Wow. I can't believe I ever forged damascus by hand!
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008
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Dave Stephens
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Battle Axe
Low Layer Persian
Ladies Boot Dagger
Persian Art Dagger
Dark Elf Blade
Dark Elf Blade
Damascus Dagger
Damascus Dagger
LOTR Short Sword
LOTR Short Sword
Elf Belt Knife
Damascus Dagger
502 Layer with Ironwood Hanlde
Damascus Falcon Dagger
Damascus Sword
Quillion Dagger
First damascus dagger using the new hydraulic press
Damascus Dagger
Short Sword
This is the first sword out of the new shop. It is a forged 5160 spring steel blade, flat ground with a carved grind line. It has reconstituted malachite as the bolster and carved micarta for the scales. Leather sheath with a decorative malachite button. I did some cut tests with this thing after it was done. It is a cuttin' SOB. I hacked a 2x4 in half in just a few swings.
Close of up Sword Handle
Here's a close up of the handle of the new sword.
Persian Fighter
This is a stock removal project, but I really like the way it turned out. It's of O1 tool steel with brass bolsters and kingwood scales. This is an original design.
Railroad Spike Knife
A buddy of mine found me a bunch of railroad spikes that I can use to recapture some of my forging skills. This is an example of the knives I made out of them. The pommel is actually the head of the railroad spike. The blade is flat ground with a carved grind line. This is the first knife I did a flat grind on. I've done exclusively hollow grind my entire knifemaking career. It was . . . interesting (translation: It sucked!). Still, I like the end result.
Forged Bowie
This is bowie I forged from 1095 tool steel. I'm pretty happy with this piece. I also hot forged the brass crossguard, which is the first time I've done that. The tang goes through the layers of tulipwood, ironwood, cocobolo and ivory micarta and is threaded at the end. The brass pommel screws onto the tang. You can't see it in this photo, but the pin is a mosaic pin. Hollow grind with a pretty nice mirror polish.
First One in 18 Years
This is the first knife I made in the new shop. My parents sold their house after my freshmen year in college, so I didn't have a shop. About 10 months ago I put together the shop again. This is a stock removal hunter made out of O1 tool steel with brass bolster and ironwood scales. This is an original design.
The knives and swords below are from the shop I had in high school and early college (roughly 1987 - 1991).
Art Dagger
This is was an ambitious project for me when I made this dagger (1991). It is an O1 blade with a ironwood and cocobolo handle and brass fittings. Let's just say that I was stretching a bit with this project for the level of patience my 19 year old self could put into a project. It looks good from five feet away, but it's one of the blades I hide when other knifemakes come over.
Cable Damascus Wakizashi
This is a cable damascus Wakizashi that I forged in 1990. It has a beautiful chunk of desert ironwood for the handle and rope filework on the bolster.
Bastard Sword
This is a collaboration that I did with my late friend Doug Pendegrass in 1990. It is of 5160 spring steel with a twisted wire handle and brass inlay. Doug was a genius when it came to grinding long, double-edged hollow ground blades. I sure miss him.
Damascus Art Dagger
This is another of my knives from the old days. It is from the same billet as the hunter listed above. The handle is ebony with twisted brass wire. The fittings are brass and stainless steel, and the sheath is oak wrapped in deerskin with a brass collar.
Damascus Hunter
This is one of the knives from my "old" days making knives. It was a gift for my father. It's a hand forged (really, just a hammer . . . no hydraulics, no power hammers, nothing) by me in 1989. It has 512 layers of O1 and L6 steel in a twist pattern. The handle is of ebony with an ivory micarta spacer.