi everybody,
Wow, this week was long! We had a blast helping out at the sanctuary last Saturday. We also had our second anniversary this week, we celebrated by going to the movies. We watched "now you see me"; it was a good movies but not epic. 

 






Then there were all sorts of  new baby animals: kittens, foals and chicks. We have been out of chop for a while and I finally got a chance to make a batch. If you don't know what I'm talking about ;) don't worry, post coming soon.
Last month in the midst of college wrap up caos, our freezer died. At first we thought someone had just unplugged it, we moved it, let it defrost, cleaned it and put the meat we had managed to save back in. When it started thawing out again, we got the message. Fast forward a month, we just now got around to seeing what we could do about it. Best Buy was great, we found out the freezer is still under warranty. So tomorrow, hopefully, we will be getting a new freezer!
I stopped writing this post to figure out dinner and discovered the fridge was unusually quiet. Turned out the compressor had stopped because the working parts of the fridge were filthy. With the help of a shop vac, flash light, mop, broom and paint brushes; it's running again. For how long- if we are lucky, the rest of the time we live here! The landlords already replaced the fridge once since we have been here so we really don't want to need another.
 As for blog things, I got yogurt to use as my starter culture for an upcoming post about making yogurt.  I also made and photographed two great recipes to post soon, the About Us page is up and although they aren't published yet I got a lot done on the other pages too. I'm sure I forgot something but now I think I'm just going to curl up with my hubby and finish watching this movie.
Night,
Emily

New Additions

 I just had to update you about all the newly arrived  babies here! Early yesterday morning this beautiful little colt was born. The last foal born here didn't make it through the birth so it was good for everyone that this little guy and his mama had no problems. In fact, the landlords had driven by to check at six and by seven there he was: dried, suckling and walking. I think mama might have wanted some privacy! Today while we were feeding the rabbits and meat hens I discovered that the hen who has been setting has some hatched babies already, pictures coming as soon as they make their appearance.



before any of that,  about a week ago our cat had a litter of kittens. This was one of those events that required a *face-palm* and a " you have got to be kidding me!?"  About the time she was suppose to get fixed we got a lovely ticket for expired tabs, hmm, why you ask? Because we didn't have any money to renew them, so of course they want more money because we didn't have any to start with! Then, we got in an even more lovely car accident on the way to meet someone who was buying a $100 worth of Rex rabbit breeding stock. So not only did we have a broke truck but we lost that sale. 

Once we figured out that she was pregnant we debated what we would do. We considered getting her spayed and aborting the kittens-which we ended up still not having the money for, or euthanizing the litter. In the end, we did neither. It's not the litters fault we put off getting their mom fixed or got a ticket or had a car accident. If this litter put her at physical risk or the kittens were positively going to have health issues we would have euthanized the litter. Of course, I feel bad knowing that this will be yet another litter of kittens in a world where many end up in a shelter, euthanized, or as ferals. We thought we were euthanizing the litter right up until she had them. I just couldn't do it. There are all kinds of reasons we should have and I thought I would be able to make that choice but when I saw our cat with her kittens I lost my nerve. Say whatever you want, but we should have prevented her pregnancy or their birth, it would have been the kinder way to take her babies away from her. The moral of the story, have the money to get your pet fixed in a savings account or something BEFORE they need to be fixed.

So in two months there will be some well adjusted, litter box trained, very well socialized kittens needing homes.

Our Love Story

People talk about love at first sight and knowing that someone was the one. We have our own version  versions of that story. One night I was praying about what God had in mind for me. I had always felt I would be single. I had a very strict set of standards in mind for a husband. I didn’t see how anyone would actually fill them and saw that lowering or changing my ideals would only result in heartbreak and two unhappy people. I was frustrated with God. I wanted answers, as I usually do. I wanted to know what he had in mind for me; I wanted to know if he had a companion for me. I honestly just wanted to be fully confident that I would be single and to move on with my life.

Well god had other plans. The next day AJ showed up out of the blue on our doorstep. When I opened the door, all I could think was; Is this for real? He had come home with a  friend from Oklahoma and stopped to say Hi. I had always been friendly with AJ, and thought he was a sweet heart who also happened to be incredibly handsome, but I figured I didn’t register on his radar.

If I’m honest with myself, and you, I knew from the start if it wasn’t AJ it wouldn’t be anyone. And I was okay with that, at first. Then I realized that without him my life would never be complete. That god had made us to complete each other. Our flaws and strengths balance and strengthen each other. I don’t even remember that list I had, no imaginary man could be more perfect for me then the one I have.

This last year had been a hard one. It has tested us in every possible way; our marriage, faith in god, humanity, ourselves. Most of what has happened I wish I could forget, that it would pass away into shadow. But I never want to forget how thankful I am that my husband didn’t die falling of that cliff. That he can still walk and talk. And that our relationship has only grown stronger.

Today is our second anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long and at the same time it feels like we were always together. I have asked AJ more times then I can count why he showed up that day. He still says he doesn’t know why. Well I do, because I prayed and god answered.
 

My version is completely different of course. I was living in Oklahoma that year, and one day out of the blue I just felt like I needed to go back home, there wasn’t any big things to make me want to go back home. Not to say that I was dreading going back to the Methow valley and the Cascades.
I had told one of my best friends, Brad, that I was thinking about leaving in a few days to go to Washington, he had grown up there as well and had a interest to go with me. At that time I had been couch surfing, and one night I stayed up late way too late. I got locked out of the house I was staying at, you know I don’t even think I checked the door I just slept in my car, in my good old Subaru the Washington Zephyr. It was nice that night too, with the hot days of Oklahoma; it was nice to be outside at night.

I woke up in the passenger seat of my car to my phone ringing, it was Brad, he first asked me if I was still going to Washington. I told him yes, he said, could we leave today, I didn’t even think about it I just said sure why not, I’ll be there in 15 minutes. I got out of the car, didn’t even go inside for the rest of my stuff, started up the car and left.

It took me and Brad 22 hours driving from Tulsa, Ok. to Pateros, Wa. We didn’t stop for much; maybe a snack while filling up for gas and a rest area here and there. That car could travel. When we got to Pateros, I don’t remember if it was the first day or the third, but one day we were just heading up the Methow, just turned up the valley and I pointed over to the peninsula park. I said that there was a sister and her two kids that live over there, I was telling him what good people they were and what not. Anyway we just turned the car around and went back to visit. And that’s when I knocked on the door and Emily let me in.

A year later Brad had told me he knew when he walked in and saw Emily and her family and got to set down and enjoy the conversation that I would marry her. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thinking of such things. I always thought Emily was a great girl and that I was way too much of a bad boy for her. I guess she straightened me out.

As you can tell, we have very different writing styles and ideas about grammar. A.J. says, “the government has lots of rules people don’t agree with, why do we have to follow the rules of grammar?” He gets very lets say, excited, when I say anything about what he could change. I, on the other hand, think that punctuation is extremely important for the flow and meaning of the written word. We both have very strong feeling about writing and literature; it’s a subject we will continue to disagree about.
 
Our wedding was photographed by Jessica Rose.
If you are interested in Jessica's photography you can get in touch with her at her blog.

Saturday at the Sanctuary

It has been about a year since the last Saturday we were at the sanctuary. And almost a year since AJ fell off the cliff, that event that set the course of this last year and possibly the rest of our lives in motion.  A work party had been canceled that day, which was why he decided to go hiking and that was how he ended up falling of a cliff, you can read more about that on the About Us page.
  It was satisfying to see all the work that has been done since the last time we were able to attend a work part. There is a small bird building that’s finished and another for the Grey’s that is almost finished, only the flight pen is left undone. The conure (also Quaker, mini-macaw and who knows what in the end) building is the biggest and furthers from finished of the buildings. When finished, it will have flights on three sides, a kitchen and a garage door so they can drive in and load up food and supplies.  Bob has big plans and always has projects underway.

 

It might have started out as a macaw sanctuary but now they house cockatoos, conures, cockatiels, amazons, parakeets, rosellas, Indian ring neck parrots, lovebirds and many more species.  It is intended as a place for birds to go that are not suitable for pets or have no other place to go.


Often they are the result of poor breeding, rearing, training, handling, wild capture, abuse or trauma.  Other reasons for birds being there seem a little less rock solid to me.  Some are there because they hurt or killed other birds they were housed with or because they became jealous of a new baby, intimate partner or bird in a way that the owners couldn’t deal with.  Those might be hard situations but the bird could still be a good pet in another home.  Also more confusing for me, many birds are there because their owners think that they are doing “right” by their birds to put them in a sanctuary instead of rehoming even if they are an excellent pet. I feel there are many birds there who should have been sent to a rescue. By filling the sanctuary with birds who could live happily as pets there is less room for the ones who really need to be in the sanctuary.  Birds who, by no making of their own, are euthanized if they don't find their way into a sanctuary.

My time at the sanctuary always makes me thoughtful. I remember the first time I visited a women saying that as long as she was part of the problem she had to be part of the solution. At the time I didn’t understand what she meant. How was she part of the problem, she was a good parrot owner, wasn’t she just part of the solution? I now see that the issue is much more complicated.  I can’t explain what she meant very well but I have come to understand that I too am part of the problem. As long as there are parrots, or any other creature in captivity for that matter, their will always be birds who end up in sanctuaries. As long as unfortunate events happen to people who mean well and normally do right leaving them unable to care for their animals there is a need for sanctuaries and rescues. As long as out of date animal husbandry practices are followed there will be a need for rescues and sanctuaries. As long as imperfect humans share their life with imperfect animals we will need sanctuaries and rescues.

Does that mean that I think we should turn loose all our domestic and captive animals and stop breeding their kind? No. what I mean is that as long as there are people who love to share their lives with other animals they need to help be part of the solution. We have an obligation to educate others about good breeding, care, feeding and training practices as well as support rescues and sanctuaries. 

By the time we left we were exhausted and I had a headache, my own fault for not bringing a big enough lunch. It’s always hard work but so rewarding to know we are helping the Dawson’s help the birds in their care now and in the future. The sanctuary is only open to the general public once a year; for their annual benefit auction and barbeque. We were not able to attend last year ( AJ had just broke his hip a little over a week prior and was just starting his long bed-rest) but we have it on good authority that the food, people, auction items and atmosphere are great. The only other way to visit this awe inspiring place is to volunteer your skills, labor, time, money, love and energy.  If you still want to help but are unable to come to a work party please consider making a monetary donation. It is costly to run a sanctuary so any amount would be greatly appreciated!
 

There are work parties almost every weekend sometimes Sunday and Saturday leading up to the barbeque. The rest of the years they are fewer and farther between because many of the volunteers also run rescues and well we all have lives of course! Well, sort of, anyway. This time we put siding on one whole side of the conure building and cut roofing for half of the conure aviary. Getting a side of the conure building finished really gave me a sense of the buildings size and the full potential of the sanctuary.