Sneak Preview

Laredo7mm

Laredo7mm

Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
1,240
Hey all, here is my latest. This one is going to be knife number two in the display case, one more to go. Damn I am slow:) Anyway, it is going to be a cable fighter with mokume gaurds and pummel, and Nephrite Jade Handle. Well, if i can work the jade, if not, it will be stone.

Here is what i have so far. Please let me know what you think. Good or bad, trust me, you will be hard pressed to hurt my feelings, I just want to know if i am on the right track or not.

Thanks for your help.

f1.jpg


f2.jpg


f3.jpg
 
I love the damasus. The design looks great. The grinds look really nice.

But I wouldn't go with jade or any other stone. They just seem too cold. A good Stabilized burl would look good with the steel. But it's not being made for me.;)
 
Shappa-

I was thinking the same thing, but i made a Bowie out of cable for my buddie's X-Mas gift with a stone handle. It had the mokume gaurd and pummel. I thought it would be cold too, but to my suprise, it was not that bad.

The stone was cold to the touch for a few seconds, then warmed right up. Astectiaclly (or howerver you spell it) wise it looked mean, real mean! :D

I have some woopin Amboyna Burl (see it here) that i was tiniking about using also. I swear, I am worse than a woman sometimes, just can't make up my mind! Too many damn options!;)

But the Jade has a warm glow about it, so if I can grind and polish it with the tools I have, I will go that way.

But hey, if you want to buy one, let me know. I will make it how you want! :D
 
Laredo, I can't remember what Nephrite Jade looks like or how hard it is to work. I'll have to run down to the local rock shop.

That is some nice burl...but you'll be the one to judge which will look best on that knife. Do you have a pic/link of the other knife you did that had a stone handle?
 
I like the cable in this case. Have never been wild about cable before but thats just me. In the pic with that short grind hieght the blade looks too thick. I say grind some more distal taper in an raise the lower bevels until they almost meet. I like your handle and fittings choices. Cant wait to see it finished. It will be KIller
 
I really like the damasus and the general blade shape,i think bruce is right raise the lower bevel .Your set on the stone so i won"t comment.
 
Go with the amboynia burl! I'm just a fan of wood for handle materials (and it's lighter). You managed the cable welding admirably! What sized cable did you start with? Must have been some big stock. Nicely done blade shape, very attractive!
 
Thanks all. The cable started out as 1.125 diameter. I over estimated on how much I needed so i didnt even have to forge weld a tang onto this one.

I was hoping you all would comment on the grind height. I was debating the same thing. Whether to bring the grinds closer together or not. This was the first knife that I have hand sanded, to try to get to a mirror polish before etch. Usually I take her to 240 grit and then buff and etch. It made a considerable difference at least on this cable:)

But I think I should have spent some more time on that big flat area, kinda looks like there are still some small scratches, or it could be from lightly sanding with 1500 grit after etch:confused:

I don't have a pic of the knife with the stoneon it, but here is a link to a pic of the stone.Stone Handle

Thanks for your input and I will post more later
 
I think the top grind is good, but the bottom one needs to be wider to give the blade a better balanced look, just my opinion of course.


the damascus is very nice!
 
Nice piece of Damascus. I like thick blades. When all is said and done it is great just as it is. But if you get 100 guys to look at it you can get 100 personal preferances. I may have gone a mm or to higher with the bottom grind, or purhaps just for show put a fuller groove between the 2 grinds going almost back to the guard.
The stone looks good. There was a great thread on using photo shop a couple of months back maybe you can make a few digital changes to see if you like anything better. But as I said it is a great looking piece just as it is. I look forward to the end result.
 
Real nice so far.
I have to agree on raising the lower grind. If you bring them up till the top and bottom almost meet, it will bring out the shape of the blade more. It looks a little flat right now. Great profile, a higher grind would accentuate it.
Don't know about the handle. I really like wood, especially a good burl. Seems like you can sculp wood more, and the grain stands out and makes it look less dull. Thats all opinion though and either material should look good.
 
I like the grinds the way they are. They match the pattern in the steel. It looks like a snake skin kind of. How did you do those grinds Laredo?
 
That's some good looking cable damascus! I agree with the opinions about bringing the bottom grind up. Not too far, but at least as far as the most distant part of the upper grind. Looking forward to seeing it done.
 
The cable looks great!!! I'd raise the lower bevel but, use the jade. Everyone uses burls, myself included. :rolleyes: Use something different that you like. Different is good. I will make the knife more your own.
 
L6 - How did I do those grinds? On a belt grinder.:p HeHeHe. Seriuosly though I use an 8 inch contact wheel at about 2200 SFPM with 40 grit to ruff grind, then switched to 240 grit at about 850 SFPM for final grind, hand sand with 320, then 600, then buff with the black stuff, then buff with the white stuff.

The top grind is straight forward, the bottom grind gets kinda funcky. To get the belly to tip ground in I would lower the tang and try to keep the edge somewhat perpendicular to the direction of the belt.

In the other part of the blade, I dont know what you call it, I would slightly rotate the tip of the blade away from the wheel to allow the wheel edge to get into that shape.

All that happens in one smooth pass on the grinder, so a typical pass went something like this; With edge up and the tang in my right hand, I would locate my bevel, tip the tang up a little (to get the plung set to right height)and start drawing the blade to the right. Before I start get into the hollow, the tang comes back down. As I get to that hollow, I push the tang toward the grinder so the wheel is basically only contacting the knife on its edge. Once out of the hollow, I am back to level in both directions, when I get to the belly, I push the tang down to keep the blade edge more purpendicular to the beltand continue to draw the knife through the tip.

Do the same with the left hand on the other side. Piece of cake!!;) Really it is not too bad. The movements are small and the belt speed is slow, makes everything controlable, even for me.

How do all you others do it?

On a side note, I think tonight I am going to forge another one and grind her deeper. An extra hour in the forge will be worth not screwing this one up. Right???
 
Reason I asked was I can't tell if the grind is hollow, flat or convex, Laredo. Sure is a nice lookin blade, I wouldn't change a thing!
 
That's some of the better cable damascus I've seen. Ya did a great job on it. I like the blade shape too. But, I gotta tell ya, that jade in your pic is KICKIN'! Amboyna burl is a personal favorite of mine, but, this time I gotta vote for the jade. I think it'll go well with that cable damascus. But, even if you go with the Amboyna, it'll still look great.;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top