Dave Stephens

Guys -- Michael, if you didn't know, is the guy who volunteered his professional video production company to film and broadcast Arctic Fire 2016. He's a great guy. He literally brought hundreds of thousands of dollars of video equipment to my place, and two of his guys to act as camera men for the better part of a week (sleeping in a closet under the stairs in my house on a blow up mattress ala Harry Potter) just because he digs the craft. I have held this sword just before he did the final finish and peen. It's got a great feel. The pivot points and balance are nice. It feels light and quick. Great job, Michael! And the guys are right . . . post more stuff here, for sure! Dave

Hi Alan: I still have my Vulcan in the Florida shop. I bought this Nimba from Shane Harvey after he decided to go 100% CNC machining and move away from bladesmithing. It's a great little anvil. I'd prefer to have a larger size, of course, but then I think any bladesmith with an anvil smaller than 600# is always dreaming of a bigger anvil. It rings really badly, however. I have to put two large magnets on it to keep it from hurting your ears. The pointed, flat "horn" is surprisingly useful. I find myself using it more than I suspected I would. Thanks! Dave

Welcome to the quest! You'll be happy you took up this craft. Bladesmithing won't save your soul, but it will make it worth saving. (BTW, that's just a metaphor, no religious implications . . . ) Grins, Dave

Drawn out to final length. I will straighten and normalize tomorrow. Grind the profile and tip, and surface grind next. I plan on heat treating at full thickness and grinding cold. Going to be using the new vertical kiln for the first time. Have to build a larger quench tube as the base of the blade is too wide to go into my current 4"x4" tank. I'll do a quick grind and etch on a section to check the pattern and share it with you guys. When I sent this photo to Petr earlier today he replied: "Haha. That's a shield too." It is really wide. Bit of a surfboard. Cheers, Dave

I didn't know these things existed! What an amazing thing. . . Thanks for sharing this, Alan. I must have one. Immediately. (: Dave

I really like it, Wes. Great fit and finish. Beautiful bit of wood. Showing off a bit with the plunge cuts . . . nice. The only thing I would have done different is that I would have made the copper bolster even with the grip and used a slightly larger pin. But that's just an aesthetic preference. Bravo execution all around. Cheers! Dave

I feel I should state the obvious: The tang and base of the blade that is pictured in the photo have clearly been ground to refine the shape, not just forged to shape. I just re-read my post. I didn't mean to imply that I had forged the tang into that precise shape. The pic was snapped as I was drawing out the blade to length, but after I had forged and then ground the base/tang. Figured the grinder marks would make that obvious, but . . . it's the Internet . . . just in case. Grins. More soon. Or . . . kinda soon. Like in a few weeks. Dave

It's alive . . . Almost fully forged to shape. Grinding photos to follow. Thanks for the patient follows. Dave

Looks great! I like the fluted handle interrupted by the spacers. Nice lines.

With that layer count, Alan's suggestion of cold gun blue works well. Just etch the crap out of it in 4:1 Distilled Water to FC (like 4-6 20 minute soaks, scrubbing oxides off between etches), neutralize with Windex, buff all the oxides off using a high grit rouge, then cold blue it and hit it with some 600 grit, then some 2000 grit paper with fairly hard sanding block. The "ridges" will pop and you'll get a great contrast. This method doesn't work quite so well on very high (400 layer+) pattern weld in my experience. Luck! Dave

This looks really good! I like this style a lot. Not sure how I missed this thread for so long. Love the thin, short fuller. Nice job in keeping that aligned with the spine of the blade. The things that look easy on a well done piece are actually the hardest to achieve as a craftsman . . .

That's a cool effect, Sam! I like it. It reminds me of a piece I did once as a gift to Owen Bush. I was giving a presentation at one of his hammer-in's on how stone hand axes used by homo erectus--our most recent evolutionary ancestors and the source of many snickers by young students in anthropology class--might be the ultimate genetic inspiration for the sword. I made him a pattern welded hand axe and used the KMG to "carve" it too. Your technique would look really cool in some high layer count pattern weld, I think. Might be an interesting finish for a fantasy sword guard. Cheers! Dave

Great looking blade. Well done.

Nice knife, but your guard work is always awe inspiring. I love the tiny, scalloped forward bit of the guard as it plunges to the blade. Effortless elegance, Richard. Dave

Love it. The grip and the scabbard ornamentation are really awesome. Thanks for posting, Jul! Dave