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[LONGBOWKID]

Not quite there, blade still needs to be heat treated and tempered, then hand rubbed. I will be leaving the flats with a forge finish. The top edge will be sharp.

The blade is flat ground L6, 3/16" at the plunge with a distal taper to the tip. The handle is white oak burl, with oval black walnut overlays. Copper guard is oval shaped and has been textured throughout.

Hope yall enjoy, will be posting completed pictures shortly.

Thanks for looking,

Brandon

[skullworks]

Wow! Great job! Good to see you back!

[LONGBOWKID]

Thanks skully, its good to be back.

[L. Bullington]

Good work Brandon! It's looking great!

[Steve Nuckels]

Brandon, where have you been?

That is a beauty!  The blade profile and that copper guard!!!!

Steve
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Potomac Forge

[Kevin Evans]

Cool!  

[LONGBOWKID]

Steve,

I've been here and there. Usually working on finishing up my house, and always busy doing odds and ends hasn't left much time for knifemaking. I tell you what though, I sure did miss it. Hopefully I'll be around more often, Lord willing.

Thanks,

Brandon

[GWV]

The copper guard is nice.

[LONGBOWKID]

Well, I went out in the shop a little while ago with an interest in doing a wire inlay somewhere on the handle, so I had at it.

Since it is my first attempt at this, I went with 1/8" copper wire, doubled it up and twisted it, then "forged" it square with a 6 oz. hammer.

Everything was going well up until this point. I drew my centerline on and started filing and chiseling with some needle files and a tiny chisel I made for fine detail work such as this. What I didnt notice until after nearly finishing is that I had wandered off to one side, maybe 1/16".

So, I come to you with a question. Should I just leave it as is, or should I file it away? It wont affect the handle profile other than maybe slimming it up 1/8" or so. Please, offer your opinions and reasons why it should, or shouldnt stay.


Thanks,

Brandon  

[amicus]

Very nice, you did a great job.

Gilbert

[gables]

How did you texture the copper? Did you texture the copper before or after yo cut the guard slot?

[LONGBOWKID]

Gables:

I made a small hammer and just randomly went at the face of it with an angle grinder to get the rough random texture.

I textured the copper after I cut the guard slot, then just cleaned up what miniscule distortion there was with a small file. It only took one or two strokes on both sides to smooth it back out.

Thanks,

Brandon

[Steve Nuckels]

Brandon, leave it, I think it looks cool!

My current project will have some wire inlay and stippeling...

Steve
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Potomac Forge

[LONGBOWKID]

Steve: Sorry to dissapoint, but its gone.

I ground out the inlay and then re-sculpted the handle and finished up contouring the belly side. The handle is sanded to 320 grit with a quick coat of poly on it. Now it just needs to be sanded with progressively finer grits and might get a nice buffing after final assembly.

[LONGBOWKID]

More updates:

I heated up the blade to a very low red and textured the ricasso in the same manner as the guard. I have one side of the blade taken to 150 grit, with a light buff to help see all the scratches I still have to remove. I plan on getting both sides to atleast 220 grit tonight. My shop hours have been short and very late because of this extreme heat. I have no A/C or fan so I have to wait for the temps to drop down to something somewhat tolerable.

Thanks for looking,

Brandon

[Bodork]

That's a nice knife. I like the texture in the guard and ricasso!

[Todd Robbins]

I didn't know whie oak could look that good!

[Shakes.602]

I really like It!! Anxious to see what kind of Sheath you use too!