Builds By Baz

[Sandbagger]

I've been pumped for this all week!

I've been forging blades for a while now, more so recently. Today I practiced the art of forging integral blades, - that is the blade and guard are all one piece. The process of shortening and thickening a round bar of W1 into a usable square block, Isolating the guard prong, then the blade, tang etc is a long and defined one. Every piece of metal, curve and point has to be squeezed out with technique and order. I loved every minute of it.

Here's one I did last week. Forged, but the guard is a separate piece. It's already on it's way to a happy new owner.

 

[silver]

Probly better to load an image onto pa the normal way lol

 

[MegsyB007]

That's weird silver. I can see them alright.

Cheers,
Megsy

 

[Sandbagger]

That's weird silver. I can see them alright.

Cheers,
Megsy

I fixed it right after he informed me.

Baz.

 

[Sandbagger]

Update:

Top engine nacelle engine details complete and nacelle re-mounted.

New intake details created and installed in top nacelle. There are no details inside this area in BSG lore, so I've been given a go ahead by the BSG crew to write my own. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Foot pedals fabricated, spring loaded and a stainless steel safety mesh welded in so kids can't get their foot stuck in it.

 

[Sandbagger]

 

[Mackka]

Well done Baz.
Mackka

 

[Sandbagger]

Thanks Makka.

Newest knife finished this morning.

Hunter available soon. Leather sheath yet to be made. Hand forged, 1075 high carbon steel blade. Radius plunges. 416 stainless steel guard and pin. Dyed and stabilised maple handle, heirloom fit. Blade length 130mm. Overall 250mm. Message me if interested.

Baz.

 

[Sandbagger]

Finished the aft landing gear doors and welded them on.

Made cardboard windscreen panels, bought a sheet or 4.5mm thick perspex, (plexiglass), flattened templates, traced and cut with a fine jigsaw.

After semi success forming it with every heater, heat gun and butane torch I could find, today I borrowed a LPG weed burner to spread the flame evenly over the material. I got a beautiful even bend out of it.

All fitted up now, running in tracks beautifully and the tracks are now secured to the formers via steel brackets.

Runs like a dream.

Moving on to the wings now.

 

[Manpa]

Late night in the workshop Baz? All rugged up against the cold.

Its coming along nicely.

 

[Deepseeker]

Awesome Mate, great work :Y:

 

[Mackka]

Gonna need a bigger shed!
Mackka

 

[Dihusky]

Unbelievable mate, can't wait to see it finished and flying

 

[Mackka]

Hey Baz, i think someone has put an add up on your website.
Mackka

 

[Sandbagger]

Hey Baz, i think someone has put an add up on your website.
Mackka

Can't see it mate. You mean my website or Facebook group?

Baz.

 

[Mackka]

I think it was ya fab group, happened yesterday

 

[Sandbagger]

I think it was ya fab group, happened yesterday

Found it. Removed. Blocked. Thank you mate.

Baz.

 

[Sandbagger]

Canberra just went into COVID lockdown today, so I guess I'll have some time to work on the wings.

Good thing I measured the shed out right. I've got some vehicle dollys coming. If I push the Viper to one side and mount a wing, I have a foot of clearance to get around it and fit it before removing it to do the opposite side. As long as my fat covid lockdown guts doesn't expand, I'll be fine to squeeze past.

Right now I am just using cardboard to work it all out. The cannons are not terribly heavy, but they are mounted on the wing tips, causing a bit of a cantilever effect. I will be using a steel strut welded to two mounting points in the side of the nacelle, that will support the longitudinal length of the wing, plus the cannon. In the series set prop, there was a sneaky little strut poking out of the cockpit fuselage, attached to the side of the gun, giving it one more support point forward of the wing roots.

Once that's all measured and cut, I will then build the wings out of polystyrene, with two steel poles inside, radiating from the wing roots to the outer edge. Shape, sand and fibreglass with the rest of the hull.

The rounds are 30mm, similar to the A10 Warthog's gun. These are turned out of wood, painted and I made the link a couple of years ago out of sheetmetal. I have a plan later to have a transparent or cutaway section on one wing so you can see the load-out of the link to the side of the cannon. More on that down the track.

full story on www.buildsbybaz.com, or look for Builds by Baz groups on Facebook and Youtube.

 

[Sandbagger]

Practice practice practice. My quality has lifted a fair bit this year, thus I've been advised by my peers that my work has jumped up a couple of brackets of knifemaker professionalism. That was nice to hear. Now I have to keep pushing myself.

Here's a Damascus Japanese kitchen knife I made for work. Random pattern with Walnut and Buloke handle.

The next is a hunter I made at home. I'm really enjoying the result of going the extra mile with the heirloom fit, where handle meets guard. It involves making a sacrificial handle first, to shape the guard, then ripping it off and putting the good wood on. The wood is a random block I found in my wood collection that had a gorgeous fiddleback grain in it. You should see it turn in the light. It's so deep and holographic. Along with that I've been working on my leather skills to refine and simplify my work. Changed my stitching style too.

Lastly, I have been saving this one for a while. Change of steel this time, using W2, a shallow hardening steel that is capable of differential heat treating to produce an active hamon. This also keeps the spine soft and flexible, while the rest of the blade to the edge, hardens to retain sharpness. The clay work was interesting, as was the etching and the whole process really. I think I'll do more of these and develop the skill. The wood on this one was selected for it's two tone down the length, as it was my idea to continue the hamon line right through from the blade to the handle. The wood is stabilised fiddleback Blackwood.

 

[Sandta]

Your an incredibly talented man
I love looking at your pages :Y: