A Tale of Two Sisters

Scott passed his Mastersmith Performance test last week at Jason Knight Knives - home of his mastersmith Jason Knight. Two Damascus blades were forged in preparation for the test. They came from the same billet and were heat treated together. The one Scott deemed the test knife was dressed in birds-eye maple, driven to South Carolina, and severely abused in Jason's shop.

Test # 1: The knife cut through a free-hanging 1-inch manila rope in a single pass.

Test # 2: The knife chopped through two 2x4s and would still shave hair afterwards.

Test # 3: In the final test, the blade was bent to 90 degrees without breaking or cracking.

These tests are used to determine a bladesmith's understanding of metallurgy, heat-treating, and edge geometry, as well as his or her smithing skills. Being a tad OCD, Scott forged the second blade as a production backup - just in case something went wrong during the manufacturing process. The first knife turned out great and passed several in-house tests so Scott set the second one aside and went to visit Jason. Upon his return, Scott decided to transform the second blade into a finished knife and offer it for sale.

Meet "The Sisters"

The "Abused Blonde" Test Knife will be displayed with Scott's Mastersmith presentation test knives when he submits them for review at a future American Bladesmith Society event, while the "Pretty Sister" Brunette Camp Knife will be auctioned on our Guinea Hog Forge Facebook page this Sunday (February 15th, 2015).

The "Pretty Sister" Brunette Camp Knife

Steel: 1095/15n20 Pattern-Welded Steel

Overall Length: 15 1/4 inches

Blade Length: 9 3/4 inches

Guard: Bead-blasted 416 Stainless

Handle: Wenge (aka: African Rosewood)

This is an exclusive auction open only to Guinea Hog Forge blade owners and folks on our production list currently waiting for knives. The auction will start at 9am EST on our Facebook page and will conclude at 9pm EST the same day. Bids can be placed via Facebook message or by emailing us at guineahogforge@gmail.com. We will update the bid history every couple hours throughout the day - more if necessary towards the end of the auction.

Thanks for looking. 

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com

Damascus Diamondback for France

Here are a couple of pictures of the completed Diamondback that was featured in the previous post.

1095/15n20 pattern-welded steel by E. Scott McGhee

416 Stainless Guard

African Blackwood Handle

Thanks for looking.

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com

Damascus Diamondback Passes the Chop Test

After handling chop tests on yellow pine and epay with ease, Scott decided to try this Damascus Diamondback out on a sweet gum that needed chopping down.

It passed the chop test with flying colors and still shaved afterwards!

This Diamondback will be hand-sanded, dressed in African Blackwood . . . 

. . . and then shipped to France later this week. 

Thanks for looking.

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com

Making of a Damascus Trekker Mini Hatchet

Here's how Scott's Damascus Trekker Mini Hatchet was made. 

Every blade starts with an idea turned into a wooden mock-up 

that is used as a guide during the forging process. 

Not all of Scott blades are Damascus, but this one was so first he has to make the steel. 

This one was forged out of 1095 and 15n20 tool steel randomly stacked, welded, forged together, twisted, then formed into a final billet of steel.

Twisted Damascus.

Final billet ready for shaping into a hatchet. 

Rough-forged 

Final ground - pre-heat treat

Post heat treat

Drift forged from a transfer truck axle.

Block 'o curly maple and drift

Handle cut out

Fitting the head

Roughed in handle

Handle with Aquafortis treatment

Bottom of handle has brown stain added. It added richness and depth to the Aquafortis.

Blade after final etch.

Wallah.

And a belt sheath to complete the package.

Thanks for looking.

Guinea Hog Forge
guineahogforge@gmail.com

Trekker Mini Hatchet

Scott just finished his first Trekker Mini Hatchet. We've been hiking and camping quite a bit of late, and this is a hatchet perfectly sized for both activities as well as hunting and backpacking. Scott's been itching to play with Damascus lately too, so this first Trekker Mini is a 1095/15n20 twisted Damascus beauty. It's going to make someone very happy this Christmas. 

Trekker Mini Hatchet

Blade: 1095/15n20

Overall Height: 7 1/2 inches

Blade Length: 4 5/8 inches

Weight: 12.4 ounces

Handle: Stained Curly Maple

Wedge: African Blackwood

Sheath: Leather with belt loop

Hand hold #1 - Choked up 

Hand hold #2 - at the base for more power

Smaller than an SR-71

Thanks for looking and Happy Holidays. 

Guinea Hog Forge

guineahogforge@gmail.com