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Hi everyone! Hope you've all survived the Holiday feasting without too much abdominal pain! (and yet we have New-Year eve right around the corner! ) Anyhow, I've been working on this Seax inspired blade... It is not exactly historically correct - but I weighed my need for self expression higher than historically accuracy in this project. Below is a preview of the blade itself. Currently I am working on the handle - more specifically the rear bolster. Engraving is a time consuming process I'm afraid... The blade length from where the tang meets the blade and to the tip is approx. 38 cm. All inlay is 24k gold wire, with the exception of the wolf's tongue - which is in copper. It is engraved like this on both sides of the blades, with the verse 40 of the Voluspá. English: Side A: 40. In the east sat the old in Ironwood and there gave birth to Fenris children; Side B: Just one of these of all of them becomes the moon-thief in troll's guise. Old Norse: Side A: 40. Austr sat in aldna í Járnviði ok fœddi þar Fenris kindir; Side B: verðr af þeim öllum einna nökkurr tungls tjúgari í trolls hami. And here's the pics: And that's it for now. Enjoy the New-Year festivities everyone, and wish you all good health and prosperity in the year to come! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Hi all! First - some lore! Disguised as the wanderer "Grimnir" - the god Odin once told the young Agnarr - son of King Hraudung about the god's two companions. He told the young prince about the two ravens - Hugin and Munin; which every single day flies all over the earth and brings news and tidings back with them. Grimnir (Odin) said the following: Old norse: Huginn ok Munin fljúga hverjan dag Jörmungrund yfir; óumc ek of Hugin at hann aftr né comiþ, þó siámc meir um Munin. Modern English: Hugin and Munin fly each day over the spacious earth. I fear for Hugin, that he come not back, yet more anxious am I for Munin. An interesting thing to take in here, is that the name Hugin means "thought" while Munin means "memory". Design: As I was - a while back - asked to create a knife based on Hugin and Munin, I came up with the concept of an "Iron Feather" as I thought it fitting. I formed the blade edge to curve more or less identical to that of the upper beak of a common raven, and gave the tip a bit of a broken back as to give it a bit more of an aggressive point as well as a slight reference back to the more traditional seaxes. I forged the pattern welded steel in a very high layer count in order to crate something similar to fine lines as seen in feathers. When observed in sunlight - the blade displays a shimmering almost 3d-effect. The blade is in two bars 1056 layers of folded and twisted farrier's rasps and 15n20 steel, engraved and inlaid with copper and 24kt gold. The handle is in stabilized black Hornbeam, with a bolster in Inconel 718 -engraved in a relief w. inlaid copper and gold - as well as the names of Hugin and Munin on each side. The sheath is in 4 layers of 2mm thick leather with a frame of hand cut and brightly polished brass. Knife stats: Blade length: 13cm Blade width: 2,8cm Blade thickness: 3,8mm Handle length: 13cm Weigh W/O Sheath: 153 grams Hardness at edge: 58 HRC And then there is, of course.. a few pics.. And that's about it! Alright, gonna sharpen this baby up and get a certificate going. Delivering this one in person tomorrow. Have a wonderful .. week? I suppose... Sincerely, Alveprins.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Let me present Silf Brandr - the Silver Blade! Blade in a san-mai lamination from a 3-bar multibar billet - making the lamination count a total of 7 pieces. My standard railroad steel for the body, with ferrier's rasps and saw-mill steel for the folded edge-steel, with a core of high carbon tool steel. Handle in African Ebony, American Holly, with spacers of vulcanized fiber and brass. the finger guard is in moose antler. Sheath is in tooled and dual colored leather. Mahogany red background, and antique black stain borders. Stitched with Tiger Thread using saddler's stiches. The handle is engraved with Elder Futhark runes in Old Norse and reads: ek em silf brandr. Burin af eldr ok járn. ávalt hvass ok buin til roðinn. I am the silver blade. born of fire and iron. forever sharp and ready to blood-stain. The knife is incredibly light at only 105 grams, with point of balance being spot on the middle of the finger-guard. The knife can be gripped normally with index finger behind the guard, or in front of it. It is mean to be carried horizontally in the belt, on the left side - with the handle pointing a bit out in front of the stomach. Comfortable positioning, and easy access. Unfortunately the blade came out with a few blemishes in terms of bad welds - but I've made sure they do not pose any threat to the functionality of the knife itself other than being cosmetic. I didn't have the heart to scrap it though... Anyhow, any critique and feedback is as always - most welcome. :) And have a wonderful weekend folks!

I present to you - the latest Deer-Hunter - Yggdrasil laufsblað - Leaf of Yggdrasil! Blade in 3 bars folded and twisted steel. 100 layers of folded railroad steel for the body, and 60 layers of ferrier's rasps and 15n20. Handle in Chestnut with core of Holly, w. spacers in vulcanized fiber. Front part of handle is Mammoth Ivory, with spacers of vulcanized fiber and brass. The Holly is engraved with Elder Futhark runes in Old Norse. The poem is taken from Grímnismál verse. 33 - Codex Regius and pertains to four deer that eat from the leaves of Yggdrasil - the world tree. This knife will be used - shock - for hunting deer. As always, any feedback and criticism is heartily welcome! Sincerly, Alveprins.

Here is another "Moose Hunter" - forged from the same billet as my previous one found HERE. These two knives are for a moose hunting couple who are about to get married. So, these are their wedding-knives. :) As always - any and all comments and criticisms are more than welcome. :) Sincerely, Alveprins.

Hi guys... Been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd seize the oportunity now that I've finally gotten something new in the works. Finished the knife today, and will start working on the sheath tomorrow. I call it "The Moose Hunter". Made to order for a.. you guessed it - Moose Hunter. ;) Blade in railroad steel and tool steel / ferrier rasps for the edge. Handle in Maple burl, Holly, Mammoth ivory, Moose antler, brass and vulcanized fiber. Any and all criticism is.. as always - very much welcome. :) Sincerely, Alveprins.

Let me present Veðrfölnir - named after the hawk with the same name, which sits atop Yggdrasil - the world tree. Description - blade: The blade is made from three bars of folded and twisted steel. Two bars are made from railroad steel from the Numedal Railroad here in Numedal, while the bar for the edge is made from Farriers rasps mixed with 15n20 steel. Hardness at edge: 58 HRC Description - handle: The handle is made from stabilized grey Maple, Holly, Brass, white vulcanized fiber as well as mammoth ivory which is between 10 000 - 30 000 years old. The handle is engraved with Elder Futhark runes, written in English. The text reads: "Better to die with Honor, than live with Shame" followed by owners name and surname initial. The engravings has been filled in with ashes. Description - sheath: The sheath is in vegetable tanned leather with certain engravings, stitched using grey tiger thread and saddle makers stitches. Stained in antique black leather stain and treated with antique leather fat. Any comments, input, critique and suggestions are as always - very welcome. :) Sincerely, Alveprins.

Alright, so I've finally wrapped up this project. This is Tidr Tonn - the Tooth of Time. It is a knife meant to be worn with traditional Norwegian folk garments for special occasions. Knife weight: 190 grams Blade length: 11cm Blade thickness: 3,5 - 1mm Hardness at edge: 58 HRC Handle length: 10cm The blade body is made from two forge folded and twisted bars of railroad steel (30 layers), and the edge is made out of ferrier's rasps and 15n20. (70 layers) The handle is made from 4,5 billion year old meteorite iron, 7260 year old Siberian bog oak, 10-30 000 year old mammoth ivory, 925 sterling silver and vulcanized fiber. All comments and feedback are greatly appreciated. :)

Finally finished the leather sheath for this knife I made a while back. Original post HERE. A bit late - but finally managed to put it up for sale. I must say though - working with leather is definitively not my favorite... Sincerely, Alveprins.

Just finished this little thing in order to finance some motorcycle restoration and preparation for the summer vacation. Blade length: 11 cm Hardness at edge: 58 HRC Handle length: 13 cm Blade stats: Two bars of 15 layers folded and twisted 15n20 and 15-steel, in a sanmai lamination with Øberg-steel in the middle. Handle stats: 2800 year old Russian bog oak from Siberia, vulcanized fiber, brass sheet, copper, and mosaic pin. The blade is reaaally thin - like 2,7mm thick. Flexes ever so slightly. I hope to make the sheath by next weekend.. I have so much screwing around (literately) to do with my bike atm. Sincerely, Alveprins.

Thought I'd share this for the heck of it... I promised to make a little blade for my sisters master farrier - so I used a piece of my old botched-up Bowie and made actually two blades out of it. I made them san-mai lamination just to add some more steel into the mix - if not I would have less material. The blade consists of two bars.. or I suppose 4 - since its a san-mai blade now - 15 layer 15 and 15n20 steel, twisted, and laminated with a socalled Øberg-steel in the middle. Øberg is a swedish steel manufacturer I believe... I haven't really read into it.. Its the highest carbon one I go though.. haha HRC is around 58 - so very happy with how it turned out.

Ok - so I sold my Saami inspired knife "Hausakljufr" - the Skull Cleaver - and an unfortunate potential buyer was so frustrated about not getting to bid on it - he decided to order a custom job. I suggested to make a Long Seax instead of a copy of Hausakljufr, since that type of knife is something I've been wanting to make for a long time. Excited as he was about vikings - he agreed. I've had full control over the design. And this one I am particularly proud of. I present to you all: Hraustligr - The Dauntless! I've scrapped my previous project found HERE - and re-purposed the steel for this knife. The steel for the body of the blade is made out of rasps, railroad, railroad plate steel, and UHB15LM steel. The steel for the edge of the blade is made out of rasps, UHB20C and UHB15LM. Body steel bars are folded to 48 layers and twisted 30 times clock and counter-clock wise. Edge steel bar is folded to 176 layers, and twisted 40 times counter-clock wise. The handle will be made in blackened folded and twisted steel, elk horn, compressed and stabilized birch bark, leather and possibly some copper. Here are some various pics from through out the process: Oh, and I've got a new favorite acid! Ferric Chloride! Omg, that stuff is caustic as hell! I love it!

Ok, so I've twisted a couple of billets clock and counter clockwise, squared'em off, put a piece of a rasp inbetween and forge welded. Now I've got a 250mm long billet.. What do I do? Do I make one long knife, or two shorter ones? I can just weld on a piece of steel for the tang, or simply forge out a piece. There is enough steel for that. Question is - how are the welds at the ends? I'll need to make the "ends" go on the handle side of the knife if I decide to make two.... Hmm, what to do, what to do... Any suggestions? The stack pre-weld: The stack after forge welding: Any suggestions and input is extremely appreciated.

Ok, time to start another project. I've made one of these before, but only a simple version. This time I will (hopefully) be making the kickass multibar version. I'll kick this Work-In-Progress off with a concept drawing, and a picture of the two billets that will make out the body and edge of the blade itself. I will also be making day to day videos giving the walkthrough. "Skaugubben" is Norwegian and consists of two words "skau" (forest) and "gubben" (the old man). This knife will be ment for old and middle aged geezers who wander the Norwegian woods hunting and skinning game. The steel is old files and rasps donated to me, along with some railroad and #15 and #20 steel. And here is the video: https://youtu.be/tHAJpjpQbHM

Ok, so I've been working for a while on this little bastard... I was walking along the railroad tracks earlier and scrounged with me a cutoff piece of railroad as well as some plates and spikes... I've since cut those into pieces, forged and folded, twisted.. etc. etc. Here are some pics from the process: My drawing: The two first twists. 5 layers rail-road and plates: VIDEO: The twisting of the edge steel. The two twists and the content of the last bar - the edge steel, consisting of #15, #20 and some old files: The edge steel pieces welded together: VIDEO: The forge welding of the three bars combined. And here is a test-etch at #400 grit sandpaper: Closeup: The two two upper bars are 5 layers railroad and railroad plates. The third bar - the edge stee - is 160 layers #15, #20 and old files steel. Twisted 20 times. More to come I suppose... Next up is another 10 hours of polishing - final etch - and then the handle...