Year Four - Coming into my own

In year four, I continued to learn from mentors and really started to get comfortable with making blades. I gained confidence and continued to push my knowledge and skills. This really was the first year where I started selling more knives than I could keep.

Personal EDC

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
I decided to make an example EDC for myself. This was the remaining blade from the four "brothers knives". 1095 steel already heat treated.
Decided to do another segmented scale using spalted sycamore that I stabilized myself, carbon fiber and blue G-10.
Scales done and ready to be mounted.
Glue up.
This blade is where I really started to develop my handle shapes. I didn't want bland boring handles, but something that had curves and looked much better.
This really was my attempt at a "coke-bottle" handle.
These are the scary curves, but so necessary. It always seems like you're taking too much off, but once blended it gives the handle a great feminine shape.
At this time I had transitioned from a Cricut and electro ectching to a cheap Chinese laser to engrave my maker's mark. This was me testing it out on some plain 1095.
Handle glamour shot.
Shoulder glamour shot - love how the blue really pops.
Final glamour shot. Still have this one on my wall.

Mark B. - Set of Alabama Damascus Kiridashi

Final blades - keep scrolling to see the journey.
A friend of mine who was an early supported does great woodworking, as a "thanks for believing in me" I made him a set of kiridashi from some Alabama Damascus I was gifted by Austin M.
Decided to do some decorative holes on the handles to make them more interesting.
Chamfered the holes for comfort.
This little marble cutting board was my surface plate back in the day.
Hand sanded and ready for etching.
This was my etching set up for years. I kinda miss it.
Just out of the acid etch.
Both etched and looking great.
Size in hand.
In hand #2
Love to see the layers on these.
Close up from Mark as he wanted to count the layers.
Final glamour shot.

Ribbon Burner Forge

Final Project - keep scrolling to see the journey.
Decided that it was time to upgrade from my OG forge to a larger more efficient forge. The next progression was clearly a ribbon burner forge, especially as I wanted to start making my own Damascus. This photo was part of the inspiration.
Making the burner body out of square pipe.
Making the baffle out of a thinner sheet of steel I had on hand.
Body put together.
Good airflow is necessary.
This is how not to weld, it's poopy doo-doo.
This is how you should weld. P.S. - I did both of these welds, one on the $40 Facebook marketplace stick welder I bought back in the day. The other on my 110V Mig Welder - clear improvements.
Inside the body.
Layout for the crayons I decided to use to create the holes in the cement portion of the burner.
Name brand Marine Corps snacks.
Ready for fitment.
Wanted to make sure the end results were straight.
All lined up.
Mold all ready for the body and casting.
Adding tabs to the burner body to have stable depth.
Casting my first ribbon burner in refractory cement Yes, that is a knife used as a spacer.
Post casting.
Ready to burn out the crayons.....on the family grill.
Clown tears.
Setting up the gas port.
Upgraded from a freon tank to a portable air tank.
Primed and laid out.
My daughter helping put together the cart for the forge. In February of this year, I was given permission to move my shop indoors and take over part of the garage.
Kids and dog helping as they do.
2" Kao wool lining.
Stabilized kao wool drying outside.
The new setup all put together.
Kao wool all coated and a layer of refractory cement on the bottom.
Ready to light.
Still forging outdoors, but the new forge was a treat.
Final glamour shot.

Kevin T. - Gut Hook Hunter

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
I decided that I wanted to have some "portfolio" knives to show people examples of what I could make. I used one of these for this blade.
Bevels and my first gut hook.
Segmented scales using ebony, G-10 and stabilized mammoth ivory.
Blade and handles ready for glue up.
Classic glue up techniques.
Finished knife.
Another angle of the finished knife.
Shoulder view.
Bolster view. Love using vulcanized paper to help the liners pop. This is a trick I learned from Austin M.
Starting to make fancier sheaths.
Finished stamping.
Dyed sheath.
Finished knife in sheath.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour Shot #2.

Mariano A. - Suit Knife

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
Another one from this batch. A friend said they wanted to own one of my knives and I decided to make a more formal suit knife.
Decided to use water buffalo horn and true stone to make a segmented handle for it.
Scale done and rough profiled.
Hand sanding. Took me long enough to realized, but it makes such a difference in final quality.
Maker's mark added.
Glue up!
Handle scales attached.
Again this is where my new appreciation for contouring handles made a huge difference. Still early stages, but I became a thing.
Love using gaffers tape to protect blades as I work on them - strong as duck tape, but no residue.
Spine view.
Getting fancy with the sheaths. Decided to make two (I don't know why) one with a stingray skin inlay and one with ostrich leather.
Rough sheath shape.
In assembly.
This photo was the inspiration for the style of the sheath I made.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.
Glamour shot #3.
Glamour shot #4.
Glamour shot #5.
Cool perspective shot.

Twist Damascus paring knife.

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
At this point I decided that it was time to make a knife for my dear mom, who has always been supporting and my biggest fan. I decided that I wanted to make her a paring knife out of custom made twist damascus from 1084/15n20.
I met another friend and fellow bladesmith Andy L. and we made up this billet of twist damascus at his shop since he had a forge press.
Final bar of twist damascus.
Rough forging the blade shape.
Rough integral shape.
This image was the inspiration for the shape of what I was going for.
Rough shape from the side.
Size and refining the shape.
Test etch to see the pattern.
Post heat treatment.
Refined shape, now it's starting to look better.
Looking better and slicy.
I decided to add a damascus but cap out of the same bar of twist damascus.
Rough fit up.
Hand sanding underway. Good profile view.
Following some advice I got from Austin M. with damascus you want to sand up to a high grit (normally 2000) to get a great finished etch.
Ready for etching.
Post etch, but only a step in the process.
Mid-etch - oxide layer cleaned off with a light 2000 grit sanding.
Post etch and coffee etch. Love those deep blacks.
With damascus you glue up post etch, and that always makes it a little more challenging.
I peened the butt cap on, all while making sure I didn't ding up the butt cap.
Finished knife. Contoured a little and a Tru-oil finish to bring out this buckeye burl handle.
Final butt cap.
Butt cap glamour shot.
Again, I love the natural beauty of these woods.
Blade glamour shot.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.

Tom S. - Patriotic Tanto EDC

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
With this blade a found a set of awesome handle scales from Emily's Casting Crafts, and asked for a set with reversed colors. I wanted to make a cool Patriotic Tanto, and one of my friends said they wanted it!
Here are the scales custom made for me, and the profiled blade.
I wanted to make it extra patriotic so I decided to engrave "We The People" from the constitution, and "In God We Trust" for the dollar bill on each side of the blade.
"In God We Trust"
Glue up.
Finished knife and sheath.
Finished knife in it's sheath.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.

Lee B. - Twist Damascus Letter Opener

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
From the same bar of twist damascus that I made the paring knife from, I made a letter opener for a client contact who was the first boss I worked with after leaving my previous day job company to a new one. He was very kind, collaborative and welcoming and made my transition to a new job very easy.
I rough forged the shape at the same time as the paring knife.
I decided to make it special by doing a fluted handle out of African blackwood. I had another friend turn it down round for me and hand carved the flutes.
Widening the flutes with a file and trying my best to keep them straight.
Looking decent, but lots of work still ahead.
Test fit up.
Rough grind on the blade. It had to be super shallow since it was a letter opener.
Overall size and shape.
Flutes looking better and decided to add a true-stone spacer.
Overall view after hand sanding.
Something special about African blackwood is that it's an oily hardwood. This glossy coat is just from buffing - no finish.
Assembled and pretty.
Assembled rough pommel.
Heat treated pommel. Interesting thing about damascus - if you don't heat treat it, it will only end up gray after etch. You need to heat treat it to get those deep blacks.
Blade and pommel sanded and ready for etch.
Post etch and coffee etch.
Final letter opener.
Final pommel.
With this one I wanted to see about making a custom box as I felt a padded case or a sheath wouldn't quite fit.
Final box cut out on my cheap laser, and finished with box store wood finish.
Box glamour shot #1.
Box glamour shot #2.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.
Glamour shot #3.
Final glamour shot #1.
Final glamour shot #2.
Final glamour shot #3.

Josh H. - Tanto K-Bar

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
When I was making the paring knife for my mom, I showed it to a family friend and he was impressed. He told me that as a kid, his uncle had made knives for him and his siblings and he wanted the same experience for his kids. This kicked off a project to make a knife for him and each of his four kids. The first blade made was for a kid that like the military and the thought and shape of the Marine Corps K-Bar. We decided to add a tanto tip to make it a little different.
Hard to get these lines all to line up just right.
Fortunately I ordered the true-tilt table from Housemade.us to help with keeping these lines nice and crisp.
Blade rough ground.
It's not damascus but hand sanding is necessary as I'm not consistent on belt finished just yet.
oooo, shiny.
I wanted a full tang knife, but also a guard. I decided to peen/weld two pieces of mild steel to either side of the blade.
In order to help make the guard symmetrical I created this half template.
Decided on some special carbon fiber. As this was for a young teen I decided to add a little flare to it.
Nothing says cool like glow in the dark carbon fiber from Carbon Waves.
I mean, even for adults this is kinda cool.
Still in the custom sheath phase - had to do something special for this one.
Sewing a D-ring onto the sheath for more flexible movement when worn.
Couldn't just have a plain straight sheath so made little belt accents to break up the main body.
Functional little belts, and did what I wanted them to.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.
Sheath glamour shot.
Blade in sheath glamor shot.
Handle glamour shot.
Glowing indoors.
Handle glowing indoors.
Another cool handle view.
Glowing in hand.
Final glamour shot #1.
Final glamour shot #2.

Bryce D. - Patriotic Tanto EDC (the second)

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
I don't normally make similar knives, but when another friend saw the knife I made for Tom S. he said he wanted one just like it. Fortunately I had ordered two sets of those custom scales and could easily make another.
More tanto grinds.
Drilling pin holes.
Slightly different handle contouring, but pretty much the same.
I changed the pattern on the sheath.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.

Brad G. - Year 4 Capstone Knife

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.
This knife was very special to me - my Sister-in-law reached out to me and asked if I would make a knife for my oldest brother. I couldn't make just anything, but wanted something special at the edges of my limits. He likes to cook, and so we decided on a damascus chef's knife. I took it further.
Cutting up stacks of 1084 and 15n20 to make custom twist damascus. I decided to do a san mai damascus blade and so needed more twist damascus for the core.
The ready billet.
I went back to Andy L.'s house as it worked the first time.
I guess instead of blood, sweat and tears, it's really blood, sweat and burns.
Hand twisting damascus is always a romantic (between you and the metal) and personal experience. Nothing like straining to your physical limits with 2000 degree metal feet from your face and arms.
The finished bar. I say finished but it's so much work work to come.
These are the challenge - gotta keep these all from becoming cold shuts.
Twist bar ground and test etched.
It's crazy how much smaller the billets are after clean up. I'm typically around 55-60% the original amount by weight. This is one of the reasons damascus is expensive.
I was too worried about messing up such an important knife, so I took it back over to Austin M.'s shop to get his help with making the san mai.
Heating the billet in Austin's forge.
Austin pressing the billet as I wasn't comfortble yet on a press and didn't want to screw it up.
Oh look, more material loss as we clean up scale and chased cold shuts.
Cold shuts are stupid. So much material lost to chase a tiny little flaw.
Forging the blade out to a more blade like shape.
Squaring it up.
In order to add more pattern to the san mai, we decided to put it through the ladder pattern dies.
Guess what - even more grinding to reveal the ladder pattern.
Finally back home for shaping and finishing. I have one half of this billet saved for another special project and a little piece of the original twist bar.
Test etch to see the pattern. Always hard not to peak.
Shaping the blade. I was still finding my favorite shape, but it was better than some of my original shapes.
This also was challenging as I worried the integral bolster would end up too narrow.
Blending the blade and bolster.
Post heat treat.
Of course with Christmas fast approaching and the high vision I had for this blade it fought me - warped in the temper.
Warps are stupid too, but you do what you can. I was able to get it out in in subsequent tempering cycles.
Bolster was getting pretty narrow. I literally went to the grocery store an measure bolsters on store bought knives to see for comparison.
A breath of fresh air towards the end. I found this gorgeous piece of flaming box elder burl that I considered for the handle.
Blade more closely dialed in.
I didn't want to screw up the handle, so I made a test handle to play with the shape.
Blade with test handle. the shape was okay, but still needed some work.
After hand sanding up to 2000 grit, I needed to peak at how the pattern looked. I had earned it at this point.
The most beautiful sight!
I wasn't completely happy with the shape, so ended up taking it back to Austin M.'s house to refine it together. It ended up lazer slicy and a little scary - just perfect. I also hadn't landed on a final handle material, but ended up making the right decision.
Handle layout.
Handle fit up.
Getting closer.
G-10 pin for the win.
Ready for final etch.
Post acid etch , pre-coffee etch.
Cheap instant coffee actually has it's uses.
Ready for glue up.
Glue up at last!
Wasn't 100% happy with the nubby end, but the handle still turned out beautifully.
Glamour shot #1.
Glamour shot #2.
Spine shot.
Perspective shot.
Final Glamour shot. Turned out so well.

Year Four - Coming into my own

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.

I decided to make an example EDC for myself. This was the remaining blade from the four "brothers knives". 1095 steel already heat treated.

Decided to do another segmented scale using spalted sycamore that I stabilized myself, carbon fiber and blue G-10.

Scales done and ready to be mounted.

Glue up.

This blade is where I really started to develop my handle shapes. I didn't want bland boring handles, but something that had curves and looked much better.

This really was my attempt at a "coke-bottle" handle.

These are the scary curves, but so necessary. It always seems like you're taking too much off, but once blended it gives the handle a great feminine shape.

At this time I had transitioned from a Cricut and electro ectching to a cheap Chinese laser to engrave my maker's mark. This was me testing it out on some plain 1095.

Handle glamour shot.

Shoulder glamour shot - love how the blue really pops.

Final glamour shot. Still have this one on my wall.

Final blades - keep scrolling to see the journey.

A friend of mine who was an early supported does great woodworking, as a "thanks for believing in me" I made him a set of kiridashi from some Alabama Damascus I was gifted by Austin M.

Decided to do some decorative holes on the handles to make them more interesting.

Chamfered the holes for comfort.

This little marble cutting board was my surface plate back in the day.

Hand sanded and ready for etching.

This was my etching set up for years. I kinda miss it.

Just out of the acid etch.

Both etched and looking great.

Size in hand.

In hand #2

Love to see the layers on these.

Close up from Mark as he wanted to count the layers.

Final glamour shot.

Final Project - keep scrolling to see the journey.

Decided that it was time to upgrade from my OG forge to a larger more efficient forge. The next progression was clearly a ribbon burner forge, especially as I wanted to start making my own Damascus. This photo was part of the inspiration.

Making the burner body out of square pipe.

Making the baffle out of a thinner sheet of steel I had on hand.

Body put together.

Good airflow is necessary.

This is how not to weld, it's poopy doo-doo.

This is how you should weld. P.S. - I did both of these welds, one on the $40 Facebook marketplace stick welder I bought back in the day. The other on my 110V Mig Welder - clear improvements.

Inside the body.

Layout for the crayons I decided to use to create the holes in the cement portion of the burner.

Name brand Marine Corps snacks.

Ready for fitment.

Wanted to make sure the end results were straight.

All lined up.

Mold all ready for the body and casting.

Adding tabs to the burner body to have stable depth.

Casting my first ribbon burner in refractory cement Yes, that is a knife used as a spacer.

Post casting.

Ready to burn out the crayons.....on the family grill.

Clown tears.

Setting up the gas port.

Upgraded from a freon tank to a portable air tank.

Primed and laid out.

My daughter helping put together the cart for the forge. In February of this year, I was given permission to move my shop indoors and take over part of the garage.

Kids and dog helping as they do.

2" Kao wool lining.

Stabilized kao wool drying outside.

The new setup all put together.

Kao wool all coated and a layer of refractory cement on the bottom.

Ready to light.

Still forging outdoors, but the new forge was a treat.

Final glamour shot.

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.

I decided that I wanted to have some "portfolio" knives to show people examples of what I could make. I used one of these for this blade.

Bevels and my first gut hook.

Segmented scales using ebony, G-10 and stabilized mammoth ivory.

Blade and handles ready for glue up.

Classic glue up techniques.

Finished knife.

Another angle of the finished knife.

Shoulder view.

Bolster view. Love using vulcanized paper to help the liners pop. This is a trick I learned from Austin M.

Starting to make fancier sheaths.

Finished stamping.

Dyed sheath.

Finished knife in sheath.

Glamour shot #1.

Glamour Shot #2.

Final blade - keep scrolling to see the journey.

Another one from this batch. A friend said they wanted to own one of my knives and I decided to make a more formal suit knife.

Decided to use water buffalo horn and true stone to make a segmented handle for it.

Scale done and rough profiled.

Hand sanding. Took me long enough to realized, but it makes such a difference in final quality.