A little something I'll be dragging along to the Blade Show in Atlanta.
Forged from 1084 with a little clay treatment for the Hamon addicts.
Beautiful piece of African Blackwood that is sooooooooooooo smooth it doesn't even feel like wood!
Mother of Pearl inlay on both sides and a slightly different guard and spacer combination you may be accustomed to seeing from me.

 

Show-off...  

Another beauty! Love that inlay!

Cool Buddy!!!!  

       :D

Wowzer! Awesome stuff!

Beautilful Karl!  Where did you get the 1084?  I have been looking and all I can find is 1095 and O1.  I would like to try some 1080 or 1084 and having a hard time finding a site with it listed.

I didn't get it off of a site. I've got a friend that deals in some steel and orders steel from a mill made to his specs.
He doesn't sell in small quantities - you'd have to buy $100.00 or more.
If you want his contact info, let me know.

admiral steel has 1080 if that helps madness

Thanks Karl not sure if I'm ready for that much steel.  Maybe someone would want to split it with me.

Tx is that admiral 1080 already annealed?

The steel from Admiral - or any dealer/manufacturer - dosen't need to be annealed, 'cause it's never been hardened.
However, most steel in the factory condition is poorly annealed. By that I mean probably irregularly annealed.
It would behoove any maker to use whatever means he has to do a sub-critical, slow cool anneal on steels with less than .84% carbon.

Karl
that is one sharp looking knife, as always, question i have is,can you take a picture of your knife that is a close-up of the blade (very close) for some reason i can not get the finsh at you do, i normaly take mine to 2000 grit, but it never turns out like that.
thanks
dana

Dana, that was clay-coated when quenched to get a hamon, since it is shallow hardening steel.
Then, hand-sanded to, I forget, 1200 or 1500.
But then it was etched in ferric Chloride to expose the hamon and then cleaned with a 4000 grit cloth to remove the etching oxides.
It's almost a dull, flat finish.
On my plain, hand sanded knives, I spend a LOT of time attempting to do a flawless 400 grit finish.
There's no reason to go to 2000 grit unless you are going to buff and mirror shine.

thanks Karl
i have seen you do the harmon before, (it look great) but i'm just trying to do the simple knife.
i've done like every one has said and i've read, but it still looks like i have lines, i want to be as perfect as it can. i bought a 400 grit scothbrite belt and it looks good but not perfect. i start with 220,320,400 (600to 2000 if i want a mirror shine) all hand sanded.
here is one that i put a 400 grit finsh

but it does not have the finsh that yours and others have.
just thought you mite have a idea that i'm doing wrong.
thanks for your time
dana

Dang nice knife Karl

I really enjoy looking at that one.  Everything just flows and balances really nicely.  Love that blade shape and nice simple lines with just enough "fancy" details to make it interesting without getting near overdone territory.  All your knives are great but that one just really grabs me.  Thanks for sharing.

Dana, I am not Karl, but I will give you some advice.

Go over the blade with your belt sander, the finest grit you have, all in one direction, and then clamp in in your vice.

Buy some sandpaper designed for METAL, not wood. Get three or four 6" x 2" x 1" thick blocks of wood. Now, use thumb tacks, or small nails to secure your sandpaper to your board.

I go 320,400,800,1000, in opposite directions,until all scratches from the previous grit are gone, before continueing to the next grit, with lots of WD-40 for lubrication.

Keep wiping the WD-40 off when it turns black from steel filings, respray generously, and continue sanding. It will take a LONG time. A knife I recently finished has two hours of hand sanding in it.

But, I will say its a fair bet that you will be happy with your blades using this method.

The Kid

thanks kid
well that is what i do, pretty much how you do it. i guess i'm a perfictionest i like every thing with stright lines, smooth, may be after we do the knife swap i can see how others do theirs.
thanks for the words
dana

Karl, nice knife!  And nice photography too.  
How about a post or two on photography tips?
I have some abalone and ivory for inlays to try when I get time, and a new camera on the way!
Dan