gearhartironwerks

Hi, This blade was made from additional material in a billet that a previously posted blade was made from. It's a little smaller than its big brother at 7.25 oal with a 3"+ blade. The lower 2 layers, and the top layer of the 4 bar twist are 375 layers each of a 'w' pattern. The lower layers began to wander and that has given me the idea to try to distort them even more on a future blade...sort of like a wandering feather pattern. Critiques/comments always welcome. Thanks. John

TC, Etching damascus is like Christmas when you were a kid...always a surprise. There are some markers that you know you are going to get, mainly after doing the process and seeing the results, and after wasting a lot of perfectly good steel. That being said, I like all damasus, especially the randomness of the process because with each forging, we learn something about where we've been and where/how we want to proceed. Forge on. John

Dang JM. I gave a bucket full of files away just to get them out from under foot. Thanks for the info. John

Hi, I had some used Simmonds files and played around a bit. This one was hardened in Parks and had an initial RC of 63, now tempered to 50-60. I don't know what the steel is. Maybe someone could chime in. It seemed relatively easy to forge though. John

Kayaker is right...ferric is the way to go. Try www.micromark.com to buy your ferric rather than RS. Best price going. Just search ferric chloride on their site. Also, I like to clean/pre-etch in battery acid 1:1 with distilled water prior to the ferric etch. To me, the ferric seems to take better. John

Just finished this multibar b&t knife. It was sold quickly making me a happy camper. The outside bars were twisted crushed 'w' patterns. The inside was an amalgamation of leftover pieces that to me, turned out pretty good. Cocobolo scales. Comments/critique always welcome. Thanks, John

just my two cents as a blacksmith and bladesmith...it's a little too blacksmithy for my taste. there seems to be a lot of space between the ricasso and the handle and that may limit its usefulness. someone brought that up about one of my blades and I think it was a good observation. Also, I think scrolls can be more effective when used sparingly in a small space. technically, the blending of the blade to the handle looks great. you're way ahead of me as I've never had much success doing that. John

super good looking knife. congrats. the handle is terrific as well. John

Just finished a handle on a previously posted blade and completed a new one. Thanks for looking and comments always welcome. John

What a nice group of blades! Congrats. John

Looks really nice. Pass around? :) john

Well said SC Dave. John

Dang, that's a beauty! john

be careful on the long sloping curves as they tend to flex, and that's not a good thing for tables. john

I make a lot of tables. Forge welding large stock is a nightmare. I suggest using tenons where necessary. Slit and drift where you must, then CHEAT and tig weld where the tenon comes thru and peen the tenon to hide the tig weld. Rock solid and looks great. Think reality. John

Sure, as you're not adding any contaminants such as flux to trap unwanted particles. Assuming your forge is temp controlled and soak time is adequate, welding is easy and clean. John

How about a wip? John

A distant neighbor came by the shop and asked if I was interested in buying an anvil he had in his garage for years. So, I bought it for $50. It has no markings other than the number 19 stamped on it. A quick guesstimate is that it is around 300 lbs. The face is 5 x 21 and overall it is 31 to the tip of the horn and is 13" tall. Does anyone have an idea as to the maker? Thanks for your input. John Gearhart Ironwerks

That's the cheap fire water. Must be from SA. Nothing under 12 here...as you know.

I think you kind of have to 'feel the love' when doing handles. They're not my favorite part of bladesmithing, so I tend to put it off till I really want to go to it. I think an attractive handle will sell a knife, even a mediocre looking blade. John

Steve, They look more like hunter/skinners to me. A paring blade is smaller/thinner in profile. Just my 2 cents. John

Due to the shop work load, I've been a little slow getting some blades finished, so here is a 5 bar damascus 1095/L6 hunter ready for furniture, and a 1095 elk tine. Thanks for looking/comments. John

Definitely a nice blade! Looking forward to the next one. John

For me, as I have a hydraulic press, I quench for 8-10 seconds in oil, then immediately put the blade btw (2) 1.5" thick al plates and press for several minutes or so until the blade is cool. The same effort could be done in a vise located near the quench tank. I usually quench and straighten twice till the steel is cool on the second pass. Straightening after temper is a pita, and while it works sometimes, is a crap shoot. Better to do it asap imho. John

To me, and I defer to Rich and Steve who have done more O1 than me, but from my experience, overheating can be a major culprit. O1 holds a great edge, but close attention should be applied to forging/ht. It also rusts easily. I made one for a fisherman who loves and dislikes it, but he still wants me to sharpen it on occasion. Says it's the best and ugliest blade he's ever had. What can I say...something has to give. Kind of like life. John