A Sneak Peek

It's time to start updating after a long period of neglecting my site.

I have several projects in the works on and I thought I would like to share some new patterns that I've been working on. Also, I wanted to share the perfect quench experience.

Before blades are hardened, they are brought to and "ideal temperature". After forging and shaping you cannot see the pattern of your steel through the oxidation and slag left on the blade. But, when the blade is brought to the ideal temp., the slag blows off the surface during the quench leaving the steel bare and the pattern exposed, looking almost like a gray marble.

It's pretty exciting when this happens for you the first time.



The scratches in the blade are from a rockwell #65 file and 120 grit grind marks, at the point of finishing when I usually quench. But still not to the point of buffing for a finished look.


These particular blades are a variation of stacked 1095, 5160, and 15N20. In the Jim Hrisoulis "Gordians Knot Pattern", twisted and counter twist billets are forged together and then twisted again.
This is a lot of forging, it takes a lot of steel. With a Billet of stacked steel measuring approx. 2"x3"x12", you end up with a lot less blade stock than you would think.


In The Master Bladesmith Book, this pattern was developed by Jim Hrisoulos and he has said in the book that "This is a pattern that would get attention at Knife Shows", ...We'll see.

I should have at least 1, and Maybe 5-6 of these patterned blades at the
(O.K.C.A.)Oregon Knife Collectors Association Show 2008 in Eugene, Oregon
Our table # is B12. Come see me.
The dates are :
Dates -- April 12 - 13, 2008
Times -- Saturday 8 am - 5 pm - Sunday 9 am - 3 pm
Admission - General admission $5.00/day