Well this is it. For some time now the Tadgang supporters of St Judes have worked hard to generate funds to help benefit the kids. Some of us that hang out on the Hunting knives and Crafters section have decide that we would like to help out too. We would like to open this thread to introduce this project. Besides being part of TG we also are members of the American Bladesmith Society and will attemp to make a knife for the auction in 2011.

The knife blade will be forged by me, Lin Rhea MS, then passed on to Karl Andersen JS for him to heat treat the blade, build the take down feature, and fit up the major parts, then passed off to Doug Campbell JS to perform the final fitting of the parts as well as etch the pattern into the damascus blade. When finished we are hoping that it will reflect a bit of each of us. This knife will be accompanied by a hand crafted sheath by TG member Robin Severe (roughcountry). I will be posting some photos of the blade coming along.

We certainly look forward to seeing the outcome as much as any one else, so please follow along and comment as you see fit. So, let's get started.
     

God bless all four of you and your talents. Knives do so well on the St. Jude auctions, and  I predict this very special one is going to be a real winner - for the kids.              

This will be fun to watch. Three of the best at work.

Thanks guys. We are trying to show progress photos along, although we may miss a step here and there. It's hard to take a picture of yourself sometimes with hot steel and flames calling for your attention, but we have some.

Here is my new forge fired up and heating the billet.

 

The billet is 25 layers of 1084 steel and 15N20 (alternating)stacked with the pipe handle on it. It has to come up to 2400 degrees or so and then I hammer it or squeeze it together to make the weld. After that I draw it out, cut, and restack it for another weld. For this particular billet, I welded the 25 layers, drew it out till the billet was about square, turned it 90 degrees and continued to draw it till it was long enough to cut up and restack. So, in effect, I turned the layers verticle in the stack. Now I restack, weld, restack again and weld till I have 15 layers. So to describe the layering, I would say it as 25 X 15 layers. Here is the first step of shaping the blade. It's real rough and thick, but will refine later. If you look close, you can see the layering on the edge and the sides of the potential blade.
 
Let's rest for now. I have to get a couple more of this process. Lin

Very cool guys, I love damascuus blades, but the reason for this knife is way more important than the knife itself.

Well, that's just too cool for school.  Always wondered how that was done.  Looking forward to the progress this blade go through.

Lin -
Thank you, Karl, Doug and Robin for this effort. This will be the premier item for the 2011 St. Judes Auction. There's gonna be a trip to the bank to get my credit line increased in order to bid on this one!    

Thank you. Just wait till you see what Karl and Doug are going to do to this thing.

This picture is showing the bulky thickness it has at this stage. That is the cutting edge. More a little later.
 

This will be a Knife to be remembered.  Thanks guys for your effort...Doc

This will be a special knife for sure!  Looking good Lin!

Looks great Lin! A big thanks to all of you for your contributions to this project. This will be a big winner for the kids. With all of your talents this will be one mighty fine collectors piece for the high bidder.

For all of you that don't spend any time on the knife forum here. You need to know that we are blessed to have some of the finest knife makers on earth within our Trad Gang Family. If you are ever in the market for a fine belt companion look these guys up, there is no finer a gents out there. We need to remember about our sponsors and members that donate their time and money for our St.Judes project each year - support them when you can.

Thanks, we are glad to do it.

Here is another shot to show how the pattern is interupted to make some squiggles. I cut groves into the sides of the blade.

 

As you can see, the grooves need to be offset from the other side. Then when the blade is forge into it's final thickness, it has the intended pattern showing on the sanded and etched surface.
 

Great thread!  TTT

     TTT

Thanks for bumping it up guys.

The blade is rough ground and in the mail to Karl as we speak. I dont have any pictures, but Karl will shoot it as he gets it and start from there.

We're not in a big hurry as it might seem. But we want to allow plenty of time for each guy working on the knife as well as the sheath to be comfortable with the time schedule and be able to enjoy it.

In the package to Karl is the blade of course, but I scratched out a drawing of what I envision the finsihed knife MIGHT look like. Each of us in turn will make notations, doodle, sign our names, etc on this drawing paper and when finished, the drawing will go with the knife. Lin

how did i miss this post earlier???  one item i might have to bid on... cool stuff guys!  thanks!

Many thanks to Lin, Karl, Doug and Robin.  Not only is this going to be great for the kids, it is going to be an amazing show to watch this knife bloom in front of us.  We are all going to learn a few things, too.  I already have.


Good on ya, guys!