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Also finished this one today. Blade is suminagashi, engraved as a test for a different commission. Bolster and finial are blackened steel, with copper accents on the bolster. Handle is carved bog oak and sheath is tooled leather with copper rivets: let me know what you think...

Here is a riff on a North Italian/ Venetian Republic falchion of the mid to late 15th Century. Full details and larger photos here. My thanks to Clive Thomas, James Elmslie and Fab Cognot for sounding some ideas based on their research.

Just got back from a great class at the New England School of Metalwork. The guest instructor was Emiliano Carrillo, a very talented young smith who has been doing fantastic work in period reconstruction pieces. The project drew inspiration from multi-bar Viking work and all participants developed their own versions. Here is mine: Core and socket are forge welded wrought iron, (4) twist bars are 7 layer 1095 and 15N20, and edge bar is 300 layers of 1095 and 15N20. I went for a fairly simple pattern, as this was my first try at a full forge welded spear and I felt that was enough of a challenge. I also brought some wrought from home for the socket, which unfortunately wasn't all that figured, but it blended fine with the core and welded nicely. Wanted to forge out the blade further, but ran into concerns with the size of both the heat treat ovens and the etch tank. In retrospect I should have just forged what I wanted and heat treated in the forge. Was worried about tempering. Here is the rest of the class (mine is on top):

Finally finished the Wakizashi brisket slicer. Longest blade yet first habaki (made twice) there were some challenges, but I'm very happy with the outcome. Blade cutting edge just over 14 inches, Go mai construction core steel 52100 with a nickel shim and A-203 outer layer. Handle is ancient bog oak with a wrought iron tsuba and patinad copper cherry blossom overlays and copper fittings.

This is a project we have been thinking about for a while. It's a swing up counter extension for parties and such. I had a big chunk of an oak countertop I had salvaged somewhere (I think I've moved it at least 3 times). We bought the hinges and wrapped the oak in Ipe, with mosaic pins over the top of the screws. It weighs a ton, but it gives us another 3 feet of counter, just in time for Friendsgiving on Saturday.

And a couple more. The grinds are getting more complex even though it's not really visible All the distal taper with sturdy heels and almost flat grinds in the back quarter but the thin out fast with almost imperceptible hollows above the edges and the flats are convexed both towards the edge and the spine

Hi everyone, Seeing as the market in my home country of Norway is really limited when it comes to high-end knives like this one - I thought I'd give it a try here - in case someone slightly more international might be interested. This piece has taken me 640 hours to complete, and while I've been terrible at keeping track of material cost - the gold, gems and silver amount to somewhere around 1300 USD give or take, and of course there's tool wear and tear. At an hourly rate of 22 USD I don't find it unreasonable to price this piece at 15 500 USD including beforementioned materials and tool wear. for an additional 1500 USD I will deliver the piece in person - world wide - except conflict zones. The word "POTENTIA" comes from Latin and means potential. It originates from the verb "posse", which means "to be able" or "to have the ability to". The meaning of "potentia" has evolved over time and has influenced many modern concepts and ideas. For example, it has given rise to the English word "potential", which refers to a hidden or possible ability that can be realized. The knife "POTENTIA" is my expression of all my abilities to date, as well as my goals for the future. Potentia marks a crossroads and a paradigm shift for me as a knife maker. This is my most comprehensive work to date, and it has taken me over a year to complete (640 hours). I created this knife to prove to myself as well as the world that "I can" - and the words "my will, my hands" have been in the back of my head throughout the process. Here is a LINK to a brochure I've made for the knife. It contains some backstory and step-by-step images compared to the finished works - for those who might be interested. And of course the Promo-video I created before starting and completing the sheath: And here are the knife stats: Measurements: Blade length: 18cm Blade thickness: 5mm Blade width: 3.2cm Blade hardness at edge: Approx. 58 HRC. Handle length: 13.5 cm Knife weight: 345 grams(w/o sheath) Materials blade: Shaft steel from Kongsberg Automotive. 15n20 Nickel steel. 24kt gold. 2 pcs. 0.03ct natural white diamonds. Materials handle: Stabilized maple. Vulcanized fiber. Railway steel from the Numedal Railway in Rollag - Norway. 24kt gold. 6 pcs. 0.03ct natural white diamonds. 8 pcs. natural red rubies. 1 pc. natural blue sapphire. Materials sheath: Schaf leather. 925 Sterling silver. 24kt gold. 13 natural blue sapphires. 2 natural red rubies. Last but not the least - this knife won "1st place" and "Best in Class" in this year's Norwegian Knife Association's knife competition - Open Class. If anyone are interested - feel free to message or make a post in this thread.

Haven't posted anything in a good long while - my mother passed away unexpectedly at the start of the summer, and I pushed back all my orders to deal with the fallout from that... This is the first of those delayed projects to actually get finished. 12" nagasa hira-zukuri blade, forged from 1095. Copper habaki, brass seppas and steel tsuba, copper fuchi and kashira, sycamore tsuka wrapped in samegawa and lacquered deerskin lace ito, with nickel silver menuki and buffalo horn mekugi. The saya is sycamore, covered in ground tealeaves and lacquer, with buffalo horn koigouchi and kurigata, with cotton sageo. Let me know what you think...

Hi everyone, I recently decided I wanted to experiment with new leatherworking methods so I chose to make a small piece (in order not to waste too much leather if I messed up). I had this Kukri knife that I had from Nepal, where the scabbard was pretty scratched up during transport. I had come across a tooling technique in a 2017 post by Peter Johnsson which I was very interested in. Basically, it is using a hot awl to scorch and raise the leather (but I'll let Peter explain it here). Of course I forgot to document the making of the core, but basically it is made of using the veneer method (thin 8mm model airplane wood bound in glue) with the inside lined with felt (I use felt tape for this, which is a great material, as it is already adhesive and can cover whatever length you need). For the by-knives (Chakmak and Karda), I made two tiny (very cute) scabbards which were then glued on the main core. Traditionally they are in the back of the scabbard, but I wanted to experiment a bit and end up with a piece that could be a seen as a blade that was brought back from Asia and then given a more European medieval scabbard. Might not be for everyone, but I wanted this to be acting as a companion piece for another scabbard I am currently making for a Type XVIIIa sword. I covered the core in linen and then wrapped it in veg tan leather (sewn at the back). I used a bone knife to mould the leather around the by-knives and risers. I then drew the design of 15th century-style acanthus tendrils with a felt tip ink pen and then used a swivel knife to cut the design into the leather. I then used a seeder stamp to do the background. I finally used an awl that I heated on a flame to pierce the leather in specific places to create the illusion of volume. This was my first try so it could have been better, but overall I am very happy with the result. For the belt attachment, I used a leather lace that goes around the back to provide a space for the belt, as I saw on a video by Tod from Tod Cutler. Hope you guys enjoy it, I certainly had fun doing it!

And complete with belt and bronze age zip lock bag, all based on bronze age finds

The last ones completed in 2023. Both blades are 195 with buffalo horn bolsters and stainless spacers. The orange is stabilized Karelian birch. The other is stabilized leopard wood.

Hi, here a pic of the harded blade.

Now normally I do unique one off pieces but one of the pettys above caught the eye of a friend that sked me to make a few full sized knives in the same style for Christmas presents Oh and then theres this one I forgot to post pictures of

Hi guys, after long time without motivation, i beginn a special custom sword. My customer want a reconstruction of the sword from Skanderkeg. The Sword and the helmet are in the Waffenkammer of Kunsthistorischen Museums in vienna austria. This is one of the swords of the albanian national hero Skanderbeg. The sword was said to be able to cut its enemies half vertically. Its a cavallery sword. The sword have a persian blade and a turkis handle. The sheath dosent fit with the crossguard. The sword is 103.3cm long. 5.8cm large lenticular blade by the crossguard and 6mm thick by the crossguard. With a 17.5cm large crossguard. The weight is 1.3 Kg. The blade has a large koftgari work in gold. The wood Sheath and the wood handle are covered with fishskin. 1 hour ago i harded the blade. I take 1.8159 steel. The blade is hard and flexible. I forgot to make pics. I was in a verrry nice flow. I make pics tomorrow. Ruggero

I finally tempered the saber, had to use a BBQ grill because it would not fit into any oven I have access to. Did two one hour cycles at 410 F. Meanwhile I have been working on the handle fitting and cross-guard. I decided I will try to do add brass trim around the handle using 1mm x 10 mm brass strip and will solder it to the grip like I have seen done on other Turkish/Cossack and Hungarian sabers. The weight of the blade is down to 2.63 pounds from a starting point of 4.6 lbs... Still some more to go...

I felt compelled to making some changes... I think I might be on the right track: Alright, so a bit less "round" expression, and mouth doesn't look like a blowfish... Added some more muscle tone - but need to improve on that. I'll leave more material for sculpting on the actual piece.

Things have been a bit chaotic lately, but I found some time to work on knives. I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire so to speak, but I put the priority on these blades, whipped up in the past couple of days. A handful of my “bread and butter” styles with a few pukkos, Sakha knives, and a leuku.

Idon't know why, but the order of pictures in post is definitely different than the order I was attaching them. So, here in this post the second blade.

Preview of the scabbard & suspension. The scabbard, belt and buttons are all based on finds from Denmark, that are more or less contemporary with the sword blade. I see it as one potential option, considering that there were no metal fittings found with this blade. But of course it comes with a lot of uncertainty.

Basically these. When you lift the top gravity drops the lock into position, lift up and push a lever and it folds down. The set we bought is rated at 500lbs, I think the end of the cabinet will fail first, though I reenforced everything pretty well. It worked a treat for dinner last night. Geoff

Thank you!

This is my best 52100 kitchen knife blade to date, straight and hard. Bolster is purple mohair wool micarta, handle white Oak

My first gas forge was a big victory in my knife making career, unlike my ribbon burner supposed to be game changer failure. So the little guy got an upgrade, new lorry rim stand, work rest with some of my best birdshit welding......earth issues......and refractory lining. And my two very cute African village dog siblings

Alright folks, finished off side A of the tang this friday: Started side B yesterday, and still at it. It is incredible how much work one gets done when one doesn't have to go to work... Have a nice sunday everyone!

P.s. this is a real Auroch horn, from the last living one to be exact (from 1620). It appears to have blondish color. May have been lighter originally.

I finished the Hori Hori knife. I used Tulipwood, wrought iron, and micarta for the handle. I was surprised how sharp the serrations are and how well it held up! The customer was very happy with it. Cheers! Emery

I just started making a scabbard for the Monnikenbraak sword. The inside is carved out. I'm still contemplating between a wooden scabbard and leather wrapped scabbard, as shown in examples. I'm leaning towards leather wrapped. It will not be lined with fur like original finds, simply as I don't want to spend 500 euro for a Scottish highlander hide for it. I may some time get an alternative, like a sheep hide which are much cheaper, but not for now.

Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve posted here but I would like to share my latest creation with you guys. My girlfriend has been begging me to make her a Nakiri for months so I finally got my lazy butt over to the grinder and made her one. The blade is made from 3/32” CPM154 complete with a distally tapered blade (hand rubbed to 800 grit)and a tapered tang.The spine and choil are all rounded and polished for improved comfort and aesthetics. Handle is a piece of gorgeous stabilized Curly Hawaiian Koa that was generously donated by my buddy Matt Gregory. Speaking of Matt; he also performed the heat treatment for me AND took these photos so special thanks to Matt - I really appreciate it man! This was my first time making a Nakiri and I certainly had a lot of fun doing so. I hope you guys enjoy it and I look forward to making many more kitchen knives in the future! I know this isn’t forged but unfortunately I don’t have access to my forging equipment at the moment!

Nice! I've been using the heck out of the one I got from you in this year's KITH. Speaking of which, just finished this santoku. Right at 12" / 33cm overall, 7.25" / 18.4cm blade. Stock removal from 3/32" / 2.4mm AEB-L HT'd to what should be Rc61. Handle scales stabilized walnut from Bill Armstrong, https://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?/topic/43173-stabilized-scales-for-sale/ I found out that if you strike a stamped mark too hard on an annealed blade that thin it will bend the heck out of said thin blade, but it straightens out easily too. Solid 1/4" brass pins, slightly riveted, which is why the center pin looks slightly misaligned.

Alright, so I've finished background removal on the rear of the handle, side B as well - so now it is time to proceed with the actual sculpting - which I dread... I've spent a few hours improving my sculpting attempt no. 2 - and here is the result: I've doubled the depth of the background, allowing me to play a whole lot more with topography on the relief itself. I've cut much more agressively compared with previously, and attempted to increase the level of definition. I have however - detected a few things that need further improvement. Please feel free to add to my three points mentioned above. My next cuts will be directly on the knife. I cannot keep churning out these test-plates forever if I am to finish this project in time... Wish you all a good sunday!

You can also add copper to a blade by warming it up (350-400 F, you don't want to change the temper too much) and scrubbing it with a brass or copper bristle brush. It give cool highlights. Geoff

Boar Gullinbursti As my Wife has noticed, this knife with its silhouette brings to mind the mythical boar, a symbol of male strength, bravery and boldness. May you also be accompanied by these qualities! I’m offering a small seax. Blade was forged from some remaining materials from other jobs. Cutting edge is 180 layers random damascus of spring and bearing steels, that left after forging this spatha The body is from remaining piece from this spearhead The grip is bog oak [the bigger piece was cast by the Baltic sea] and carved deer antler. The sheath is vegetable tanned leather with punched motif plus brass brackets. Toltal length of the whole set is 250mm [10’’] Knife length is 230mm [9’’] Blade length is 112mm [4,5’’] Width at grip is 27mm [1,06’’] Thickness of spine is 4,5mm [0,18’’] I’m asking 575 USD plus 25 shipping. Shipping with global express usually is delivered to USA within two weeks, but a maximum time is described as up to three weeks, so there is a big chance it may be delivered before Christmas if You need it as a gift. I prefer payment via Revolut [For people who don’t have a Revolut account it is possible to transfer money from ordinary US bank account] Or, if someone prefers, I also accept Western Union. Please contact me on email address krylip [ad] gmail.com [I put it like that to avoid spamming bots finding it] Or via private message here.

Allright, 12 hours of background removal later: I decided to go quite a bit deeper than on the test piece - which will give me a bit more "elevation" to work with in terms of topography in the relief. Next I will do this same procedure on the back of the handle, then start sculpting the front and then finally the back on this side (A). Needless to say I am pretty nervous. I will try to improve my old test-piece a bit before I start cutting into the relief on the knife. I've been watching some wood-carving videos - and I want to try out some techniques... Have a good Odin's-day everyone!

I know that one! The Manufacture of Iron in All its Various Branches [subtitle goes on for a full page], Frederick Overman, 1851. Available as a PDF free, if you search for it.

And now that the wheat borders are all cut - time for some serious background removal! Have a nice sunday everyone!

Thanks Alan , there are ways around the problem …one is shown in the picture below the other I will post when I find one of them again . You need a lot of turbulence near the heat in the air pipe.

Did some hand sanding on a kitchen knife before nearly ruining it by stamping my mark too hard. Had to regrind to remove the dent on the mark side and the bulge on the other... Then I made a hook for a Christmas party giveaway. And of course NOW I see that the actual hook part is a little crooked...

After a few months away from the shop, I’m back at it until the New Year! I’m currently in the process of re-lining my forge (honestly amazed the initial lining lasted so long) so starting on forging will have to wait until a bit while it drys enough to fire up. In the past I’ve done raised inlay soft metal work for non-knife projects, but I decided to get geared up to do the flush inlay you see in some seax blades. I have some HSS gravers coming to try out, but to start I did a quick practice with my kinko chisels. Here is a piece of copper wire placed in the groove. I used a V-chisel then raised a lip with the same pushers I use for raised inlay. I tried out a straight line with a slight dogleg to try out curves. Turned out fairly well for a 10 minute test, though I obviously have a way to go. The test piece is a blade I quenched in August to make a replica of the sax from Sweden with the carved handle, which is unfortunately riddled with cracks.

That is nice to hear, thank you! And here's another one. I am getting closer to finishing the last piece of gold inlay on side A, to the left in the picture. The width of the slit is about 1,8mm. I looked at my gold consumption today, and noticed I've just about passed 12 grams so far into the project. I will finish this last strip of gold inlay this afternoon, and then proceed with sanding the inlay flat - and cutting the wheat border patterns... Almost Friday again! Have a good Thursday!

working on this 10" bowie fighter: Originally I was going to just do a handle but as I play with it, thinking of adding a subhilt? Thoughts?

Did some grinding on the integral Bowie it went from .350 to .250

Thanks! The hammer in question has been through a lot. There was some damage to that corner from a miss-hit that I have since dressed out, that may be what you are seeing? I’ve been away from the shop for a while, but next week I’ll be back to work on knives for about a month and a half. I realized I had some work I hadn’t posted here yet: First, my biggest hearth run yet, done before disassembly of the hearth in its entirety. My blade smithing will be intermittent for the next few years, this file should hopefully last me most of that time. A few blades here. From left to right: a broadsax with the blade profile of a full tang broadsax that will inspire the handle shape, a replica of the blade of that seax from Sweden with the carved handle, and a replica of the Viking age knife with the curly cue tang. Unfortunately only the sax survived the quench. Finally, some blades for knives I’ve seen a few times in the museum here in Copenhagen, found in a bog in Vimose. The handles on many of these iron are blades were amazingly well preserved, so I look forward for working on these soon.

Tomorrow I will try the short stack. My fear is the furnace may be too short to allow for the stratification of the cast iron and the slag. If that does not happen the little bloom will not be very photogenic and will require more work than a clean one. Here are a couple of pictures of what cast iron blooms normally look like . I am holding back on the video showing the sparks of burning reduced iron from the first crucible until I run a couple more and we can contrast the various types of sparks as they change. I think I have done the math for the next crucible smelt as well…..but will need a couple of runs to pin down what is actually going on. Exiting times. The two pictures show cast iron blooms which I will soon have to begin using when my bucket of bits runs out.

I forged this damascus sandwich, its O1+nickelsteel and O1 core. Very solid 7 mm thick, 35 cm blade. Looking solid through, I shall make it into big english style bowie. "Bear hunter" The core comes out evenly, at the moment I have about 3,5 mm left on main grind, then the clip, the HT and so on.

This one has been finished for a little while, but I realized I hadn’t listed it here yet. A medium size broken back seax, inspired by the profile of the Honeylane seax. This one is hearth steel and wrought iron, with an interesting auto-hamon visible in the edge bar. The blade is 220 mm (8 5/8”) long Price is $1,025 including domestic shipping. More details at the Etsy listing, but also feel free to reach out with any questions! https://www.etsy.com/listing/1579108100/

Got some new leather in for future sheaths. There's so much variation in leather, even in natural veg tanned cow leather of the same thickness. The leather I previously worked with was too soft. It's ok for small sheaths, but carving it is more challenging, as it tends to spring back, making the carvings less clear. This new leather is sold here as saddle leather. It's properly stiff. Stiff enough that if you cut a strip of it and hold it horizontal, it stays straight. I hope shaping it will not be too difficult, particular the angle for broken back seaxes. That was easy with the softer leather. But we'll see.

If the crucible smelt worked I will pass on the short stack. For now!

I am just wrapping up this piece. While not a direct recreation, it is designed with stylistic elements from several museum pieces. I wanted a "working" dagger with more detailing than an armoury grade weapon, but not a high status piece. Being relatively reserved in details, it was important for me to try to balance those in an authentic way. The scabbard is made after construction examples in Covering the Blade with hardware again based on period examples. The locket has a roped top edge and rear staple type mounting loop for wear behind the left hip. The chape has a small acorn drag. This one is double edged, hollow ground, with somewhat minimized distal taper for a stiff parry and stout tip. All the wirework and turks heads are done in iron wire.

It had been a good many years since I last got around to making a knife, but finally made some time to make a cake knife for my good friends wedding earlier this year. I'm pretty pleased with the final piece, so thought I'd show her off Blade: Sandvik 10C28Mo2 Handle: - Shibuichi with 24K gold inlay - Mammoth Ivory - African Blackwood Box: - Black Walnut Thanks, Ben

I just finished up a pipe tomahawk today. I forged it out of a peice of 1inch Dom pipe with ¼inch walls, slit it down the middle and forge welded a 1080 bit. The handle is charred hickory with a damascus smoke plug. I put a sliver of leather between the bowl and the handle to create a better seal. WFF