T.J.watts

Thank you for the info gentleman. I'll post the blade when it's done.

The stuff I'm looking at is stabilized but I wasn't sure it would hold up. I've discussed it with him and he told me to do what's best but I wanted to try and give him what he asked for.

Texas knife maker supply carries the spalted burl. I just want to be sure I'm handing him a quality knife that isn't going to fail.

I'm making a kukri for a guy that will most likely be using it in Africa. He has requested spalted maple burl for the handle. It's a hidden tang and I'm wondering if the burl will hold up to a 9" kukri. I don't want a military guys weapon to fail in use and I'm wondering if I should use cocobolo or some other hardwood. What do you guys think?

I'm glad I got on here today, I just started playing with some roller bearings today. This stuff is tuff. I forged one to a bar and quenched in water just to get an idea of what it'll do, and the thing skates a file but won't break when I wack it with a 4lb. I'm pretty interested in how a blade will turn out. Frosty I just welded a rod to the end of mine. I still have a lot of work to do on tongs.

Very beautiful piece, I really like the design and how it looks in the sheath.

Nice, don't be afraid to bring that bevel up.

try putting a piece 2'' pipe in the forge and heat the blade inside the pipe. I use coal and if your not paying attention you can easily destroy all your work. With the pipe you can still see whats going on and get an even heat.

I have absolutly no clue how to make it but there are damascus rings all over and i believe they are using stainless and titanium, that would fix the rust issue.

Blacksmithing Projects by Percy W. Blandford, $10 on amazon. It has all sorts of projects to start with from punches, chisels to gates. Its always a good place to start building your tools.

Nice blade, even my 2yr old son said a knife a knife i like it lol.

I cant chime in too much on the Damascus but you may try a dark face shield instead of the goggles. I use a shade 3 and keep it half down so that I can still see the anvil but it dulls the forge enough not to blind me.

I'm not really a fan either but that's what I was asked for.

regular old plumbers solder.

This one if for me, it started as a show off piece more or less. I don't think the crack will hurt anything as far as normal use goes but as the same time I know its there. Since this is my first time pattern welding I'm trying not to kick myself to much but I can be pretty critical of myself. I guess more than anything I'm struggling to make up my mind on whether or not to keep it.