Gibeon Meteorite for blade

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About 10 years ago my wife bought a slab of gibeon meteorite for me. She thought it could be made into a knife blade. A lot of old kung fu movies would talk about swords being made from meteorite that were indestructible and had magical powers. I know this stuff has magical powers, what I am wondering is could it be made into a knife?

Even if it couldn't be heat treated I wanted to use it for a dagger shaped art knife.
The chemical composition of the Gibeon is:
# 90% iron
# 8% nickel
# 0.4% cobalt
# 0.04% phosphorus.
The steel when etched shows a pattern called Widmanstatten that looks like crosshatching or a plaid pattern. You might be able to see a bit of this in the photo. This piece is pretty scuffed from carrying it around for so long.

Have any of you worked with gibeon meteorite before?
Would anyone with experience consider shaping this into a dagger type blade in trade for some real nice burl handle blocks. I was hoping one of the Mastersmiths would consider this as I am afraid I would mess this up. It is too nice of a piece and my wife paid a lot for it. I figured it was time to do something with it.

Dimensions are 6.5"x1"x1/8"+

Let me know what you guys think.

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Many makers who use meteorite forge it into damascus billits or use parts of the meteorite for hardware.

Some of the best examples of meteorite work I've seen on the boards come from Michael Miller (unclemike13). His meteorite damascus work is absolutely amazing. Here's an old thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=571007&highlight=meteorite

And here's his meteorite work on his website:

http://www.mmilleroriginals.com/page76.html

He's got several pieces forged from parts of the gibeon.

--nathan
 
I have a good amount of experience working with meteorite, most of it forging it into damascus, but some of it also working in the raw state. I have a job for next week doing exactly what you are asking for. I also have alot of experience with making daggers, I have made in excess of 600 of them, mostly from 1/8" stock. I would be happy to discuss the project with you.
Thanks,
Del
 
You certainly have a lovely piece of meteorite !!!! I have done several sets of folder bolsters with this. Del Ealy IS for sure fully capable and qualified to do a super job for you in the forging and finishing a knife for you. When I use meteorite for bolsters, I don't forge it but use it as it is. A difference I do in the finishing is to etch the meteorite and then heat colour it. To see how Seymachan meteorite will look, go to my folder listings at customknifegallery.com. Frank Niro
 
Absolutely. Del's work is wonderful. I'd jump all over that offer.

--nathan
 
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Thanks for the kudos Frank and Nathan!
Mark and I just had a good conversation about this piece and its gong to be fun to work with.
Del
 
Nathan,
Thanks for the links. I have to agree the knives look great.

My goal with this piece is to preserve the natural Widmanstatten patterns of the meteorite. My understanding is that forging will distort or eliminate the pattern.

It looks like I have lined up a maker (Delbert Ealy) to make the blade who has a good bit of experience with gibeon meteorite. He will be making the blade, a local jeweler will be making some of the fittings and I will be doing the woodwork.

I will post photos as it progresses.

Any design ideas are welcome. It will be an art dagger. More of a display piece.

Thanks for the input. Mark
 
Frank Niro said:
You certainly have a lovely piece of meteorite !!!! I have done several sets of folder bolsters with this. Del Ealy IS for sure fully capable and qualified to do a super job for you in the forging and finishing a knife for you. When I use meteorite for bolsters, I don't forge it but use it as it is. A difference I do in the finishing is to etch the meteorite and then heat colour it. To see how Seymachan meteorite will look, go to my folder listings at customknifegallery.com. Frank Niro
Click to expand...

I just looked at your folders. WOW!!!
I really like your folder with the heat colored meteorite bolsters. That coloring is a look I really like.

Delbert, If you are still online, is that a possibility with the blade?

This is going to be a fun project. With all of you guys giving input and examples it looks like this will be a great project with a lot of people involved in the finished design.

Thanks everybody.
 
Attempts to HT meteorites will destroy the widmanstatten pattern.
 
mete said:
Attempts to HT meteorites will destroy the widmanstatten pattern.
Click to expand...

We won't be heat treating the blade. That is part of the reason I am going with a display art knife instead of a fancy user. I want to keep the pattern. Photos I have seen show the pattern stays intact when heat colored though.
 
John M Cohea said:
This one should be interesting to see come along. I bet it will be a beauty!
Click to expand...

I am confident in the part Delbert will be doing. I'm the one we have to worry about holding up my end of the project. I usually come up with several wrong ways before I figure out the right way.

When the blade comes back to me I will be posting photos and design drawings. Maybe you guys will be able to help me not to make any dumb mistakes.
 
Burl Source said:
I just looked at your folders. WOW!!!
I really like your folder with the heat colored meteorite bolsters. That coloring is a look I really like.

Delbert, If you are still online, is that a possibility with the blade?

This is going to be a fun project. With all of you guys giving input and examples it looks like this will be a great project with a lot of people involved in the finished design.

Thanks everybody.
Click to expand...

Mark,
Let me check with Frank, but I will talk to you before I finish it.
Thanks,
Del
 
I have a nice slab of Gibeon, I'm going to use it for bolsters along with dino bone and mammoth handle scales. That widmannstaten pattern is too awesome to wreck by forging it out.
 
haggismonger said:
I have a nice slab of Gibeon, I'm going to use it for bolsters along with dino bone and mammoth handle scales. That widmannstaten pattern is too awesome to wreck by forging it out.
Click to expand...


I agree, I refuse anyone who would want such a thing done, however I do make damascus from meteorites that do not have such beautiful patterning.
I will be grinding out this particular blade.
Del
 
This should be really cool! :)

I don't really understand why some makers mix the meteorite into damascus, the knives that I have seen done this way just looked like a random pattern. I love random patterns, but you can achieve that with a simple mix of steel...no need to throw meteorite in there.

That's just based off what I've seen though... :)
 
Nick, I think it's done for the same reason that someone makes san mai out of a piece of sentamental unknown steel or forges a shell casing into damascus. It's so you can say, "This blade was made from ____ and ____." A certain ":eek:cool:cool:" factor, to be sure. True, it really can't be distinguished from any other random or san mai knife.

I agree that the natural patterns of some meteorites is too good to throw away and will work great for this project as an art knife or for fittings. But if you're wanting to make a usable blade from meteorite, the only way I know of is to forge it with other steels.

And dude! Your avatar is tripping me out. How did you attach your anvil to the wall like that? :D. It is a great idea, though, forging while sitting in a recliner. Better have a good apron on to catch the flux and slag!

--nathan
 
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