Pieter-Paul Derks

That looks like really useful knife with a great sheath, I like it.

Thanks, I was under the impression that the hamachi usually is a bit further back than the munemachi, but I might just be looking at the pictures wrong, I really should arrange to hold some originals once, working of pictures might not be the best way. I was just thinking about the tsuka thickness actually, my ito material just arrived and after testing the wrapping it is a bit thicker than expected, so I might just have to cut down the tang a bit. Still on originals I have seen online the munemachi is not very deep, and the handles are just a bit bulky at the front maybe.

This is the best knife I've finished this year, I am really happy with this one. This damascus knife was finished early in the year, I have been working on a personal passion project for quite a few months now, but commission work and life keeps getting in the way. The project knife is going to be awesome as well but It still needs some extra time.

That should be able to handle any kind of feast, nice work! Also I am a bit jealous of the snow, I've only seen dreary, soggy weather so far this winter.

I'll add something to the replies above, if the handles are hardenable steel like you say it will really help to heat the welded area to a red heat in the forge and let it cool before forging on it, this might make the weld tougher instead of breaking. but even with precautions my handles tend to break off after a few heats too, there really gets put a lot of stress on that weld. I tend to just weld the handles back on while the billet is still hot. I even have the feeling that handles welded onto a preheated billet last a bit longer.

This is a really cool build, for knife forging these japanese hammers look like they are super efficient. I don't know if the hammer is running full speed in the video above, but from what I've seen, these hammers normally go really fast.

Hello everyone, I wish you all a happy 2021, A few months back I´ve gotten a very fun commission, and the Christmas holiday has given me time to make some progress The knife I´m going to make is a Japanese tanto in monosteel (80crv2) in a so called ‘’aikuchi’’ mounting. This means there will be no crossguard, but I will do a cotton wrap. I am far from an expert on Japanese swords, and I’m not attempting to make something terribly historical, but I do want to keep to traditional looks and form. Let’s start with the design, handle with ray skin and cotton

That is a great piece

That is really cool, I dig the skateboard material

That is really nice, I like the hook (birds head) at the end of the handle. I can symphatise with the jewelers saw accident, I've done the same thing once myself. I've also found out that those tiny saw blades will cut surprisingly deep when you slip off the material with one.

I too love this style of axe, it's shape looks almost science fiction to me

This is looking good already! I like how ovious the flow of material is with the coarse pattern

Congratulations Maciek! welcome to the club. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many fiery bearded fellows are scattered across the globe? I think the medieval smiths themselves would be surprised how many patternwelded blades are being made 1000 years later.

I've used a bit of wax to shine up antler, but it doesn't really need anything. One tip I learned somewhere is that you can use a little bit of brown leather dye on a rag to make the white sanded parts blend in better with the bark.

That looks like it will be a really nice folder once you have won the battle Alan. Classic slipjoints are my favourite, I like them a lot more than the ''tactical'' stuff everyone seems to be making today.