Kailash Blades
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2015
- Messages
- 1,028
The first of these buildalongs! Hopefully we can do a couple more of these in future. Stay tuned to see a custom blade go from sketch, to forge, to finished.
Had a customer get in touch regarding getting a kris sword made which was a very interesting proposal. We'd only ever done one kris before and we called it a flamberge dagger as it had more european styling to it so a traditional build was new ground. With all these ethnic arms we try to inject a bit of Nepalese styling or process into the blade so that we're not just copying another culture's work and also so that we can feel good about saying it's ours.
The first sketch was more or less about locking in a vibe, construction methods and sizing. As you can see, the cho and engraving is a bit of a departure as well as the fuller styling that the guys are so good at. The solid guard and blade section is far from traditional, but its a lot stronger and easier for the guys compared to the wide, multi steel equivalent and the stirrup attachment method. This blade had a harsher style to the waves that I've seen on some traditional blades and really liked but didn't fit the final form of the knife.
What's the difference between the first and the second design here? The same features are there, the same general vibe but the difference is scale. While both have the same blade and handle length the second picture has had the blade width, profile and handle shape adjusted for balance, durability and ergonomics. They're all small changes but the difference to the functionality of the blade afterwards is massive. For those getting into design their own knives this is the difference between a custom sketch and a custom design: Refinement.
Next step is forging!
Had a customer get in touch regarding getting a kris sword made which was a very interesting proposal. We'd only ever done one kris before and we called it a flamberge dagger as it had more european styling to it so a traditional build was new ground. With all these ethnic arms we try to inject a bit of Nepalese styling or process into the blade so that we're not just copying another culture's work and also so that we can feel good about saying it's ours.
The first sketch was more or less about locking in a vibe, construction methods and sizing. As you can see, the cho and engraving is a bit of a departure as well as the fuller styling that the guys are so good at. The solid guard and blade section is far from traditional, but its a lot stronger and easier for the guys compared to the wide, multi steel equivalent and the stirrup attachment method. This blade had a harsher style to the waves that I've seen on some traditional blades and really liked but didn't fit the final form of the knife.
What's the difference between the first and the second design here? The same features are there, the same general vibe but the difference is scale. While both have the same blade and handle length the second picture has had the blade width, profile and handle shape adjusted for balance, durability and ergonomics. They're all small changes but the difference to the functionality of the blade afterwards is massive. For those getting into design their own knives this is the difference between a custom sketch and a custom design: Refinement.
Next step is forging!
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