Sorry I haven't been around as much as what I would have liked.
We moved down to Mexico last year, but we are way out in the middle of nowhere, and my only access to the internet had been when we went into town and stopped at one of the many cyber cafes there.
I doubt I spent more than 15 or 20 minutes a week on the internet, just checking emails mostly.
However, we recently discovered a new wireless service linked to the nearest town, scraped together the money for our antennae, and now I'm back online on a regular basis.
Woohoo!
Well, I am still making pipes. In fact, I just shipped two out to a gentleman in France, and I have been sitting on about a half dozen pipes that I am hoping to get up on my website just as soon as I have time to take a few pictures.
But while I was still living up in Houston, I had been playing around making knives, mostly just as a hobby, really.
I had a vague idea of pursuing knifemaking more seriously when we moved down here to Mexico, and I did manage to score a 1-0-9 stoneweight Peter Wright anvil before we left, along with a few sets of tongs and several hammers.
I had really wanted to start forging knives, along with some other stuff, while I was up in Houston, but I didn't really think our neighbors would have supported all that ding-ding-ding going on in our quiet little suburban neighborhood.
Then, not long after we got here, I had been scrounging around at one of our local scrap-metal yards, here in Jerez, and I lucked into a decent farrier's forge with a nifty hand-cranked blower for the price of scrap.
I think I gave around $5 US for it, if I remember correctly. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. If I had gone to this particular scrap yard a few hours later, that antique forge and blower would have been loaded on a truck for Fresnillo, and it would be three body panels on a hatchback right now.
I threw up a lean-to back in the corral area, cobbled together a few other bits and pieces, and R. M. Perkins Forge & Knifeworks was finally born.
So I was in the process of making a set of kitchen knives for Adriana when a retired college professor stopped by, happened to see the knives that I was working on, and quickly commissioned six hunting knives for him and his buddies.
I had barely finished the first two or three when "El Profe" invited me to attend an event at one of the local hunting clubs, and I ended up taking orders for around 10 more knives, just that night.
But it's been like a wildfire. I no more than hand one customer a knife, and the instant he sees it and feels it in his hand, he orders three or four more for his buddies, his wife, his brothers, you name it.
I have people literally stopping me on the street asking me if I'm the guy who makes knives, and can I make one for them, too.
As near as I can figure, I am booked up for the next two years with knife orders. Seriously, I just have this long log of names and contact information, who wants what kind of knife, and so on.
And these aren't cheap. Maybe by US standards they're cheap, but starting at 1,500 pesos for just the knife, no sheath, just the knife, they represent a significant investment for the average Mexican citizen. Who would have guessed there would be such a demand for pricey knives down here, huh?
Now if I can just figure out how to get more of these knives banged-out in a timely fashion, I'll have it made.
Robert
Specs
Blade: hand forged 5160 (from a trustworthy US-made pickup truck leaf spring), double annealed, ground smooth, ground and filed to true-up lines, fully hardened, tempered, soft back drawn, belt and hand sanded to 320-grit, beeswaxed, and shaving sharp
Guard: hand forged/slotted 5160, annealed, ground, fitted, belt and hand sanded to 320-grit and beeswaxed
Handle: deer antler provided by customer
Overall Length: 11.688 inches (296.8 mm)
Blade Length: 7.250 inches (184.2 mm)
Blade Width: 1.500 inches (38.1 mm)
Blade Thickness at Guard: .146 inches (3.7 mm)
Of course: Sold, thank God.
