Shiv #54 of 365 - Aluminum Knife #2

Shiv #54 - Aluminum Knife #2

And the sequel to the first Aluminum Knife.

Expect a goodly number of entries into this subseries. A number of shivs outside the Aluminum Knife nomenclature already use aluminum for their blades.

The tools I have for working these shivs somewhat limits my selection of metals, and so far I've found aluminum to be a great blade material because it's both feasible as a blade, being sturdy and capable of holding a fair edge, and it's soft enough to work with, from cutting to grinding edges to drilling holes for tang screws.

Shiv #39 of 365 - Pretty Makeshift

Shiv #39 - Pretty Makeshift

This was the first shiv with which I tried hammered aluminum. It was pretty encouraging, so I hammered other things, became more excited about those, and pretty much forgot about this one.

The curving of the blade is a pleasant side effect to the hammering; pounding one edge expands the metal along that side, causing it to steadily bow as the opposite edge keeps tight and unstressed.

Shiv #33 of 365 - Red-Handled

Shiv #33 - Red-Handled

This is an aluminum rod inserted into a painted wooden handle from a cheap plastic rolling pin, then hammered flat into a blade and and given a nasty edge.

Shiv #25 of 365 - Scrapper

Shiv #25 - Scrapper

This is a bit of scrap aluminum I had leftover from an earlier shiv. It seemed somehow appropriate to make it a shiv, too.