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Thanks Mark and everybody.
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Kind of a Persian fighter build, final pictures, for now
- Thread starter Mark Knapp
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Mark,
What enchant do you prefer? I use plain white Apple vinegar for carbon steels and Ferric chloride for stainless Damascus but I don't claim to be any kind of expert at etching. I do maybe 3-5 Damascus blades a year. One thing a man from Syria told me was that they use flat Coca-cola as an enchant over there.
Have you tried Coke or Pepsi?
What enchant do you prefer? I use plain white Apple vinegar for carbon steels and Ferric chloride for stainless Damascus but I don't claim to be any kind of expert at etching. I do maybe 3-5 Damascus blades a year. One thing a man from Syria told me was that they use flat Coca-cola as an enchant over there.
Have you tried Coke or Pepsi?
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Hi Laurence, like knife making in general, I don't like to limit myself to any one thing in particular. I use ferric chloride a lot for etching but to add color I have used hot blue, cold blue and heat coloring. For a forced patina I have tried mustard, pineapple, apples and lemon juice. Some are subtle and some are bold. It's fun to try new things.
J. Doyle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Feb 17, 2008
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Mark, just saw this thread the other day. Epic to say the least. You are seriously talented in a lot of different things.
Looking forward to meeting you in person in Seattle and seeing this beauty of a knife there too.
Very cool.
Looking forward to meeting you in person in Seattle and seeing this beauty of a knife there too.
Very cool.
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- May 31, 2009
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I have to step in and tell every one a few posts back Mark made the comment about how this knife needed a certain type of sheath. After talking to him and under standing what he wants to do I was lucky enough to have him agree to make it for me. Now we all have another GREAT item to wait to see. 
:thumbup: Thanks Pat and Terry KT
:thumbup: Thanks Pat and Terry KT
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- Nov 20, 2008
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I've actually used coke. Submerge the steel in it and it instantly starts to rust and bubble, I never went through with the entire process because I got alarmed and chickened out. Honest! Much stronger reaction than Fc.
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- Joined
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Thanks Everybody.
We are going to cut the pocket into the butt cap that conceals the nut that holds the whole thing together and holds the inlay....
but first we need a way to hold it in the mill vise. I squared up a block of hard maple and scribed the center of it with my height gauge. Then I centered the butt cap on it and scribed the outline of it. Using the manual mill I cut out a pocket for the butt cap.
Then I inserted the butt cap and scribed the center of it...
and laid out the parameters of the pocket for the inlay and drew in the outlines of an oval by hand.
Then I milled out that pocket. I could have used the CNC mill to do all this but for a one-off piece, the manual mill is faster, and it keeps the "hand-made" in "hand-made knife".
Here's how it looks out of the milling machine, I'll clean it up a bit with a Dremel tool.
Next, we get the inlay materials together. I'll be using blue amber for the piercings that we can see through. The translucence of it will sparkle in the quillions. For the inlays that we can't see through I'll be laminating abalone onto the backs of the blue amber. The abalone will hide the mechanics of the construction of the knife (the tang in the center of the guard and the tang nut in the butt cap). It will also reflect light back through the blue amber, similar to how an "ideal-cut" diamond works, the effect should be like sparkly tortoise shell.
I've never seen this done, and although I have done similar things with different materials, this is a first for me (there are a lot of firsts for me in this knife). Experimentation is what makes knife making exciting for me, it opens up the possibilities for new and exciting things. It also opens up the possibilities for mistakes, but I feel like if I'm not making mistakes, I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not expanding my capabilities. I have made a couple mistakes on this knife (and there's still time for more) but fortunately they haven't been insurmountable, I've just had to do some things over.
More later, thanks for watching.
We are going to cut the pocket into the butt cap that conceals the nut that holds the whole thing together and holds the inlay....
but first we need a way to hold it in the mill vise. I squared up a block of hard maple and scribed the center of it with my height gauge. Then I centered the butt cap on it and scribed the outline of it. Using the manual mill I cut out a pocket for the butt cap.
Then I inserted the butt cap and scribed the center of it...
and laid out the parameters of the pocket for the inlay and drew in the outlines of an oval by hand.
Then I milled out that pocket. I could have used the CNC mill to do all this but for a one-off piece, the manual mill is faster, and it keeps the "hand-made" in "hand-made knife".
Here's how it looks out of the milling machine, I'll clean it up a bit with a Dremel tool.
Next, we get the inlay materials together. I'll be using blue amber for the piercings that we can see through. The translucence of it will sparkle in the quillions. For the inlays that we can't see through I'll be laminating abalone onto the backs of the blue amber. The abalone will hide the mechanics of the construction of the knife (the tang in the center of the guard and the tang nut in the butt cap). It will also reflect light back through the blue amber, similar to how an "ideal-cut" diamond works, the effect should be like sparkly tortoise shell.
I've never seen this done, and although I have done similar things with different materials, this is a first for me (there are a lot of firsts for me in this knife). Experimentation is what makes knife making exciting for me, it opens up the possibilities for new and exciting things. It also opens up the possibilities for mistakes, but I feel like if I'm not making mistakes, I'm not trying hard enough, I'm not expanding my capabilities. I have made a couple mistakes on this knife (and there's still time for more) but fortunately they haven't been insurmountable, I've just had to do some things over.
More later, thanks for watching.
Last edited:
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I rough sawed the pieces of the amber and abalone for assembly.
Here's some of the blue amber cut about an eighth inch thick, you can see what I mean by a tortoise shell effect.
The abalone and amber are laminated together and ready for shaping on the belt sander.
The oval for the butt cap is getting close, almost ready for hand fitting. I set the tool rest on the sander at a slight angle so the bottom of the piece is slightly smaller than the top, when it just starts to fall into the pocket, it's ready for finishing by hand.
I think you gotta keep up with current trends to stay relevant so I through in a "selfy". Hope I'm hip enough.
It's a pretty snug fit all the way around.
I sanded the top of the inlay to follow the "S" shape of the butt cap. I left it proud so that it can be "pillowed". It will collect more light and reflect it back, like a magnifying glass.
I'm happy with the butt cap inlay. For the guard inlays I'm able to scribe the shapes through the piercings to get the general shape onto the amber.
One of them is in, I'm not happy with the fit of the second one, so I gotta do it again.
More later, thanks for watching.
Here's some of the blue amber cut about an eighth inch thick, you can see what I mean by a tortoise shell effect.
The abalone and amber are laminated together and ready for shaping on the belt sander.
The oval for the butt cap is getting close, almost ready for hand fitting. I set the tool rest on the sander at a slight angle so the bottom of the piece is slightly smaller than the top, when it just starts to fall into the pocket, it's ready for finishing by hand.
I think you gotta keep up with current trends to stay relevant so I through in a "selfy". Hope I'm hip enough.
It's a pretty snug fit all the way around.
I sanded the top of the inlay to follow the "S" shape of the butt cap. I left it proud so that it can be "pillowed". It will collect more light and reflect it back, like a magnifying glass.
I'm happy with the butt cap inlay. For the guard inlays I'm able to scribe the shapes through the piercings to get the general shape onto the amber.
One of them is in, I'm not happy with the fit of the second one, so I gotta do it again.
More later, thanks for watching.
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You're planning for how the different pieces will collect light and reflect it? 
INCREDIBLE!! The thought that goes into each piece of this is just amazing!
INCREDIBLE!! The thought that goes into each piece of this is just amazing!
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OK, Here's a peek at the laminated gems, they turned out as good as I had hoped.
This is a shot with the flash.
And here's a shot without the flash.
I've got a few things to check and then we are ready to put this knife together.
This is a shot with the flash.
And here's a shot without the flash.
I've got a few things to check and then we are ready to put this knife together.
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