Doug Lester

Fantastic work, as usual. Doug

Abandon all all who enter here...wait, that was supposed to be welcome to the madness. Doug

I generally don't like the brut de forge finishes on a blade but it does match the bone handle well. Good job. Doug

I think that your father is going to be busting with pride to own that. Well done. Doug

That's a very nice looking curved dagger. Well done, Sir. Doug

A KSO is a knife shaped object and I don't think yours qualifies. I agree with John it looks like a trailing point skinner. Antler you can get at places like Moscow Hide and Fur. Antler and horn can also be had at most of your knife supply houses. Just be warned, antler reeks when it's sanded. The last time I worked with it it took3 days to get the smell out. I'm fortunate that I live alone or the wife could have given me the devil. Doug

To make the adjustments after every heat or two like Alan said I have a wooden maul I made from a rough turned cylindrical turning blank that I got from a dealer on Ebay and glued a 1 1/2' wood dowl in one end of it. A maul like that will mover the steel without really compressing it. Some people call it a thwacker. Sort of after the sound it makes when you hit the hot steel with it. Very good for nudging the steel in the way that you want it to go. Doug

That is sweet! Doug

If that is a full antler piece, not scales, you can drill and roach a hole that will accept the tang and build the knife with a partial tang. You could epoxy it into place plus you could put a small pin through the handle if you feel that you need the extra security. I have two antique khurkuris that have partial tangs and they've help up for over 100 years. Doug

She's got tallent. Doug

Works for me. Lucky I guess. Doug

52100 forge welded to 15N20! That must take some talent to get those two steel to forge together. That's a very nice looking knife, I hope your friend likes it. Doug

Outstanding work. Doug

Very nice; very nice indeed. Doug

Way cool! Doug

It's a nice looking short sword. Not exactly what I would have in mind for a tanto. Maybe something Eastern European. If it wasn't for the guard I might think of it being carried by a Cossack. Doug

That's amazing. No other word for it. Doug

Too bad about the handle breaking. That was one heck of a practice run. Doug

Nice work! Doug

That's a very nice job. Regardless of the light setting the wood looks great. Doug

Great information here. Thanks Bjorn, Alan. Doug

I can't help with the identification but one word of caution, no more than a wire brush to nock off the rust and under no circumstances grind or mill the face of the anvil. It's a little on the light side but it's a whole lot better than what I started out with (a stake anvil in a stump}. Doug

Check the knife laws where you're going to and be sure a dagger is legal to import. Also that ivory spacer might be a problem at customs. You might have to document that it's pre-ban ivory. Other than that the sketch looks nice with the ring/sub-hilt guard. Doug

Go to Todd Cutler's web site. He makes a couple of different styles plus some cooking knives that you could use as examples. Doug

That is a neat looking piece of equipment. One suggestion though. It looks like the edge of the blade hanging over the edge of the knife board might cause a drive to the ER with a rag wrapped around a finger. Doug