Dave Stephens

Now that's the chef's knife you want in your hand when the zombies kick down your kitchen door! Beautiful work as always, Owen! Dave

All: I have exciting news on this project. My friend Petr Florianek has agreed to collaborate on finishing this sword with me. The sword blade itself will be as planned by Jake and I. The hilt, however, will now be finished with Petr's unmistakable style. Here is a link to Petr's facebook post with the new hilt design. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209418259721986&set=a.10207490306084350.1073741831.1489590939&type=3 I will start a new thread on this when I have blade construction progress pictures. The blade is being shipped to Alaska now, where I will start grinding it, and move on to heat treatment, etc. As most of you know, I do this craft in my off time, so my ability to schedule a completion date is contingent upon my job and how much it requires me to travel. Assuming I have a light travel schedule for the rest of the Summer, I'm hoping to have the blade completed and on it's way to Petr by mid August (but no promises). I'm very happy that Petr has agreed to do this collaboration with me. His design is fantastic. Cheers! Dave

Really beautiful work, Owen! Love the guard and pommel!

Just have your head grow stronger through scarring! Pretty soon you don't even feel 'em! Grins, Dave

Fantastic! Thanks so much for the detailed WIP. This is what this forum is all about! Cheers! Dave

Really like this one, Wes. The lines are very nice: Enough to give it character, but not so much that it distracts from the grain of the wood. Dave

"Shaved Ape" LOL. That's classic Sam. Love it. Guys, please don't let Sam's "enthusiastic" rhetoric make you think he's being deliberately provocative. He really does know what he's talking about. He's just very, shall we say, emphatic about it. I think it has to do with being on TV all the time. Celebrity ego . . . you know. Grins, Dave

Beautiful! Tell us more of this mysterious coffee etch. I have not heard of this! Dave

Awesome work! Love this. Thanks for the WIP pics. I have a special affinity for leaf blades. Elegant shape you've hit.

Mark: I really respect the standard you are holding yourself to in terms of fit, finish and craftsmanship. Yes, non-makers will ooh and ah over the big picture, and it's easy to swept along in that, but it takes discipline to take a magnifying glass to your finished or nearly finished work and see it with the critical eye of a maker. This is something I struggle with all the time. Beautiful work, man. Dave

Really enjoy the layer contrast between body and edge. Awesome work as always, brother! Dave

Wow. That is such a neat guard design! I love it. Thanks for sharing this. Beautiful work. Dave

What a wonderful WIP! Thank you for posting this. Learned a lot from it! Dave

Really nice work!

I would think a "fold over" style scabbard would be the easiest. If you have a copy of the Complete Bladesmith, Jim has a good photo-tutorial in it on how to make those. Since you mold the leather wet, it accomodates different handle sizes. You will need glue, however. Leatherworking is a great craft for scouting. So many things for them to make, and they learn how to ornament useful objects.