wrought iron/nickel san mai dagger

ScottRoush

ScottRoush

Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
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Since I was just recently spouting off about san mai in another thread I thought I would post this dagger I just finished:

9" OAL, wrought iron salvaged from 1840s Lake Erie shipwreck welded to pure nickel foil and 15n20. The wood is naturally featured manzanita with nickel silver liners, mild steel pins and rawhide wrap. Blade was etched in a ferric chloride/oxpho blue mixture.

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thanks guys... it's funny how pictures capture things. I look at this picture and start regretting the rawhide wrap instead of bolsters... but then I walk over and pick up the knife and I like it again.
 
Great work! I think the rawhide wrap adds a lot to the aged character of the dagger.
 
I agree with the rawhide wrap going well with the rustic manzanita. Maybe a future similar knife with hammered copper ferrule or bolsters?
I really like the way this one turned out. That san mai is pretty wild and scary looking. Kind of like the poison dagger in one of those swords and sorcery novels.
 
yeah.. you see.. that is what I was wanting to do originally... hammered copper.. but then I did a neck knife that looked so good with the rawhide. The thing that's bothering me is the black line between the rawhide and the wood. I'm not sure what that is... I don't see it on the actual knife. Makes it look 'off'. Whatever. Done is Done.

Hey... that is from that flat rate box you sent me with all the chunks of manzanita.... I always like how it looks but it's not easy isolating those figured pieces out of the logs!
 
Wow, that looks really nice. The nickle layer adds a pretty cool effect. I just welded up a san mai billet with wrought/15n20/1084. Not sure what it will look like, but I figured what the heck, its worth a try. Love the wrought san mai.
If you don't mind me asking, what thicknesses were your layers? Thanks.

-Mike
 
my wrought was probably 3/16".. the nickel... hmmm... very, very thin. I got that from Kelly Cupples. The 15n20 was .095

It's nice having that thick wrought to protect your core.

I love the look of the nickel, but a great advantage, as I understand it, is it's use a barrier to carbon migration.

Mike Turner mentioned he was gonna do a WIP for this sort of thing...
 
Nice job Scott. Really interesting to me how your etch/blue finish worked out.

Take care, Craig
 
Hey thanks for posting that. The one in the other thread was still cool....but this one is the heat! Nicely done!

Brad
 
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