2010 March of Dimes Fundraiser

John M Cohea

John M Cohea

Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
2,655
Hi everyone.Last year's effort was a great sucess due to the talented artists we had on board, and I hope this coming year will be equally sucessful!
The lineup for this year is ABS Journeyman Kyle Royer for a mosaic damascus blade, ABS Mastersmith Burt Foster for handle and fittings, engraver Joe Mason will be giving us a touch of gold, and Chris Kravitt of TreeStump Leather will do the sheath.
Ohter contributers will be once again Coop for the photo, my brother Wayne for the display box, and this year Don Fields donated the fossil walrus ivory that Burt will use for the handle scales.
Layla and I will sit this one out as far as the construction goes.With the talent we have this year I think our participation would only detract from the effort:D, so this year we will stick to the promoting!
Here is a few pics Kyle sent me of what he has done so far. I will let him fill in the details.
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WHATTA knife! I am going to enjoy this project.

John, I am sorry to hear of you standing this one out from the craftsman standpoint, but this team is going to rock. That's YOUR doing. :thumbup:

Please keep us posted. Best wishes to Layla, too. :)

Coop
 
This knife is gonna rock in a major way. Great project. :thumbup:

Rpger
 
Hi Mr. Cohea,

First off I would like to thank you for inviting me to make the blade for this project. This is the first collaboration I've ever done with anyone and I'm having a great time making my part of this knife.

Burt Foster came up with the design on this knife. Before I started the blade Burt and I talked on the phone while he sent me sketches through e-mail and I looked them over on the phone. Burt refined it until he came out with the above sketch and asked if I liked it and we went from there.

The blade is about 9" long and forged from 1080 and 15N20. The damascus pattern is a four bar "W" twist with a small difference from what I've been making. What I did different is after I made the first weld, forged the bar on a bias 90 degree angle and cut it into four pieces I then put a piece of 15N20 in between the four bars to frame in the "W". If you look closely at the pattern it looks quite different from a regular "W" twist.

I also ground, heat treated, tempered, final ground, hand sanded to 320 grit and softened the tang of the blade and the ricasso. I gave it a quick etch to see how the pattern came out. Then I sent it off to Burt. After Burt is done with the handle he will send it back to me and I'll finish hand sanding the blade to 1200 grit and etch it.

I am really looking forward to seeing how this knife looks finished.

Again thank you for inviting me to be part of this fund raiser Mr. Cohea!

Thanks for looking and have a very merry Christmas everyone,

Kyle
 
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erik markman said:
Where are tickets available?
Click to expand...

Eric, chances will go on sale around the end of next month.Keep a watch on this forum and thread for detail.
Kyle, thank you for coming on board, and thanks also to Burt, Joe, Chris, Coop, and everyone else involved.
 
This is going to be a beauty, thanks for the opportunity to watch it unfold :)
 
Wow!! Beautiful blade shap. Incredible damascus!!. Awesome work from all involved:thumbup:
 
John,

Apparently your talent for making Period style knives, hawks, and leather is only eclipsed by your ability to assemble an amazing group of collaborators, LOL

Can't wait to see this one completed !

-Josh
 
Hi folks, got some pics and text in from Burt Foster today, so it's time for an update.First off, a change had to be made from the original design. Joe need more room for engraving, so Burt decided to go with a full guard instead of just a ferrule.Now for some details.
foster1.jpg

This is the blade as it arrived from Kyle.320 grit hand finish, really nice multi bar damascus barely visible.
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This is the walrus ivory, generously donated by Don Fields of R.Fields Ivory
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This is the little damascus spacer that will sit between the guard and the handle.It's a piece of w's that Kyle sent with the finished blade.

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chunk of 416 stainless forged down from 1" bar.
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Here's the guard with the top shaped, ready to be slotted for the blade.
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The guard, spacer, and handle, fitted and bedded to the tang, ready for final shaping.
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This is the knife as it left my shop.The guard is shaped and sanded to 600 grit, along with the damascus spacer.The handle is shaped and polished.Kyle will etch the blade and spacer, mark the blade with both our marks, assemble the knife, insert the pin, then send it off to Joe Mason for some engraving on the guard.
Boy, it sure looks great does'nt it!Thanks Burt:thumbup:
As a side note, I decided to do something different this year. Thanks to David Darom's thread on display stands,I decide to go with a stand this year, which I will make(I could'nt stand being left out on the fun:D).
Mark ,of Burl Source will be contributing a slab of burl wood for the stand, and I've enlisted Josh Dabney to scrim a piece of ivory with "March of Dimes 2010" , which I will inlet into the stand.
That's all for now!
 
WOW, brother John , that is sure coming along nicely.This is going to be a beauty. Dave:thumbup::)
 
Thanks everyone:thumbup:Kevin, the drawing will be somewhere around mid April.I will post an exact date after I et down and figure it out on the calander.Even though the knife won't be quite ready, I plan on having the tickets print and start sales in a couple of weeks.I will keep ya'll in the loop on the details.
 
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