New dagger

Thanks guys :)

As far as the aluminum and corrosion: I have done it on quite a few sheaths like this, and so far I've not heard of any issues. I sand the aluminum to 600X to give it a pretty smooth surface area, and then coat it ALL the way around on BOTH sides before sticking it in between the leather layers with JB Weld. I had always just assumed that leather right against aluminum would probably cause corrosion, hence the JB Weld coating (and the JB keeps the stud/screw from spinning. One thing that I really like about the aluminum, is that it acts sort of like a backer or washer for the 8-32 screw that's going into the stud. Leather GREATS like Paul Long do not do this, so I am probably just an idiot for doing it... but I have done it on every sheath I've made that was like this one.
 
Wow, stunning as usual Nick, especially the "explosion-ish" damascus!

Any chance of a brief/vague idea how you did the damascus? :) Is that a mosaic of feather pieces?
 
NickWheeler said:
Thanks guys :)

As far as the aluminum and corrosion: I have done it on quite a few sheaths like this, and so far I've not heard of any issues. I sand the aluminum to 600X to give it a pretty smooth surface area, and then coat it ALL the way around on BOTH sides before sticking it in between the leather layers with JB Weld. I had always just assumed that leather right against aluminum would probably cause corrosion, hence the JB Weld coating (and the JB keeps the stud/screw from spinning. One thing that I really like about the aluminum, is that it acts sort of like a backer or washer for the 8-32 screw that's going into the stud. Leather GREATS like Paul Long do not do this, so I am probably just an idiot for doing it... but I have done it on every sheath I've made that was like this one.
Click to expand...


That makes sense to me.

I might have used Titanium for it's anti corrosion and springyness, but it would be more expensive.
 
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I'm not usually a dagger guy but this one blows my mind. KeeP doin what you're doing.
Chris
 
Thanks again guys, I really appreciate the kind words :)

I agree that titanium would be a great choice. I actually made a rib out of kydex/concealex but ended up scrapping it because while it wouldn't corrode, I didn't think any of the adhesives would stick to it either. Not that it would hurt it to just lay in there with stitching around it.

Thanks Robert, no need to be vague though... it's not a secret ;) :) I just made a fairly high layer W's billet (I honestly don't remember how many, but it was pretty fine) then re-squared the billet (but sort of heavy to one side... not a completely even re-square). That makes sort of a star looking pattern... that billet was then cut into four equal pieces, and all they were milled flat/square. Then you arrange those 4 together so that the edges of the stars match up, and forge weld that together. Then I drew it out to about 1/2" thick, surface ground it flat, and cut it into 1/2" thick tiles. Then just flipped the tiles, tacked them together, made a steel box around them, and forged welded them into a solid bar.

It would have been more of what many people think of as an explosion pattern if I had used coarser W's, and had re-squared them a little differently.
 
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