San Mai Fighter

Laredo7mm

Laredo7mm

Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
1,240
Well, I guess it is San Mai or just low layer damascus. The blade is 6 layers of 1095 and 15N20. Not layered alternately but instead two pieces of 1095 on either side of two pieces of 15N20 as to sandwich the 15N20 in the middle. The blade is about 7.5 inches long at just under 3/16 thick and overall length of about 12 inches. Single twist damascus gaurd, African Blackwood spacer/ferrul and Beng Burl handle. I ran into some inclusions in the burl when finishing, but I guess they add character. :rolleyes:

She is differentially heat treated so the blade has alot going on in it for being a very simple pattern weld. It has the san mai look plus some extra layers and a temper line.

Let me know what you think, TIA

sanmai_col.jpg
 
I can't stop looking :eek:

I honestly didn't notice the inclusion until you mentioned it. I was too distracted by the blade. The san mai + hamon looks good with that geometry.
 
Thanks guys, the blade is nice, but I am not sure I like the handle. I originaly had a hole different shape in mind before I hit the inclusion. It was a big one, but I got rid of most of it and had to improvise. It is growing on me and it feels great in the hand and does not look as light in color as the pictures show. I like it, but don't be suprised if I grind it off and rehandle it. ;)

Thanks again-

Sean
 
Beautiful.. The knife itself sort of has a forward looking motion to it, as if it is ready and willing to defend it's wielder (yea im wierd hehe)..
I like the handle just the way it is. :cool:
 
Oh, man. What a beauty... I just fell in love. Please dont change the handle, it flows nicely and fits the entire blade profile. Nicely done & thanks...

Emre
 
Man That Never Sleeps, that knife looks really beautiful, and I would leave it just like it is. Knowing you, though, you are probably planning a spectacular handle change and it will boggle the eyes again. Notice I said, again. Nice work, fella!
 
Very Nice looking knife, that blade has a lot of stuff to look at in it. I think the damascus guard gives it class, but i think that handle gives it character :)
 
Very nice looking knife. I think I would call it a laminated blade,not san mai.I was wondering why you put the 15N20 on the core (blade edge) and put the 1095 on the shell.The other way around would have yielded a better edge.
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. Sorry for the delay in my response to any questions/emails but I just got back from Detroit. Visited Don Cowels shop and then me, my daughter, and niece went to see Beauty and hte Beast at the Fox Theater in Detroit. 2.5+ hours of a musical was a bit much for me, but the important thing is the kids loved it.

The handle will stay as is on this one. It has grown on me. I will just have to make another one with the other handle style I was wanting to do.

bladsmth - I put the 15N20 in the core because i wanted a light colored edge and in my damascus 15N20 is the light colored alloy. It didn't quite turn out they way my mind envisioned it, it actually turned out better, having the dark colored transition between the 15N20 and 1095. I don't think 15N20 is any lesser of a steel than 1095 is. 15N20 has 75 points of carbon and 1095 a min of 90. Proper heat treat will make the differences between the two negligible.

Thanks again guys, I appreciate it.
 
Very cool! I realy like the way the blade turned out, never considered a low layer like that, but it came out great!

The whole thing looks like its ready to take flight, awsome
 
That's a really beautiful knife! I'm glad you've decided to leave the handle the way it is, the flow is just wonderful (and I like the burl too).
 
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