Matthew Gregory
Chief Executive in charge of Entertainment
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2005
- Messages
- 6,404
Just got the photo from @SharpByCoop and thought I'd share - this one was an interesting one, not so much in the outcome, perhaps, but rather the circumstances surrounding it...
Early in 2019, Sam @Mecha of Mad Science Forge sent me some pieces of his Russian BT23 armor titanium, and I made a kwaiken out of the first piece. At the same time, I profiled out one of my aikuchi blades from the other piece and it just sat on my bench, forgotten. By the end of the year, Sam had mentioned some improvements in his heat treat of this alloy so I sent the blade back to him for laying on of hands, speaking in tongues, and other miracles.
Then HE forgot about it for a bit.
In early September, we both remembered it, and he performed said miracles upon the blade and prepped it for shipment to me on the 16th.
On the night of the 17th, Sam's shop, his apartment, and everything in both were burned completely in a terrible fire. A total loss.
This blade arrived to me two days later. So, this was perhaps part of the rise of Sam's phoenix.
I hope so, and I'm glad to be a participant in it.
The blade is 6” long, 1/8” thick and made with Sam’s BT23 Russian armor titanium, with his heat treatment. Overall length is 11-1/2”.
Handle is carbon fiber sleeve over a Terotuf core, and the point of balance is about 3/4” BEHIND the Richlite ‘tsuba’. The blade material is so light, that unless I really went gonzo trying to make the handle ultralight, I knew there would be no way to get it to be anything other than handle-heavy.
I rounded and contoured the facets of the tsuba on the back, blending it into the oval of the handle.
Total weight five ounces.
No maker's marks on the blade, as I have no means or method of marking my name (or Sam's, for that matter) on titanium. This stuff utterly defies electrochemical marking!
Sweet deerskin-lined leather scabbard made by my bride.
Thanks for looking, and if anyone reading this cares to, there's a GoFundMe for Sam (and his girl Julie) here.
Early in 2019, Sam @Mecha of Mad Science Forge sent me some pieces of his Russian BT23 armor titanium, and I made a kwaiken out of the first piece. At the same time, I profiled out one of my aikuchi blades from the other piece and it just sat on my bench, forgotten. By the end of the year, Sam had mentioned some improvements in his heat treat of this alloy so I sent the blade back to him for laying on of hands, speaking in tongues, and other miracles.
Then HE forgot about it for a bit.
In early September, we both remembered it, and he performed said miracles upon the blade and prepped it for shipment to me on the 16th.
On the night of the 17th, Sam's shop, his apartment, and everything in both were burned completely in a terrible fire. A total loss.
This blade arrived to me two days later. So, this was perhaps part of the rise of Sam's phoenix.
I hope so, and I'm glad to be a participant in it. The blade is 6” long, 1/8” thick and made with Sam’s BT23 Russian armor titanium, with his heat treatment. Overall length is 11-1/2”.
Handle is carbon fiber sleeve over a Terotuf core, and the point of balance is about 3/4” BEHIND the Richlite ‘tsuba’. The blade material is so light, that unless I really went gonzo trying to make the handle ultralight, I knew there would be no way to get it to be anything other than handle-heavy.
I rounded and contoured the facets of the tsuba on the back, blending it into the oval of the handle.
Total weight five ounces.
No maker's marks on the blade, as I have no means or method of marking my name (or Sam's, for that matter) on titanium. This stuff utterly defies electrochemical marking!
Sweet deerskin-lined leather scabbard made by my bride.
Thanks for looking, and if anyone reading this cares to, there's a GoFundMe for Sam (and his girl Julie) here.
Thanks, my friend.
