Damascus Bowie with Sculptured Fittings

[Steve Culver]

I started working on this bowie a few weeks ago. The knife is nearing completion. I still have some work to do on the fittings, plus make the sheath. I will continue this WIP as I get the photos ready to post.

The steel for the damascus billet. This is 11 layers of 1084 and 15N20. Six layers of 1084 and five layers of two pieces of 15N20 steel.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5251019481_dd4cbb8a16_o.jpg

The stack is tack welded together with a MIG welder and then placed in a container of kerosene. This is the first time that I tried using kerosene for a welding flux. It worked!!!
I did actually use a little borax... I made the first weld with just the kerosene on the steel; following my usual process of using fairly light blows of the trip hammer to make the first weld on a billet. I always repeat this welding operation to make sure the welds are sound before I start drawing out a billet. On the second pass under the hammer to close the weld, I put a little borax on the billet just for insurance. This was the only time that I used borax on this billet of damascus.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5251019555_19fc6ceeb1_o.jpg

Taking a welding heat on the 11 layer billet.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5251019625_aba5b734fe_o.jpg

Making the first weld. This is with just the kerosene.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5251623598_823282e984_o.jpg

Drawing out the welded 11 layer billet.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5251623708_f8b12486ec_o.jpg

The 11 layer billet cooling from the welding/drawing out process.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5251623656_5a6df119cd_o.jpg

Grinding scale from the 11 layer billet.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5251019797_b60cdc5ab7_o.jpg

Sawing the 11 layer billet into two pieces.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5251019857_59f592526d_o.jpg

The two pieces of billet are MIG welded together, all of the way around. Then, the excess weld material is ground away. The billet is again soaked in kerosene. This shouldn't be necessary, but I did it just for insurance; in case there is a problem in the MIG welds.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5251019907_6d9023e7fd_o.jpg

Welding the billet to create 22 layers.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/5251019951_8086224b11_o.jpg

[Steve Culver]

The welded 22 layer billet.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5251020031_9575d26d06_o.jpg

The 22 layer billet ground clean and etched to be able to see that all of the MIG weld material has been removed.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5251624032_0db40d8194_o.jpg

The 22 layer billet is forged on the bias and drawn out into a bar.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5126/5251020157_dca5fe2f49_o.jpg

Bias crushed 22 layer billet.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5047/5251020217_c24084b1f9_o.jpg

The bar is cut into four pieces, ground clean, stacked and MIG welded all around and again soaked in kerosene.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5251020293_299c244f79_o.jpg

Welding the first four stack in the hydraulic press.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5251624370_4ab43367e0_o.jpg

Pressing the billet to a uniform thickness in the press using shims between the dies.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5251631542_1455a317c2_o.jpg

The billet is again drawn out, ground clean, cut into four pieces and MIG welded together to create a second four stack.
Not a great picture, but here are the etched ends of the four pieces that make up the second four stack.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5260347387_e6138c55df_o.jpg

The second four stack is welded and drawn into bar stock. The bar is pressed to a uniform thickness of 7/16", using shims between the dies on the hydraulic press.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5260350037_d8e8056fa4_o.jpg

I didn't get a picture of it, but the bar of damascus next has blade bevels and distal taper forged into it. The beginnings of a blade shape.
The hydraulic press is fitted with "West Texas Wind" dies and the pattern is pressed into the damascus blade stock.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5122/5260347515_7246fec131_o.jpg

[Steve Culver]

Three views of the pattern pressed blade stock.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5243/5260349981_d06e719bd0_o.jpg

Grinding the pattern ridges from the blade stock.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5260347577_baa8210224_o.jpg

Flat grinding the blade stock.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/5260347647_fbe64eef65_o.jpg

Lightly etched blade stock and the profiled blade cut from the damascus.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5260347729_cb19b3e528_o.jpg

Final forging of the blade and drawing out the tang.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5260347805_5798842071_o.jpg

The blade as it is being thermal cycled.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5085/5260347869_970817a8f0_o.jpg

[Kevin Jones]

Thanks for sharing the creation of this knife with us.
You keep a very clean shop.

[Steve Culver]

You are very welcome, Kevin. And thanks for the compliment on the cleanliness of the shop. It makes me crazy when the shop gets filthy.:D

[Bruce Bump]

Hi Steve,
Yes your shop makes me envious for how clean it is. I use a leaf blower to clean mine. :D
You are doing a nice WIP on this one. I hope you go all the way to the end with it. I'm learning some tricks as well. I didnt know the kerosene would take the place of flux but you are concerned enough to use flux also? I do know that Owen Wood uses kerosene and never uses flux (evil stuff) but he also uses sacrificial mild steel with tight tolerances. He goes so far as to surface grind each piece so there isnt room for air to form scale. He demonstated "Precision Damascus" at Josh's hammer-in one year. Very interesting.
I would like a better picture of your Texas Wind die set up you have in the press sometime. Also how thick is the steel before you press that pattern in?

[Steve Culver]

Hey Bruce,

I've photographed the entire process on this knife and will post some more pictures today.

I have used kerosene on two billets now. This one and also a billet of 1018 and O-1 that I am in the process of making for a quillion dagger. I made the initial welds on the stack of steel for the billets using only kerosene. I then put a little borax on the billet for a second welding run through the hammer. I used borax on the second weld to make sure the layers welded all of the way to the edges. There is a thread on the ABS Forum where the use of kerosene for welding damascus was discussed. A couple of the guys mentioned in the thread that they had seen dark lines between the layers at the edges of the billet after using only kerosene to weld. When I ground the edges of these billets, everything looked clean and welded solidly.

The layers of steel in the initial stack had been ground to remove the mill scale on the belt grinder; but not surface ground. I also forge welded the first 4 stack after just belt grinding the scale off. Of course, the restacked billets have been MIG welded. If the MIG welds are tight, the kerosene will have no effect on the welds.

On the second 4 stack, I did decide to surface grind the layers to reduce the chance of failure. I have also surface ground all of the layers for restacking on the 1018 and O-1 billet. I simply do not have time for a failure on these pieces. But, the welds on the belt ground pieces were sound and I really think it isn't necessary to surface grind the steel.

I know of a Master Smith who reportedly doesn't grind mill scale or forge scale from his steel before welding; and he uses kerosene. I actually watched him weld a billet without grinding the mill scale off, using borax for flux.

I want to experiment more with the surface prep on the layers to see what I can get away with. I only had to surface grind .012 to .015 from each side of the steel to get it clean. But, this is time and material lost if it isn't necessary.

I devised the set-up for the pattern dies after some disappointing results from using the dies in a fixed position. At first, I welded the dies to plates for the press so that they were level and rigid. I would press the pattern into a damascus bar and then either forge the edge bevels or stock remove the blade. Both of these processes would result in a loss of pattern definition at the edge of the blade. It occurred to me that it would be better to press the pattern in after the edge bevels were forged. But how to get the dies to conform to an unknown angle?

I left the dies welded to the press plates, but drilled the plates and installed 1/2" guide pins to keep the dies aligned. I split a piece of 2" round and welded it to the top plate to act as a fulcrum, so the top die could angle to match the forged bevel. A flat die is left in the press to push on the 2" round bar. The springs open the dies to allow moving the bar to a new position. In testing the set-up using only the springs, I found that sometimes the friction between the top flat die and the round bar would not allow the top die to fully match the angle of the forged bevel. So, I added the washers to the bottom of one spring to pre angle the top die and I also put grease on the top of the round bar.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5241/5263669164_728f8f2344_o.jpg

I forged the bar of damascus for this blade to 7/16" (leaving it that thick at the riccasso), then forged in some distal taper and the edge out to just under 1/4". It was then pressed with the pattern dies. I think the pattern in the damascus came out looking pretty good at the edge.

[Bruce Bump]

Thanks Steve for the explainations. I'm going to try the kerosene method too especially if the fitis very tight. I'm sure we cant expect to get away with loose gaps without the dry weld methods. I've had good success by making a quick canister and lining the interior with used heat treat foil. I wonder if ends are really neccesary on the canister if its soaked in kerosene?

Sorry to deter from your thread with questions but heck I'm curious and dont get out much.

Great idea on the press die fixture. I've also had troubles with my texas wind pattern reaching the middle at the edge. I wasnt setting the distal taper or forging the bevels first though. Thanks for that. The thickness is important too. I have a tendency to forge too thick and then grind off the pressed pattern

Cool thread Steve. Thanks for taking the extra time this all takes.

[Peter Elovich]

This is great so far, i'm looking forward to see the next processes.

Thanks for posting it Steve.

Peter

[Steve Culver]

Bruce,

No need to apologize for posting to my thread. I'm glad that you are enjoying it and I am honored to hear that I have shown some tricks to someone with your talents. I've got a few more that will show up as I continue this WIP.

I thought you may be curious about the argon injection on the kiln. :)

I calculated the thickness that I would need the damascus to be when the pattern was pressed in by doing a little math. The pattern in my WTW dies is cut around .080 deep in each of the dies.
.080 + .080 = .160
.160 + .250 (finished riccasso thickness) = .410
Add a little for clean-up grinding and finishing = .437 or 7/16"
The riccasso of the finished blade came out at .258"


Peter,

I'm happy that you also are enjoying the WIP. I hope to keep it interesting for you!

[Steve Culver]

The blade goes through the typical rough grinding process. I doubt that I do rough grinding much different than other bladesmiths, so I didn't photograph this part of the process.

I like to make sure that the tang is parallel to the blade. Holding the blade down flat at the riccasso, I scribe the tang with a height gauge. I first scribe the tang behind the riccasso and grind this area to the thickness that I want to tang to be where the guard will fit.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5206/5260347931_1ff4437bef_o.jpg

The blade is clamped at the riccasso to a piece of angle iron.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5048/5260954564_e7357d5c13_o.jpg

This fixture is used on the work rest of the belt grinder to ensure the tang is ground on the same plane as the riccasso.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5260954532_f5e6bd8463_o.jpg

After grinding the tang area behind the riccasso, I next scribe and grind the end of the tang to the thickness that I want the tip of the tang to be.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5260348073_f12f600faf_o.jpg

The area of the tang where the guard will fit is placed on the edge of the surface stone and the tip of the tang is shimmed so that it is level with the front of the tang. The height gauge is set at the thickness of the tang in the guard area and a straight line is scribed the length of the tang. Clear as mud???
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/5260954692_d76d45f7c4_o.jpg

Kind of hard to see, but a photo of the scribed lines on the tang. The blade is again clamped to the angle iron and ground to the scribed lines. The result is a nice even taper on the tang that is parallel to the riccasso.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5260954744_0fd4d693ce_o.jpg

Filing the guard shoulders behind the riccasso. Yea, should have taken a picture with my hand out of the way........
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5260954810_d5b7b76433_o.jpg

Removing the blade from the heat treat kiln to quench. Yea, I'm in the way again. You don't get a second chance at a photo op when you are quenching a blade.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5260348297_8c311d9881_o.jpg

This is a picture of the blade just moments after coming out of the heat treat kiln. I recently added an argon injection unit to my heat treat oven. The argon gas displaces the oxygen in the kiln so the blade doesn't scale during heat treatment. I tested the argon set-up on some scrap steel and found that it worked well. This is the first blade that I used the argon system on. It worked great!
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5260348371_e13a747b9a_o.jpg

A clevis for the pommel attachment is made using a 1/4" shoulder bolt. The bolt head is cut off, the shoulder area is thinned and split to accept the tang, then drilled and tapped for a flat-head screw. A hole is drilled in the end of the tang for the screw to pass through. A 1/4" coupler nut is turned down on the lathe, to be used as a connector. A 1/4" bolt is cut to length and receives decorative filework to make the pommel screw.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5263757609_88ebc040c4_o.jpg

[Steve Culver]

The final grinding of the blade is completed and the clip is ground in last. I scribe a center line for the clip using a shotgun rib center finder. I got this device from Brownell's. It is designed to be used to find the center of a shotgun rib to install a bead sight. This photo is of the scribed clip and the center finder tool resting on the spine of the blade.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5083/5260348493_69efb34c55_o.jpg

I grind the clip using the grinding attachment that I made for my KMG grinder. I can adjust this attachment to whatever angle that I want the clip bevels to be ground.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5260955140_4665a66a0f_o.jpg

Rolling the edge.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5166/5260348685_a60fb70735_o.jpg

Final hand sanding. Notice the pile of sand paper on the floor.......
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5247/5260955264_016c078625_o.jpg

Etching the blade in ferric chloride.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5260955330_f22eeb2476_o.jpg

Polishing the etched damascus using 3M polishing paper and WD-40. This leaves the 15N20 polished bright and the 1084 with a French gray look.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5260955480_ea3141f43b_o.jpg

The finished blade.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5008/5260348455_eca518e7f6_o.jpg

[Bruce Bump]

Thats a beautiful blade Steve.

[Jerry Manuel]

Very nice Steve , thanks for sharing - Jerry

[Steve Culver]

Milling the tang slot in the guard. I use a pointed end mill to cut a small line at each end of the fitting material. These lines are centered on the slot milled for the tang. The lines will be used later to position a paper pattern for cutting out the fitting.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5043/5260348875_42fb47ef31_o.jpg

Squaring out the ends of the tang slot using a flat file that has had one side ground safe. The safe side of the file goes against the side of the milled slot. Then, file straight down to the bottom of the slot. The guard material is fitted to the blade tang during this process.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5260955558_6bc92f00f9_o.jpg

The guard with the tang slot squared out and ready to press onto the tang. You can see the two lines cut at each end of the material. This milling and filing operation is done on the ferrule and spacer as well.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5041/5260349047_ca350c8003_o.jpg

I'm not sure what happened to the picture that I took of it, but at this point, the ferrule is drilled for four alignment pins. Two alignment pins will go through the spacer and ferrule and part way into the guard. Two pins will go through the ferrule and spacer and into the stag taper handle material.
The guard, ferrule and spacer are assembled on the blade and the ferrule is super-glued to the guard.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5260955678_3be8b1a3a6_o.jpg

A drill bit is run through the ferrule and about half way through the guard.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5284/5260955712_73bf4107ba_o.jpg

The fittings are put back on the blade and the ferrule is glued to the spacer.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5044/5260349263_cc7bb6926f_o.jpg

The drill bit goes through the ferrule and drills through the spacer.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5260349213_d4fc51c576_o.jpg

The guard, ferrule and spacer assembled with pins.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5290/5260349323_0ebd65d269_o.jpg

The stag taper is drilled from both ends with a 1/2" spade bit to open a hole for the tang and to remove the pith from the center of the stag.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5263757507_fa4d6c229b_o.jpg

A modified rat-tail file is used to cut groves in the top and bottom of the hole to accommodate the tang.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5129/5263757569_5a42333075_o.jpg

[Steve Culver]

The stag taper is fitted on the tang and glued to the spacer.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5281/5260955968_88438755bb_o.jpg

The spacer and ferrule are used as guides to drill alignment pin holes in the stag.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5260349375_ff44d6ce7e_o.jpg

The knife is assembled and the pommel material is marked for where it should be cut out to fit the stag.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5260349487_0c5a5f9513_o.jpg

The pommel and stag are drilled for alignment pins.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5263757667_4418cda17f_o.jpg

The artwork for the fittings is created using Corel Draw software.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5265677913_6de6aa2864_o.jpg

The guard with the paper pattern attached to it with Super-Glue. The center line on the paper pattern is aligned with the center lines that were cut on the guard material with the pointed end mill. The horizontal line on the pattern is aligned with where the top of the blade is positioned on the front of the guard.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5202/5260349621_82811be8ab_o.jpg

Sawing out the ferrule.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5248/5260349687_ef3b3e5ee4_o.jpg

Grinding the pommel to the lines on the paper pattern.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5001/5260956094_42143392e0_o.jpg

The artwork for the guard is printed on a transparency. A transfer solution is applied to the guard material and the artwork is transferred by burnishing with a ball point pen.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5129/5264773576_6aa682a749_o.jpg

[Steve Culver]

Cutting away background material.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/5264164995_0bf88ea6b0_o.jpg

To relive the background area of the guard, side by side cuts are made with a V-point graver.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/5264773722_47db4af8d4_o.jpg

The V cuts are removed with a flat graver.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5287/5264165111_ed8a110c90_o.jpg

The background receives a hammered finish using a punch with a polished point.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/5264165059_9022a3ded6_o.jpg

Filing the guard to shape.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5264773992_d199d0b7b8_o.jpg

Stoning the file marks away.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5264165249_eee083a824_o.jpg

Buffing the guard.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5265747451_f774636cef_o.jpg

[Steve Culver]

Removing excess material from the ferrule with the belt grinder.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5260349899_edb42157b5_o.jpg

Shaping the leaves on the ferrule with a Foredom tool. Not too complicated here. Put a carbide burr in the Foredom, get a two handed death grip on the hand-piece, grit your teeth and start hogging off metal. If you slip, you've just created a new design element!!
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5283/5260956320_14d3a76aea_o.jpg

Cleaning up the burr marks with a die sinker's file.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5049/5264773642_c3efa03770_o.jpg

Sanding the ferrule to remove the file marks.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5165/5264773502_26282a6db3_o.jpg

The guard, ferrule and spacer, in the white. All of the fittings will later be hot caustic blued.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5041/5266354076_9f4efe2c2d_o.jpg


OKAY.....Now this WIP thread has caught up with my work on the knife. I still have the sculpturing to do on the pommel and then make the sheath. I wil post more as I complete this piece. Out to the shop I go!!!

[Kevin Jones]

That's going to be one heck of a fine knife.

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

[Bruce Barnett]

Great WIP Steve, lots of little tips n tricks.

Gee Bruce, he works a lot faster than you:D

Cheers one of the other Bruce's

[Bruce Bump]

Great WIP Steve, lots of little tips n tricks.

Gee Bruce, he works a lot faster than you:D

Cheers one of the other Bruce's

Hey BB, He already had this bowie done I bet and he's just now putting up the pictures :p or maybe he's not doing another wip at the same time :p

Steve this is a very cool wip. I love it when the carving tools come out. What engraver are you using? The carved guard and spacer is really sweet.

[Steve Culver]

Hey BB, He already had this bowie done I bet and he's just now putting up the pictures or maybe he's not doing another wip at the same time

LOL!!!
Yea, I was already well into this piece when I started posting the WIP. Still had some work to do on the guard, sculpt the pommel and make the sheath when the WIP caught up with the work on the knife.

I am working on another WIP though. I have started work on a quillion dagger. The customer who ordered the dagger asked for me to do a WIP on it. I'll probably post it here too.

Bruce,
I've got all GRS stuff. I am using an older GraverMax and have one of the Sil-Air compressors. My microscope is a two power Swift Optics unit that I bought at a flea-market for $20.00. But, it works great!!!

I thought the photos through the microscope came out pretty slick. I use a small Pentax camera for the shop photos. Don't want to risk by nice Canon in the shop environment... While I was doing the background removal on this guard, I thought; I wonder if I could take a picture through the microscope?? So, I held the camera over the eyepiece on the scope and shot these pictures. Cool!!!!

Thanks to all for the comments on the WIP!!!

[Kevin Jones]

I hope you guys know how much we appreciate your posting these very detailed "WIP" here. I imagine it adds quite a bit of time and complexity to a build.

[Bruce Bump]

Kevin, these wips are actually too much fun to do. I hope you guys dont get tired of em. Thanks for having a place to show our daily fun.

Steve, that is slick to see the engraving blow by blow up close and personal like this. I'm particularly intested because thats my next adventure. I just bought an new/old GRS Gravermax with all the updates but still need a microscope. You go lucky but theyre about $1300 new for a variable. Also need an air compressor and vice and of course years of experience but need to start somewhere.

[Steve Culver]

I hope you guys know how much we appreciate your posting these very detailed "WIP" here. I imagine it adds quite a bit of time and complexity to a build

Kevin,

The WIPs are great fun to do. I have started photographing almost everything that I do in the shop. I’ve had a lot of other knifemakers ask me how I did things and also had requests for tutorials, so now I just photograph the work as I do it. It does take some time to edit the photos, write captions and post them up, but it’s fun to do. I am changing my web site to add a page for WIPs, knifemaking jigs and tutorials. I plan to have the new page up in January.


I'm particularly intested because thats my next adventure. I just bought an new/old GRS Gravermax with all the updates but still need a microscope. You go lucky but theyre about $1300 new for a variable. Also need an air compressor and vice and of course years of experience but need to start somewhere.

Bruce,

I really was lucky to come up with a decent scope so cheaply. I have used the variables at the GRS school and my Swift Optics unit gives up nothing to the variable for clarity. Although it is only a two power, I have never wished that it was a variable. The lower power is perfect for the main cuts and the high power is great for shading. If a guy wants to save some money on getting set up for engraving, optics are a place to look for alternatives.

I used to have a small pancake air compressor in my garage with an air hose running to my engraving shop in the basement. When the small compressor finally quit on me, I went ahead and bought the Sil-Air.

[Steve Culver]

I finished the sculpturing work on the butt-cap and the fittings are now ready to be blued.


79 The fittings get a final buff on a wheel loaded with Brownell's 555 polish, just before bluing.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5283525180_7f38302a1e_o.jpg

80 The parts are cleaned with acetone and then placed on wire holders.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/5283525236_9d9566f799_o.jpg

81 The fittings in the bluing tank.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5163/5282924591_997a70cca2_o.jpg

82 The fittings are removed from the bluing tank, get a quick rinse in water to remove the bluing salts, blown dry with compressed air and placed in a container of Brownell's water displacing oil. You have to move pretty quickly through these steps. The parts looked good when they came out of the tank, but I still haven't examined them closely to see that the bluing came out perfectly. We'll see tomorrow.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5242/5283525358_57ac0c6050_o.jpg

[Bruce Bump]

Lookin good Steve. The blued fittings are going to look killer! I see you have a long enough tank to blue a barrel also. Are you using Oxynate #7 salts?

[Steve Culver]

Hey Bruce,

I got the bluing tank set-up while I was doing gunsmithing. It's basically Brownell's equipment, except for the stainless steel tank that was custom built. It is a 6 x 6 x 40 tank.

I use Unibath bluing chemicals. Unibath Company is in Joplin, Mo. These chemicals are called Unibath because you don't have to use a pre-cleaner bath to remove oil from the parts before bluing. The Unibath chemicals are able to cut through minor amounts of oil on the parts. I still wash the parts with acetone before going into the tank, but nothing else in the way of prep. Another great thing about these chemicals is that they don't die. You can buy renewer crystals to add to the tank and keep the chemicals active. I've had this tank set up for about five years. Also, the fumes from Unibath chemicals don't cause so much trouble with rusting everything in your shop. I usually open a door or window and have a fan running when I blue, but I haven't seen any of my equipment rusting from the fumes.

Unibath is more expensive to purchase. I think I paid about $400 for the chemicals to set up the 48" tank. The chemicals are sold in "batches". I had to buy two batches for the 48" tank. Most knifemakers wouldn't need such a large tank and could purchase just one batch for a smaller tank.

I like to mirror polish my knife fittings and then blue them. The parts come out with a deep glossy black finish. I've had a number of people ask me if my fittings were made from hematite stone. :) The down side to this that the knife is very difficult to photograph.

[Steve Culver]

I assembled the knife today. Just a picture of the handle, immediately after assembly.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5005/5286051427_0a196472f5_o.jpg

One last touch; a tiger's eye cabochon cut to fit in the hex hole in the butt cap bolt.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5167/5286650890_92a70ea561_o.jpg

I'll try to take some photos of the knife and post them tomorrow. Still working on the sheath......

[Kevin Jones]

That's beautiful Steve.

[Bruce Bump]

Man, that is nice Steve. I'll bet the pictures cant even start to do this one justice. Those blued fittings do look like hematite stone.

[Steve Culver]

Wow!! This thing is tough, tough ,tough to shoot!! I've got my photo flood lights setting about 10 feet from my light box to try to minimize the hot spots. I'm shooting virtually in the dark. So far, I have only been testing possible photo set-ups. Not too much luck with it.......

This photo SUCKS, but I'm out of time to work on this today. I'm embarrassed to post this picture, but here are some views of the knife to show something of what it looks like.

I will work on the photography later this weekend.

Any pros want to have a go at shooting this thing?

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5287872209_94baa63503_o.jpg

[Kevin Jones]

Great looking Bowie, but I can tell those fitting don't "pop" in the photo like the actual knife. Knives are tuff to shoot.

[Peter Elovich]

Looks GREAT Steve! I bet holding it is FAR better than looking at the picture.

Peter

[Steve Culver]

It seems that I have a compulsion to build knives that are difficult to photograph. I like to see the light dance across the curved surfaces of the fittings and how it creates a chatoyant effect on a polished damascus blade. Unfortunately, a camera is only able to capture images in shades of gray; which are incapable of displaying the visual impact of reflected light. Too, if you make a surface into a mirror, you have to give it something to reflect when you photograph it. A flat surface is easy; a surface with compound angles is much more difficult.

Here's a better image of the bowie. This is the best that I can do for a picture of this knife in the time that I am willing to spend on it right now.

I need to get the sheath finished. I'll post pictures of it when I get it done.

Thanks for all of the compliments!!!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5297227595_396818e536_o.jpg

[Kevin Jones]

It seems that I have a compulsion to build knives that are difficult to photograph. I like to see the light dance across the curved surfaces of the fittings and how it creates a chatoyant effect on a polished damascus blade. Unfortunately, a camera is only able to capture images in shades of gray; which are incapable of displaying the visual impact of reflected light. Too, if you make a surface into a mirror, you have to give it something to reflect when you photograph it. A flat surface is easy; a surface with compound angles is much more difficult.

Here's a better image of the bowie. This is the best that I can do for a picture of this knife in the time that I am willing to spend on it right now.

I need to get the sheath finished. I'll post pictures of it when I get it done.

Thanks for all of the compliments!!!

I remember that damascus and Abalone handle dagger you made last spring (depicted next to the last page of the CKCA calendar).
Though not a bad photo it didn't get me too excited. However after seeing that piece on your table; WOW, what a beautiful an outstanding knife.

[Bruce Bump]

I have the same trouble with my photos. It costs money but its well spent to send the nice bowies like this one out for a professional photo. Blued fittings are gorgeous in the hand but dont show up in home photos.

[Steve Culver]

I remember that damascus and Abalone handle dagger you made last spring (depicted next to the last page of the CKCA calendar).
Though not a bad photo it didn't get me too excited. However after seeing that piece on your table; WOW, what a beautiful an outstanding knife.

He he... That's the knife that a professional photographer said that I had given him "a b.... of a piece to shoot".

Bruce,
You are correct that sometimes it is best to let a pro take the pictures. I typically will have my best pieces photographed by a professional photographer. But, I usually have pretty good luck with my photography. The mirror polished blued fittings are just really tough for anyone to get a good shot of.

I was in a hurry, so I didn't do a great job on the picture that I posted of this knife. But, I still have the original images, so I will use them later to put together another montage.

[Steve Culver]

The finished sheath. This is the first time that I have attempted leather carving; vs. just tooling the leather with stamps. Not too bad, I guess. Made a few mistakes, but learned from them.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5010/5309684452_0ca7656314_o.jpg

[Kevin Jones]

That does look good Steve.
You are blessed with a wide range of talents.

[Bruce Bump]

The sheath looks nice and deep with the carving/tooling combination. Cant believe thats the first one you ever carved.

[Brian Thie]

Beautiful work Steve. Thanks for sharing -- there are many tips to be had here :)

Brian