Your opinion on forged integrals?

Joss

Joss

Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
7,353
Hi all,

What do people think of integral knives, generally speaking? Who are the top bladesmiths in that field (Zowada seems to do quite a bit of it)? What is the most complex forged integral you've ever seen? Does anyone know if an integral D-guard bowie was ever forged?

Thanks,

JD
 
I own a forged integral that was made by Ron Leuschen. It is a simple design because that is the way I wanted it. It was also Ron's first integral and I thought keeping it rather simple would be a good idea. This knife turned out great and is a favorite of mine.

You just gave me an idea. Now I have to see if a certain maker I am discussing a knife with would be willing to try make an integral double guard in damascus. This will probably cost me a fortune. Damn this forum and all the great ideas that come from it. ;)
 
At the recent ABS hammer-in in NY, Christoph Deringer, MS, demonstrated this technique. He also had some very nice examples for sale with fairly extreme forged integral bolsters & guards. He had some very long curved guards indeed... and forging them involved a -lot- of upsetting. They were beautiful pieces and Christoph is a very interesting guy.
 
Steve Filicietti from Australia makes a great forged integral. I had a fighter from him and it was top notch.
 
JOSS, listen to RJ. I have NO DOUBT that Steve can forge an integral D-gaurd! Damascus? IT DOESEN'T MATTER! Whatever you want. HE IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO TALENTED.

Darby
 
Originally posted by Keith Montgomery
You just gave me an idea. Now I have to see if a certain maker I am discussing a knife with would be willing to try make an integral double guard in damascus. This will probably cost me a fortune. Damn this forum and all the great ideas that come from it. ;)
Click to expand...

An integral double guard shouldn't be too hard. In fact, I discussed a way to do that with Don Fogg recently - it's basically the same thing that what Dana did, only with thicker stock. It can be done by hot cutting or pre-cutting notches on the cold stock, and then spreading those notches open. That leaves you with a third branch for the tang, etc...

Integral via upsetting would be much harder... :D

What I'm interested in is not whether it can be done - I have no doubt it can - but how much it's been done in the past, if they are considered easier (no fittings!) or harder to make, whether they fetch higher prices, etc. Also, whether some people have made a specialty of them - I know of stock removers, such as Hill Knives or Ed Davidson, but not of smiths. I'd love to see examples of Mr. Deringer's work.

Cheers,

JD
 
Thanks RJ and Darby. Joss , it depends on the maker ,there was a time when it was easier for me (through ignorance) to finish a forged integral than to properly fit guards and bolsters. A D -guard would not be to difficult to forge, but it would present a bit of a challenge in finishing. I'll make one when I get some time and take pics of the process, and let you all know how much more involved it is to do.

Steve Filicietti,,,,,,,
Australia
 
Little Hen integral...great knife ;).

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Matt
 
Here are some more ;).

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Here is a better shot of the tang
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Here is a scan from Ron in the early stages...
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Matt
 
I saw Chris' work and asked to take a few pics. These aren't big knives, but MAN are they beautiful! :)

Jon and I watched him bang out the rough draft of this on Sun morning...

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also was this little beauty:

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You don't get a Mastersmith rating unless you earn it! These were some of my very favorites!

Coop
 
Thanks! I'm not a huged fan of the guarded one (but I recognise the difficulty!) but the second one is really nice. They are stick tang, rights? Not like the Little Hen knife? I'm really impressed by the bolster + full tang + butt plate integral here....

JD
 
Right you are. These are stick tangs. That's all I have to show you, although I know what you're looking for as a 'full' integral.

Anyone else?

Coop
 
Hello, folks

Since you are talking about integrals, I thought you might like to see this one, by Brazilian maker Leandro Pazini, forged from a round 52100 bar, with an horizontal tang and showing extensive filewrok all over it.
Sorry for the ugly scans.
 

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And here is another ugly scan of it.
 

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