Robert Burns Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 After a hub bub of visitors and just before my teaching schedule starts for the summer I had time to get a few custom projects in. I was commissioned to make several wedding rings recently, two for my mother's upcoming wedding which I was very honored to make. I also finally tried using my first piece of fossilized walrus ivory from Mark Knapp, which was amazing to work with and is now one of my favorite handle materials. But enough of that and onto the photos. As always questions, comments, or criticism is always welcome and thank you for looking. Robert First up just a simple fireplace poker, they say necessity is the mother of invention and so I made up this little guy to tend the coal forge I was visiting. I don't often get to do more classic forms of smithing and so it's nice to get to make things other than knives sometimes. The wedding rings for my mother these are carbon damascus with silver liners. Another carbon damascus ring with the owners initials inlayed in rose gold runes. (That black "smudge" in the center is actually a reflection of the camera lens) Next up is a pattern welded bowie made from the leftovers of my mom's wedding rings. The steel is 1095 and 15n20 with three bars of standards twist and three bars of twisted jellyroll pattern. The guard is brass with water buffalo horn spacer and madrone burl. (over all length 15 1/4 inches) Lastly my most recent, a contemporary Norse puukko style knife. The blade is three bar composite with the edge being W2 and 1095, the center bar is twisted crushed W's and the spine is 360 layers of 15n20 and wrought iron. The ferrule is cast bronze with ebony spacer and fossilized walrus ivory for the handle. Thanks for looking! http://www.wildernessironworks.org/http://www.facebook.com/WildernessIronworksRobert Burns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Dang, Robert, every time you post new work it seems your level of skill, fit, and finish goes up a notch! Very impressive stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Aren't we still waiting for a tutorial on those rings? This makes me want to know that much more! I love everything about the puukko, and everything else for that matter, but especially the puukko. Can we get a close-up of the blade and the ferrule? The patterning is cool but I know I can't see everything in that image, and the texture on the ferrule is very interesting/eye-grabbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Page Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Love it all! But the blade on the last one is particularly awesome. Whole knife is, for that matter I agree with Alan, you're outdoing yourself with every blade, which would have been hard enough to do a long time ago! Not all those who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien-Shards of the Dark Age- my blog-Nine Worlds Workshop--Last Apocalypse Forge- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCROB Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 all great Robert but the Norse Puuko is killer bro !! sweeeeeet molasses !! "Never Quit On Improving" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Shearer Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Had to look at the handle end on that poker a few seconds. Really love the two knives, excellent proportions. Can you explain how you inlayed the inside of the ring?? That part has me confused. “Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Burns Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Thanks for the kind comments everyone I do strive to improve with each project but there is always so much more to learn. Here is a close up of the puukko blade before assembly. Jerrod I'm sorry I have been suckish with the ring WIP I start to take pictures of the process and then I just forget to document steps. But I promise I will do one soon! In regards to how I fit the liners (bronze, silver, etc.) I over size the inside diameter of the ring by approximately 1.5 sizes and then make a wooden or wax mold of the inside of the ring in an over sized version of the liner. I then cast the liner and force fit it into place, then I use a small punch to upset the steel and silver into each other to create as tight a fit as possible. Then it's just clean up and final sizing and polishing. 1 http://www.wildernessironworks.org/http://www.facebook.com/WildernessIronworksRobert Burns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Detrick Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 All of it is great, but that puukko is something else. The steel is great, and the texture and patina on the guard is awesome. “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." -Albert Camus http://www.krakenforge.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Shearer Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Thanks Robert, I was wondering about the runes though! I just can't see how you'd force wire down into channels on the inside of a ring. Or is it some entirely different method? “Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emiliano Carrillo Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Those rings are mesmerizing, and that puukko is exceptional! I am very partial to that style of modern puukko, extremely lovely and that sheath is killer too! Great work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEzell Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 I'm loving the madrone bowie, it has beautiful lines... and the puukko is rather awesome too.... George Ezell, bladesmith" How much useful knowledge is lost by the scattered forms in which it is ushered to the world! How many solitary students spend half their lives in making discoveries which had been perfected a century before their time, for want of a condensed exhibition of what is known."Buffonview some of my work RelicForge on facebook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Burns Posted May 1, 2015 Author Share Posted May 1, 2015 Thanks guys . Luke it is honestly as simple as cutting a grove, then an undercut, and then "tapping" the gold into the groove in other words it is what it seems to be. http://www.wildernessironworks.org/http://www.facebook.com/WildernessIronworksRobert Burns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Hougham Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Robert, Very inspiring work on all pieces!!!!! Wade Jos et löydä rauhaa itsestämme on turhaa etsiä sitä muualta. If you can not find peace within yourself, it is useless to look elsewhere. Visit my website http://www.wadesknives.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 Well if you are going to post pictures like THAT I can't really complain about not getting a tutorial. That close-up is so cool I can't believe you didn't add that from the get-go. That is something to be super proud of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Burns Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 Yeah Jerrod I didn't want to half ass it and end up having a lame tutorial Thank Wade http://www.wildernessironworks.org/http://www.facebook.com/WildernessIronworksRobert Burns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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