Damascus Carving Set WIP

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WillC

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Hello all, I started on a carving set commission this afternoon. I took some pictures of the fork being forged. I thought some of you may find it interesting.
Started with a lump of 120 layer damascus, it has some laddering forged and cut which should help the pattern along.
Roughed out the start shape I need under the hammer.

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I had to regularly remind myself it is damascus i'm working and so do everything forge wise nice and hot.

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I added a twist in the forged octagonal section to make a feature in the damascus later

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Bit more forging either side of the twist and then to the grinder

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Thats it basically roughed out with all the material where I want it. I left it to anneal over night.

Next to the carving knife, it will be a 280mm profile in damascus and blue paper steel san mai.:)
 
Wow! What a great set someone will have.

Thanks for the pictures Will. Look forward to seeing the finished product/s.
 
Looks like you are off to a great start Will. Thanks for sharing with us.
 
Thanks Gents, they are for my friend big Tom, his sister and her husband are moving to the u.s. They will be a going away present. I thought I had better get on with them as it won't be long before they are off. As they know my work in general and I know what they like, I haven't really planned it out, just a few lines chalked on the table. Nice to work like that sometimes.:biggrin:
 
Im not that generous, My mate is commissioning it for them.:D But the fork is kind of a freebie so I guess i'm at least a little generous. :laugh: I think it will be a surprise, but their brother Tom will be doing the giving. Would like to be there though when they open it. He is going to have a box made for them too.
They like big meat in that family so they should go down well:knife:
What do you think of a little curve on the fork tines? Most of the carving forks i've used are straight and I often wish there was a bit of a curve to get some clearance.
 
Cheers, yep thats what i'll do then. Probably just cheaper to stamp them out flat. No point in me worrying about that after forging it like this:D
Thanks Spike, its fun to experiment :biggrin:
 
Yeah that looks good. A subtle curve. My tines are quite far apart. But I think that will be ok.

I'm now thinking I may take a small round file to the remnants of the twist surface texture and make a feature of that. Mmm looking forward to etching it.
 
Hard to judge scale but looks like it'll be a big fork,what are the measurements?
I prefer curved tines to straight but only gently curved. If you can get the twist crisp with files that'd be awesome
 
I'll get some measurements today. Curved it is:biggrin:
 
Yeah that looks good. A subtle curve. My tines are quite far apart. But I think that will be ok.

Your tines aren't too far apart. Every other carving fork's are too close together.
 
I find traditional carving forks to be mostly useless when tackling a large roast or bird. The are okay for use as a fork when you want to move a slice from carving platter to plate, but for controlling the roast, meh. The tines are too close together, so it doesnt help prevent any side to side or twisting motion. The handle is also in the same axis as the roast would be turning, so it doesn't provide adequate leverage for preventing it.

This is my father's carving "fork" and I believe it was his parent's before it was his. No maker's mark. Tines are a shade over 2" apart (54mm actually). Makes for a very stable roast or bird while carving, even on wet/greasy/slippery carving boards.

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That looks great! I have measured mine, the tines are 155mm long and 50mm apart. It going to be a pain to hand finish, I've brought it home to do infront of the tv tonight.
I did a bit of file work on the spiral bit, looked pretty good but I test etched it and the damascus looked better so the file work had to go.:D
 
You gotta love a dammy carving fork.....:thumbsup:
 
Will, AWESOME! I just found this thread and glad I did. I was thinking about doing a set just the other day. Iits great to be able to see how your doing yours. I will be watching. I cant wait to see that finished fork. Your doing some really COOL stuff!!! Thanks for Taking the time to do the WIP! :D
 
Thanks for the kind words Guys,:biggrin: got the blade forged out and tapered today and heat treated them both. The blade is 290mm at the moment. Will be getting a bit more slender after HT :D
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Some progress on these at last, :D
Quick check of the san mai so I remember where I am.
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Handle bits cut squared and drilled, now gluing up. I'm trying something different on these, its good to experiment on your friends:biggrin:
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Bolsters drilled and slotted.

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Getting there....Have a great weekend everyone:biggrin:
 
Thanks Guys, did a bit more on these today. Got the handles squared up, bolsters shaped, I made an endcap for the Knife too to get the balance nice, I epoxied the bits on and have left to set. These Handles will be on the "diamond", I'll knock the corners off and there will be a taper on the sides at the front, maybe the rear. I've seen a handle like this and liked it, Kramer or Fish? I cant remember.
I've started using West systems epoxy and i'm really impressed, its quite fluid when fresh and it really seems to penetrate, takes a while to go off, but it just feels solid. The real test will be grinding those tapers in on the copper bits without the glue popping.
Gave the fork a quick etch, I think I will hand sand finish it to get better contrast rather than polish as the pattern is really subtle in places. Blade also hand finished ready for logo and etch.:D
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Now that's going to make on hell of a carving set. The fork in particular has turned out to be quite sublime. Great job Will.
 

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