 A special project
I am a Welding and Metal work instructor in New Mexico. Recently, after showing some people a blade that I had completed, one of my students approached me and told me that her father had an unground Damascus blade that had been forged for him many years ago by a master smith that had been a friend of his when their family had lived in Arkansas. She went on to tell me that her father had always wanted to finish the blade, but now was terminally ill and was not doing well at all. 2 days later she brought the blank to me to finish for him. It was 5 1/4" long, and appeared to be L6 and O1, so I treated it as such. I ground it, heat treated it, etched it, and gave it a Purple Heart handle and copper bolster. It was a comfortable knife that was hard to let go of, and I am told that he enjoyed it greatly while he could. He passed away two weeks ago. Though I never met him, I was honored to help him complete something that he had dreamt of for so long.
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