Gary Mulkey Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 (edited) Often I get my best designs late at night. This pic of a recurve Bowie is what I sketched at 2AM recently: (The bottom one is simply a refinement of the top.) I decided to give this one a nine-bar Merovingian Damascus blade. Here's a pic of the initial components: The Damascus bars here have 54 layers each. I gave each a double layer of extra thick 15N20 in the center. Hopefully that will give me a nice twisted ribbon effect in the final billet. The round piece is stainless for a front handle spacer. The thinner piece will be a contoured butt cap. (I haven't cut out the guard material yet.) Here's the five bars twisted: And the same five bars cut & stacked. I'll try to get them surface ground & welded into a billet tomorrow and post some pics of the progress. Hope you enjoy the walk through of this Bowie. Gary Edited September 13, 2017 by Gary Mulkey 4 Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joël Mercier Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 I am following this! Very interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb Camper Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 This is gonna be good! With any luck I could learn something watching a pro like yourself. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Pierce Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 After admiring all your work since I joined this forum I'm really forward to this, thanks so much for sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 I'm along for the ride. Thanks Gary! 1 -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 One final forging of the separate twisted pieces to thin them (in order to effectively weld this many pieces they need to be much thinner than they are wide). Next they must be surface ground to eliminate all scale & twisting lines on the surfaces to be welded (18). Here's the final stack ready to be welded (five right-hand twists and four left-hand): I'll try to get this welded and maybe forged into a blade this afternoon. 3 Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Gary, What is the scale of those twisted bars? They look about 1/8" x 3/4"? -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 They're approx. 3/16" thick x 3/4" x 6". Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 (edited) Welded: Bladesmithed & normalized: (the odd color here is melted borax which I use during normalizing as an anti-scale) I'll wait until tomorrow to see what the pattern turned out like. (smile) Time to relax. Edited September 14, 2017 by Gary Mulkey Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles dP Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 Thanks for creating this post Gary. Could I ask what the "as-forged" dimensions are? Thanks 1 "The way we win matters" (Ender Wiggins) Orson Scott Card Nos, qui libertate donati sumus, nes cimus quid constet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 15, 2017 Author Share Posted September 15, 2017 9 hours ago, Charles du Preez said: Could I ask what the "as-forged" dimensions are? Thanks The blade length is 10 1/2". Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles dP Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 Thank you Gary. So about 2" wide it looks like. How thick is it at this stage? 1 "The way we win matters" (Ender Wiggins) Orson Scott Card Nos, qui libertate donati sumus, nes cimus quid constet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 15, 2017 Author Share Posted September 15, 2017 Here's my first look at the pattern: 42 minutes ago, Charles du Preez said: Thank you Gary. So about 2" wide it looks like. How thick is it at this stage? Forged it was around .300". Ground around .250". 2 Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Detrick Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Oh ya, thats my style alright. I dig that deep swage it has. 1 “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...
Charles dP Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 Thanks Gary. Nice pattern and shape. 1 "The way we win matters" (Ender Wiggins) Orson Scott Card Nos, qui libertate donati sumus, nes cimus quid constet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 16, 2017 Author Share Posted September 16, 2017 I got most of the handle components roughed out today (416 & walrus ivory). I've yet to H/T the blade. You can see some discoloration in one spot in the blade. (That's where I straightened a small warp.) Hopefully tomorrow I will get the blade H/T'ed and the remainder of the hilt roughed out. That will give me three days for fit & finish before the ICCE Show. 2 Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Simon Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 That is fantastic. Thanks for the WIP! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Pierce Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 That's looking sweet Gary!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 19, 2017 Author Share Posted September 19, 2017 (edited) Here's the first dry fit-up: All that remains is to apply the adhesive to the hilt and sharpen it (I'll also apply several coats of gun stock finish to the ivory). Hope you enjoyed the trip through this one. Edited September 19, 2017 by Gary Mulkey 3 Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles dP Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 Yes, thank you for sharing this Gary. 1 "The way we win matters" (Ender Wiggins) Orson Scott Card Nos, qui libertate donati sumus, nes cimus quid constet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 Yes indeed! Thanks for sharing, Gary. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Alberson Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 I love that blade shape! What is your process for fitting a curved butt plate on the end of your handles? 1 "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man" -The Dude, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rougemont_forge/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 42 minutes ago, Wesley Alberson said: What is your process for fitting a curved butt plate on the end of your handles? I made some special dies for my press with a 2" diameter concave & convex to bend some 1/8" 416. I ground the ivory freehand on my belt grinder to match the curvature of the cap. 1 Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Craft Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Love it! 1 C Craft Customs ~~~ With every custom knife I build I try to accomplish three things. I want that knife to look so good you just have to pick it up, feel so good in your hand you can't wait to try it, and once you use it, you never want to put it down ! If I capture those three factors in each knife I build, I am assured the knife will become a piece that is used and treasured by its owner! ~~~ C Craft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Mulkey Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 Thank you everyone for all of the kind comments. If you are planning on attending the ICCE Show this weekend in Kansas City, I've have the knife on my table there. Gary Gary ABS,CKCA,ABKA,KGA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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