The 2017 Expedition 1882 Era Black Powder Hunt At Weltevreden Farm In Limpopo South Africa

[ChrisG]

Thanks for the updates Gert! I have been following your hunts and preparations and it looks like a great time to be had by all, especially the food!

I have been experimenting cooking game meat in using early North American colonial recipes for the past few years and once a year we have an "18th century dinner" where everyone picks a specific dish common at the time to bring. Most are not so common today and have flavors unique to a bygone era. We make a fun night out of it. If you are interested in some early recipes that were common up to about 1900, check out "18th Century Cooking by Jas. townsend & Sons" on youtube. He has a plethora of period recipes you could try in an earthen oven of dutch oven while around your campfire!

Keep your reports coming! I love reading them!

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Thank you Chris , much appreciated. Yes , I followed Jas Townsend and his cooking adventures, I really like his way of preparing food...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

A viking type of axe I am trying to complete before the hunt..and a meat processing knife blade I need to complete as well. I still need to forge weld the spring steel insert using borax to make it one piece of steel..this was a ball peen hammer...

 

[rinehart0050]

Looking forward to this year's expedition report!

 

[cagkt3]

Really interesting following your progress @Gert Odendaal. I will say that the lady in oxen picture does not look impressed

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I put together my hunting camp knife ...all that is left is the finishing and finer sanding work...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Some better photos:

 

[nztimb]

What have you used between the two brass piece on the bolster Gert. I take it that they are both brass although the front one has a slighty copperish look to it.
On a technical/visual point. I notice that the handle to blade orientation has a slight shallow upwards "v" to it and wondered was there a reason you didn't heat bend the tang so when the antler handle went on there was straighter line from the blade spine to the first part of the handle before it dips down at the heel.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Good to hear from you Garry...Garry that piece of material is Cape Baffalo horn. It really is great to work with. Garry I have tried to make this knife so it reflects the 1883 era..I needed to make it a little ruff looking as if it had been made entirely with the hand..I sanded it down to 240 gr and will leave it at that...this will be my 1883 camp bush knife....I commenced making the sheath yesterday...it will be attached to my "possibles bag "..will upload a photo when completed today...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Here are photos of before and after finishing and buffing the knife. I might have over done it a little bit since it is too shining for a 1883 Era Black powder hunt/camp knife...
Before:

After:

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Here is my new sleeping set up in the camp this time..

 

[nztimb]

Here are photos of before and after finishing and buffing the knife. I might have over done it a little bit since it is too shining for a 1883 Era Black powder hunt/camp knife...

Give it a rub over with mustard (the made up kind) leave it for 20 minutes and clean it off which will take some of the bright off it Do it a few times to continue the darkening process if you want it less shiney but just as scratch free. Do it a number of times and you can end up with an aged patina effect that would match in with the 1883 time frame.

 

[ChrisG]

Give it a rub over with mustard (the made up kind) leave it for 20 minutes and clean it off which will take some of the bright off it Do it a few times to continue the darkening process if you want it less shiney but just as scratch free. Do it a number of times and you can end up with an aged patina effect that would match in with the 1883 time frame.

This is a good idea! the other option is to just acid etch the whole blade (appears similar to a very very fine sandblasting.) Mix household Hydrogen peroxide and Muriatic (Hydrochloric) Acid 50/50. Degrease the blade thoroughly and suspend the blade in this solution. It will start bubbling immediately. If you want to add some decoration, you can use heavy layers of permanent marker and draw on the places you don't want the acid to touch (Permanent Marker acts as a pretty good Acid Resist). If not, just suspend the blade and check it every few minutes. It may take up to a half hour. In my experience, steel, even soft steel, takes a while to etch. Once it is done, rinse it thoroughly with water and baking soda. Just repolish the blade enough to wear off the matte-ness of the metal, but not so much that you bring it to a shine. Apply a good water displacing oil like ATF or WD-40 and let it sit for a few days. You have just acid etched your blade!

Don't get the acid solution on your handle as it will structurally weaken the horn (which is mostly bone and made of calcium). If you decide to etch, It might be worth while to tape off the horn just in case of splash and whatnot.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Members, I will starting to upload photos and write a story about our hunt with lots of explanations...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

A new thread was created: The 2018 Expedition 1882 Era Black Powder Hunt At Weltevreden Farm In Limpopo South Africa: https://www.africahunting.com/threa...ltevreden-farm-in-limpopo-south-africa.43448/.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Thank you for the invite! I'm booked pretty solid through next year, but we can look at 2019 as it gets closer.

Jason, then the COVID 19 virus intervene changing our society forever,,,