March of Dimes charity project 2009 WIP

John M Cohea

John M Cohea

Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
2,655
As many of you know, back in the spring of this year, myself and my daughter Layla, along with a group of local knifemakers made a collabaration knife and raffled it off on the internet raising 1500.00 for the March of Dimes.
This year instead of a folder we are doing a forged bowie, and I have a different team of knifemakers and artists, with a couple of repeats from last year.
The contributing artists this year are ABS MS Terry Vandeventer is forging a w2 blade with hamon, ABS JS Craig Camerer is doing a damascus shell S guard, myself and Layla will be making a interframe damascus handle with shell carved pommel and either stag or ivory inlays. Chad Nichols will be contributing the handle frame damascus, Paul Long will be doing one of his spectacular sheaths, my brother Wayne will again be making a display case, and once again Coop will shoot the image.
Also this year the raffle will be open ended with tickets being 15.00 and Bladeforum members will be able to participate if they would like to.
This will be a progression thread and I will post shots as they come in from the artists, or they will post them as they come along.Here are Terry's progress shots so far.These are also Terry's words.
Here are some progression shots of the W2 bowie blade. It's going to be 9 3/4" long.
One inch round bar of W2 rendered down to 3/8" thick and 1 1/2" wide using both my press and 25# Little Giant.
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I cut off a few inches to about 8" long and forged out a short tang for my box jaw tongs.
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Knocked the clip down and pre-bent the blade downwards.
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Starting at the choil, I began working the edge bevels towards the point. As I did, the blade widened and began to sraighten. Minor adjustments along the way and things began to take shape.
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Went back and finished forging the tang and tweaked the whole thing straight
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then headed to the grinder.
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I always rough grind immediately after forging so that I only have to go through one set of normalizing cycles insted of two(one after forging, the other after grinding).
I'll put it in the oven for three normalizing heats let it cool slowly and probably heat treat tomorrow
Thanks a lot Terry, Can this guy forge or what!
That's all for now. Stay tuned!
 
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Terrific project, great group of participants and a worthy cause. Congrats to you all! I look forward to seeing this one come together.

Roger
 
Thanks Roger. I really think this coming years effort is going to be spectacular. Plus it is a way to own a really nice piece for a very small sum, and contribute to a great cause. Last years winner bought a single 30.00 ticket and won something he will be proud to own for years to come!
 
Thanks John. Here are the latest pics from Terry and his explanation of the steps.
Using a file guide and a round file I put the notches at the top of the clip.One willl be incorprated into the actual clip while the smaller one is a decorative notch that I put on most of my bowies. Kind of a personal touch.
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Then I filed the plunge cuts to equal depths on each side.
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Back to work on the clip usin a draw filing technique. Also shored up the bottom of the ricasso where it meets the choil.
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Clay is applied(the photo shows the first application. I did'nt like it so I washed it off and started over a little higher from the edge.)and the blade was hardened.
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The last photo shows the blade after tempering and the hamon is clearly visible. The next series of shots will feature hand finishing and then it's off to Craig Camerer.
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Thanks Terry. We are off to a great start so far!!
 
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Great cause, will be a great knife and great of you guys to put the project together.
I will be in touch.
 
Man, this is so awesome!!!! A great cause, and the makings for a fantastic knife! :) :thumbup:

What a treat to get a peek into Terry's workshop. That man can forge... look at that plunge cut forged in!!! NICE!

Thanks for sharing guys... I LOVE these threads!!! :thumbup: :cool:
 
Those are outstanding pictures.. It's really nice to see what someone with that level of skill can do with a piece of round stock....
Great idea for a great cause.. I can't wait to see the next progression of pictures.
 
Be sure to let us know if tickets will beavailable for purchase on line.

Geat stuff!

Roger
 
Thanks a lot guys. I really have enjoyed being involved with this effort and am always grateful to both the artists that come on board and donate their time and skills and to the kind people that shell out their cash to support this cause and take a shot a winning these fantastic knives. Roger, for the most part this is all done online. I will let everyone know when I will be accepting PayPal payments and will post my adress. We are shooting to have this done by the time of the Arkansas show in Feb. It will be on display at either Terry's or Craig's table, and they both will have tickets available for purchase as well. I will also post my mailing adress and allow ample time for those who choose to mail in a money order or check.
 
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Here are the last of the pics from Terry.
Shown here is hand sanding on a flat plate. First side to side,then longitudinally. I do my handsanding differently from most makers and I feel that it does a better job(for me) at removing dips and irregularities made by the grinder.The bevels on the clip are done entirely by drawfiling.
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The blade is finished at this end and goes out to Craig tomorrow.I've included a shot of the finished blade taken to 600 grit.After Craig has completed the guard, he will etch the blade to bring out the hamon.
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It's been fun. Now I can relax and see how this thing turns out.
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Thank you very much for your help with this project Terry! Next we should be seeing a few shots from Craig. Stay tuned!!!
 
I got the blade and guard in last week from Craig.He has'nt had time to post his pics yet, so here is what I have so far. The first shot is the materials I will use for the handle.Nickle silver sheet and pin stock, wrought iron, damascus for the butt cap and frame, and some choice amber stag scales.
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a close up of the stag. Is this stuff nice or what!

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some 3/4 round wrought iron in the fire for the spacer
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Here the wrought iron is being foged down to square
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Here you see 1/4" wrought iron flat bar being surfaced for the frame(the damascus did'nt work out)
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Here are all the parts made and ready for carving and fit and finish.

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Tomorrow I will take it to my friend Don Hall's shop and let him work his magic on fileworking the liners. I will finish up tomorrow afternoon, then it will be off to Paul Long
 
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