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Hello: Just finished this one for book IV...what a nightmare this one was...the polish is deadly....cut myself a bunch of times but double edges can get yas.. Still it turned out OK I guess.. Not too bad for a broken down old man.. blade length 13 3/4"...1095 and L6 laminate... This one could really benefit from a pro grade polish.. A bunch of stuff going on in there... Hope the photos work JPH

I got my live oak profiled today. I'll try to get the Spanish moss added tomorrow. The profile here is of 15N20 .065 bar. The leaves on the end of each branch are damascus as willl be the moss. This entire unit including the cardboard on which it is glued will go into a canister. I will then fill the inside of the tree with a 2% nickel powder to match the 15N20 and everything outside of the tree with 1084 powder .

Supposedly, this is now not going to happen again. I hope that's true. Thank you for your patience.

Here are a few folding knives I have made lately. They also double as a flint striker. Blades are 1084 and frame is 5160

Here is all 5 I have been working on. All are 1095 clayed with Rutlands Furnace Cement. Blades are approximately 6-8 inches long.

Today, I set a personal record. I have made 10 knives this year. The most I have ever completed in a calendar year.

Thank you for your continued efforts to keep the forum running Niels!

We're back! Thanks to Niels and Dave.

I think I just heard @Jeremy Blohm start his truck... (...and I live 4 hours south of him!)

You've been busy Garry, nice work . I finally completed a commission of two kitchen knives. The other one was a petty I posted earlier.

Today I got started on a mosaic pattern that may be my most ambitious. I'm going to attempt to build & inlay a live oak tree into a mosaic billet. I got the billet that I will use for the leaves made as well as another that will be the Spanish moss. Much of the rest will need to be done in a canister with different powders. I didn't get photos of each step so if you have questions, feel free to pose them.

Not the best photo but this may give you an idea: I'm not totally satisfied with the Spanish moss but it's a little late for changes now.

Blade forged from file. Scales whitetail leg bone. Full tang construction.

Okay, with the disclosure of the dimensions, I believe I'm getting it. With no size reference in your photos I envisioned it as much larger so just couldn't figure out what was going on. (I'm slow, but I'm old, so that's my excuse!)

Its several years off but beggers cant be choosy its only a 50lb that needs some sprucing up but im not complaining the price wasnt bad and just for fun its never been converted for off shaft use sent an email in to see if little giant has anything to tell me about its back story now to dig a footing and do some cleaning

Here’s one I finished this weekend forged file blade with whitetail leg bone rawhide wrap.

Motion passes!

A an Elmax scandal grind with stabilised Irish yew scales and red and aluminium liners. And a hidden tang Elmax flat grind with composite handle of angled laburnum and burr elm, with red and aluminium spacers.

Well I have finished the Seax part of this build. Thank you to all who have supported me along the way with advice, feedback and encouragement and also to all those who have walked this path before and paved the way for those such as me by taking the time to share their own threads, WIP's, tutorials and research. Now onward to the sheath. I will have to order the needed materials online so I will have some time to play around with some tool making whilst I wait. 42cm overall length 22cm Blade 20cm Hilt Blade 6mm at the hilt and 7mm at the broken back.

I was able to make enough time to finish this up this afternoon. There are a couple of small gaps on one side that I'm not too happy about, but the solder took so I'm going with it. Other than a couple of other minor issues it turned out pretty good.

oooh, also spent a few quid on cactus juice and a vacuum set up! - this is a plank of wood I got from a market stall for about $5, all chopped up ready to go in this pic. The blocks came out rock hard and perfect after stabalising! got 10 usable blocks from the plank- might be doing posh handles in the future

Yet another one... For some reason, the blade looks smaller than it is. It's 8.5" long...

Finally, finished! The handling is beatiful and as it's intended to be a practical sparring and tournament Feder, the decoration is ok-ish for the time spent. However, a nice deep relief cutting would lift it to another level... (next time!!)

It does take some time and effort. It took me longer to resize the photos and make the post than it did to do the carving though!. Don't discount those border tools. There's lots of good decoration you can do with just a border tool and a background or seeder tool. Thank you Alan, and as I was doing this piece, I kept saying to myself "Don't rush, Alan will pin this thing. Do it right." I didn't really listen, but there you have it. My pleasure Rob. If you are thinking of doing more of that Urnes or Broa style knotwork or intertwined beasts, you really only need a knife, one or two bevels, and a background tool. Maybe a pointed spoon or similar tool for the little spots.

Just finished these 52100 core / 416 SS on the sides

Even if you just leave it as a plaque it will be pretty awesome.

If I may give some additional pointers. Don't rush your dye job when using multiple colors. The colors can bleed and they will bleed together and it will make you nice hard tooled edges muddy looking. After letting your dye set, burnish it with a soft cloth. Dyes can leave a residue on the top of the leather. I use an old cotton sock. Get an antiquing gel or fluid if you want to make patterns stand out. You lay down the gel, and wipe the excess up and then lay a lighter dye on top. It makes all of the recesses darker. Small modeling paint brushes are awesome for dying small parts. I use them quote often when doing custom leather work. If Joshua is ok with others posting pictures in his thread, and if you all are interested, I can post a some carving and dying I have done to show other examples.

That is very cool! I am gonna have to make me one of those now. I never knew a Brute de forge texture could look so clean. How comfortable are they to hold?

Those are pretty slick, Frank!

Those are really, really nice. They're a great mixture of rugged and clean. I've never had the urge to make a folding knife until now. Well done!

,,,,,,!!

Sweet mother of clamps! Looking good, Garry.

Welcome to my world....

Epic. That is all

I can’t tell you all how excited I am about this. I want to thank everyone for all the posts and information I have been able to learn from on this forum. I have been working on my forge welding here and there and in between projects. I finally felt I was ready to give Damascus a try, just a small billet. I did 8 layers and folded it once leaving the 15n20 on the outside. Everything was going great until I tried to twist it. I didn’t clean it well enough before twisting and I should have twisted it tighter. To save what I could of the billet the twist is now in the tang and beginning of the blade. I ended up cutting and grinding to shape so that I could make sure the rest was salvageable. So it’s a first attempt and salvaged from a mistake. Let me know what you think

Oh wow I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Curious me but how would it work forged out? A beginners assumption that it would squish the tree shape. If it was cut into wafers and laid/welded onto another thin billet it would resemble a forest. Im probably quite wrong but either way its very beautiful.

I’ve already got the popcorn ready, this one is gonna be good!

The great gulf between journeyman makers and master craftsmen has been widened with that offering.

Since I started training with two-handed swords recently, I had to start a new project right away: A proper Fechtfeder. Everything on the market is made for abuse and a low price and therefore not even close to a desired handling characteristic. The original that inspired me was a practice sword by Ulrich Diefstetter from the MET. The blade is modeled after 3D scans of extant Feders from Belgium. Here is how it should look finally (minus the blade etching and a simpler crossguard decoration for this first take) : Blade cut and roughly ground, Crossguard in rough finish and a slab of wood for the grip: Matching up the crossguard: Detailing the quillon block:

Oh yeah, and for those of you who do the FaceBook thing, Chiara Meucci (Pisa Italy) does some absolutely stunning leather work. Frankly she makes my work look like the scribblings of a 3rd grader.

Pinned!

.... and a beer to go along with the popcorn... looking forward to the next installment of this build

I've been teaching history for 25 years and my first years were filled with the thought that I didn't know enough and "Am I doing this right?" After 25 years, I still ask myself and colleagues... "is this the best way to do X". In my opinion, to be a good teacher you need knowledge of the subject, passion for the subject, and a desire to share that with others. If you have all three, you are ready to teach. As for charging for your teaching, the cost should be commensurate with your knowledge of the subject and your skill in conveying that knowledge. John, from what you've said (and the work you've shared here) I say you are more than ready to teach whenever you decide to work it into your life.

Have 4 of them ground and HT in a batch of 20 blades on the bench at the moment. Should have all the handsanding done tomorrow so I can start on the handles.

Comments? Well, you asked! Almost wish I were the kind of sneak thief who would steal your designs. Like'em. Like that one, for sure.

99.5% from what I can see. That line is fairly diagnostic.

Hi guys, lovely thread. Heres one of my favourite hamons I made a few months back. Steel is 125SC. Jelle

This is one from some years back that i haven't posted; it is made from saw blade steel, possibly L7.

Slowly figuring out my own little method for getting these