Feather pattern billet--WIP

[Fred.Rowe]

Beautiful feather Fred.
Looks like there is a dagger waiting to emerge from that bar of steel to me.

BTW:
don't you think Nick's new glasses make him look a lot smarter?

My question; Why does anyone want an avatar that resembles a lineup photo?

Funny that you would say that ,Mark.

I bought a fantastic bar of feather pattern from Randy Haas. It was one of the nicest I have seen.
Yesterday I was showing it to a knife maker friend and telling him how I planned on forging the tip up and pull the bevels down to make a wicked fighter/Bowie. He looked at me in shock, and said, "Your, not going to ruin the dagger that wants to come out of this bar, are you!" I said, "Fighters sell and daggers sit on the table." He smiled and said, "If I made a dagger out of that bar, I would never talk about selling it."

I have two damascus daggers.

Dang it man! I was going to do a drop point hunter instead of a dagger with that piece because I didn't think my grinding was up to it. Now I have to rethink the dagger.

I've never made a dagger before. I'd hate to mess up nice steel. Even practicing on three or four pieces before might not be enough to get it.

Also, learning about the process is amazing. Very cool.

If your going to keep it, make a dagger, its pretty easy to grind one with the the new tool your getting.

Nice looking bar of feather Fred. You made it look easy by leaving out some steps.

I left out the fun stuff; 71/2 inch right angle grinder with a 5 lb cup stone attached. Grueling work.:nightmare:

 

[Brian.Evans]

Fred, I played with grinding a dagger once before. I will practice with the bubble jig on some cheaper blade steel first and see what happens.

 

[jll346]

Vey nice work Fred.

 

[Salem Straub]

Fred, thanks a bunch for taking the times to answer my questions. That pretty much clears up my uncertainties. I'd like to try it soon; I hate flux eating my forge, too. Guess I'll have to wait until my press is plumbed and ready to run.