My first foray into using damascus - two EDC/neck knives

[crimsonfalcon07]

Putting this up to celebrate going orange. I'm still strictly hobbyist, but various folks on here have suggested I try selling a few here and there to help fund my hobby (and help me save up for a better grinder, since I'm doing these on a 1x30 Rikon sander).

Made this pair using my EDC pattern, and a more generic mini-necker design. I used Alabama Damascus' wave pattern damascus and amboyna burl from Burl Source. Lacy at Alabama Damascus has great CS, by the way. There was a minor weld flaw in the billet, so he's sending me a new billet, which is much appreciated. Mark at Burl Source was also quick and easy to deal with, and very pleasant to talk to. I'm sure I'll be doing more business with him in the future.
I used steel pins and made my own mosaic pins. I got a LOT of advice on this project from Darrin Sanders, who heat treats my blades for me, and I wanted to say thanks again to Darrin for the advice and for the fabulous job on the heat treat. As a pure amateur, I'd welcome any suggestions or advice on where you think I need to focus my attentions next for improvement. I finished the amboyna to 15000 grit using the mesh pads that Woodcraft sell, and have done 5 coats of tung oil so far. Man, that stuff is gorgeous! It's my first time working with materials of this caliber. I also did my first experiment with filework at Darrin's recommendation. I had some trouble getting my spacing right. I'm planning on picking up a video, but if anyone has any tips on filework, I know pretty much nothing about it. I'm still pretty happy with how it came out for the first time.

Anyways, here's the blades. Please forgive the photo quality.

The larger EDC blade has a 3.5" blade, and measures 7.625" OAL. It is 3/16" thick at the spine, and has a wide drop point blade.

Amboyna from Mark, and my first attempt at mosaic pin making:

My amateurish attempt at filework. I think I got kinda tired towards the end, and that affected the spacing of the patterning. I was using cheapo diamond files from Harbor Freight. Still turned out reasonably okay, but I think I need to learn a more curving pattern that will better accentuate the whorls and curves in the damascus and the amboyna (which I picked for that reason). Also I need better files.

And for once I did an okay job getting the curves in my handle smoothed out. I have a tough time with that. I used a dremel and sanding drum and then a lot of hand sanding to get the inside. I would really appreciate any tips on getting curves cleaned out and looking nice.

Any advice and tips would be most appreciated. Thanks for looking!

 

[Hit or Miss]

They look like you are on the right track to me! I especially like the second knife, it's just my style of blade! Keep up the good work.

 

[GTH11]

Yep thats some alabama damascus... pretty stuff, As you found out amboyna burns easy hence the halos arond ur pins, you may want to use a file more, make some mock up pins, or tape and glue ur scales to that damascus so u can do your final shaping, then etch the blade and carefully and precisely, epoxy the scales back on, your edges on that lanyard hole should have at least been broke, being that you made mosaic pin why didnt you put some brass in there? The choil looks like it should have been forward if you were using it to help the ease of sharpening?
On a side note shoptalk is a great place to get advice on improving your skills.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

Thanks for the comments! I don't think the amboyna burned, actually. The holes were slightly bigger than the pins, so that black is the epoxy. I definitely had trouble with the careful and precise epoxying bit. I'm not sure what you mean by the edges on the lanyard hole being broke?