First Damascus Knife Finished!

D

deker

Joined
Nov 14, 2005
Messages
3,496
This is the one I've been posting in-progress pics of here and there. I finally finished it today. It hasn't got an edge yet since I plan to try and get a sheath made for it and don't want to cut myself in the process :)

56 layer twist pattern of 1084/15n20 (from my very first billet!)
Inset Macassar Ebony Scales
1/4" Mosaic Pins

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I'd like to take the chance again to thank J. and Tess Neilson for their hospitality, and J. for the grinding and finishing tips that made this knife the best I've done yet. I actually ordered my stencils today since I finally have something I feel good about putting my name on.

Also, a big thanks to Butch Harner for taking the pictures that make this one look so good.

Guess I gotta start on another one now :)

-d
 
Congratulations, deker! Nice piece, I like it. :thumbup:
 
Really great piece. Good combination. Good pics also.
 
I love the pattern! And the mosaic pins really set it off. Feels like I'm talking about a car haha.

Definetly put your name on it, very well done.
 
wow good job deker that is a real work of art you got there. To thing this is your first makes me wonder what you next will look like. Keep up the outstanding work.
 
Good looking knife, good contrast and some very nice lines, looks comfortable.:thumbup:
 
S.Knowles said:
Very Nice, Lots O' contrast in that Billet!
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Ancient secret....(OK, not really). When you come out of the final etch (I etched 4 times for 10 minutes each), immediately splash the whole thing down with acetone and it'll set the black on the simple carbon steel. Then hit the highs lightly with 2000 grit paper with a hard backer (I used a piece of leather backed by a piece of flat wood) to bring out the 15n20. Oh, and I had finished the whole thing out to 800 grit and buffed it lightly with white rouge before etching.

-d
 
warrior24 said:
wow good job deker that is a real work of art you got there. To thing this is your first makes me wonder what you next will look like. Keep up the outstanding work.
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Not my FIRST, just my first damascus. Overall I think that's #8. Of course, *I* wonder what the next will look like too! :) I need to keep practicing my grinds for sure though.

Thanks for all the kind comments folks!

-d
 
Very helpful post and great looking knife!

I actually just made my first forge this week and started my first damascus billet (Also using 1080 and 15n20). Since I don't have a power hammer I was wondering how few layers I could weld (because I'm out of shape and drawing that billet by hand is a work out!) and still have a great looking billet... and your knife answers that question beautifully.
 
decker, Great job.
One question - you said it was a twist pattern? It looks like a regular random pattern in the photos?How did you twist it?
Stacy
 
Nice work. Won't it be nice to know that you left something really cool behind (name and all). It will be here long after we are gone.
 
it realy is a must see
as i am getting better at picture taking i still cant show it as well as it should be shown
 
buckspa said:
Very helpful post and great looking knife!

I actually just made my first forge this week and started my first damascus billet (Also using 1080 and 15n20). Since I don't have a power hammer I was wondering how few layers I could weld (because I'm out of shape and drawing that billet by hand is a work out!) and still have a great looking billet... and your knife answers that question beautifully.
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One thing that'll help a bit if you have to do it by hand is to draw it out kind of long and rather than folding in half, cut into 3 or 4 pieces and re-stack. It makes adding up the layer count a lot easier. Also, you might want to try to get some thinner stock to start with. If you use thinner stock, you can start with more layers. Keep an eye out for my next one, it'll only be 28 layers and if I'm right it should look pretty sweet.

bladsmth said:
One question - you said it was a twist pattern? It looks like a regular random pattern in the photos?How did you twist it?
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It was a very light twist. Maybe 1 twist per inch or so on a 1" square bar and then I forged it back flat. I also used the end of the bar (you can see the straight laminate in the blade end) rather than cutting it off. I also forged this blade to about 1/4" thick and then ground the sides flat to about 1/8" and then ground in the bevels. That probably had something to do with the paterning as well.

butcher_block said:
it realy is a must see
as i am getting better at picture taking i still cant show it as well as it should be shown
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You're being far too modest Butch. Your pictures really make the pattern in the blade pop.

-d
 
That is well incredible. I love how vivid the patern is. Ive seen alot of nice dmascus blades but most have fairly muted paterns not nearly as vivid as that. Corse thats on production and semi custom blade but still thats a work of art.
 
Great job Rob. She came out very sweet. I sure wish my 8th knife came out that nice...hell, I don't think my 80th came out as good.

Can't wait to see what's next, maybe a hidden tang. :p

Glad to help out and your always welcome here.
 
yeah that what I meant deker I knew you have made others before, but this was your first Damascus.
 
Decker,

Love the knife, especially the way you made the scales a little smaller than the perimeter of the handle area. When you go to all the effort to make a billet like that, I really hate to cover a beautiful piece of steel with handle material :thumbup:

Larry T
 
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