Bjorn Gylfason Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 I have found a new challenge for both my non existent photographing skill and my poor phone. Shiny surfaces in layers apparently are too much for both as I just can't capture the transparency and colours of the rams horn to do it any justice. I would like to blame Joshua States for this one as I've been looking st his frame handle thread for a long time and finally just had to try it out The idea was to make a modestly sized bowie with a bit of flair, something that would suit a riverboat poker player of dubious standing The blade is W2 steel, 17,5cm long, hollow ground with a 6mm thick back rib and the knife has an overall length of 29,5cm Bolster is several pieces of brass, each fitted tightly to the tang and staked in place The grip has a two piece brass frame the got a bit of filework inside and out as the rams horn scales ended up being slightly more translucent than I anticipated. scales are attached with peened brass pins I might need to get someone with better skills to photograph it once I've cleaned it up properly, made a sheath for it and decided wether or not I should bother with bringing out the hamon in the blade 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 The translucency of the horn is seriously cool! I think you should bring up the hamon a bit as well. Not full-on flashy, just enough to see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeroen Zuiderwijk Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 That is a lovely piece! I do think horn is a much underused material, and in particular blond colored horn like this. 1 Jeroen Zuiderwijk Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/barbarianmetalworking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden CC Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Amazing work! And ditto to Jeroen’s comment about the horn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Gylfason Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 Oh I definitely want to experiment more with both horn and multiple layers. The main issue is how difficult it is to find anything other than black water buffalo horn on the market today. The flattened rams horn pieces are quite nice but are a bit limited size wise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary LT Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) I like it, yes the blonde horn adds rarity, in a way, real well done. Any problems peening this stuff and causing stress fractures /‘spider web’ fissures? Don’t see any. I really like the brass firework as this different. If there another photo send to show it direct to see how you worked it !! (we are good at “borrowing things” here!,!!) Overall impression is very good, makes a person want to pick up immediately, well done. Bring on the sheath! If I was the gambler on a boat in card game with big money, and things get rough, I’d like to pull the knife from somewhere at my side under my arm where it had been fully concealed in my vest. Maybe by using a jackass harness.? Anyway, good work! Gary LT Edited March 18 by Gary LT 1 "I Never Met A Knife I Didn't Like", (Will Rogers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Gylfason Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 9 hours ago, Gary LT said: I like it, yes the blonde horn adds rarity, in a way, real well done. Any problems peening this stuff and causing stress fractures /‘spider web’ fissures? Don’t see any. I really like the brass firework as this different. If there another photo send to show it direct to see how you worked it !! (we are good at “borrowing things” here!,!!) Overall impression is very good, makes a person want to pick up immediately, well done. Bring on the sheath! If I was the gambler on a boat in card game with big money, and things get rough, I’d like to pull the knife from somewhere at my side under my arm where it had been fully concealed in my vest. Maybe by using a jackass harness.? Anyway, good work! Gary LT One of the many nice thing with horn like this is it doesn't really crack and splinter like bone or wood so apart from taking care not to mar it with the hammer peening it was surprisingly stress free Here's a few more pictures from the sides. I didn't have any brass in 6mm thickness for the frame but did have some 3mm stock which is the the main reason I felt the need to do any kind of filework It's probably going to be a while until I start on a sheath for it but exactly as you say I too have been thinking about some kind of underarm carry to fit the theme. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary LT Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Thank you for the photos Biorn, I really like this file-work and also the treatment at the corners. I’ve never worked with blonde horn, only black, so it’s good to know I am not to worry about the stress marks at pins as I imagined. I can opt in to buy some next purchase cycle. Thanks! Gary LT "I Never Met A Knife I Didn't Like", (Will Rogers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 Oh, I've got one with stress marks and a bit of delamination at a pin hole. The delam was from drilling without proper support and possibly a slightly dull bit running too fast. When I peened that one it started showing white rings, so I immediately superglued it before continuing to peen. But that was blonde water buffalo horn. Rams' horn is much less likely to split or otherwise come apart, it's not nearly as fibrous. I just don't have any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter-Paul Derks Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 This is so cool, I need to get my hands on some horn soon. I even like the filework, and I'm normally not a fan of that. http://mefecit.nl/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshua States Posted Monday at 01:32 PM Share Posted Monday at 01:32 PM On 3/17/2023 at 6:00 AM, Bjorn Gylfason said: I would like to blame Joshua States for this one Thank you for that most gracious compliment. It really means a lot to me that I have had a positive influence on another maker. This came out really well and the filework on the frame is a wonderful addition to this piece. I have played with the split frame a couple of times, and watching this on social media has reignited the urge to do more of it. It's just so difficult to get both sides alligned perfectly, I have always considered it beyond my ability. I guess it's time to practice more. I have a couple of questions about that Hamon: Did you clay the blade before quenching? How hot did you quench? 1 “So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.” The only bad experience is the one from which you learn nothing. Josh http://www.dosgatosdesignsllc.com/#! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg J.States Bladesmith | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71 https://www.etsy.com/shop/JStatesBladesmith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Gylfason Posted Wednesday at 12:58 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 12:58 PM On 3/27/2023 at 3:32 PM, Joshua States said: Thank you for that most gracious compliment. It really means a lot to me that I have had a positive influence on another maker. This came out really well and the filework on the frame is a wonderful addition to this piece. I have played with the split frame a couple of times, and watching this on social media has reignited the urge to do more of it. It's just so difficult to get both sides alligned perfectly, I have always considered it beyond my ability. I guess it's time to practice more. I have a couple of questions about that Hamon: Did you clay the blade before quenching? How hot did you quench? I had the frame parts superglued together while I filed in the starting notches to make things somewhat align but the more I look at pre 20th century works the more I feel like we really shouldn't care so much about perfect alignments and airtight gaps between materials as the right amount of asymmetries and flaws give the object character and reaffirm that it was made by hand. But it like everything else is subjective and a big gray area For the blade I did a couple of normalizing cycles and quenched at as close to 790° as I could tip down. No clay and wasn't really planning on any hamon but I hollow ground the bevels quite thin while keeping the entire spine at 6mm thick which produced a very noticable hardening line and an oh so subtle recurve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Lester Posted Wednesday at 05:35 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 05:35 PM That's a very nice looking knife and the tang showing through the handle gives a nice effect. I tried making knife scales from rams horn and all I did is ruin two rams horns. If I work with it again I'll get the scales already prepared. Doug HELP...I'm a twenty year old trapped in the body of an old man!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Gylfason Posted Wednesday at 08:50 PM Author Share Posted Wednesday at 08:50 PM As I was spending the day cleaning up kitchen knives for a small show in the weekend I decided to do some rubbing on the blade and think I'll leave it at this 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted Wednesday at 10:03 PM Share Posted Wednesday at 10:03 PM Nice. I like the subtlety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary LT Posted 23 hours ago Share Posted 23 hours ago Damn, I like this knife Gary LT "I Never Met A Knife I Didn't Like", (Will Rogers) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Dougherty Posted 4 hours ago Share Posted 4 hours ago Dude! I've had my head in the sand for a couple of weeks so I missed this initially, but dude! -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDWare Posted 59 minutes ago Share Posted 59 minutes ago On 3/29/2023 at 6:58 AM, Bjorn Gylfason said: ................................ but the more I look at pre 20th century works the more I feel like we really shouldn't care so much about perfect alignments and airtight gaps between materials as the right amount of asymmetries and flaws give the object character and reaffirm that it was made by hand........................... Very much in agreement with this statement. And beautiful work. Saludos J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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