Thursday, May 31, 2012

Steampunk Sword Cane for Blade Show

Scott decided to do something fun and different for the 2012 Blade Show.
Check it out. It's a Steampunk Sword Cane.
Every bladesmith has to make a sword, but Scott just couldn't follow the norm.



Steampunk Sword Cane
Steel: 1080/15n20 pattern welded steel
Finish: Hand-sanded, etched, and Parkerized
Cane: Patinaed copper with fileworked bronze spacer
Scabbard: Wood with Damascus throat






The copper swirls provide indexing and decoration.



No, Scott doesn't get out of the boots much.
Heck, with Blade on the horizon, I barely let him out of the shop.


The Damascus throat adds beauty and gives two
Rare Earth Magnets purchase when the sword is sheathed.
Don't ask about the thumb. It's a painful subject:)


Hope to see you at Blade - Table 21 R.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Two More for Blade Show

Here are two more knives Scott and I will be bringing to the 2012 Blade Show in Atlanta - a giant chopper we call the Bushmaster and a medium-sized hunter we're calling the Linx. We'll be in the ABS section - Table 21R.
Bushmaster
Steel: Cruforge
Finish: Rustic (Belt-sanded, hammer-marked)
Overall Length: 15 1/2 inches
Blade Length: 10 1/4 inches
Spine Thickness: 3/8 inches
Handle: Dyed maple burl
Sheath: Leather concealment





Scott is hoping to make a huckleberry rig to go with this Bushmaster, and he'll probably make a leather pouch sheath for the Linx.


Linx
Steel: 1095
Finish: Regal (Hand-sanded)
Overall Length: 9 1/2 inches
Blade Length: 4 3/4 inches
Handle: Sambar Stag with stainless bolsters
Sheath: Leather pouch


The Linx is Scott's first Stag-handled knife and is one of my favorite designs to date.

Hope to see you at The Blade Show - Table 21R.


Scott's First Billet of Damascus

Scott's been itching to play with Damascus for a long time, but decided to focus on attaining his JS stamp first. Well, the stamp was earned in San Antonio in January, and his first Damascus billet was forged about a month later. Commissions took presedence, however, so it took Scott a while to produce anything from that billet. Two blades were recently completed and another is in progress. Check 'em out! The billet was made from 1080 and 15n20 that Scott attained from Kelly Cupples, and all three knives will be going with us to the 2012 Blade Show

#1. Scott's first Damascus knife and his new everyday carry is a variation on our popular EMc ("Every Man Carry").

Since this is a delicate damascus EMc, I'm calling it the EMc-D2. The picture above is the knife before it was Parkerized, and the picture below is post-Parkerizing and a little use. This was Scott's first experience with Parkerizing and five minutes in the solution (as recommended) was simply too long. Although the solution did a great job of bringing out the pattern, the finish came out a bit blotchy. Scott has since gone to one minute in the solution and his next pattern-welded blade came out much cleaner.


EMc-D2
Steel: Pattern-welded 1080 & 15n20
Finish: Hand-sanded, etched, and Parkerized
Overall Length: 9 3/4 inches
Blade Length: 4 1/2 inches
Handle: Maroon Micarta with carbon fiber pins


#2. Scott's second pattern-welded blade is a bird and trout we've dubbed The Kestral. It's Scott's tribute to Jerry Fisk's Sendero. This knife was not Parkerized.


The Kestral
Steel: Pattern-welded 1080 & 15n20
Finish: Hand-sanded & etched
Overall Length: 9 1/2 inches
Blade Length: 4 1/2 inches
Spine Thickness: 0.141 inches
Handle: Flame grain Koa with coined bronze and filed stainless spacers


#3. Scott's first Damascus billet was originally forged in a random pattern, but Scott added some laddering for his final project. The following is a work in progress, and we'll unveil the final piece in Atlanta at Blade, which is just two weeks away. Here's a sneak peak. I'll add a few more shots once we get closer to showtime. This blade was Parkerized.



Just think cooper, bronze, wood, and Damascus. Hope to see you in Atlanta!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Father and Son Knife Collaboration

Last weekend Conner practiced his knifemaking skills on a discarded knife of Scott's, and this weekend he put those skills to work on one Scott forged over a year ago but never finished. Check it out. It's a father and son collaboration Buta II, and I've dubbed this one the Blue Buta.





Conner is 9 1/2 years old, and this was his first attempt at completing a knife. He's played at the forge since he was four, has helped forge a few blades, and has watched Scott make several knives over the past few years but only recently decided to try out the power tools. Scott gave a lot of guidance and helped with some of the finer points, but Conner did much of the work on this Buta II and devoted about 12 hours of time to this project over a 2-day period.

Grinding the blade.

Ready to temper.

Conner selected maple slabs, a red liner, and stainless pins for the handle.
Beveling the front of the slabs on the disk grinder.

Yeah, accidents happen . . .

. . . but it didn't slow him down.

Working the slack belt.

There's more than one way to blue a knife.

Hands and a knife that would make any bladesmith proud . . .

Simply awesome!