Sneak-Peek: The Wasteland Crow Project

[NoahL]

Hello everyone,

Not too long ago, a bladesmith by the nickname Storm Crow and I started discussing his forge-finish blades. We determined that our styles of Neo-Tribal bladesmithing and Post-Apocalyptic leatherworking seemed to compliment each other well, and from that revelation an idea was born. The Wasteland Crow Project consists of a set of two Neo-Tribal blades--one large, one small--made by Storm Crow, and an Apocalyptic Survivor style carry system made by me. The blades are being shipped to me tomorrow for the leatherwork, so in the meantime, here are a few sneak-peek shots of the blades.

I will update this thread with photos as the project develops,

~Noah

 

[Esav Benyamin]

In accordance with the FAQ, you cannot hold a raffle on or through Bladeforums, without prior permission from the owner.

Can I raffle or auction off an item I have for sale?

No. Any raffles or auctions must have prior approval of the site owner, and it's extremely rare when these are allowed. Unless the proceeds are going to a charity or other verifiable donation of funds, chances are it will not be approved.

 

[NoahL]

Ahhh, shoot! I must have missed that rule--I'm sorry about that! I'll go ahead and remove the link. Thanks for the heads up. I'll just update with pictures as it progresses and call it a WIP

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

Anybody wanna see what the primary blade does to a fallen mesquite tree? I know you do...

How about batonning? Yeah, it does that...

Fine work? You betcha...

The blades are being shipped to me this week, and I will start making the carry system and post up pictures as I progress

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

The Wasteland Crow Golok and Companion showed up at my door today.

The template for the Golok sheath:

I guess I have some leatherwork to do

This is what Storm Crow, the guy who forged the blades, had to say about them:

"The blades were forged from the same piece of truck leaf spring. They were filed to a cutting edge and given multiple heat treatments cycles utilizing hardening in vegetable oil and differential heat treatments, using slightly different methods for the two differently sized blades. The blades have both been thoroughly tested as the teaser pictures attest. Remember the really nice camp ax my student made a little while back? The golok does everything it can do and much more. Notice how you can trace an elongated sine wave down the length, from the butt of the handle through the cutting edge? That helps it chop as well as the ax, but it also splits, slices, delicately chops, drawknifes, and can even be used as a skew chisel with the fully sharpened forward edge. It also is light enough to work well against whippy brush and briars. The companion blade is the opposite of the golok in that it is a very slim, pointed blade. Its edge is about as sharp as I've gotten a blade, cleanly dry-shaving my arm hair and leaving a very smooth patch.

The blades are easy to maintain. A few strokes on a fine whet stone and no more than six strokes on a leather strop should return them to their original sharpness. The blades are forge finished, which, in addition to just plain looking primal, is incredibly durable as a finish. If it starts to rust or if you need to clean it after use, you can use 150 grit sandpaper and get it back to like-new condition in a few minutes.

The golok's handle is an integral socket. It is not intended for storage, but for incredible strength. The socket also does not transmit the shock of chopping into your hand the way it might if it was just a standard flat tang. It is very comfortable in use and does not slip or make your hand tired or numb. The end of the socket is plugged permanently with a piece of mesquite wood (which was what I was making in the teaser pics. That's right, I used the blade to make its own handle plug!), with a copper lanyard ring and a short horse hair tassel with copper beads and wire.

Both knives' handles are wrapped in hemp cord and sealed with orange shellac. The golok features double Turk's head knots of black leather lace at the ends of the handle, and the companion knife has hemp Turk's head knots. It has an integral lanyard hole and sports a matching horse hair tassel with beads and wire."

~Noah

 

[stabber]

Lookin good. Nice pics

 

[NoahL]

Thanks Stabber!

I cut out the front panel, back panel, and welt of the golok sheath:

Then I gave it some background texturing:

Then I gave the front panel the detail pitting:

Ignore the various odd coloring--the leather was still damp in places when I took pictures.

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

So, I got the leather dyed:

Hmm, if this is the back, then what am I doing with the dee-rings? Oh, you'll see

And what's this? A strap of some sort? I wonder what that could be for?

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

The front of the sheath, in progress. The bit of leather you see sticking out from underneath is the welt that is currently cemented into place--I let the edges be uneven because I'm going to true them up all at once.

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

The sheath is currently cemented together, but I don't have any pictures of that at the moment. What I do have pictures of is this neat little thing--well, this neat 32" to 77" thing.

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

Well what have we here? An adjustable strap of some sort:

I got the sheath trimmed up a bit:

Then I dressed up the edges a little, set in some super heavy duty brass eyelets, and cut the stitching groove:

Then it came time to test the fit--much better than cardboard, I'd say:

Next I'll be doing stitching, finishing, and some final touches, then it's on to the companion knife sheath!

~Noah

 

[mqqn]

Hi Noah -

That is coming out great!

Thanks for taking time to post up all the pictures here -

best regards -

mqqn

 

[NoahL]

The sheath for the golok has been completely hand stitched and waterproofed, so it's finished! Here is is hooked up to the dee-ring strap and baldric that goes with it. Next up is the sheath for the companion knife. I wonder what I'll do for that? Hmmm....

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

Now, on to the Companion Sheath!

Who gave the welt Red Bull? It has wings!

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

I textured the panels

Then I dyed them

Next up will be distressing and assembly!

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

Here it is cemented and riveted but *gasp* where did the wings go? Well, I had to amputate those, so I guess I'll be doing some experimenting

 

[Cotherion]

Sheath Work-In-Progress (WIP) threads are fun to read/see too

 

[NoahL]

The Companion sheath is finished, and with that, the set it complete! I will be taking the glamor-shots over the weekend and posting them up at that time, and the info on how to become the owner of the set will be posted on the Wasteland Crow blog. In the meantime, here are some poor-quality, shot inside at night photos of the Companion sheath.

Thanks for looking!

~Noah

 

[NoahL]

The set is complete!

Here are a few pictures of the completed set:

And here are just two examples of carry methods, the back mount and the baldric (of course you can tie it down with paracord, use the loops on the back to mount it to your belt, or come up with your own method):

Thanks for looking and for participating in this little project!

 

[MLarson]

I love how this all turned out. You guys did a really great job!