John White “Old Glory” D Guard WIP

r connally said:
Kevin, this will be a great one! i always enjoy a WIP thread, whether the knife is going to be mine or I'm just being a voyeur. The damascus pattern is really cool.

It always pains me when a maker has to break a blade. I've had 2 big knives made for me by different Mastersmiths where the first blades were destroyed. All of the work gone because of a tiny flaw. I appreciated the fact that the makers insisted on starting over . Much respect, John!

Really looking forward to seeing this knife when it is completed.
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Rob this is probably the 4th-5th time makers have tossed a damascus blade of mine because it did not meet their high standards. It must be somewhat common especially when forging the more complex mosaics. I too have the utmost respect for these makers, especially John. I mean John worked on that billet/blade for days, and creating a 12" multi-bar blade is hard, dirty and hot work.
Now one the other hand, I'm sure I'm not the only one who has seen a damascus blade on a finished knife that should have been discarded by the maker but was not.

Thanks for all the comments, Im glad you are enjoying this WIP.
 
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Lorien said:
you didn't actually throw out the billet, did you?
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No, you know knifemakers don't throw anything away. ;) :D

Here's the old blade, annealed, cut into two inch lengths, and stacked for forge
welding. The re-bar handle's tacked to the tang end of the ricasso:
Damascus24.jpg


Here's the stacked pieces forge welded and drawn to 1 1/8 x 3/8 inch.

The pattern stacked on top of itself, so I should be able to make the butt-cap
that goes between the back of the D-guard bow and the finial out of this stack
of blade pieces, and have the "Old Glory" pattern show:
Damascus25.jpg
 
Great thread

John is pure class that is for sure

The fact that I was anamired with Japanese Blades since I was young and read so much on there lore and truths I was very familiar with the fact that there are alot of blades that just do not forge up right and the true masters no it and call it what it is

Mr White is a true master

That just sounds cool :)
 
Most (if not all) of us have had to throw away hours of work because of a flaw that was unforseen until it was too late to correct. I admire John for his attention to detail and feel for his having to do so on a WIP. :thumbup: It shows a sense of class that is not shown enough in today's society.

This has been a great thread and I look forward to more.

Gary
 
So impressive: Both the knife, and John White's stature.

Kevin, that winky smiley suggest the creation of a hunter/Bowie set. "There are no mistakes in knifemaking... Only smaller knives!"

Bravo!

Coop
 
SharpByCoop said:
So impressive: Both the knife, and John White's stature.

Kevin, that winky smiley suggest the creation of a hunter/Bowie set. "There are no mistakes in knifemaking... Only smaller knives!"

Bravo!

Coop
Click to expand...

Good idea Coop, as a sister knife would have been an option but John cut the first Blade up into pieces to be used for fittings/small parts.
He will use the "Old Glory, Stars & Stripes" damascus for the endcap and we are currently deciding what pattern will be used for the Bow/Guard.

As this knife will be full "take-down" construction, we had initially planned on making a convertible "S Guard" for this piece as well, but not sure now. What are your opinions on having a second guard?

John's about to the point on the second Blade as we were when he started over. Should have more photos tomorrow.

This is going to be a "large" D-Guard. We were initially shooting for around a 12" blade, the first came in at 13-1/2", our new blade is 12-1/2". That should give us a completed Bowie of around 17-1/2" to 18" OAL. :cool:

Thank's to all of you for your interest in this thread and Bowie.
 
Awesome thread Kevin and John, I'm looking forward to see the progress (and thanks for showing us the two steps forward one step back parts too...)
 
Making Damascus for one of a kind, custom knives is not the most
scientific of endeavors. Instead of a series of test billets to isolate
whatever specific variable may be causing trouble, the press of
orders may lead to multiple changes in procedure to insure the next
blades pass muster.

Back in '04, my early "cut and hot-folded " billets, fluxed with
20 Mule-Team Borax, saw far too many blades discarded for
imperfections. A triple move, to "cold-cutting, grinding and stacking,"
the use of anhydrous borax, and thermocouple monitored forge
temperatures cut the failure rate dramatically.

Ron Newton's guidance in "kerosene welding" coupled with "Mig-up"
dry welds for the final assembly of my multi-bars has allowed me to
satisfy myself with billets and blades that I can examine under halogen
light, with a Opti-visor for the slightest flaw. Ahh, damascus happiness.

I'm still not absolutely sure what went wrong, but with a couple changes,
and a Voodoo doll, we're back on track.

Here's my "Fogg-type" heat-treating drum forge running at 1500
degrees, with a blade tack-welded to an eight inch flat-bar, so I can
clamp it in place for an 8 minute soak at temperature.

damascus27.jpg


Here's our new "Old Glory" blade being quenched tip first in Parks 50.

Damascus28.jpg


Here it comes, out of the tank, 12 plus inches of smoking hard damascus steel.

Damascus29.jpg


After two, one hour sessions in the 420 degree tempering oven, this baby is
is ready for a full day hand sanding.
 
Here's the blade hardened and tempered. The ricasso was sanded to
220 grit when name stamped, and the peaked spine rough cut on the
grinder platen, before hardening. the tang was also threaded while soft.

Damascus30.jpg


Prepping for sanding begins with re-sanding the ricasso and tang, so we
have bright metal.

Damascus31.jpg


Next, the tang is drawn with a torch down into the ricasso, three times with a
torch, sanding back to bright metal between each draw. This will bring the tang
and transition from ricasso to tang to a spring temper. Along with the radius
which will be filed into the shoulders, this will insure that the hidden tang
handle will be amply strong for all purposes.

Damascus32.jpg


Now that the blade is hardened, I'll take it back to the grinder, using the flat
platen, and re-grind with 50, 120, and 220 grit, then go to the 9 inch disc with
220 grit. The hardened blade is easier to flatten, and the re-grind will thin
the edge down from the .030 thickness for hardening, to a bit less than .020,
suitable for sharpening to a "Moran" edge for a big Bowie like this.

Damascus33.jpg
 
Now that the blade flats are prepped for sanding, I'll use EDM stones,
in grits from 180 to 1000, to fully finish the peaked spine of the rear
half of the blade.

Damascus34.jpg


The ricasso sides are still at 220, and will be finished to 1000 g in sequence
with the blade flats, but the spine (and bottom of the ricasso) can be finished
now. EDM stones will cut and maintain the crisp peak in a way that sandpaper
just can't do.

Damascus35.jpg


With the blade set up at an angle, under two spot lights, one halogen lamp, two
fluorescent strips, and an incandescent, using an Opti-visor, I'll begin the
hand sanding.

Damascus36.jpg


With spine finished, we're down through a fully flat, 220 hand sanded finish.
At this point, and through 1000 grit, before etching, there should be no
way to see, under the strongest light, that this is a damascus blade.
Now's when you can see if the welds were perfect

Damascus37.jpg


Next, before proceeding to the finer grits, I'll sharpen and cut some 2x4's
and hanging rope. I like to go to 220 grit before sharpening, to more easily
get the whole sides flat. The cutting isn't to test the heat-treatment. That's
controlled by the temperature and times, and quench procedures. The chopping
and cutting's to test the edge geometry that will be fully established with the
sharpening.
 
wow... once again this week A WIP is changing the way I do things. Invaluable info here.
 
Love the stag and the blade profile. I may have missed it in an earlier description, but is there going to be any kind of a clip / swedge on this piece?

Roger
 
Oh yeah, Roger, a looooong clip! Check the drawing in post 1.

If I can get on the stick, I'll be cutting the clip today or tomorrow, will send Kevin pics.

John
 
Had a PM question about the heating for quenching, and the strip tacked to the blade tang.

The bar I tack it to is a 1/8 x 1 inch strip, which is tack-welded to the tang and cut loose after quenching. The reason is to be able to let it the blade come up to heat in the drum forge, and soak for 8 minutes without the thermal mass of tongs. The drum forge is running at 1500 F for 1084/15n20, and it takes about 10 minutes for the blade to come up. I can quench past the hot part of the thin strip. The one time I tried using tongs took forever to come up to heat, and the mass of the tongs made the Parks 50 flame up.

I don't have to use any anti-scale, which is a side benefit of controlled temperatures. Scale doesn't form until around 1675-1725 F, and, of course, I'm running a reducing atmosphere in the drum forge. There's a thin black film of burnt oil on the blade after quenching that you need to "gummy-sand" off so it doesn't bake on during the temper, but you can see from the pics in post #50 how clean the blade is.

John
 
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