Kevin Colwell

good for you, for pushing yourself. I am enjoying watching your progress. Thanks for sharing it here. I don't have any useful advice, except for supporting the idea of pushing beyond what are your current limits.

oh man, that is lovely. Thanks for the diagram, too. This is just great.

yes, ton of activity. that is beautiful steel.

that is cute. Seriously, though, nice work. The silver work is impressive, too. Creative. I like it.

that is a great product for a class. The fittings are impressive, too. Is the pommel pinned from the side or peened? Really cool stuff. Good for you!

I think that bolster is killer. Well done.

yes. good to see your work. It was a heck of a piece or two. Hope you are up to more in the coming year. Book IV is a long-awaited prize. The time spent on that would have been worthwhile, too.

OK, NASA is one government agency I have never worked for. They haven't needed psychology from me. You guys are an amazing group. I am definitely lacking in engineering and physics/chemistry. I am just happy to see the work that Dick can turn out, and to learn from y'all. Hi Dick - it is good to (sort of) see you again. Hope all is well.

Hi Matt, That is an impressive amount of control on the pattern and getting all the nooks and crannies to weld cleanly. I liked the sister blade when I saw it at the gathering, and I like this one. You definitely have your feet under you as an artist and craftsman.

I thought you probably already knew more than I could contribute :). Thanks for teaching me and the rest of us this bit. I don't know anything directly about the bronze swords. But, I am happy to be along for the ride. I haven't used yew, but thanks for the warning about it. I have decided to just use soft or hard maple and dye it for a lot, depending upon how hard the wood needs to be. It can be beautiful, and I don't have to deal with the other problems.

I have made so many handles and scabbards out of rosewood, I am allergic to it now. I only use it for my good friends. Everyone else gets maple that gets died! I have no idea about wood on the really old ones, but I think wrapped handles were standard. Textile/cord wraps, not wood at all, was common in the earliest iron swords. I presume it would have been in the bronze. You probably already knew that, though :). kc

I really like the bolster on the new one. I also like the panel look on the older one (sort of like what Dick said).

Nice to see this (these). I didn't know you had a lathe . I got my Sheldon from the 1960s running recently. Anyway, those are both nice folders. I am impressed. I told you years ago, I can do multi-bar swords, but folders intimidate me. I am impressed!

Matt - that is a beautiful knife. Congratulations on the award. Well deserved. Keep moving ahead.

awesome. seeing this again. I am glad that you have made some more progress. I love these. This is a great project.