Gabriel James

Thanks guys!

Id like to credit this award to all the foundation work and help i acquired over the last couple years directly from this forum! Without you guys I don't know how far i would have progressed but i wouldn't be where i'm at for sure. Anyway, Im still in shock. I wanted to show and give credit to Alan and salem and the other 100 guys on here that have given me A LOTTTT of their time answering dumb questions. Also, to encourage the newer guys to keep cranking out stuff and trying and making knives! 320 layers Laddered (appears random until you see the chatoyance) -trippy forged integral 2.5" tall at the heel 9.25" long Amboyna 5 stack of g10 spacers 5.5 oz

routinely can get an 8" chef 2" wide blade from a 6" section of 1.5" wide by 1/4" thick bar stock. Any thinner than that and you arent drawing the heel out very much at all. Its a bit easier to start with wider stock and grind it back to what you need

after making around a few dozen of these my answer is to quench into plates. and then in a batch of 10 ill still have 1 or 2 with a tiny wiggle in it. The trick is to get comfortable straightening blades. And HT from bar stock as mentioned above. Ive found when grinding any knife now, i love to spend as much time needed in all steps of the knife making to make sure before a grinder touches anything that its straight straight straight. Then use a height gauge to scribe center lines to avoid tension warps which can be had with a very minute amount of material left in the wrong place.

Video imbedded i hope this works. This is a Half frame, guardless straight clip bowie san mai. Ive always struggled getting a bowie shape i was happy with. Ive been slammed getting ready for christmas this is the most recent custom ive been able to finish! What do you guys think? Since i had to frame the handle i toyed with putting a guard on, but it seemed like it was going to interfere with my design.

every time i try the super glue trick they fall apart the instant i touch something, or shortly thereafter from heat.. and when i want something to come apart they may as well be welded on... LoL (or at least on too good to get apart without marring/damage)

So i just got these finished up and shipped off. All varieties of stabilized maple. All are fully sculpted except one. G10 pins black and jade, Copper and Stainless. 52100 62+

thats a valid point Joshua. These have been heavily windowed. My surface grinder was paid for in september but still hasnt been delivered yet this is what i intended to taper the tangs with....

Thanks guys! I was wondering if anyone would like the python, the black one is my personal favorite of course Ive become a big fan of this style of handle sculpting.

im cheap so ive been using my friends remelted bronze, and naval bronze from the scrap yard

80crv2 Python Canvas Micarta / copper pins Black G10, Green/blk/green liner g10/ Jade g10 pins So i had a major septic/main line clog/ bladeshow / wellpump died series of 3 weeks... After the blade hurricane to clean up and all that finally got finished up today (FEMA shoulda have given me a disaster relief check)! So back to making knives! Woot! These are really lean, so they would flex and bend on impact, I guess counter to most peoples school of thought. But i love light and fast. To counteract the thinness of the blades the tip has a slight armor piercing aspect to it, in that i left the tip quite a bit thicker at the edge than the rest of the blade. My blade photography still needs help but... hopefully it gets the idea across Whatcha think, not really my normal knife but it was a lot of fun. Ive forced myself to learn how to do swedges. Now they are kinda fun!

thanks guys! i love making chef knives, since they are very utilitarian in nature.. I was a bit saddened when i found out the person who bought this knife is a collector and plans to just put it in a glass case. That stallion needs to roam thru fields of veggies!!!! aHhh!! lol Oh well!

LOL. i see what you did there.. Well most chef knives come in at 2" tall or under... mostly under from what i see.. This one was forged out to 2 5/8s originally and then trimmed back to 2 3/8 after some shape revisions and waste. But thats a cool idea maybe ill start a new trend LoL This was also my first fully finished integral, and not having a file guide that would fit was a major draw back. This one was free handed on the platen, very carefully for a few hours to finally get to fit snug. steve runs a forced air ribbon burner on NG if im not mistaken... but the steel was immaculate. a few guys from the forums got to hold it i think Thanks for the likes!

Z FiNit mebe =\

So this is a Collab between myself and Steve Grosvenor... a buddy of mine from South Dakota. HE was on FIF episode with the charay. anyway the steel is steves a mix of 52100, cruforgeV 80crv2 and 15n20. All them carbides and Vanadium were hell to grind and polish... but this should make for a work horse of a knife. Anyway he forged to my design specifications (with his input obviously) and shipped to me hardened for me to do all the finish work. Double dyed birch burl ( i ruined a 100$ block of jewel grade koa on the first attempt) phenolic black spacers with stainless. THis one didnt make it back from blade or i would have gotten more pictures! 2.375" tall Just shy of 10" long blade length