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WillC

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Well not much is new knife wise.....but I have finished my tax return and the railings and water feature which have been keeping me from pressing on. So...

Next week I am on Damascus for my orders.

x2 Feather pattern billets for 2 Gyuto's and one Suji
x1 Twisted W's billet for ferrules and endcaps.
x1 Turbulence billet for a big Suji
x2 100 layer forged ladder billet for 2 san mai/blue paper Gyuto's and a carving knife and fork set.

That should keep me warm for the best part of next week.:D
Need to do some more stainless billets too but unfortunately my landlord trod on the ceramic shroud for my thermocouple so I need to replace that first.:sad0:
Other than that, all is well in metal land and looking forward to a toasty warm week forging:D
 
...unfortunately my landlord trod on the ceramic shroud for my thermocouple so I need to replace that first.:sad0:...
Now, how on Earth does that happen?
 
They put their meters in some daft places so he has to climb up on a workbench to read the water meter. "Whoops, don't know what that was but it went crunch" says he.
Fortunately I can just get a new ceramic shroud for it rather than a whole new thing. Ah well.
 
I'm quite frankly glad i no longer have to do any tax returns. I found them completely unfathomable at times.

I didn't realise you were that busy knife wise. I bet you must be pleased you decided to get involved in making kitchen knives, everyting seems to be working out pretty well for you.
 
I don't find the tax return too bad, just takes a while when you leave it all to the end of the year like me. Every year I swear I'll do it every month from now on.:D
Yes it will be a busy month. I'm very happy to be making Kitchen knives indeed, its fantastic to do something which can adapt and evolve, it has brought me a great new love and enthusiasm for my work, as well as helping to keep my workshop going. While I have s few architectural bit and pieces to do, its pretty tough out there right now, many who make architectural/artistic ironwork are wondering how they will pay the rent at the moment. I feel lucky in many ways to have found a new way to use my skills, and a great place like this to learn and set me on the right track.
 
Well damascus week is in full force, the split feather billets are pickling clean over night ready for the last weld, and moment of truth to see if it all looks hunky dory in the morning.
Damascus for the clad knives is done and ferrules and Turbulence Suji have a couple of welds more to do. Should see some blanks shaping up over the weekend.
Think i'll go for a bold feather pattern for the ferrules this time as well. I have some of the other billet left for the end caps. :D
 
Ok, mostly focused on the Feathered W's billets today as the last weld and final forging is so critical and can end in tears with this pattern. After splitting the two billets I pickled clean and re-welded. This time I kept the billets in a large square block by forging on all sides turning with some big tongs in the hydraulic press. I cut each block down the middle, this gives the right compression to the pattern when forged out. So i ended up with 4 generous bar of soap size billets of precious feather pattern. plenty of material to work with.:D
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Got a couple of the billets forged out and roughly profiled. All done very hot with this pattern, leaving everything well oversize. Then I heat cycle a few times to reduce the grain size after all that welding.
I had to get one at least partially ground so I could check the pattern. This time I had an 11 layer start to the pattern rather than 15. This makes the pattern a tad bolder with the W's more visible.
This is the beginnings of Davids little Suji.
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Sean is going for a 240mm Masamoto profile on his Gyuto. I think this will be quite something in this pattern. The billets are so generous in size I may make a 270mm masamoto profile with the last extra one. Unless anyone has any better ideas what to do with it?
 
Will, These look awesome! I never get tired of feather pattern.. PM inbound I have a forging question..
 
Thanks Randy, I got pretty tired making it....But its all worth it:D
 
I bet you did. Its a very labor intensive pattern. and like you said. "can end in tears with this pattern" :D

These ones look great!
 
And there is more, wanted to see what the pattern looked like on one of the wider blades. Have not profiled this blank yet, but this will be Davids Gyuto.
Though I would share with you the excitement of the first etch. I think the pattern looks a tad better on a wider blade, gives the W's room to flourish.
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Thanks Guys, its nice how little things alter the pattern, keeping the billet in a big square block, by forging on all sides has pushed the W's this way and that, at the end you can see they have nearly come back on themselves, where I have forged the 2 lumps, on the end square. Interesting swaying effect...More happy accidents:D
 
Whats on today. Forging out Aphex's Gyuto, Judd Mascus, Sean's Feather blank. And probably prepping some handles.
Off I trot:biggrin:
 
Quote" And there is more, wanted to see what the pattern looked like on one of the wider blades. Have not profiled this blank yet, but this will be Davids Gyuto.Though I would share with you the excitement of the first etch. I think the pattern looks a tad better on a wider blade, gives the W's room to flourish."

So , the challenge is how to make it appear "flourish" more on a narrower blade. Where there is a Will, there's a way.....
Finer feathers?

have fun...
rgds

D
 
Got most of the blanks ready now, most tapered and ready to finish the profiles. This afternoon I finished the billet intended for Judd's Suji and gave it a quick grind to see what we have. Hope you like it!:biggrin:
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Thanks Pierre this one was made up out of a multi bar of W's then stacked a few times. Its come out a bit like explosion pattern.
Layer count, something around the 6,000 mark.
 
I like it too. Will the pattern show more as you forge it out?
 
Good I'm glad you like it. The pattern is all showing and decompressed as it is. I'll forge it out just a tad more. Should soften it a bit and make it easier to take it all in. I think it will make a rather funky Suji.:D
 
Ok, a batch ready for Ht. They are a tad oversize to allow for any decarb and later tweaks. Tapers 3/4 ground, I take them to final widths after HT:D

Profiles

Judd
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Aphex

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David
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Sean

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Group Shot

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Quick etch to check the Pattern on Sean's 240 Gyuto. Some two tone Amboyna on the way for the handle.:D
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Judd Pattern sneaky peak.
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Its softened nicely. This is a variation of a W's pattern. I'm sure many similar things have been done before. But I think I'll call my version of it Butterflies.
I gave a portion a buff on the wheel and it will look super yummy polished.
 
Dang Will!
Those are some great looking patterns.
I really like the squirrel tail one.
and the one for Judd makes me start hallucinating.
 
There coming along really well Will, nice one. The stand out piece for me looks like it's going to be the butterflies suji. If it looks this good now, god knows how stunning it will look when fully handled and polished.
 

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