Damascus Hunter

This hunter came about as a result of some experimentation with damascus patterns.  The steel is 1095C and 15n20, about 240 layers so the pattern is quite fine.  I used my standard 'shark fin' design, with a full tang, cocobolo slabs and two stainless pins - fully epoxied.

What was the experiment you ask?  I was really hoping to get s chevron/herringbone pattern down the side of the blade.  To avoid potential issues of delaminating, i decided to try to stack my pattern internally in the billet and have the pattern come out to the surface as I ground in the blade shape. I started with a piece of flat 80 layer steel, then added two 27 layer pieces of twisted damascus with opposite twists to provide the chevrons, a piece of the flat 80 layer steel in the middle, the two twisted pieces again, placed opposite to the other side so that the chevrons would match on both sides, and last a piece of the straight 80 layer damascus.  This all adds up to a lot of layers! 

When I was ready to forge weld this billet together it was about the size of a large chocolate bar - maybe 1 inch by 1 inch by 6 inches.  I got the billet up to welding temperature, did my initial weld by hammer to get things started and then moved to my press.  The weld was great, all I had to do was draw out my new chunk of steel to blade size and I would have a nice piece of patterned steel from which I could make two or three nice blades.

Unfortunately, it did not work out exactly as planned.  I figured out later that in the drawing out process, the inside of the billet stays relatively hot and pliant, while the outside gets cooled quickly and doesn't do a whole lot of moving except for the first few hammer blows.  As a consequence, my twisted pieces that were providing the pattern, along with the centre piece of flat damascus, did almost ALL of the moving as the bar was drawn out to length.  When I finished the hunter above, I found that chevron pattern had moved all the way to the centre of the billet and was therefore located right at the knife edge of the blade!

All in all, the blade and knife turned out very nice - basically a random damascus pattern with quite fine detail, but my chevron pattern got obliterated in the drawing out process.

Next time!

The next time I try for a chevron pattern, I'm going to try it the usual way; stacking full billets, forge welding them and then drawing out the bar - since the pattern is all the way through.  I guess it would be the same process I went through before, except I would complete the forge weld and then turn the bar 90 degrees and draw it out on its edge.  I have done some drawing out on the edge before when making 'W' damascus, but I was really hoping that I could avoide drawing out on the edge by being a little sneaky.  Apparently not!

Damascus Boning Knife

I completed this boning knife in early January.  The damascus is 27 layer 1095C and 15n20, lightly twisted.  I forged the blade the shape mostly, although I ended up modifying the tip a bit on the grinder for practicality - in its original state it was too up-swept.  The knife is a full tang construction using the 'shark fin' grip style that I designed for the twin hunters I made last year.  The 'fin' on the top is a very nice spot for your thumb and gives great control over the blade as well as a comfortable grip.  The handle slabs are cocobolo with two large pins, completely epoxied to the steel.

Industrial Strength Desk Tables

A friend of mine was looking to refit his office with some tables that looked and felt more 'industrial'.  He wanted to use heavy tube steel to make the tables, leaving the fairly heavy weld seams as part of the decoration.  

The project was to make fourteen tables in two different sizes.  I decided on mitred corners so that no part of the inside of the tube would be exposed to the air.  I used a wire brush to burnish the exterior surfaces of the tables, and rigged up some bolts on the bottom of the legs for leveling feet.  My friend went on to place reclaimed and refinished Douglas Fir planks for the desktop surface.  The end result made a really nice contrast between the brushed steel finish and the Douglas Fir.  Below is the prototype before it got its finished desktop.

A Passel of Buckles

A customer was looking for some hand made belt buckles - it took us a long time to get the design finalized and in the end, it took a lot longer to make them than I intended.  Still, they look pretty good with the leather, although very rough and rustic.

So many projects, so little time!

Trying to get back into the habit of posting my trials and tribulations (aka learning experiences).  With the launch of my new business, part time Information technology consulting and part time bladesmithing, I get to provide some computer help to the folks in my area, as well as continue to develop my bladesmithing craft.

Over the last year, I've worked on a number of projects and I'll add some pictures and thoughts for each of them in the days/weeks ahead.