atakach

sure is alot of work, i hope this is one that will open new doors for me. The carving and sculpting of steel is a major interest to me, just not time to concentrate on it as much as i'd like, but hopefully you will see more of this type of work over the years to come

thanks all

-andrew

This is one I have been working on Off and on for a while. It is 1095 and 15n20 twist I welded up. After welding I surface ground the bar and started carving the billet to what I have now. There is still alot of polishing, aand all has to be done by hand , so as to not wash out the lines of the piece.

I hogged most of the material off with carbide burs, and then used alot of little files and different sanding pads and blocks.

Here's what i got so far:

Roughed out



After I cleaned up and evened out the sides.



Starting to sand out the tool marks

the previous poster that said they only penetrate to certain depths is incorrect in my opinion, these were done professionally, and are 100% stabilized the whole way through. One way it is obvious is that they were larger pieces and ground way down, the dye is just as vibrant in the wood as it was before ground.

They are done i believe with a combo of heat,vaccuum, and either acrylics or polymers. these particular pieces came from www.arizonaironwoods.com

thanks all

andrew

Here are 5 that a customer ordered for Christmas gifts, I thought they came out really cool. Even though the pic isnt very clear, the pattern in them was real nice and had great contrast. They are 1095 and 15n20. They all measure between 6 1/4'' - 7 1/4''.

The handles are (L to R) , snakewood,ironwood,buckeye burl,camel bone,box elder burl. All the woods are stabilized.

thanks all, and ill give ya a ring tonight cuz

Got another pic of this one, this one isn't much better, but it shows the whole package. I called it the "MAZONA", It is a ladder pattern blade and blued damascus guard, with desert ironwood burl handle. Sheath was made by Robert Jones.

The overall is about 20'', with a blade of 14''.

The steel make up is w1 and 15n20

thanks for look'en





and a couple close ups while still in progress



not wet in the pic, wood is just as sanded to 1500, i then buffed lightly on the buffer once it was done

Great work.I especially like the hamon lines. I understand that to get a distinct hamon, it is better to use a straight carbon steel like say 1095 versus an alloy steel such as 5160 etc. Is that true?
Bob

thanks bud much appreciated

mrkiddi, i wouldnt go that far im sure you do terriffic work, i just take lousey photos so you cant see the flaws as well!!! ha ha

as for details, well it took long enough to gather pics, let alone add descript for all.

As for the carved handeled piece, it is a frame handeled construction. Frame and all hardware are wrought iron. the blade is wrought iron and W1 san mai. The scales are ebony, and were hand carved, with some rotory tool assistance, then textured by hand with a lil tool i made from some drill rod.

if you have questions or want specifics on a particular piece, just lemme know, id be happy to elaborate farther.

thanks again
andrew

Well, some of you may or may not have seen these pics already, if so sorry to bore you, everyone else i hope you enjoy some of the lastest pieces I have completed.

thank you sir, much appreciated

looks great.one of these days i will have to get on the damascus wagon,

Very nice, had a look on your website, your work is inspirational.

Oh baby! Come to Poppa! Pure functional beauty! Love it

Nice work, now lets go cleave some skulls! Oh, were not supposed to that any more, I'm sorry
That's a very nice job on the Damascus and the haft is nicely done too, anybody tell you lately that you do good work?

I forged this from a billet of 700+ layers of 1080,1018,w1, and nickle wire. The nickle wire was coiled around 1080, but there isn't enough in there to effect the cutting ability.

This is a wrap around style hawk, i used a hawk drift to open the eye up and give it a taper, so the handle is just a friction fit. It is not permenatley fixed, to allow disassembly for transporting, or to replace a broken handle.

It measures 15 1/2'' over all. The head is 6 3/4'' to the back of the eye, and the cutting edge is about 2 3/4''.

The hawk is hafted in curly maple, and has a hand rubbed oil finish.

thanx all.. u 2 cuz

thanks my friend

Built this for a fellow forum member. it's Wrought iron - W1 san mai , carved and textured ebony. All other hardware is textured wrought iron.

All wrought iron is from England....not that it makes a difference, just figured i'd add that in.

Sorry for poor photography
thanks for looking
andrew

Andrew...thanks for the info on the knife sheaths..I'll check 'em out real soon..much appreciated...

Gene

Very nice work. The contrast in that damascus is intense!

How did you fasten the pommel securely? I'm thinking about the same thing on a knife, but I can't wrap my head around trusting epoxy.

I've just got to say I don't believe I have ever seen damascus that is more beautiful than what u have done here..I love the contrast in the blade..UNREAL..I sure don't blame u about purchasing the sheaths..lotta trouble making one especially when u could be forging more blades! If u don't mind my asking, who makes the sheaths for u ? I mite be interested in that myself...thanks for the postings!!!

Gene

I've got one question: do u forge ur own damascus?

Gene

thank you my friend, much appreciated

andrew

thanks so very much for the positive comments, they are very much appreciated.

andrew