nsantella

I think thats a cool design! I have not done one like that, but I would be nervous about loosing the blade unless there was a mechanical retention, maybe a brass push button built into the sheath? Perhaps the lanyard loop could be something in brass to match the butt cap? Or some organic looking ridge across both the handle and sheath incorporating the lanyard hole to go with the seed idea?

Here was another odd ball project Iv partially finished up. I inherited a celtic leaf shaped blade roughed out from a leaf spring with a plasma cutter from a friend who was moving a while back. I forged it out to adjust the proportions and rough ground and heat treated it with a pretty minimal setup. It took a few kinks in hardening which mostly came out after clamping in the second temper. It just barely fit diagonally in my kitchen oven. I ground the convex fuller in with an angle grinder mostly after heat treating. The handle was carved in yew sap wood for the scales and heart wood for the pommel. Blade was rust browned to look very vaguely like bronze. At some point I want to do a matching russet steel sheath in a La Tene style, but that may take a while to get to. Hope someone finds it of interest.

Thanks for the positive response? Here is a not buried in the snow shot that gives a better idea of the proportions of the blade and handle. I had wanted to do some piercings in the fans but didnt come up with a design I liked...

I also like that low layer look and overall shape of the blade! Take it with a grain of salt since I have small hands and a probably excessive tendency toward stumpy handles, but if it was me I would cut off the knob at the end of the handle. Not sure how it would affect the feel, but think it would improve the look of the handle/blade proportions. Sheath is nicely done too.

Finished this up a little while ago and thought it was worth showing. It started with half a broken chain hook which wanted to be a knife, but since a test chunk wouldn't harden it became a rather large guard instead. The end result is funky late medieval falchion - bowie hybrid which overall I was pretty happy with. Handle is blackwood and the sheath is laminated lacewood veneer dyed black, I got that idea here. The fittings and sheath were pretty time consuming, I almost wish I had put them on a sword. Interestingly everything on the knife is second hand materials, even the blackwood was salvage, a section off of a few logs found in an old machine shop before it was torn down. Thanks for looking!

I am trying to ID this type of knife based on a sketch. I was told that it represents an antique knife used by tailors, but that could very well be completely wrong. The blade is hinged so that it opens when the loop shaped thing on the end is pulled. Didnt come up with anything using basic keywords or image searching. Without the description I would have guessed it it was a cheap keychain knife, but I cant find one of those that looks like this either. If anyone can help with what this is properly called, or point me at a good picture of one that would be great. Im trying to find one for sale, or enough information to try reproducing it. Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words. This was my second try (the first turned out to be lower carbon steel than I thought and wouldn't harden fully in oil or brine) and getting everything straight and symmetric on both the knife and scales was kind of fiddly. It is a pretty simple design, I guess that does not necessarily mean easy to do. Overall I was happy with it, just wished my engraving was a little less "rustic". Fun thing about this forum is that we all have to keep ratcheting up our standards with each new post from great artists and crafts people! I just try and tag along when the inspiration strikes me.

Though its simple, I was exited about this since it is my first successful attempt at differential hardening and my first actual commission. Its a basic integral with some kind of purple-red tropical hardwood scales and nickle silver pins. The custom part was engraving the bolster with an anniversary date in roman numerals and tooling for the sheath. I also extracted the filings from the handle scales in alcohol and used it to dye the sheath which seemed to work well. Steel was an old cold chisel quenched in oil with some high temperature pipe insulation cement for the spine. I only took it up to 400 as I was figuring on it getting used and cleaned with a scotchbright pad. Etched in vinegar to bring the line out a little. Also chose to leave in some flaws from sloppy forging rather than grind thinner. Of course I failed to take some decent pictures before it left. Hammer engraving the bolster was the hardest part and came out barely tolerable. I did the layout electronically and glued the paper to the bolster which did not work very neatly, should have tried some king of solvent transfer. Even unhardened the steel took the edge off my home made engravers in single cut though they work ok on mild steel. Wound up hammering on a commercial push engraver. Would appreciate any critique. Thanks for looking!

Have to applaud the complexity and ambition of this piece! I remember when "El Cid" swords were about all there was commercially available. If you wanted any critique, I also struggle with layout of lettering and getting nice clean edges on pierced work, but having those details close to perfect makes a big difference. Laying out text electronically then transferring it helps for me, but I guess the rest is practice and time. Great work and dedication!

Nice look and overall package! It looks like the sheath has a steel stud that locks into a frog, would you mind describing how the stud is attached without a metal locket?

Thanks Gerhard. Il have to try that steel with oil again, haven't used it in a while.

Thanks for the interest and the comments! With the basilard most of them seem to have a dagger style blade but I have seen some pictures of Italian ones that are single edged with that kitchen knife profile, some with a fuller. That was what I was going for, though I didn't get the shape quite right and should have started from thicker stock. On the ka-bar I was trying to push it as small as possible and still look a little like a ka-bar. Although I wanted a traditional color scheme I wasn't that happy with the way the maple came out, the figure got lost in the texturing. But my current knife project should have blued fittings and a ridged blackwood handle when its done! I should also note I followed the instructions on color case hardening from this forum and it worked first try. Gerhard do you have any idea what those flat springs are made of? I have a big stack of them in all sorts of sizes from about a half inch to over an inch wide, they were my cut from an adventure which involved camping out in a moving van parked in front of an Audi/VW repair shop in the Bronx quite a few years ago. Iv used them for small knifes and tools and they seem like they are water hardening? Thanks again.

Thought Id post some recent work. None of its as polished as it should be, but hope its a little unique and of interest to someone. Thanks for checking it out. Here is a close up of my attempt at a glaive which was for Forged in Fire. It was made from iron pipe, a truck leaf spring and VW flat torsion springs for the langets. My only major regret is not having time to try any etching on it, Id also like to try a big integral socket sometime, just not under that kind of pressure. Next a basilard for medieval reenactment. I experimented with home made plywood from oak veneer for the sheath and handle and my wife card wove a nifty belt for it. Its a medium carbon lawnmower blade that had to be water quenched. I should have lined the sheath as you can see by the wear on the bluing of the blade. Lastly my own version of a ka-bar. It took a little longer than six hours... Its EDC sized with a 3 inch blade from truck leaf spring rust blued, color case hardened wrought iron fittings and a figured maple handle. I used anilin dye, wish I had tried acid dyeing the handle. Leather sheath is decorated with the snake which is the symbol of the town of Itri, Italy its dyed to match the handle.

Yes it is a little brass turtle set into the palm of her hand. It was a compact pose that seemed like it worked for a handle. Then thought she should be looking at something in her hand and it was intended as a gift for a friend who has a thing for turtles so was an obvious choice.

Real knapping takes some skill. When Iv tried all I have created is broken rocks. I did try and make the imitation flake patterns realistic here and those failures in real knapping might have helped.