New project-States/Weller collaboration

[Joshua States 1,780]

As some of you may have already noticed (or anticipated) this has become a somewhat different project.

It is my honor to announce that @Adam Weller has agreed to make handles and sheaths for these two blades.

I have a little more work to do before I ship them off to the snowy north, then Adam takes over.

[Adam Weller 332]

15 hours ago, Joshua States said:

I ship them off to the snowy north, then Adam takes over.

 

It’s not quite the snowy north just yet, for some reason this winter we have been relatively spared and only have about a foot of snow on the ground.

 

Well, I’m pretty excited about this  I’m not the most vocal guy here, mainly because I feel I’m still pretty far on the newb side of things, so I’m not sure what States is thinking here  but if he wants to send these cool looking blades my way I’ll definitely give it a shot  and I feel pretty honored.

 

The inspiration is my WIP from last winter:

 

 

I’ve been galavanting all over the great state of Idaho for the last couple days, but I got home tonight and I’m going to start getting some sketching done and try to nail down a plan before the blades arrive in the mail. 

Edited December 31, 2019 by Adam Weller

[Alan Longmire 2,822]

A worthy collaboration!  I look forward to seeing what y'all end up with. 

[Joshua States 1,780]

I was thinking of bluing the blades to increase the contrast, but after putting a cutting edge on and applying a liberal amount of Flitz, these sure do look purdy.

I just wish that WI hadn't produced those small voids.

I guess that add character.

 

[Chris Christenberry 352]

Those are both beautiful, Josh.  Really like the little one.  What are the lengths of the blades?

[Joshua States 1,780]

19 hours ago, Chris Christenberry said:

What are the lengths of the blades?

They are both 1" wide. The long one is 5.25" long. The little one is 3.25" long.

[Doug Webster 65]

The character voids make you stop and realize this object was handmade.  I doubt they are a functional weakness.  Great work Mr. States

[Chris Christenberry 352]

34 minutes ago, Joshua States said:

They are both 1" wide. The long one is 5.25" long. The little one is 3.25" long.

 

Anxious to see them with handles.  I like the smaller one especially.

[Joshua States 1,780]

1 hour ago, Doug Webster said:

The character voids make you stop and realize this object was handmade. 

That's true to an extent. I still have handmade blades with none of that. In this particular case, it's more a function of the wrought iron. 

[Adam Weller 332]

3 hours ago, Doug Webster said:

realize this object was handmade.

 

1 hour ago, Joshua States said:

I still have handmade blades with none of that.

 

I think this a common thing in the handmade world, people assume that you can tell things are handmade because they have flaws... I don’t prescribe to this line of thought. I prefer to think of it in the sense that you can tell it is handmade because handmade can achieve a finish/patina/overall look that cannot be replicated with a machine. I think as bladesmiths we spend too much time chasing the appearance of a machined blade. At the same time there are quite a few makers out there that use this as an excuse (hence the recent “Brut de Forge” argument) and churn out “handmade” knife shaped objects... 

 

That being said, this type of handle lends itself to my perfectionist tendencies and then readily tears my psyche to shreds. It is quite the internal struggle, but I love it because this is one of those techniques you just can’t replicate with a machine... 

 

I’m digging the character of the wrought iron. I can’t wait to see them in person.

 

3 hours ago, Chris Christenberry said:

Anxious to see them with handles. 

 

Don’t hold your breath  I’m notoriously slow. Something about working a full time job, having four kids, to many projects, and a snow covered driveway to keep clear - but I wont make any excuses... Speaking of snow - we got a solid 14 inches on the driveway last night which of course requires a visit to the ”Epic” powder according to the kids. Some blue skies are poking through in the front yard now:

 

 

 

[Rob Toneguzzo 805]

Really looking forward to seeing what happens next. It really is great to see when a couple of smiths get together on a project. And Adam, don’t worry about being slow...Josh did say don’t rush a miracle.

[Joshua States 1,780]

On 12/30/2019 at 10:27 PM, Adam Weller said:

It’s not quite the snowy north just yet, for some reason this winter we have been relatively spared and only have about a foot of snow on the ground.

 

5 hours ago, Adam Weller said:

Speaking of snow - we got a solid 14 inches on the driveway last night which of course requires a visit to the ”Epic” powder

Hmmm....Not sure if I jinxed you or brought you luck!

I packing this up tonight and will have it out in the mail by Friday.

[Joshua States 1,780]

5 hours ago, Rob Toneguzzo said:

And Adam, don’t worry about being slow...Josh did say don’t rush a miracle.

Seriously true. The WIP post that made me want to do this collaboration took something like 4 months and it was worth every minute.

So hang on gents, this could take some time!

[Adam Weller 332]

I picked up the blades at the post office yesterday, even better in person! I just hope I can do the pattern justice. 

 

I have been sketching and I think I’ve come up with the handle shape I like for the larger blade:

 

 

The bolster is nickel silver followed by antler (reindeer or elk depending on what I can make fit). The wood is burl or spalted birch/alder, whichever I feel looks the best when I’m putting it together. 

 

I have been messing with the engraving, but I don’t have a design I’m super excited about yet... 

 

 

[Gerhard Gerber 357]

This is going to be good! 

[Adam Weller 332]

Couple attempts at planning the engraving. These things change pretty organically as I’m engraving so this is more of a suggestion than anything.

 

 

[Joshua States 1,780]

Now we're talking! 

[Zeb Camper 782]

Really like the style ! it's a style my brain cant seem to grasp well enough to mimic. Looking forward to seeing it done! 

[Garry Keown 986]

On 1/8/2020 at 7:08 PM, Adam Weller said:

Couple attempts at planning the engraving. These things change pretty organically as I’m engraving so this is more of a suggestion than anything.

 

 

Love this one. 

[Adam Weller 332]

Just so y’all don’t think I dropped from the face of the earth....

I’ve been working on the handle, sorry this is not much of a WIP, I am doing this in a completely different way than anything I have done before and every step is a series of experiments.

 

Here’s a couple in progress shots. Josh, you will probably notice the tang changed quite a bit. I hope you don’t mind, I needed it to fit the curve of the handle. Also, you’ll notice it changed compared to my sketches up above. This is how it goes when you are using organic materials. 

 

 

 

 

The last picture is where I am at now. I have textured and sanded the first three parts (bolster, 1st piece of antler, and the first nickel-silver spacer).

 

I shall press on.

[Chris Christenberry 352]

I'm really liking this...........especially with the curve in the handle.

[Joshua States 1,780]

Awesome! This is looking great Adam. What's the wood?

No worries about the tang mods. I deliberately left more mass there than I would normally, just in case you had to. Did you weld/solder that little bit on, or reforge the end out?

[Adam Weller 332]

22 minutes ago, Joshua States said:

Awesome! This is looking great Adam. What's the wood?

No worries about the tang mods. I deliberately left more mass there than I would normally, just in case you had to. Did you weld/solder that little bit on, or reforge the end out?

Held the blade in my bare hand, wrapped the tang in a wet rag and forged out the tip.

 

The wood is a piece of stabilized curly koa. I plan to use the same block for the sheath.

[Joshua States 1,780]

What's funny is today I had to take a curved tang and straighten it out. I did basically the same thing, except no wet rag and I used the oxy-acetylene torch.

[Dave Stephens 428]

This is looking great, guys.