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Hi everyone, finally I've finished the project I started early last year... Please let me present "POTENTIA"! 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). My goal is to one day (hopefully in the near future) qualify for participation in the Art Knives Invitational (AKI) knife show in Las Vegas. POTENTIA is the first milestone in that direction. Perhaps in time I will be worthy... 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 here are the images! And of course the Promo-video I created before starting and completing the sheath: And then there's the knife stats: Measurements: Blade length: 18cm Blade thickness: 5mm Blade width: 3.2cm 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. 24kt gold. 6 pcs. 0.03 natural white diamonds. 8 pcs. red rubies. 1 pc. blue sapphire. Materials sheath: Schaf leather. 925 Sterling silver. 24kt gold. 13 blue sapphires. 2 red rubies. And that's it! One year of work done, and now on to the next project! Alright everyone, have a good weekend tomorrow! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Hi guys, I recently posted a preview of a blade I have been working on, and I have now finally been able to finish the complete knife - sheath not included... thought I'd give a bit of a new preview of the whole thing. All inlay in both handle, bolster and blade are 24 karat gold wire, 0,7mm in thickness. Bolster is in meteorite iron - which is nerve wrecking to work with when doing inlay. Some areas are more fragile than others, and if you look closely at the "R" - you'll see the outline of a chip. A small piece came off - but I was able to glue it back on, and also lock it in place by having the "R" rune loop through it. It sits solid now. But my heart really dropped when it came loose... Have a nice week guys! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Hi everyone... Previously I posted a little sneak peek at something I was working on.. Well, now that little something has come to completion - and I'm ready to share it with those who might be interested at having a look. I've always wanted to give it a shot at a dagger - since this blade geometry has fascinated me ever since I was a kid... And without further ado, after 170 work hours - I give you Vegvisar - the Pathfinder! I have forged this dagger in honor of the four dwarves, Norðri, Suðri, Austri and Vestri - supporting the heavenly dome made from the skull of the jotun Ymir. Today we call this "the sky". Vegvisar is forged in about 140 layers of 15n20 mixed with saw-blade steel - with a core of also saw-blade steel. The sawblade was sourced from a local old sawmill. The ricasso of the blade is engraved and sculpted into a deep relief, with inlaid border of brass, and runes inlaid with copper. On one side the runes KH - my initials can be found, and on the other a single "T" for the god Tyr - as to ensure victory in battle. The handle is in a composite of African Ebony wood, vulcanized fiber, and a steel frame made from saw-blade steel. The steel frame has been engraved in a deep relief, with the names of all four dwarves on their proper side correlating to the cardinal points. Connecting all their names are straight lines of inlaid 24ct Gold. On the front side of the knife - the name "VEGVISAR" is engraved. the sheath is in 2mm thick leather, with a frame of brass. In the middle - near where the handle meets the sheath - there is a steel plaque engraved in relief with my initials in the runes KH, also inlaid with 24ct Gold. On the belt loop I have placed a small brass plaque, engraved with the first rune of all four dwarves. The sheath is hand sewn using saddlers stitches using black Tiger Thread, and stained a dark brown to match the handle. Knife stats: Blade length:10,8 cm Blade width:2,5 cm Blade thickness: 5mm at handle, tapering down to 1mm at tip. Blade hardness at edge: 58 HRC. Handle length:10 cm Handle thickness:1,2 cm And then there's the pictures: I believe that's about it... It has been a learning experience, and having inlaid gold for the first time - I have to say it was a very pleasant experience in comparison to brass - which is much less maleable. For the next one - I'll give it a shot at gemstones... maybe... Alright, have a nice weekend everyone - and peace out! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Hi guys, I've been working on this little side-project for the past week - and thought I'd give a little sneak-peek. I've decided to go with a new makers mark for myself. This one is the first one of it's kind - and is in a deep relief with copper inlay. In the future all my makers marks will be 24k gold inlay. (still in the mail unfortunately...) Thought I'd give a shot at a dagger - and finished the blade in it's entirety today. about 40 hours work on the blade. (not including pattern welding. Had a bar lying around...) Have a great week! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Alright, so... better late than never... Let me present "Odal" - the Heritage knife. Details on the blade can be found in my previous post HERE. Handle is in walnut, supplied by customer - treated with oil - also provided by customer (he makes his own). I decided to attempt to further develop both my drawing skill as well as engraving - so I sketched up a Urnes inspired dragon on my pad and put one on each side of the bolster. The back cap (or whatever it is called) on the handle is in the same steel as the blade. I've also done some inlay on this one, with a border of brass and a Odal rune in copper. Blade length is 10cm, while handle length is 12,5 cm. One of the shorter knives I've made, but the customer insisted on a blade this short... Anyhow, enough text... here's some pics. Hardness at edge is around 58 HRC. Alright, so .. that's pretty much it folks! Wish you all a wonderful week! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Alright, so I've been messing around with my Lindsay Airgraver, experimenting allot with brass and copper inlay etc. - and finally I've had an opportunity to put my newly developed skills to the test. I had a customer who wanted something special for himself, and asked me to whip something up for him. Well, lo and behold - here it is. A 10cm blade in san-mai lamination with sawblade steel for the core, and folded and twisted damascus from railroad steel, mixed with farriers rasps and 15n20 steel. I added a video as well - as a still picture simply doesn't give the blade justice:

Hi everyone, Though't I'd throw this one out there... Finished it during my "summer vacation" - effectively canceled thanks to Mr. Covid-19.... Long story short though. I've got a colleague of sorts who has helped me quite a bit throughout my career, and as he is leaving due to retirement, I thought he'd need something for his future free time in the wild. I give you "The Knuckle" - which incidentally is his nickname through many years in the industry. Blade is in a san-mai lamination with tool-steel for the core, and the folded steel is a mixture of tool-steel and jet-engine super-alloy which I've yet to identify. Handle is in buckeye burl, with copper bolster, brass and vulcanized fiber spacers. I decided to leave the blade a bit "raw" as it were, as this colleague of mine is both rough and sharp. I thought it fitting that the blade reflects his personality. Only thing that I am not satisfied with is the placement of the plaque on the sheath. It feels... I don't know... "out of place" to me... But.. lesson for the future I guess. A current knife I'm working on has a similar plaque in the middle of the sheath, although in that case I've made the sheath symmetrical even though the knife itself is single edged... Oh, and I decided to put my "logo" on the butt of the knife in this case. I doubt my etching would have penetrated the scales left on the body of the blade. The logo is basically my initials engraved into the wood and filled in with a copper-epoxy mixture. I am pretty happy with it. Anyhow, that's all for now. :) Chiao!

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 just finished a little blade for a guy who had a dream of making his own knife... So I cracked - and forged him this one. The one and only non-mounted blade I'll ever sell. Anyhow - thought it might be of interest to have a peek. Didn't do any fancy photo-shoot for this one, so it's a single mobile phone picture only... The blade is about 13cm long, and 3,something wide. 3,5mm thick. The pattern welded steel is made from an old sawmill blade and 15n20 for contrast. The edge is Øberg steel. Initial hardness after hardening and anealing for 3 hours was 63 HRC. Took me quite a few aditional hours to get it down to around 58... But here we are, all finished and polished up! Anyhow - time for summer vacation and motorcycle tour through the rest of Europe. fixing up my workshop with new benches, shelves, lighting and stuff - and then it's back to new and exciting projects after the summer!

Let me present Roðinn Hrafn - the Red or "Bloodstained Raven". Blade in folded and twisted railroad steel, in a san-mai lamination with Øberg steel for the core. Handle in stabilized Maple, with Holly for the core, copper, brass and vulcanized fiber. The Holly is engraved with Elder Futhark runes - written in old Norse - and filled with ashes. Any and all critique, is ... as always - most welcome. :) Sincerely, Alveprins.

Alright, so from the same billet as my last knife - here is another one. Blade in folded and twisted railroad steel, in a san-mai lamination with Øberg-steel for the core. Handle in stabilized Maple, with spacers in brass and vulcanized fiber - with copper for the front. All feedback and critisism is, as always - most welcome. Chiao!

Just finished another hunter... San-mai lamination, forge folded and twisted railroad steel for the body, and Øberg-steel for the core. Handle in burl Maple, with spacers in vulcanized fiber, brass and thick piece of copper. Working on the sheath, but RL job is taking up all my time. And yes... my logo is kind of big, still.. nothing has changed there. I am however - planning on perhaps having a new stencil made, without the square frame... Time will show... As usual, all feedback and critique is more than welcome. Sincerely, Alveprins.

Alright folks! Finished this little thing before the vacation, but never got around to taking photos of it... So here they are! So, first of all - the stats: Blade length: 16 cm Blade width: 3,4 cm Blade thickness: 3mm Handle length: 11,8 cm Total weight: 110 grams Blade is made in a san-mai lamination with railroad steel for the body and spring steel for the edge. Handle is made in a laminate of stabilized Maple, Teak, buffalo horn, brass and vulcanized fiber. Alright, that's it! Chiao people, and have a nice week. Sincerely, Alveprins.

Here is a custom Chef's Knife I just finished up for a customer. The 22,5cm blade is forged in an exotic jet-turbine alloy mixed with high carbon steel, folded to 44 layers, twisted and laminated in a san-mai lamination with Øberg-steel for the core. The handle is in stabilized Zebra wood, Jamaican blue mahoe, buffalo horn and vulcanized fiber. weight: 214 grams Blade length: 22,5 cm Blade width: 3,5 cm Blade thickness: 4 mm Blade hardness: 63 HRC Handle length: 12,5 cm Handle thickness: 1,7cm Any and all critique is as always most welcome. sincerely, Alveprins.

I managed to destroy a piece of steel while twisting (bad weld) and got pissed to such an extent I decided to put that project on a temporary hold and make a chef's knife out of the scraps. Here is the result. The pattern welded steel is 15 layers of twisted railroad and railroad-plates steel, and the edge steel is Øberg-steel. Hardness at edge: 58HRC Handle materials are: What kind of wood is that burl..? Anyone? + Holly, vulcanized fiber, silver tinn, and buffalo horn. NOTE: If you look towards the edge - notice a crack in the edge steel. It does not continue into the pattern welded steel though - so it will not impact the performance of the knife I think - but still... Not sure if I can sell this one. Perhaps at 50% discount? ... I already have 3x cracked cooking knives in my kitchen.. I really don't need to add another one. Note to self: Don't quench oil-hardening steels in water - even if it is an interrupted quench with water - oil - water - oil... Any critique is most welcome. 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.

I feel I've had quite a productive week! After a complete failure (serious delamination) where I had to discard the entire blade, I felt kinda out of it... However - I pulled myself together and finished an old knife I had forgotten all about, and also decided to finish a new knife design I've been working on... Hunter A: This one is kind of improvized actually. I started making this one - then my belt grinder broke down - and I put it aside. I only resumed work on it after I broke another knife I actually cared about finishing. Wood is Buckeye Burl, steel is my usual steel, san-mai lamination and differentially hardened. Hunter B: This is my interpetation of a Puukko knife. I though all those regular designs here in Norway were so boring - I decided to go with a full tang version... So, yeah.. Perhaps its not a puukko at all... haha! Wood is 2800 year old bog-oak from Russia. Blade is made from old wrought iron I found on my property. (probably more than a 100 years old...) and modern #20 steel. The unusual wrought iron made a tough time for me, and I got some delamination and stuff due to - I suppose - not using high enough heat while forge welding. I was not aware I needed super high temperature for wrought iron. But now I know better! Anyhow, threw this one away - then regretted doing so - and decided to instead actually finish it. I love how the acid reacted with the iron... Gave incredible contrast. I am going to drop these two babies off at a saddle-maker for sheaths. I still lack the neccesary equipment for leatherworking - but I suppose I will order a bunch of stuff off E-bay soon enough. Any critique is as always sincerely welcome! Sincerely, Alveprins.

Ok, so I wanted to make something a little special... I decided to combine modern #20 steel for the edge, and some - I presumed iron - I'd dug out of the ground on my property which I bought last year. (The oldest part of my house is dated to around 1820) So.. I found this round iron wedge under my old storehouse, along with some chains and farm equipment for digging in the earth and whatnot... So I decided to use the wedge for the san-mai lamination. I drew it out into two flat bars, cleaned them up, and added the modern steel. While working on the forge weld, I noticed the mystery-metal was extremely soft, and it felt as if it would not "take" very well... And by "take", I mean stick to the steel. I found it to be somewhat difficult to get it laminated. The "iron" would simply be squeezed around the carbon steel in the middle - as a result of their quite different levels of hardness obviously. Anyhow, I could see the blade starting to de-laminate even at normalization, so I dropped the differential hardening and just went for a straight quench instead. I got two normalization cycles in before quencing. I let the blade air-cool all the way down to +23C before re-heating. Anyhow, here are some pics: BEFORE QUENCH: AFTER QUENCH: Notice the extreme difference in color between the edge and the jacket? AFTER #120 SANDPAPER: I have no previous experience with iron - so I am asking... Is this how iron looks in contrast to steel in a lamination like this? I thought it looked so special, I could not bring myself to discart the blade. I feel the historical significance of the iron or whatever it is - is too valuable to me to simply discart this otherwise fine blade. The mystery-metal does not even seem to have taken the quench... Hardness is like - less than 40HRC. But the edge on the other hand is as expected 63HRC - which is as high as this particular steel goes. It current rests in my oven at 200C... Oh, and that delamination near the handle area? - I cheated and welded that bastard shut with my arch welder! I'll hapilly take any input and thoughts on that "iron" or whatnot though... I havent seen coloration like that before... Sincerely, Alveprins.

Ok, so I've been busy all day and all night the past few days to complete this modest little thing in time for the 50th birthday of one of my colleagues. My boss approached me and asked if I could come up with a knife for a colleague since he is a hunter - and I could not resist the chance to make something I havent made before. So here it goes: Blade length: 103mm Blade thickness: 4mm at handle - tapering down to a narrow tip. Blade hardness at edge: 63 HRC. Handle length: 109mm Blade materials: UHB20C for the edge and UHB15LM for the jacket. Differentially hardened ofc. Handle materials: Madagascar Ebony and mosaic pins. The blade is full tang, naturally. And here are the pics... Fashionably amateurish as always: Any and all critique is as always very welcome. I must say though - I am extremely happy with the handle. You probably can't tell from the images, but this knife sits really well in the hand... Its like... I don't want to let it go once I grip it... Sincerely, Alveprins.

Ok, so since I'm new here - and this is my first post - I thought I'd share my first knife and the process which through I made it. The knife is a 108 layer, twisted double bar damascus in san-mai lamination, differentially hardened with "blue clay". The steel used is #15 and #20 for the damascus, and "Øberg steel" for the edge. Handle is African ebony, with mosaic pins from Russia. I started off with a stack of 12 sheets of #15 and #20 steel welded together at the corners with my arch-welder. I proceeded to hammering it out into a long bar. And then cleaned it up with my angle grinder, cut it in three and stacked them arch-welding the corners again. I then drew it out into a long bar again. Cleaned and cut in three once more, and ofc. arch-welded the billet. Now having rougly 108 layers of steel, I drew it out to a square stock and cut it in half. I then proceeded to twisting the two halves. Some more twisting... And then some more - until I was satisfied with them. I then took the two twisted bars with me to work and borrowed the belt sander a bit... (mine sucks. Building a new one...) And then forge welded those two bars together, and drew it out once more. Cleaned it up, cut it in half, and inserted the middle steel for the edge. (Øberg steel.) Used the angle grinder once more to get everyting nice and even. I used too little steel ofc... and had to forge weld three plates of #15 steel, pound them out to the correct diameter - and then forge weld the new "extra length" onto the actual damascus billet. I then drew the outline of the knife. I then proceeded to cut the knife out - using my trusty angle-grinder. And taking it back to work once more - to borrow the belt sander. I then wrapped it in clay, which cracked up - so I had to wire it in place. (ceramic "blue clay") I quenced in regular "food oil" I bought at the super market. Then heat-treated the blade in my kitchen oven at +200 celcius for 2 hours. Polished it to 12000grit on my #220, #1000, #3000, #8000 and #12000 Naniwa Japanese sharpening stones.(oh, and #600 paper between #220 and #1000) And then etched the blade in 30% hydrochloric acid - neutralizing with windex and wiping off the blade with soft paper. I then glued on the ebony handle scales - attaching it to the full tang using mosaic pins I got off E-bay from Russia... And then finished the handle using files and sand paper up to #600. (Going to apply #1200 at work tomorrow before applying some wax or oil to it as well...) No power-hammer or hydraulic press was used. Only 1,5kg hammer, tongs, and a modified plummer's wrench for twisting the steel. A few mistakes was made along the way - and the knife has a few flaws... Flaws that will not be repeated in the next one. (I've allready ordered materials for it. Fossilized mammoth amongst other things. ) My biggest disapointment though - is the lack of hamon. Perhaps it will not show on this type of steel - oil-quenched. I quenched one blade in water though - but it broke - and I didn't want to repeat that... I definitively need to come up with some better clay... This one crack's up way too much. So - after having done this project I now have a 1.5kw electric motor down in the basement, waiting for the belt-sander metal framework and wheels to arrive in the mail from Croatia. I've also been in contact with a company in China about importing a 16kg C41-16 air-hammer. Forge folding those billets is really timeconsuming when done by hand, and I figured I can save quite a bit of time by getting a powerhammer to do the rough work on. Any comments or general feedback is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Alveprins - Norway.