I also make blades sometimes…

I agree, bigger images are definitely in order. That is a great piece Kevin. Thanks for sharing.
 
That sword, and the detail in it, are mind blowing. I can see why you needed to invent special dies for it.
 
Dogpack said:
try not thinking of advertising when you post pics, but rather as ideas and inspirations.Ray
Click to expand...
Yeah.....stuff us rubes can rip off........20 years from now.........maybe:p :D
 
WOW !! INCREDIBLE !! That is one sweet piece Brother. I like everything about it, especially the Handle, the Blade, and the Scabbard ;)
 
Kevin,
I'd love to come up with something original to say about your piece but I'm afraid all the good adjectives have been taken! :mad: Truly amazing!:eek:
Matt Doyle
 
deker said:
That's an amazing piece Kevin. I can't even imagine how you got the whole guard/pommel out of a single piece...

Bravo!

-d
Click to expand...


I should clarify my description that the entire hilt wasn't a single piece. There are sharp 90 degree edges on the extensions coming down from the guard, over the riccasso, and the same for when the cross guard changes direction to become the knuckle guard. With monosteel the easiest way to do these would just to tack seperate pieces together, but you cannot do that with damascus and not have it look awful. The metal sheathing over top of the handle needed to be a huge sheet of rather thin steel that was bumped and raised hot into the domed shapes required. And the ferrule could have been a strip of that same sheet wrapped around but it would have had a ridiculous joint or seam that would have to be hidden somehow and that would have destroyed the simple flow of the piece, so I instead carved a band out of a solid block in order to have it clean and continuous. I decided I couldn't use a flat pattern block for this because all you would get is the boring lines of the edge grain, so I forged out a block of 320 twist in order to give all faces of the steel on all sides. then the side had to me coped to receive an extension on the top strap so it would all lock together cleanly. Finally I then made the small retention nut on the end out of twist pattern.

This is what I was getting at with my solid construction description, sorry if I left the wrong impression, what I meant to convey was the ammount of preplanning and extra material that needs to go into making something that cannot be tack welded, pinned or assembled later.
 
jdm61 said:
Yeah.....stuff us rubes can rip off........20 years from now.........maybe:p :D
Click to expand...

Why not? I ripped off the original after it was made over 100 years ago! I always like to do something unique on my stuff to make it one of mine but, there is nothing new under the sun (nothing that is really useful) in knife design. People have just been making knives for too long. I get a kick out of folks in the 21st century designing knives that you may have to stake your life on, we have no concept other than our fantasies. Go to a good museum and you will see real tactical knives! Ones that peoples lives actually did rely upon. Ones that were designed for actual hand to hand combat. They managed to make them useful and beautiful. They didn't have a great handle on the materials or the heat treating, but they knew design much better than we need to.
 
That is a level of mastery I will have to work on in my next life because it ain't happening in this one. Superb piece and that is an understatement. I'm stunned. Very very nice Kevin.

STR
 
I was just at the Calgary museum and was blown away by the weapons display.(no damascus cutlass tho)
Kevin, nice photos by the way.
 
I for one am very impressed Kevin. It shows what our mad scientist can accomplish if he takes off his white lab coat and puts on his leather apron. When I look at this piece my carpel tunnel syndrome flairs up though. You must have punished yourself on that blade polishing.

Youre a "madman" Kevin. You and the "masters of old" are forged from the same stock.

Thanks, You made my day!
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Why not? I ripped off the original after it was made over 100 years ago? I always like to do something unique on my stuff to make it one of mine but, there is nothing new under the sun (nothing that is really useful) in knife design. People have just been making knives for too long. I get a kick out of folks in the 21st century designing knives that you may have to stake your life on, we have no concept other than our fantasies. Go to a good museum and you will see real tactical knives! Ones that peoples lives actually did rely upon. Ones that were designed for actual hand to hand combat. They managed to make them useful and beautiful. They didn't have a great handle on the materials or the heat treating, but they knew design much better than we need to.
Click to expand...
Kevin, i don't think your blood pressure could stand a day over in the Whine and Cheese or Pirate's Cove forums when they get going about some of those modern "combat" knives. I have enough trouble myself and I am significantly less passionate than you...lol :thumbup: My comment was less about "stealing" and more about my meager talent...lol. I take inspiration from guys like you, Bruce and many others. I am just trying to make what is both suitable for its intended prupose, (be that an acceptable modern prupose or a non-P.C old purpose like your sabre) and pleasing to my eye. So far, other folks like the few things that I have posted (using fuzzy pics to hide the glaring flaws, of course:D ) so i will maintain my present course in the design area and work on my technical skills. Funny how a hobby can be incredibly enjoyable and supremely frustrating all at the same time.:D
 
:thumbup:
I have nothing new to add to what's been said, but I feel the need to comment on how amazing that is. I could die happy if I ever accomplished something that beautiful.

Wow.
 
jdm61 said:
... My comment was less about "stealing" and more about my meager talent...lol...
Click to expand...

A misplaced question mark may have changed the meaning of my post, I have corrected it (the problem with this internet thing is that a typo can change meanings and how they a received). I meant to say that there is nothing wrong with a "rube" ripping off another rube who only ripped off the craftsman who lived centuries before;) . A quick look through any custom knife publication will make it painfully obvious that this whole business is an unending chain of rubes ripping off rubes, hoping to come close to one of those original craftsmen;).
 
Kevin,
Beautiful work on the cutlass!

I have an original, of the piece you made, hanging on the wall above my computer. It is, as you would imagine, not of damascus, but other than that, it is the very same cutlass. The one I have has a wide fuller running the leangth of the blade.
My question is; did you work from photos, or did you have the benifit of a three dimensional model?
I will post a pic of the one I have when my computer is revived this week.

Fred
 
Damn!!! I've gotta get one of those microscopes!!! :)

Thanks for posting Kevin!

-Rob
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Most forum sites specify a time and a place for things. I feel the "BladeSmith Questions and Answers" forum is for honest and free information exchanging. I see there is a whole section here called "The Knife Exchange" just for selling things, and I think that would be a fantastic place to sell your stuff:thumbup: . But if I would have posted this sword here with a "for sale" sign on it, I would entirely expect to be told to take it to the appropriate forum, buy advertising, or remove the post. Since I'm too cheap to have even paid for a membership here, I should be happy just to post and not press my luck.

For me to feel good about my visits I need to use one of these appropriate outlets if I want to buy and sell stuff. Some sites actively enforce such rules, I don't think they should have to. You would not believe the number of people who keep after me about not posting my stuff on the forums, but I visit these forums to share in information and I like to keep that untainted. If my motive here was profit margin it could get in the way of credibility. For example, I have spent a lot of time countering claims about damascus being a super steel, and yet most of my blades are damascus! I have no reason to demystify it other than an ethical search for the facts, even if it hurts my wallet. I want people to take my posts as reliable information without having to worry about filtering out sales pitches.

On the other hand, I may be a hypocrite when I am entirely grateful to folks who do me the favor of mentioning that my "available" page on my site has been added to. I think it is all ego games with me, self promoting doesn't hold the same boost to self esteem as having others point out your work. I am a terrible businessman and have never liked the hard sell even at shows, but instead believe that if my work is good it should be able to sell itself.

Also on the other hand I need to face the facts that participating in these forums does get me exposure and may even help develop the impression that I may know what I am talking about half the time, so I guess I am not an icon of philanthropic virtue, but I do like to believe that it is a very nice karma like reward for sincerely wanting to help answer questions.:)
Click to expand...

Kevin,
I didn't realize the level of membership that you had in this forum. I couldn't for the life if me, understand why it was in poor ethical taste to sell a knife on the "for sale" areas of bladeforums. I misinterpreted what you were trying to say. I now understand what you meant. I agree that the "for sale" area of bladeforums is a great service for both knifemakers and their potential clients. Thanks for the reply!
 
Kevin,She is way to incredible for mear words to describe:thumbup: :D I can only hope to be at your level one of these days...

Quick question....Did you use a press or power hammer when forging this beauty,or did you do it by hand?

Bruce
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top