I don't post much of my work, but I know I should. So I'm going to try and post up some of the more interesting stuff that I've been working on recently, not just the mundane dozen adze heads or pile of spoon hooks (which is where I am this week 
)
So first up is a giant damascus piece I made for a friend the other month. Well, I say made 'the other month', what I really mean is 'finally finished having started on it about 3 years ago'. It's not really what I'm into these days in any respect, so it didn't get worked on until I felt that I really needed to get it done and out of the way. My good friend Simon first started working on the idea years ago and I've made lots of less ornate pieces for him over the last decade and a half that I've been doing this for a living, but he's never had any pattern welded stuff.
Simon named this the Iron Mistress and is going to make a sheath for it himself, which I have no doubt will be equally overkill and elaborate. The blade on this thing is about 14" long, 3" wide and almost 1/2" thick at the hilt!!! The antler handle is about 40mm in diameter, certainly too big for my hands, but it is about right for this beast. The blade itself is about 500 layers in a ladder pattern. In the making of the blade, I couldn't physically work such a large about of steel (wouldn't fit in my welding forge and my power hammer is too small to work such a large billet). So I had to make up several smaller billets and then weld them together to get enough mass and enough layers for this beast.
I'm quite pleased with it, but as it's not really my bag and I'm never happy with anything I make, I'm not one to judge. The important thing is that Simon not only loved it but was rendered speechless, for possible the first time since I've known him
Sadly I couldn't get any good pictures of it. Hopefully when the sheath is done, Simon will do a better job and I will update this thread
iron mistress3 by buddknives, on Flickr
Iron Mistress2 by buddknives, on Flickr
Iron Mistress by buddknives, on Flickr
)So first up is a giant damascus piece I made for a friend the other month. Well, I say made 'the other month', what I really mean is 'finally finished having started on it about 3 years ago'. It's not really what I'm into these days in any respect, so it didn't get worked on until I felt that I really needed to get it done and out of the way. My good friend Simon first started working on the idea years ago and I've made lots of less ornate pieces for him over the last decade and a half that I've been doing this for a living, but he's never had any pattern welded stuff.
Simon named this the Iron Mistress and is going to make a sheath for it himself, which I have no doubt will be equally overkill and elaborate. The blade on this thing is about 14" long, 3" wide and almost 1/2" thick at the hilt!!! The antler handle is about 40mm in diameter, certainly too big for my hands, but it is about right for this beast. The blade itself is about 500 layers in a ladder pattern. In the making of the blade, I couldn't physically work such a large about of steel (wouldn't fit in my welding forge and my power hammer is too small to work such a large billet). So I had to make up several smaller billets and then weld them together to get enough mass and enough layers for this beast.
I'm quite pleased with it, but as it's not really my bag and I'm never happy with anything I make, I'm not one to judge. The important thing is that Simon not only loved it but was rendered speechless, for possible the first time since I've known him
Sadly I couldn't get any good pictures of it. Hopefully when the sheath is done, Simon will do a better job and I will update this thread
iron mistress3 by buddknives, on FlickrIron Mistress2 by buddknives, on FlickrIron Mistress by buddknives, on Flickr
