Busy Weekend.

I blued a nice batch of stuff on Friday. Jerry made a quick stop and go to pick up some lead and swap molds Sat. I worked on sanding billet Saturday ... and then we went over to a family group afternoon for a late lunch. I came back to work later.



Did some more work on a project that I've picked at here and there for some time now. Coming together as a nice button lock relief carved folder with Scottish Red Stag scales, and a blade of forge welded wire damascus steel with acid etched overlay.



My grandkids. Caden with his compound bow, Haylee with her compound bow, and Bryce atop the slide. The kids were having fun honing their archery skills. I decided to raise the stakes by putting up a dollar bill for them to hit, and win.



Caden worked his way toward the goal, and nailed it. Here you can see he's pretty pleased with himself! hahah.



Two old dogs resting



Kelly with our grandson Chance. Bryce's twin.



Gary back at work



Polishing billet after sanding it within an inch of it's life ...

Been a good weekend.

Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/08/2010 01:49AM by barnespneumatic.

Looks like a great time was had by all, Gary
Cheers
Neil

Gary,

Everything looks great!

Who's the old dude with the dog?

Lon

Lots of good work going on in every pic. Wish every child had such attentive families, would make the rest of the world a better place.

Nice capitalist incentive for the kids, mak'em earn the candy money.

Thats a fine looking knife there, one of your best to my humble eye.

Kent

Great Post!

we went to an outdoor wedding on Saturday - miraculously the weather had gone from "monsoon Friday" to "perfect New England Fall Saturday"

The Bride's family was mighty relieved!

I agree with Kent on the knife - and did you see that one of your knives - a carved wizard handle with a Damascus Blade was featured in Knives 2011?

Hi Bill,

Glad you've enjoyed some good weather. Been very rainy here and gray for some time. Ready for the sun now. We went from A/C to heat in about 24 hours.

I didn't know anything about my work being in Knives 2011. Dragging the bottom of the barrel are they? haha. Send me a digital Pic. I don't know which one it was ... made a couple. The best one went to Austrailia - complete package in a walnut case with an origonal oil painting inside the lid ... and a bunch more. Tell me how it was used.

Thanks,
Gary

will do Gary!

Thanks Bill,

And BTW ... in the event anyone is calling Tanya Harding .... I made the knife about 25 years ago. I wonder why they are featuring it in 2011 ....

Gary

Gary

it is in a section called "giving back to the world of knives, about a collector called Paul Lansingh

Says he collected a Damascus knife form "each of the first 13 Mastersmiths" and names you as "one of the first to receive his ABS MAstersmith Stamp.

knife reportedly called "The Wizard"

still working on a picture

Common Joebill ... you're a DOCTOR for the love of Pete. It's a digital pic ... you can handle it. We've got people all over the known world waiting to see what you are talking about!

I remember selling him a Master's knife. 960 layer Damascus with integral guard and knuckle bow forged from the same pc. of Damascus. But - that's not a Wizard knife. I made a really special Wizard Dagger that went to an attorney in Australia ... and a lesser pc. to a fellow at a semi-local knife club. One had Ivory robes with a cast Bronze Wizard head and shoulders, arms were the guard ... diamond, gold, ruby magic wand ... the other was a stag point carved in a wizard face. Hope they used the one with twenty times the work in it. Ah ... gosh ... a postage stamp sized e-mail pic would tell .....

Gary

Geez, don't you remember the original Star Trek

Dr McCoy: " Jim, I'm a doctor, not a damn photographer !!!!!"

The knife is the Ruby wand one - a picture is coming shortly to an email near you.....

Joebill,

I think that was .... "..... not a stone mason ... brick layer ... something like that." What were those blob creatures tunneling under the deep mines .... "Horta" was it? I think so. Creatures made of stone.

Anyway ... ya see ... if you apply yourself ... even a Doctor can do things that any ten year old kid can do in their sleep. hahahah.

Good, I'm glad it was the better of the Wizard Daggers. I'll drag a pic here.

Gary

Picture is in your in-box

Joebill found that the Annual Knives 2011 featured one of my Theme Daggers from 27 years ago! He sent in this clipped pic.

The Dagger was my Serial Number 417 ... completed 6/7/1983.

There was a host of support stuff with it. I wrote a fantasy tale of the "Garthmond Blade". As you see - the wizard is enchanting the steel and turning it into Damascus Steel!! There had to be a first ... so I invented the history in a Tolken type of tale. I even recorded a drama of myself telling the tale. I overlaid track after track, until is sounded like a modern audio book with sound effects. I made a walnut case for it, made a moody oil painting of volcanos, purple clouds, land before time sort of thing ... put it on the inside of the lid. When you opened the lid, the dagger rose up and suspended itself in front of the painting (on a sling). You pressed the button, and a recorder played the tale. Ah ... and you thought I was just another pretty face.



I did a lost wax orig. casting of the wizard torso. Overlaid it with heavy gold plating. Even made a matching ring of with diamond eyes. Story there too - another time. The robes are ..... Ah .... now it's coming back ..... I made another one of these. Hummm. The first one had solid ivory robes. This one was a mosaic of ancient ivory and pearl. Ah ... lots of work has gone out the shop door. ... haha.

More later when my memory freshens, if anyone is interested.

Gary

Gary

Gary,

I feel cheated that I didn't know you then.

The way you used the layers of the steel as a canvas for the blade's artwork is amazing. It makes me completely rethink the random pattern ofa common Damascus steel blade.

Did you etch off the top layer to create the design? Why aren't the layers exposed as the blade tapers?

Lon

Hi Lon,

"IF" you make a perfect Damascus blade, grind and mirror polish it ... you see nothing but a mirror surface. Only a minor flaw would show (or a ghost image of the various steels if you know how to look at it). The layers are all perfectly fused. When you expose it to acid ... the acid will eat at the various alloy steels at mildly different rates. THAT is what shows the pattern of what's been welded into the steel. So: I polished the whole thing, and then masked off what I wanted to remain bright ... allowing the acid to reveal the true composition of the steel within. The whole thing is layered steel ... the polished part just shows how well it was welded.

I see my signature in the etching there ..

Gary

Wow, you really do live in a hollow tree. I've never heard of this one before. Amazing stuff. Had no idea you could "control" the pattern on the blade like that.

-- Jim

Hi Jim,

A Master Smith can make many, many different patterns within the steel structure. The first level is moving the layers around to form cross-sections that are revealed. Then, you can get into mosaic patterns too. It's endless.

What you need though, is young shoulders and a good back. You can't mind a 120 degree work environment ... and billowing yellow smoke out the chimney in your town. With the gas forge I have now ... that's not an issue ... but the back, etc. quit before I was ready.

Gary

Lost wax casting, gold plating, real diamonds, gee we haven't even scratched the surface of your talents with this airgun thing. Joebill has just upped the ante.

Ok, I don't need a Wizard story, although that has to be truly unique providence for any collector. I'll get my stories by taking the gun to the range or into the woods with friends.

Great find Joebill and beautiful work Gary!

Hi Kent,

You know ... I can only say this to friends that know me well ... but that does kill me at this point in my life. I've learned sooo many things that I just almost never use. Or never use anymore. There's simply not enough time and/or energy. So; things such as the knife you liked ... do I have time to do that? ... definitely not. If someone could do that ... would they want to? Probably. And, you are right ... if I could use more of the disciplines I've taught myself ... the guns could have the choice of many additional elements. You might see why I glaze over when people tell me a gun should be blue steel and walnut ... and none of that other crap. Or ... that anodizing is really great ... when it's black.

I need another hundred years to use the stuff I learned at 3am reading between the lines of books and looking at museum pcs. haha.

Gary

Beautiful work and I did not know anything about your blade's or how you created them. Was it the same back then as now? Wake up and write it down.db

Hello Don,

Thanks for asking. Actually, yes it was. Honestly, sometimes I'd spend a couple of miserible days ... all jumpy and stressed. And, often when going to sleep, or waking, I'd come up with special ideas. Very odd.

Gary

Beautiful work Gary. I hope you took some pics yourself that you could share sometime of your ealier masterpieces.

Hello Karl,

Thanks. I do have a ton of pics ... pre-digital though. In fact ... most are carved on stone tablets ... haha.

I'll have to take some pics of pics. There's over 1,300 of them. I'll have to pick a few ... thanks.

Gary