Ray Richard is a 3-rd generation bladesmith, super talented, fun to talk to and an all around swell guy. I met him at a Hammerjamin at Tai Goo's place in Feb 2010 and we had a blast. He brought along a Godzilla on that trip and it was the first of this type of fullering tool I had ever seen. My affinity with integral knives made me see the great possibilities with this tool. It was great to see it in action then, and over time, to think about how one would benefit me in my own studio.
As many of you know I use very limited power tools and do not have a drill press (at this time:) So I asked Ray if he would make me A Godzilla and he said yes. I had no way to drill through the thick steel it takes to create such a fine Anvil Tool such as the Godzilla, so needless to say I was super stoked that he created one for me.
I first had to give Godzilla a quick trial run on a small piece of .50" round bar. I did not have to much time that first day but got the quick impression that Godzilla was an asset....I mean, who would not want Godzilla in their shop? Right! The Next day I created an integral out of .75" round W2. It was still tons of work, but drawing the tang portion was much easier after the forging of the blade, and no doubt, the initial "pinch" to begin drawing the blade out of the bar was more equal than I could have done all by hand, resulting in much less torquing on the blade....but it does have a different look, very symmetrical! I will for sure still do some of the initial "pinches" by hand on certain knives.
Enough gab, now for the images:) Enjoy!
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