A couple of pieces I've made during the pandemic

[My_Teenage_Self]

I said a few posts ago that I hadn't made my mind up on the handle for this one;



As it turns out the decision came quickly and easily. I've had a bit of very old Oak set aside for something special for a while - my dog brought the Oak piece home from the forest with him one day, he'd been carrying it for about an hour. I'm guessing it'd been sat there for a very long time as whilst the outside was extremely weathered and rotten, the inside was incredibly dense, dry and rock hard. I'd been working on that blade in the days before he passed away.

So I've spent a 'few' hours this week finishing it off. It's 15n20/1080 ladder damascus, the blade is 4" long, and 2.5mm thick. 9" total length. Copper pin and bolster, African Blackwood and Oak handle (Blackwood courtesy of Dyna-Ti; thanks matey!).








It's the best I've made yet, I think. The photos don't quite show off the depth and pattern of the wood.

Hope you all like.

 

[dyna-ti]

How are these all going. You've not posted for a while and tbh these are the best projects on here

 

[KermitGKona88]

Been missing updates on this thread those really are some lovely pieces

 

[mk one]

Yep, agree with the above comments, a really interesting thread.

 

[syncrosfan]

Can't believe I haven't seen this earlier... really cool stuff! Always loved those kind of things.
Next... do a 15th Century German Kriegsmesser (for some odd reason I really got into renaissance era bladed weapons... and I want one of those for myself really badly... as if bikes weren't nerdy enough).

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

Here's the start of one I'm currently making.



The steel is 4mm thick O1 tool steel. The design is a slight alteration of a standard bushcraft clone. Handle is slightly slimmer with the usual 8mm pins dropped to 6mm. Lanyard hole will stay at 8mm.

Next stage is to cut out the template and transfer the design onto the inked up steel.

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Iwasgoodonce, what's your plan? hand filing? lots of work but really feels good knowing you've done it all yourself how are you going to heat treat?

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Life has kinda got in the way of everything at the moment, so I've had no time to play

Next... do a 15th Century German Kriegsmesser (for some odd reason I really got into renaissance era bladed weapons... and I want one of those for myself really badly... as if bikes weren't nerdy enough).

LOL. that'd be a bit of a step up from my silly little letter openers!!

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

@My_Teenage_Self yes, lots of filing and sanding. Next stage is to cut out the blank.



Hacksaw is the weapon of choice. Depending on the weather, time and how lucky I'm feeling, I might use the Angry Grinder at this point. The 1mm cutting discs turn a DIY grinder into a useful cutting tool. Lots of vertical lines and then join them up with a cut.

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Ah, good old Mr. Angry.

Looks like you've done that before...?

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

I haven't made very many. It is a fascinating hobby. Trouble is, each one takes so long. I haven't done any forging as I don't think it would be fair on the neighbours. I stick to stock removal. I heat treated the first few in a forge I made from a mini beer keg. For refractory I used 50:50 mix of sand and plaster of Paris. I now have a small purpose made forge which really isn't any better.
Over to power tools for the drilling:



I use a hand reamer to get it to the proper size and then take the edge off the holes:



Next is the stage that turns it from a chunk of metal into a knife. Filing the bevels.