Remember the Flaked Look?

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Messages
5,179
Remember the knapped look that was so popular a few years back? Well, having been out of knifemaking for a few years I'm just picking up where I left off, reviving a few old sketches. One project I intend to complete this year involves a flaked-look blade.

However, I don't know how that was achived. I thought I'd seen some method for dressing grinding stones that I thought I'd use to create a narrow rounded face on a wheel, but I'm beginning to think that was just a fever dream, as I can't find anything like it in any catalogs.

Any ideas and how-tos here? What do I use to grind like that? Suggestions what grit to get to? Will hot bluing the blade affect heat treat?

This project has plenty of lead time as it's for me and I have a couple very simple projects ahead of it. But it's one of those that really has a grip on my imagination, clammering to get out.

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Dave Larsen
--
The greatest prayer is patience
-Buddha
 
Dave
Draw a flint "patturn" on your blade steel then us a dremil with a cuttoff wheel or small stones to scalope out the steel inside your lines.
the first thing however is to rough grind your blade profile and shape. A double edge convex grind makes for a better finished product.
I have one on the go right now, sort of a project knife thing. Its been on the back burner for at least two years.
Hot blueing will not hurt the blade as temps for bluing are usually under 250 F or so I have been told.

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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html
 
I'm just throwing something out here, but you might try forging the blade. I think hammer marks are very beautiful if done right and they can sometimes be polished. I have a Titanium bracelet that I forged hot and then polished and heat colored. The texture can sometimes resemble a knapped flint if the hammer used is on the small side and has properly rounded edges on the face and the blows are rythemically spaced.

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Peter Atwood

email:fountainman@hotmail.com
 

I remember some blades that were cast to look like flintknapped...

I saw one a show and the fellow said the company who did the casting started making them and selling them without permision of the maker...

Resulting lawsuits put the whole project on hold...For good I guess...

Running Dog

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Running Dog Knife Company
http://www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
runningdog@dog.com
mmurphy@premier1.net
 
Francesco Pachi makes some of the most eye-catching knives I've seen, and he does this to all of them as far as I know.

I'm not sure how he does it though. I always thought you could do it with an angle grinder and then smooth the grinds out with stones in a Dremel, or blast it.

Not sure though

Nick
 
I always have liked doing these out of cable Damascus and then using the Dremale tool with a cut off wheel to put in the grooves,Then when I etched to bring up the pattern I could buff it a little and it looked really cool.I used to make a few of these but I havn't seen any in a long time,Please post a picture when you get yours done....
Bruce

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Bruce Evans Handcrafted Knives
The soul of the Knife begins in the Fire!!!!!
Member of,AKTI#A000223 and The American Bladesmith Society
asmallpicofbruceforforums.jpg
 
What a great raft of ideas. Sounds like the Dremel might be the way to go -- I have one at least. The angle grinder is certainly worth looking into, and I'll be in Home Depot this morning so will do that. Maybe even a cutoff wheel in my circular saw would work, and clean the cuts up with the Dremel.

This project is out a few months, but it's one of those that won't let go. Thought I'd lost the sketch for years, but it turned up and man was I ever happy about that. It's hanging on the wall now for constant reference.

I think of this thing as my "Mayan sacrificial knife." It's a long, leaf-shaped blade with a stacked handle -- brass (or possibly copper), cocobolo, and amber. The whole thing is about 18" long with 12.5" of blade. I'm planning to hot "brown" the blade. I have a chunk of D2 I'm planning to use -- anyone have better suggestions?

Of course, talk is cheap. Last night I screwed up my first flat grind in many years, leading to an ongoing "redesign" of my first project.
biggrin.gif
Good thing I started out with simple grinds! There sure is a lot to get my hands to remember.

Thanks for all the feeback, keep it coming!

Dave
 
I tried several different cutters in my dremel on some 416 stainless. I was looking for the nugget look, but one of the little grindstones I used, 1/2" diameter, created an effect similar to what you're asking about. I just pushed the edge of the rock into the steel and kept it as random as possible. One of the nicest results is that when you turn the steel in the light, it looks like it's crawling. I guess thats the effect faceting does.

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Take care!! Michael

Always think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!
http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms!!!
 
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