Forged guard idea - advice appreciated

B

bjalongi

Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
640
Hi folks,

I'm working on a period style knife - please don't ask me what period! I forged it over the weekend out of 1095. The handle will be distressed and the blade given a deep FC etch. I will forge the guard out of mild steel, which will also get etched.

I would like to know your opinion regarding whether I should twist the guard in addition to the curls, or just keep it straight with curls. I'm indifferent and can't make up my mind. But I'm leaning towards straight, because I've seen a lot of knives that had a few twists in the location on my drawing that seemed to be overkill.

The handle is elk horn that I will die brown. I'm also considering wrapping the first 3/4" to 1" of horn behind the guard with sinew, which will also get died and distressed.

It's easy to forge little stuff like the guards, so I might just do one of each for the heck of it. I could always save the one I don't use for a knife in the future.

The NRA card is for scale.

Take care,
Brook :p

Periodknife.jpg
 
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I think that no twists would look better. The twist on one side will make it look unbalanced. Thats just my two cents
 
I think that it will look great.:thumbup:

BTW, I have me one of them fancy cards. In the bottom left corner it says "Life". HEHE, good stuff all the way around.
 
Pancho: Yeah, that's what I'm thinking.

One thing is for certain, this will be a really fast blade.
 
Simple done right will look better than a twisted piece of steel especially when your not sure what your going to do.
 
Either way that's great blade. I vote no twist and try a sketch changing the direction of the curl on the top of the guard . Just a thought.
 
I think it is all a matter of choice and the look you want to acheive. Simple can look good as can something with a little more effort. Here is something that I did recently that will give you a general idea.
DSC02786.jpg

DSC02784.jpg
 
John, I have seen this knife before and really admired it. You do excellent work and very inline with my interests. I am curious to see the end of the handle. Do have any close up shots of it?
 
bjalongi said:
John, I have seen this knife before and really admired it. You do excellent work and very inline with my interests. I am curious to see the end of the handle. Do have any close up shots of it?
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the compliements! The only other shot I have is this one. I don't have a head on view, but maybe you can see what you would like to see in this one.
DSC02767.jpg
 
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