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It's been a while since I posted anything, so I thought I'd share a few pics of a recent blade. It's made from 80Crv2 with stabilized elk antler as the main part of the handle. Guard and butt cap are low count pattern welded 15N20/1095 twist. I did a full flat grind on the blade and some file work on the spine. As usual there are several things I'd do differently if I was starting over, but in general I'm ok with how it turned out. I still have to put an edge on it, but other than that it's complete. It's about 17 inches in overall length and about 11 inches from guard to tip.

Over the years I've used other folks' Damascus steel quite a few times. This blade is the first one from my own Damascus. This is 21 layers of Aldo's original 1084 and some 15n20. The guard is wrought iron wagon rim that belonged to my great great grandfather, George Kromer. The handle is curly maple. Overall length is around 12 inches. It was built with a threaded rod through the handle, fastened with a corby head that was then covered with a Texas mosaic pin. I'll have it on my table for the Silver Spur show in Abilene Feb 24/25. Although this is a regular "gun show", we've worked with Kim the promoter and will have around 10 knifemakers from the Texas Knifemakers' Guild there, as well as Terry Dunn with three tables of stabilized wood handle material of the highest grade. We'll also have educational seminars at 1:00 both days.

I just got pictures back from Johnny Stout of a knife I did a few months ago. It was intended to go to Governor Abbott (of Texas) to celebrate the passing of HB1935 which legalized bowie knife carry. Unfortunately hurricane Harvey literally rained on our party, so we haven't closed the deal with the governor. Because of the governor thing, many different people had a part in this project. Since this was a bowie, going to the governor of Texas, to be delivered at the Alamo, by a Texas knifemaker, I went with a collection of Texas historical materials. The blade is forged W2, donated to the project by Aldo Bruno. I forged it to shape and did the heat treat at my home in Hawley, TX. The handle is sycamore wood, spalted, from the grounds of the Texas Capitol building in Austin. My brother was friends in college with a guy who worked grounds crew and brought the wood home as firewood. It was ultimately dyed and stabilized by Terry Dunn, of LaVernia, TX. The guard and spacer are wrought iron, blued. The material was given by Will Frary of Grapevine, TX, and came from the rail of the first railroad into Dallas, TX in 1872. The coined spacers are 1836 capped-bust half dollars. Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836. The stand includes mesquite from Abilene, given to me by my cousin, also a 6th generation Fry Texan. The wrought iron square nails forged to shape for the stand are from the house of 1840’s settler Allen Urquhart, who founded Jefferson, TX. The nails were donated by Don Millhouse of Fredericksburg, Tx. Thanks to all who contributed to this project! We're still working on the governor, but things are stalled in that regard, so for now we'll have to just celebrate the pictures.

A while back a gentleman "gifted" me with a 2" cable choker. Over the next few months I began playing around with it by cutting 6" off and fusing the ends. That was about 4 lbs of steel. I fiddled with it, hammered and argued with it until my arm hurt. But it finally came together. The blade is 11 1/2" (16 1/2" overall). The handle is Gaboon ebony with stabilized stag spacer and brass fixtures. To my eye it needs something more. I'd love to do some engraving on the brass and silver inlay on the handle although I've found that ebony isn't the best for inlay, not that I have the tools or knowledge to do either. For those who might be curious, it's all hand hammered. I don't own a power hammer or press, although projects like this make me wish I had one.

Is it just me, or is this knife begging for a clip point?

This has been a prototype I've been developing for a while and am happy to finally show off! Waterjet cut then forged 5160 blade with integral guard. Handle window contains dried autumn leaves suspended in alumilite. Next I'll be working on different versions of this with various blade styles and handle materials ranging from crushed egg shells to solid cocobolo to antler. Leme know what yall think!

Carbon steel nuts, bolts, and chopped up gear stock welded in a canister with 1095 and nickle powder, forge-welded-on random pattern 1080 and 1095 cutting edge. Hidden tang ebony handle with 3D printed cast bronze guard and medallions. The Nazz logo is hidden in the medallions. I've been having a lot of fun with canister damascus recently; I think I'll try to perfect this pattern a bit more, I really like where it's going... not quite there yet though, I want to find smaller carbon steel gearstock, nuts, and bolts. Could have welded on the edge a bit more cleanly - next time I think I'll go with a twisted edge, feels more appropriate for the theme.

This piece has a lot of firsts for me. I tried casting the pommel directly on to the base of the tang, and it worked wonderfully. The 3D printed medallions are an adaptation of the handle wrapped design I made a while ago. Nicholson file edge/core material with ancient wrought iron shell and pure nickle shims. Cyprian olive wood, synthetic counter material, and copper pin. I had never used the counter material before, and it ended up complimenting the other materials really well... although they are misaligned. The Nicholson file had a lot of great texture that showed up after acid etching. Plunge lines are a little fudged up. Here's a little video about the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHwpEWB-a1Y&feature=youtu.be Comments and critique always appreciated.

My latest piece. W-Pattern Damascus blade. 1095/15N20. 7-7/8" long by 1-5/16" wide. Stabilized Black Ash burl. Red Bronze and 416 spacers, 416 guard, pins, and frame. The spine and heel of the handle are filed like the belly (shown) Filework is browned with Birchwood Casey Plum Brown finish

Had a lot of fun forging this one. The sketch started off as a pretty aggressive blade... ... then I picked up this quickie repair of a fellas grandfather's WWII knife where the pommel had come off (also repolished and sharpened the blade a bit)... ...which made the steel change it's mind in the middle of the forging process... ...and all of a sudden it's a totally different blade. Thankfully the customer loved it, and I got off the hook for taking artistic merit to the extreme. Still applying oil to the handle, was too eager to show off haha. Should have drawn a longer tang to get more curls out of the pommel (I rounded off that point). The black walnut came from a downed tree that was properly cut and seasoned, but unfortunately my cuts came from the surface and had inconsistent/spotty coloration; light brown, reddish in spots, small blotches of black. I need to practice choil and plunge lines... I'm thinking of leaving a little more meat to grind instead of forging to shape. Comment and critique always appreciated, Theo

Hi, so here are a couple things I have been working on. The first is a bowie. Blade is around 9" differntially hardened W-2, ironwwod handle with 416 guard and brass spacer. It has a exuberant hamon with lots of activity. It is a little hard to see in photos because I polished for detail instead of contrast. It is just about done but still needs a littler finishing with the guard and handle. The second is a hybrid wak, 18" blade. I have just finished polishing, it is a very active hamon. The plan for this is a western style hidden tang handle, although I have not found a piece of wood that is long enough yet. Hope you like them, any feedback is always appreciated, -Justin