Alveprins

Alright, so I've finished background removal on the rear of the handle, side B as well - so now it is time to proceed with the actual sculpting - which I dread... I've spent a few hours improving my sculpting attempt no. 2 - and here is the result: I've doubled the depth of the background, allowing me to play a whole lot more with topography on the relief itself. I've cut much more agressively compared with previously, and attempted to increase the level of definition. I have however - detected a few things that need further improvement. Please feel free to add to my three points mentioned above. My next cuts will be directly on the knife. I cannot keep churning out these test-plates forever if I am to finish this project in time... Wish you all a good sunday!

Hi everyone, Seeing as the market in my home country of Norway is really limited when it comes to high-end knives like this one - I thought I'd give it a try here - in case someone slightly more international might be interested. This piece has taken me 640 hours to complete, and while I've been terrible at keeping track of material cost - the gold, gems and silver amount to somewhere around 1300 USD give or take, and of course there's tool wear and tear. At an hourly rate of 22 USD I don't find it unreasonable to price this piece at 15 500 USD including beforementioned materials and tool wear. for an additional 1500 USD I will deliver the piece in person - world wide - except conflict zones. The word "POTENTIA" comes from Latin and means potential. It originates from the verb "posse", which means "to be able" or "to have the ability to". The meaning of "potentia" has evolved over time and has influenced many modern concepts and ideas. For example, it has given rise to the English word "potential", which refers to a hidden or possible ability that can be realized. The knife "POTENTIA" is my expression of all my abilities to date, as well as my goals for the future. Potentia marks a crossroads and a paradigm shift for me as a knife maker. This is my most comprehensive work to date, and it has taken me over a year to complete (640 hours). I created this knife to prove to myself as well as the world that "I can" - and the words "my will, my hands" have been in the back of my head throughout the process. Here is a LINK to a brochure I've made for the knife. It contains some backstory and step-by-step images compared to the finished works - for those who might be interested. And of course the Promo-video I created before starting and completing the sheath: And here are the knife stats: Measurements: Blade length: 18cm Blade thickness: 5mm Blade width: 3.2cm Blade hardness at edge: Approx. 58 HRC. Handle length: 13.5 cm Knife weight: 345 grams(w/o sheath) Materials blade: Shaft steel from Kongsberg Automotive. 15n20 Nickel steel. 24kt gold. 2 pcs. 0.03ct natural white diamonds. Materials handle: Stabilized maple. Vulcanized fiber. Railway steel from the Numedal Railway in Rollag - Norway. 24kt gold. 6 pcs. 0.03ct natural white diamonds. 8 pcs. natural red rubies. 1 pc. natural blue sapphire. Materials sheath: Schaf leather. 925 Sterling silver. 24kt gold. 13 natural blue sapphires. 2 natural red rubies. Last but not the least - this knife won "1st place" and "Best in Class" in this year's Norwegian Knife Association's knife competition - Open Class. If anyone are interested - feel free to message or make a post in this thread.

Allright, 12 hours of background removal later: I decided to go quite a bit deeper than on the test piece - which will give me a bit more "elevation" to work with in terms of topography in the relief. Next I will do this same procedure on the back of the handle, then start sculpting the front and then finally the back on this side (A). Needless to say I am pretty nervous. I will try to improve my old test-piece a bit before I start cutting into the relief on the knife. I've been watching some wood-carving videos - and I want to try out some techniques... Have a good Odin's-day everyone!

And now that the wheat borders are all cut - time for some serious background removal! Have a nice sunday everyone!

Looks great! Enjoy your Friendsgiving!

That is nice to hear, thank you! And here's another one. I am getting closer to finishing the last piece of gold inlay on side A, to the left in the picture. The width of the slit is about 1,8mm. I looked at my gold consumption today, and noticed I've just about passed 12 grams so far into the project. I will finish this last strip of gold inlay this afternoon, and then proceed with sanding the inlay flat - and cutting the wheat border patterns... Almost Friday again! Have a good Thursday!

Finally finished up the logo on the pommel this weekend... It is not 100% finished however. I am going to stipple some of the gold, however I will do this when there is no more change of damaging the pommel in any way.. Here I've done 24kt gold inlay, and set two 0,03 white diamonds. The image is not too sharp unfortunately, but it does give an idea. All sides of the tang are now engraved, and I've started working on side A of the handle - marking inlay channels for gold around the relief sculpture towards the blade. Have a nice sunday everyone!

Alright folks, finished off side A of the tang this friday: Started side B yesterday, and still at it. It is incredible how much work one gets done when one doesn't have to go to work... Have a nice sunday everyone!

Hi again everyone... I've been experimenting a bit with the design of the tang engraving for the past couple of days and done a couple of test-engravings to see how things would work out: The topmost picture is test no.1. I wanted to introduce a hexagonal pattern for the background, and tested something like this... The middle picture is the same test as no.1 - but with the borders between the hexagonal patterns sculpted. The 3rd and last image is what I eventually landed on. I discarded the whole "mesh" - idea and went for single raised hexagons instead. Each of these will of course be inlaid with gold and engraved further - however I don't need to test that as I feel quite confident with that technique. What surprised me during this test however was how I managed to engrave my own handwriting much more accurately that I have managed previously. Last time I tried (failed and gave up) was a couple of years back. I suppose all my cutting for the past couple of years has steadied my hands a bit... Anyhow - I am now ready to transfer my final designs to both sides of the tang and start cutting the outlines... Ok, back to the workshop... Catch ya all later.

432,5 hours into the project. Alright, after spending a total of 40 hours working on these two rings - I thought I'd share the result.. From left to right I've forged out a piece of bog-iron to about 4mm thickness and as flat as I could. I then machined it down to about 1,65mm. Then on the 2nd picture I had to use one of the machines at work in order to turn a fixture for these rings - which you can see in the background. In the foreground I have transferred guidelines to a piece of bog iron for drilling, cutting and filing. In the third image I'm filing the interior of one of the two rings, since I have to do this before removing the outer material. (need something to clamp on). In image number four I've already turned the outer diameter of the rings to 20,10mm. I've also cut and shaped those four diamond shaped high-points, cut inlay channels and started to inlay 0,6mm 24kt gold wire. Same with the 5th image. 6th image shows the result after beveling all the edges between the diamond shapes, and etching the iron, also inking the gold wheat -pattern. Here's a bit of a closeup: For reference, the width of the wheat pattern is pretty much exactly 2mm. I have to say, this bog iron is some nasty stuff. Full of impurities. Pay no attention to those imperfections in the iron on those diamond-shaped parts. Bronze pins will go through those holes - securing the rings in the handle itself, and I will engrave inlay channels over them and cover the entire surface with inlaid copper wire. So only the edges of these will be visible when finished. Ok, that's it for now. I've taken the whole next week off from work in order to concentrate on this project - so I expect there shall be more soon... Have a nice sunday everyone!

Right you were!

https://entropyresins.com/product/ccr-clear-casting-epoxy/ I used the slow curing one. Stays liquid for 360 minutes. 3 days to harden, 7 days after-hardening for full hardness. Mine will be fully hardened by the end of tomorrow, but I will give it a couple of extra days just in case. Don't want to F up this one. Here's a little preview. I have to bevel the edges of the handle of course, and get a "frame" around that hole. In fact I just finished turning the outer diameter of it just now. Nasty stuff bog-iron.. full of cracks and imperfections. But that's also what makes it special. I'll have more on that later.

At the current stage I haven't got anything super interesting to look at, but I thought I'd throw a little glance of the design-process into it. Now that the sheath is (for the most part) assembled, ground and sanded down to it's final size, it's time to design the engravings that will go on the steel tips. In order to do this, I scan the tip with it's outlines engraved - and then draw within the borders - ensuring a perfect fit. The width of those long borders are 2mm. The bronze pins are also for reference Ø2mm. The epoxy casting was a success, and having let the liquid bathe in a -1 bar vacuum for 2,5 hours - the cast is absolutely 100% free of bubbles. I'll have pics of that later. Right now I am working on the "frame" that will go around the hole in the handle, as well as the design on some elements of the sheath. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Hi everyone! I've been working on beveling the edges around the sheath, and doing some test -resin casting. after 2 failed casting attempts, the third time is the charm - and I feel confident to proceed with the real deal. While the resin is curing (10 days) I will be continuing work on the sheath, as well as engraving designs that will go on sheath frame, and handle frame. I also need to design a ring that will go around the hole in the middle of the handle. Have a nice week everyone!

I like the fluting on that handle.. nice!