PKDA77 0 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Good afternoon folks, So I was cruising though e-bay about a week ago when I stumbled upon this blade. It immediately grabbed my attention. Hope fully I didn't just make a foolish impulse buy, but my gut tells me this may be the real deal. Can anyone here either confirm or deny the authenticity of the signature on this blade? Any input or opinions will be appreciated. Thanks, Kevin Link to post Share on other sites
danpiotte 1 Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Good for you if it is real! Curious to me is the fact that is signed on the tang. You picked the right place to post it though. Link to post Share on other sites
Phil Ullrich 22 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Nice! Let me know if you want to sell it. Link to post Share on other sites
GEzell 136 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I am skeptical for two reasons: I've never seen one of Don's blades signed that way, and that looks like a welding flaw in the fourth photo (I could easily be mistaken though). Link to post Share on other sites
Jesper 0 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 am i the only one that do not know who Don is? Link to post Share on other sites
Alan Longmire 2,745 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 am i the only one that do not know who Don is? Possibly. He is the founder of this forum, and a god among bladesmiths, now mostly retired but still providing inspiration. Kevin, did you ask him? Seems like that would be the easiest way to get verification. You can send him an email through the forum, just find one of his posts and click on his name. Link to post Share on other sites
Jesper 0 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 oh that explains everything Link to post Share on other sites
danpiotte 1 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Was there ever an answer to this mystery? Daniel Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Stephens 424 Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 It's a very nice blade, but Don's signature is a gold cherry blossom, not his name on the tang. I'm a bit skeptical this is his work, but I suppose it could be a blade from a class or something. 1992 was either after or during his Kemel days, and I know he was producing some incredible work during this time. I've never heard that he made unmounted blades for sale, but again . . . I could be wrong. As Alan said, we have the luxury of simply asking him. If this is a fake, we should do everything we can to discredit it. This forum (and the bladesmithing world in general) owes Don too much to allow frauds to make money off of his hard-earned reputation. Dave Link to post Share on other sites
Grzegorz 0 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Any results ?? I`m really curious. Link to post Share on other sites
PKDA77 0 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Hello Folks, I appreciate the interest in this mystery. I'm curious as well. I've sent out a question as suggested. I haven't heard anything yet. I'll certainly check in once I hear anything. Thanks, Kevin Link to post Share on other sites
DFogg 9 Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Sorry for letting this mystery go on for so long, I have been away from the forum for a while. The blade was definitely made by me. I learned a lot making it and though it didn't turn out the way I had wished, I kept it for a long while as a learning tool. Sorry to hear it is on Ebay, not sure what that means. So flaws and all it is mine. Don Link to post Share on other sites
PKDA77 0 Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 Thank you Don, thank you very much! I really appreciate you getting back to me (us) on this. I am happy to report that although it was on e-bay for a short time the blade is now in my gun safe and waiting for me to puzzle out a appropriate set of mounts for it. While I have you on the line, I'd like to clarify a few things. 1. Am I correct in my perception that this is a 3 bar composittion? 2. Is the dark line running down the blade on each side a welding flaw or just a darker piece of material or a deeper fold line? When George posted his comment I went back a closely inspected the blade along those lines and it appears as solid in that location as on any other portion of the blade. But taking into consideration I am a collector vs. a bladesmith, it's pretty safe to say that I could easily be missing something. 3. Could you provide some input as to the style/type of the blade this is? Based on the overall blade profile and tapering it seems close to a type XII or XIII b. But because the cross section of the blade is a flattened diamond vs. a lenticular shape, and the lack of a fuller, I tend to look at the type XVIIIa as a possibility as well. Any input of guidance you can provide here will be greatly appreciated. And again, thanks for following up on this. The blade caught my attention just on the merits shape and steel pattern. That it had your name on it was a definite bonus, but not the entire reason for my purchase. To have the signature validated by you is a great way to start the New Year! Sincerely, Kevin Link to post Share on other sites
DFogg 9 Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Hi Kevin, Given that this was made over twenty years ago, I have little memory of what I was doing at the time. It is a three bar billet. There is no fuller because I hadn't figured out how to do that at that time. The dark line is not a delamination and I never figured out what it was, it only appeared when I etched. I also hadn't figured out how to get the pattern to flow to the point, ie notching a V at the point and rewelding. As I said I learned a lot on this piece. I had no style in mind when I made this blade. Keep in mind that there wasn't as much information out there then as there is now so I was solving problems on every piece. My website didn't go up until 1998 and this was prior to that. I did have Jimmy Fikes to brainstorm with and he was an incredible help for me. I do remember building a long charcoal forge for heat treating and making a quench tank out of an old oxygen cylinder to harden it. I was still tempering in the kitchen oven at the time and had trouble getting it in. This blade challenged me at every step, but making it opened up a whole host of possibilities. I believe it is marked on the tank because I hadn't started using the gold logo yet. I am glad it found a good home. Link to post Share on other sites
melf 3 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 It is really awesome that one can remember his work even after twenty years and several blades between. That's fantastic Link to post Share on other sites
Caleb Harris 51 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 So how much did you get this for? Link to post Share on other sites
PKDA77 0 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Hi Caleb, I'll be happy to let you know what I bought it for. But first, how much would you have paid for it? Thanks, Kevin Link to post Share on other sites
larsjacobsen 78 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) Hi all That is a good story - and with a happy ending too .......I have a couple of japanese blades made the late Bob Engnath that I like a lot too. Not that they will ever be one of a kind, since he made so many ....but they are just pieces of knife history - like the Sword blade made by Don. And congratulations on the find ......Who would not want to find a blade or knife made by a famous maker ........ Lars Edited May 3, 2018 by larsjacobsen Link to post Share on other sites
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