When I assemble a knife to carry - its often because I have a good blade with a slight problem which does let it qualify for signature work. I can't afford to keep signature stuff.

I had this Wire Damascus Steel forged Mdl. 97 blade where, somehow during grinding; I'd reduced the radius from the center of the hole to the edge of the tang. That met that a part that rode on that outer flat at times, could bind and slip over the rim of the tang. That locked the blade travel. I didn't think it would be a problem - but it became more and more annoying. Today I'd had enough. This manner of "dovetailing" metal to the existing tang, occured to me. Its not welded ot soldered. Just a mechanical fit thst cant escape due to placement. I added the metal, then recutting the radius.

Worked fine.

Gary.

The additional metal caught my eye immediately. I thought from the picture that the text might be about the tooling but was happy to read the explanation. Thanks for posting that.

Hi Gary,

Please explain the color on the blade and is that a dragon in the back? Cool!

Nice work, please present to us a picture of the finished knife, you know, there is always someone interested in taking it away from you.

julio

Hi Julio,

Good to hear from you!

The color you are noticing is a reflection. The blade is Damascus but not yet exposed to the acid bath (in an effort to keep someone from buying it ... Haha). . Therefore; it doesn't show a grain structure. It's polished bright.

The added metal is nickel silver. That has a slightly yellow tint compared to steel.

The case currently has blue bone scales but - as you know - the inlays are standardized in size and shape. I could replace them. I have some nice blue Mammoth Ivory! Make a great shop knife!! Hehe.

The dragon is in Sterling Silver. In a box of as yet unused impressions from one of my tool steel dies.

Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2014 07:24PM by barnespneumatic.

Mammoth ivory... It will certainly make a great shop knife. The obligated question is: How long do you want to keep it in your holster?

Julio

Hi Julio,



Ahhhh ... Mine's Plain Jane. You don't want that old thing.

The parts for the Pretty Ones are hanging on the wall, and in bins.

Gary

There were so many distractions in that picture I didn't even notice.

Why did you value the blade enough to dedicate that kind of time to it? What is the time difference to make a new blade. I've been watching videos on knife making, been thinking about toying with it.

Lon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/2014 05:42AM by Bigbore.

Hi Lon,

Difference is roughly an hour to fix or two days to make a new one.

That's IF I had a forging shop set up. Mine is still on pallets.

That is a forge welded wire Damascus blade.

And - making that one usable gives "me" a blade which I'm unlikely to sell. I consider it to be a curiosity that works. Not a signature quality part.

. Thanks
Gary

Hi Gary,

Nice piece. Sometimes plane and simple is good. Thanks for showing it to us.

Julio

Nice post. My first thought was "holy cow, did he really just cut three dove-tails into knife steel?". The answer, obviously, is yes...wow.

I thought it might be some exotic form of hard-facing, but the fact that it's a build-up for a re-fit makes more sense. I'm sure that most smiths would have scrapped it or re-worked it into a smaller blade, or just welded it up and ground it back down. Nice solution, and I hope you can keep it.

BTW, that "splinter pick" blade form is incredibly handy for a small pocket knife. I've got a couple Ken Onion 'Leek' model knives with a very similar blade shape, and I use them all the time. Most pocket knives these days have blades that are too thick and bulky for fine work, it's like they expect us to all be chopping through bones or skinning elephants all the time. A thin blade with a super-fine tip and a very flat hollow grind will slip right through stuff with far less effort than those bulky "tactical knives" will.

You do have to be careful not to pry with them of course, or you'll break the tip right off. But then, that's what Harbor Fright screwdrivers are for, of course.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2014 05:27PM by rotorhead.

I always break the tips off my knives... I guess I need a less pointy daily knife.
Really nice work Gary!

Hello Sal,

Either that, or keep a pocket multi-tool handy, and use that for prying instead.

A great, relatively simple solution for a frustrating problem.
Given it's a Barnes, I would carry it...
Keep this one for yourself Gary. Don't let me, or anyone else, talk you out of it, no matter how hard we try.


Scott