How to make bolo/knife

SMTHERY is a process of hot working the metal to a desired shape by applying high impact pressure using machine tools or hand tools. Typical products are scissors, knives, bolos and others.

Equipment Needed:

• Smith Hearth Furnace
• Charcoal
• Anvil
• Quenching tank half filled with water or quenching oil
• Drill Press
• Blacksmith's Hammer
• Tong
• Pedestal Grinder with 80 & 120 grits grinding wheel

Materials:

• Medium Carbon Steel (C1043)
• Emery Cloth
• Polishing bar/compound/
• Buffing Cloth Scrap steel like leafspring, etc.
• Drill bits (1) set
• Piece of wood-to be used as handle of the bolo (300-600 grits)
• Sand paper

Procedure:

1. Select scrap material of right size and thickness. Place it into the furnace until its color begins to turn yellowish. By this time, the material has reached its plastic stage and is ready to be processed.

2. Using the tong, remove the piece from the furnace and place it on the anvil. With the forging hammer, hit the material heavily and repeatedly until the right shape is obtained. To prevent from cracking, the material should be returned to the fire if it begins to cool before the right shape is obtained.

3. Form the handle of the bolo/knife according to the desired design by placing the part into the fire again. Hammer it until the shape is achieved.

4. For the desired dimensions and shape of the material, process the material by grinding manually or using the grinding machine. Use the 80 grits grinding wheel.

5. Shape and sharpen the bladed edge by using a 120 grits grinding wheel.

6. Hardened the blade edge of the semi-finished knife or bolo by heat treatment or tempering:

Place the material being shaped into the furnace, position the bladed edge nearest to the fire. Heat it until the piece turns red hot in color.

Immerse the piece into the quenching tank filled with water or oil. If the piece turns into chocolate brown color, the piece is hard and tough—the desirable mechanical properties of metal. Repeat the heat treatment procedure if it turns white (it is hard but brittle) until the chocolate brown color is achieved.

7. Polish the entire piece into a mirror-like finish by using different and appropriate emery cloth sanding grits (300-600).

8. To increase/enhance its shine, use a buffing cloth with polishing compound: Attach the sandpaper to a round piece of wood then attach it to the grinder. Proceed to polish the bolo. Attach a buffing cloth with polishing bar/compound to the grinder and polish the entire bolo to the desired shine.

9. Attach the wooden handle.

10. Lubricate the entire piece with oil to prevent rust and to preserve the beauty of the entire piece before wrapping and storing.

Source:Metal Industry Research and Development Center, DOST; Photo courtesy www.reflectionsofasia.com

Dye Making and Production

Dyeing using different plants has been a traditional practice. However, with the invention of artificial dyes and modern dyeing practices, such use of dyes from plants was soon abandoned. There are many Philippine plants which are good source of dyes – either bark or wood. There are plants which are naturally rich in tannic acid or tannin which is used in dyeing leather, wood or textile. These are: kamachili, bakauan, red white lauan, tangal, ipil-ipil, coconut husk and others. The common procedure of extracting dyes is as follows:

1. Boil the ground or chopped bark in uncovered cooking pot with just enough water to cover the barks.

2. Boil to 60°C-80°C with continuous stirring.

3. After an hour, strain in wire screen and replace water in the cooking pot. Repeat 1-3 until water becomes pale in color.

4. The water used in second or third boiling could be used for the next fresh barks.

5. Mix all the water used for boiling and boil them altogether until you get a dark colored dye.

RED DYE FROM SIBUKAW

Extracting dye for a 400 grams cloth:

1. Soak ground or wood shavings in water at a ratio of 1 kilo wood shavings for every 40 liters of water and boil for five hours.

2. Strain, then boil again until it thickens and dries.

3. Scrape the dried residue and pulverize about 120 grams

Mordanting:

1. Heat the cloth to be dyed with 3% mordants: 12 g potassium dichromate or oxalic acid in 12 liters water at 60°C for half an hour.

2. Let cool and wrap.

Dyeing:

1. Boil the cloth in 30% dye mixture (1 part dye in 30 parts water)

120 g sibukaw powder dye mixed to 12 liters water, 4 g sodium carbonate (1%), and 20 g sodium bisulfate (5%)

2. Stir constantly to get an even colored cloth.

3. Let it cool, squeeze, then wash well. (Use 20% teepol; 20 g teepol in 100 cc water)

4. Rinse well and dry.

Another method of making dyes from sibukaw is by fermenting with powdered sibukaw bark for one week to get a strong color.

DYE FROM TALISAY

Black color for silk and gris for cotton.

Dye Extraction:

1. Get some 3.5 kilograms of talisay leaves.

2. Grind or pound the leaves.

3. Soak the ground leaves overnight in 50 liters water.

4. Strain and set aside the residue.

5. Boil the residue until it thickens to about 1/4 of its original weight.

6. Steam the residue until it dries and become a black residue.

7. Scrape the residue and pulverize it to about 280 grams.

Mordant Preparation:

1. Boil the cloth in 70% dye (280 g dye powder and 35% ferrous sulfate mixed in 12 liters water) for one hour; continuously stirring to get an even color.

2. Let it cool, squeeze and wash in 100 cc water with teepol.

3. Rinse well and hang to dry.



RED DYE FROM ANNATO (Achuete)

For cotton:

1. Soak the annato seeds in boiling solution of carbonate soda.

2. Soak the cloth to be dyed for 15 minutes.

3. Squeeze the cloth, rinse in water with alum.

For silk:

1. Dissolve equal amounts of annato and sodium carbonate.

2. Soap may be added.

3. Soak for one hour (according to desired color) in 50°C heat.

4. The resulting color may be made yellowish if the cloth is rinsed with small amount of tartaric acid.

For wool:

1. Wool is dyed in annato at 80°C-100°C without any additives.



DYE FROM BANGKORO

(Red, Light Violet and Chocolate)

The substance where the dye from bangkoro is taken comes from the bark of its roots - abundant in its third to fourth year of age. No more dyes could be taken when the aged beyond four years. The thin roots are the ones useful. When it grows to about half inch, it becomes useless. The root bark is the source of red dye, the woody part - yellow dye, so that when the root bark gets woody, the dye is reddish yellow.

Mordants:

red and rose – aluminum

chocolate brown -- chromium (acc. to strength of mordant)

light violet to black -- iron



DYE FROM JACKFRUIT(Yellow)

Grated jackfruit wood produce yellow dye, although the tree is more popular for its edible fruit. It is being used as dye for yellow clothes of priests and for silk in India and Java.

To get: Mordant is:

Olive yellow - use with chromium
Light yellow - use with aluminum
Dark yellow - use with tin



BONATO DYE (Dark Orange)

Kamala - a plant substance that is taken from the outer seed of bonato which is used as dye.

Use mordant as follows:

4 parts (kamala)

1 part alum

2 parts sodium carbonate (native vanilla)

Rub with small amount of sesame oil

For silk, add:

½-1 part sodium carbonate in boiling water. Soak the silk cloth and dye in boiling water for 2-5 minutes.


DYE FROM NARRA (Red)

Red dye for wood is produced from narra tree. It does not soluble in water but dissolves in alkali solution such as aluminum hydroxide, alum, wood dust. The best mordant are metallic mordants -- chromium and copper hydroxide; fader with soap. Narra mordant are used for dyeing wood. Its alcoholic tincture produces dark red color dye in wood.



DYE FROM DILAU(Yellow)

This is a root plant like ginger. It is used to dye silk and wool - yellow. Boil the roots, add alum or vinegar, if desired, according to color strength desired. Its turmeric substance is not soluble in water, but dissolves easily in either alcohol, alkali, fats and oils. Turmeric solution fades under the sun. It gives bright green and brown, light violet red with tin, lime and barium hydroxide. Turmeric produce yellow color in acid solution and dark reddish brown in alkali.



DYE FROM IPIL (Khaki)

Ipil wood produces bright brown (low) in low acid solution. Cotton cloth with tin mordant becomes olive greenish brown. When wood is buried for a week in clay with ipil dust, the part which is lighter black gets very dark. The juice of fresh ipil produce indelible brown in white paper or textile.

Source: Natural Dyes of the Philippines by William H. Brown,elgu2.ncc.com.ph photo courtesy of www.sabine.ca