Alveprins Posted August 25 Author Share Posted August 25 5 hours ago, Pieter-Paul Derks said: So good!, I'm really envious of your ability to stick with a project after so many hours. I get really fed up with a project once I get around 40 hours in and find it hard to finish after. Haha, yeah... it does get tiresome after a while. It all comes down to having a plan, and following it without deviation, and without compromise. It can be exhausting at times, but in the end - you're better off for it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted August 27 Author Share Posted August 27 I've finally managed to finish sculpting and texturizing some of the surfaces.. oh, and put in a 0,03ct yellow diamond near the tip as well... A bit more proper picture. I really like the activity in the meteorite iron. Beautiful stuff. Have a good sunday everyone! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Gerber Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 Firstly need to say this place is inspiring, from beginners to masters. That said, @Alveprins I find your work particularly inspiring. I have some personality flaws and location & budget limitations which means I never never hope to equal your art, but you make me want to try and lift my game. Painting a perfect Mona Lisa seems easier to me than what you do! (I can't paint to save my life!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted September 1 Author Share Posted September 1 5 hours ago, Gerhard Gerber said: Firstly need to say this place is inspiring, from beginners to masters. That said, @Alveprins I find your work particularly inspiring. I have some personality flaws and location & budget limitations which means I never never hope to equal your art, but you make me want to try and lift my game. Painting a perfect Mona Lisa seems easier to me than what you do! (I can't paint to save my life!) That is very kind of you to say Sir! If you just improve one thing at a time - and always challenge yourself - eventually after a while when you look back at your previous work; you'll realize you've come along far! Just got to keep going at it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Sexstone Posted September 1 Share Posted September 1 “If you improve one thing at a time” those are words of wisdom…… I can’t say i recognize the ship……though I think it is a space farer…… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted September 26 Author Share Posted September 26 (edited) Hi everyone, this is perhaps not the most glamorous update - but an update non the less... It is no secret that my skills with leather arent really that good, so I thought I'd go in a different direction with this one. The frame around the sheath is in railroad steel, the metal tips are in 15n20 nickel steel. The wood is stabilized Danish bog oak, and the pins are in bronze. I've kept wood and metal separate using black vulcanized fiber. The inside lining which protects the blade from the hard wood and steel frame is very soft brown leather. I will bevel the sides of the sheath a little later, but now I continue work on the handle. chiao everyone! Edited September 26 by Alveprins 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted October 1 Author Share Posted October 1 I took this picture right before gluing the front bolster pieces on to the full tang blade: The glueing was successfull, and I have now also glued the bog-oak wood scales that goes between the front and rear bolsters. I am currently experiementing with the resin casting. Seems my test-stone sinks in the resin, so I've cast 2,44mm of resin now, and will do a 2nd pour once that resin is hard enough to carry the weight of the stone... sometimes it is truly better to run tests rather than try to do it for the first time on the actual piece.. I'll post a pic of the test-cast once its ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 On 10/1/2023 at 8:43 AM, Alveprins said: sometimes it is truly better to run tests rather than try to do it for the first time on the actual piece.. There is true wisdom! Too bad I frequently ignore this sage advice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Bohnstedt Posted October 2 Share Posted October 2 This is probably one of the most ridiculously ambitious and beautiful projects I have seen here. And the execution of it is just outrageous and inspiring. Thank you for sharing, sir! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted October 10 Author Share Posted October 10 Hi everyone! I've been working on beveling the edges around the sheath, and doing some test -resin casting. after 2 failed casting attempts, the third time is the charm - and I feel confident to proceed with the real deal. While the resin is curing (10 days) I will be continuing work on the sheath, as well as engraving designs that will go on sheath frame, and handle frame. I also need to design a ring that will go around the hole in the middle of the handle. Have a nice week everyone! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Lara Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 Wow, that's cool! I love the rock floating in the resin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 49 minutes ago, Carlos Lara said: rock If I'm right about the theme of this piece, that will be a bit of meteorite in the final product. And yes, it is very cool indeed! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted October 23 Author Share Posted October 23 At the current stage I haven't got anything super interesting to look at, but I thought I'd throw a little glance of the design-process into it. Now that the sheath is (for the most part) assembled, ground and sanded down to it's final size, it's time to design the engravings that will go on the steel tips. In order to do this, I scan the tip with it's outlines engraved - and then draw within the borders - ensuring a perfect fit. The width of those long borders are 2mm. The bronze pins are also for reference Ø2mm. The epoxy casting was a success, and having let the liquid bathe in a -1 bar vacuum for 2,5 hours - the cast is absolutely 100% free of bubbles. I'll have pics of that later. Right now I am working on the "frame" that will go around the hole in the handle, as well as the design on some elements of the sheath. Have a wonderful week everyone! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Sexstone Posted October 23 Share Posted October 23 What kind of epoxy ? Resin? Did you use that allowed you to keep it under vacuum for so long without hardening? Looks really cool!!! Congrats!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted October 24 Author Share Posted October 24 12 hours ago, Dick Sexstone said: What kind of epoxy ? Resin? Did you use that allowed you to keep it under vacuum for so long without hardening? Looks really cool!!! Congrats!! https://entropyresins.com/product/ccr-clear-casting-epoxy/ I used the slow curing one. Stays liquid for 360 minutes. 3 days to harden, 7 days after-hardening for full hardness. Mine will be fully hardened by the end of tomorrow, but I will give it a couple of extra days just in case. Don't want to F up this one. Here's a little preview. I have to bevel the edges of the handle of course, and get a "frame" around that hole. In fact I just finished turning the outer diameter of it just now. Nasty stuff bog-iron.. full of cracks and imperfections. But that's also what makes it special. I'll have more on that later. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted October 24 Author Share Posted October 24 (edited) On 10/11/2023 at 10:20 PM, Alan Longmire said: If I'm right about the theme of this piece, that will be a bit of meteorite in the final product. And yes, it is very cool indeed! Right you were! Edited October 24 by Alveprins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Gerber Posted October 24 Share Posted October 24 You continue to amaze........if your ears are burning that's me telling somebody about this knife 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pieter-Paul Derks Posted October 28 Share Posted October 28 That floating meteorite piece is just too cool! good luck with the rest of this build 1 http://mefecit.nl/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted November 5 Author Share Posted November 5 432,5 hours into the project. Alright, after spending a total of 40 hours working on these two rings - I thought I'd share the result.. From left to right I've forged out a piece of bog-iron to about 4mm thickness and as flat as I could. I then machined it down to about 1,65mm. Then on the 2nd picture I had to use one of the machines at work in order to turn a fixture for these rings - which you can see in the background. In the foreground I have transferred guidelines to a piece of bog iron for drilling, cutting and filing. In the third image I'm filing the interior of one of the two rings, since I have to do this before removing the outer material. (need something to clamp on). In image number four I've already turned the outer diameter of the rings to 20,10mm. I've also cut and shaped those four diamond shaped high-points, cut inlay channels and started to inlay 0,6mm 24kt gold wire. Same with the 5th image. 6th image shows the result after beveling all the edges between the diamond shapes, and etching the iron, also inking the gold wheat -pattern. Here's a bit of a closeup: For reference, the width of the wheat pattern is pretty much exactly 2mm. I have to say, this bog iron is some nasty stuff. Full of impurities. Pay no attention to those imperfections in the iron on those diamond-shaped parts. Bronze pins will go through those holes - securing the rings in the handle itself, and I will engrave inlay channels over them and cover the entire surface with inlaid copper wire. So only the edges of these will be visible when finished. Ok, that's it for now. I've taken the whole next week off from work in order to concentrate on this project - so I expect there shall be more soon... Have a nice sunday everyone! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted November 5 Share Posted November 5 Every time I think I have adequate respect for your skill and drive, you prove me wrong! To use such a recalcitrant material as bog iron as the substrate that we won't even see after you're done with it, just because it's what the theme of the piece demands, is true dedication. Or madness, but in a good way. I remain stunned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Lara Posted November 5 Share Posted November 5 That's amazing! Inlaying isn't easy work, and the texture you ended up with for the gold accents is very interesting. Top notch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted November 7 Author Share Posted November 7 Hi again everyone... I've been experimenting a bit with the design of the tang engraving for the past couple of days and done a couple of test-engravings to see how things would work out: The topmost picture is test no.1. I wanted to introduce a hexagonal pattern for the background, and tested something like this... The middle picture is the same test as no.1 - but with the borders between the hexagonal patterns sculpted. The 3rd and last image is what I eventually landed on. I discarded the whole "mesh" - idea and went for single raised hexagons instead. Each of these will of course be inlaid with gold and engraved further - however I don't need to test that as I feel quite confident with that technique. What surprised me during this test however was how I managed to engrave my own handwriting much more accurately that I have managed previously. Last time I tried (failed and gave up) was a couple of years back. I suppose all my cutting for the past couple of years has steadied my hands a bit... Anyhow - I am now ready to transfer my final designs to both sides of the tang and start cutting the outlines... Ok, back to the workshop... Catch ya all later. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Sexstone Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 I really enjoyed the step by step pics …..thanks….. very educational…… I Ike your third choice of the hex better also…..and nicely done too….woodshedding for two years on a project is bound to improve your chops…. The reward for time invested……good for you……. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Lara Posted November 7 Share Posted November 7 I agree, like engraving #3 the best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alveprins Posted November 12 Author Share Posted November 12 Alright folks, finished off side A of the tang this friday: Started side B yesterday, and still at it. It is incredible how much work one gets done when one doesn't have to go to work... Have a nice sunday everyone! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now