Fredeen Blades

Welcome to Fredeen Blades. Maker of hand-forged knives, swords, other blades, and more.

Welcome to the new website!

This is the brand new site for bladesmith Graham Fredeen. Please take the time to look around and experience the world of hand made knives and blades. This site is still under construction, check back frequently for updates and newly completed blades.

About time for another update. Life has been super busy as always and shop time has been limited as a result. However, I have managed to acomplish a few notable things despite this.

 First, I just uploaded the first part of the pattern welding tutorial, be sure to check it out

Secondly, got my new HT furnace built, heres a quick look

Also built a mini 20 ton air over hydraulic press for drawing out billets and forging large stock down much faster.

I've got a few blades in the works as well, a couple of integrals, a kard with hamon, the pattern welded billet is ready for patterning, and a few others that have been laying around the bench for a long while.

Currently in the middle of a complete shop overhaul as well. Needed to reorganize to make room for the new equipment, as well as give it a much needed cleaning. Once its clean I will make a shop tour page so everyone can see where I work and my equipment, etc.

Just loaded up a new forum feature for the site and thought it might be beneficial for some discussion and any questions you all might have. Feel free to join in a discussion or post a new topic. Just click the registration button and you should be good to go. Everything is still very much in the trial stages, but if all goes well and it catches on I will be adding and upgrading as we go.

 Check it out, be the first to post something!

Thought it would be about time to throw in an update on my recent endeavors.

Firstly, I finished up another blade a bit before Christmas. Its a little EDC I did for myself. I figured it was about time to retire the old cheap folder and replace it with a well made blade I did myself. Doesn't hurt for advertising either .

Forged 5160, edge-quenched, full tang
Blade length: 3.5"
OAL: 8.5"
Black canvas micarta grip scales
Mild steel bolster w/filework and mild steel pins

Don't think I'll be selling this little one, though Im sure I would not be too sad at parting with it if the right offer came along.

For additional pictures of this blade, including the pocket sheath I worked up, view the Past Work section.

Secondly, I started welding up another billet for a damascus blade or two, and as I promised I have started another tutorial of the process. I hope to take this one through the entire process, start to finish. Just have to make sure not to forget to take the camera to the shop, and to not get too focused on the work that I forget to snap a picture or two every now and then.

Haven t loaded up the bulk of the pictures yet, but did upload the first video. So as a teaser, check it out under the Tutorials section.

Finally, Ive recently came across a refractory supplier in my area and purchased myself some fire brick, satainte, and inswool. Due to the nature of most suppliers, you have to purchase larger quantites than needed for most small operations. I know there are only a few other guys over the net that sell refractory supplies in small quantities for the average smith or guy starting out, and to me, their prices seem a bit high. This got me thinking, since I am fortunate enough to have a supplier fairly close by, why not buy up some of the most common refractory materials in bulk from the supplier and offer smaller quantites available for purchase by other smiths. This is kind of a preliminary test to check interest, as I don't know if there will be enough ligitimate interest or site activity to make it work. I know for sure that I can get pleanty of inswool (pretty equivilant to Kaowool or durablanket (in both 1" & 2" thick, 2' wide blankets, 6# density, 2300F rating, and I would sell by the foot and price by the foot, actual prices that I would sell at havent been determined yet but looks like somewhere in the neighborhood of $4-$6 a running foot for 1", double that for 2"). I can also get satanite no problem, and would sell it priced per pound, probably in 5 lb, 10 lb, & 20 lb incriments. Fire birck is no problem either, both hard and soft, and in all the standard dimensions. I know I can also get standard castable refractory, and other refractory mortors (like green patch) as well. I neglected to check on the availability of any ITC-100 or equivalent products, but its something I will certainly look into. So, if there is any ligitimate interest in this, please contact me and let me know, or drop a post in the Guest Book. If you need any satanite, inswool, or small quantites of the 1 1/4" hard fire brick (think I have 8) right away, I have extra on hand currently. I'm not going to be out to make a killing on these things, just a little something to do on the side. I just want to make enough to cover the cost for my efforts and to help fund my bladesmithing.

Hellow again everyone, just finished up a new blade. Its a bird and trout knife with snakewood grip and brass bolster.

Please check out the In Progress page for some pictures of the progress made on this blade and how I took it from its initial state to where it currently is. Also check out the Available Blades page or Past Work page for additional photos and description.

Greetings everone, sorry there has not been much action on the site recently, work has me tied down and keeps me out of the shop save on a few rare weekends. I have made some more progress on a little bird and trout knife I started near the end of may, its all heat treated, finish ground, and polished, and I have a start on the brass bolster and handle. Next chance I get in the shop I am going to try and finish it up.

Aside from that... I did manage to finally post another section under Tutorials, dealing with the next step following forging, rough grinding. Be sure to check it out. It illustrates a linear grind, which is different from the standard flat, hollow, and convex grinding methods, and was done on the old grinder. Next knife I rough grind on the new KMG I will try to get some pics of how knife grinding "should" be done.

And finally, if you haven't noticed, I bought my own domain for this website. The new domain is www.fredeenblades.com, verses the old freewebs one. This means no more stupid adds, and greater site exposre. If you have the old domain, be sure to switch it over.

And feel free to tell your friends about the site, email me questions regarding bladesmithing and its processes, or make suggestions under the, Tell Us What You Think... section, about new things you would like to see on the site, or things you think could be improved. And don't forget to subscribe (subscription box is located at the bottom of this page), to recieve notices of updates, special reminders, and other important notices.

Got two more swords in the works, one 36" viking sword and a 48" longsword. Check out the In Progress page for more pics and updates as these blades progress.

Aside from blades, every now and then I do a few pieces of artistic blacksmithing. These types of pieces include steel roses and flowers, hooks, candle holders, and other forged ironwork. If you have an interest in something other than my blades, please drop me an email and you can place an order or discuss a special, custom forged piece.

There is a new page for the site containing pictorail essays about the various processes in bladesmithing. The first is currently up, forging a blade! Be sure to check it out!

Well everyone, after many years of waiting the new KMG belt grinder has finally arrived. I received the base plate, motor and extra tooling arms yesterday and got the KMG, contact wheels and attachments today. I must firstly say that I am very impressed with this grinder, even without having used it yet. The materials used to make it are excessively overkill, this thing is a beast! I am pretty sure that if an air strike was called down upon my shop, the KMG would survive just fine, while everything else would be completly destroyed... Anyway, I know what you all will be after, Pictures!

Here is the box it came in (just the grinder and attachments, the base plate, motor and extra tooling arms came in separate boxes).

Note that the tags on the box are facing the correct direction, indicating that the box is oriented correctly...

but its not... the smart employees at FedEx put the box upside down when they tagged it, meaning that the KMG came all the way from Ohio to Colorado on its head.

Now that we have it facing the right way, its time to get it out of that box...

And there she is in all her glory! From comming over 1000 miles upside down, and getting banged around quite a bit (holes in the box and what not indicates something far from a smooth ride), there is not a scratch on it. I am lucky its as tough as it is .

 Here it is with some of the attachments laid out.

Just for some fun and laughs, let me illustrate just what exactly I am replacing. On the top is the new 1 1/2 HP motor for the KMG, just the motor. Underneath is the old 4" x36" belt grinder, all of it, I used to use. Notice anything about the size difference...

Here is the base plate and extra tooling arms. The base is solid steel plate about 9/16" thick, and the tooling arms are all made from solid 1 1/2" steel. Like I said, this thing is a beast.

Well, here it is all assembled and bolted down. Everything fit perfectly and assembly was a breeze. Since I ordered the base plate, you just bolt that down to your bench/stand, then plop the KMG chassis on that, line the holes up drop 4 bolts in and tighten it down. Then the motor just sits on the base plate, there are plenty of pre-drilled and tapped holes to accommodate many different motors, and it bolts down and has slots in the base for sliding back and forth to adjust tension in the drive belt. I got the step pulleys to allow for some adjustment in speed as well.

Here it is with the 10" contact wheel in place. To change wheels you just have to loosen that outside nut and slide on the new wheel on and tighten it back up. Takes literally a whole 5 seconds to do.

Here it is with the platen attachment and work rest.

And finally here is the small wheel attachment.

I have separate tooling arms for the small wheel, platen, and contact wheel. That way I can switch over quite quickly. I dont work too much with work rests, so I don't know if I need any more, but they are easy to make, and the tooling arms are already tapped to receive one should I want to make one for each. I have the motor all wired up and running, it is actually surprisingly quiet. You can hardly hear it when it isn't hooked up to the KMG. It makes a little more noise spinning the pulleys, and drive shaft, but it is still very quiet. The motor is very powerful and it starts up amazingly quick. It is up to full speed almost as soon as you finish flipping the switch. I think I am going to really love this grinder, I already do, but I haven't had the chance to actually use it yet. I am still waiting for the abrasive belts to come in. I ordered them a couple of days after the KMG because the company's website was down. I should have them by mid next week however and then I can finally use it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at the new KMG and I should have some new pieces ground out on it as soon as I get my belts, so check back soon!