Custom Cutlery by Don B

This was a fun little one.

I forged it from a small piece of scrap W2 tool steel.

The handle is desert ironwood spacer with white fiber liner and canary wood.

Get it sharp and make a sheath and I may keep this one.

Just about finished with this one.

II forged it from a piece of coil spring like in the one in the photo. A lot smaller piece though. Steel starts stretching when you get it hot and hit it hard.

Handle is Mexican Ebony, antler and green G10 spacers, I need to get a sheath made and her sharp on now...

Just about done with this one.

It is a 6" chef knife from an old saw blade.

The pitting on the blade is from being weathered for a long time.

The handle is a synthetic ivory with stainless pins.

Get it sharp, make a sheath and it will be needing a home.

This is a bit of a whimsical take on an ulu.

The blade is from an old saw and the handle is some gifted mahogany.

I left the blade unfinished as I thought it looked kind of gnarly.

I'm about to put a sharp on it and color it done.

This is a little paring knife I forged from a small chisel.

The scales are Padauk. Acid etched and stonewashed blade.

I do the acid etching as the steel is high carbon, not stainless. The etching helps prevent oxidation. Rust to non nerds...

Put a sharp on her and color her done.

Early morning at the forge today.

I like to do my quenches when it is dark. It easier to judge the color of the steel that way. I used to use a magnet and heat the blades up to just past non-magnetic which is around 1450 F. But I go by color now.

Oh, the blue flame is an indication that the 02 is at the right saturation level. In the old days they called it Dragon's Breath.

A cleaver/nakiri and a trade knife both quenched and in the oven now for 2 one hour tempering cycles at 450 F.

And then the work begins...

Here are a couple that I put out today.

They have just had their first normalization cycle (of three) before the quench.

Thinking about matching them up and selling them as a pair.

The one is almost a Japanese nakiri style but with a bit of the wild west mixed in. The other is based on a colonial era trade/patch knife.

Stiletto, my shop cat, wants me to hurry up and finish this one.

80CRV2 chef knife with burlap micarta scales.

This is a cleaver made from a saw blade.

Handle is some scrap something with brass pins/tube and a bit o' bling.

The blade is acid etched and stone washed.

Need to put a sharp on it and give it a lanyard to get int he way of using it :)

So...I am forging full time for a while.

Here are some of my latest builds.

Some saw blade cleavers and an ulu, a coil spring edc. and an 80CRV2 chef knife.

Still need to clean them up and put a sharp on them.

All need to be adopted and for a minimal adoption fee, one could be yours. Or all. Keep the family together :)

OK...here are a couple I can almost color done.

The large one is the completed build of a 10" chef knife. It has a sheath that is glued and clamped and will be done tomorrow. It has a wicked sharp on it and feels great in the hand.

The small one is a repair for a friend. It took a ride in the dishwasher and came out rusted. I had to strip all the pins, liners and scales off of it and completely regrind it. The scales on it are burgundy linen micarta with brass pins and the mosaic pin I managed to save from the original. White G10 liners.

Both are acid etched and stone washed. I just like that look...

This is a 10" chef knife that I forged from a piece of 80CRV2 steel.

I am going to acid etch and stone wash the blade. The scales will be giraffe bone with black G-10 liners and black micarta pins.

The extra holes in the tang are to reduce weight and to give the epoxy something to grab onto when I put on the scales.

Been covered up with work and nursing some injured fingers, but got these finished up.

A mini cleaver forged from a piece of W2 tool steel. Acid etched with the belt grinder lines left in. The handle is Lati wood with brass pins.

The concealed tang stubby is forged from a piece of 80CRV2 and has a fluted low carbon steel bolster with Blue Mahoe wood handle. Acid etched blade with grind lines in up to the hammering line. I like that look.

The last one is an order I filled for a skinning knife. It is forged from 80CRV2 as well. Acid etched with the grind lines left in. Green canvas micarta scales, brass pins and green fiber liner.`

The canvas micarta I left rough sanded to 120 grit. That will make it a bit tacky when wet.

Forged this little one out of a chisel just like the one beside it. Acid etched, stone washed blade and micarta scales.

Been crazy busy with the real job.

I hate when life gets in the way of making sharp pointy things.

Early morning forging today.

Got some projects I am close to finishing...

I just started making wooden sleeves for the kitchen knives that I forge.

These are the first three I've made.

The light colored one is Lati wood and the two dark ones are poplar that I stained. Looks like they need another coat and some oil.

I have not been forging for a couple of weeks. I thought I broke my hand in a big game hunting accident.

haha. Actually I fell of a chair and hit it on a door jamb.

Anyway....

These were forged from the piece of 80CrV2 on the anvil.

One is a santoku and the other is a small kitchen utility knife.

They have homes already and I will be delivering them this coming Thursday.

It's not all unicorns and sparkle rainbows in the forge.

This is what happens when you let a third grader do the pour of molten pewter for a bolster.

Oh, wait...I did that.

Note to self, use more pewter next time.

Fortunately I can get that pewter off the handle, reuse it and save the handle.

I think.

These are three that I forged this weekend.

All are from 80CRV2. A high carbon steel with a bit of chromium and vanadium which help resist rusting.

I think I am going to make a couple of sandwich handle constructions and the one with the thin tang will be a regular slide on design.

All need another normalization cycle, quenching and then a couple of temper cycles.

Forging them doesn't take long, but getting the shoulders squared is a pain....

Finally got tired of picking hammers up off the ground.

A great view when I am swinging one, too...

Here are a few chef knives that I am finishing up. Just a little cleanup and they are good to go.

The slim one is forged from a piece of coil spring. The blade is acid etched and stone washed. It is about 5 3/4" long. The scales are bloodwood with yellow fiber liners and brass pins/tube.

The large one with wood handles is forged from W2 tool steel. The blade is 2" wide at the heel and 7" long. Not sure what the wood on the handle is. It came from my scrap bin. It has red fiber liners and brass pins.

The other large one is forged from 80CRV2 and is about the same dimensions as the other large one. It has a patterned micarta handle with blue fiber liners and brass pins.

All very sharp and about ready to prep some food.

Here are a couple I am about done with.

A large 7" chef knife forged from 80CRV2 with some rosewood scales, green fiber liners and brass pins.

The other is a small every day carry forged from 1095 high carbon steel. The blade is 3 1/2" long and acid etched and stone washed.

It has some jimping on the spine for thumb control when it is wet or you just need a little more traction.

It has green canvas micarta scales with green fiber liners, brass pins and lanyard tool.

Going to give these a final clean and they will be good to go.

This is going to be my first go at making a poured pewter bolster.

The handle is an old broken hammer handle made of hickory.

I am going for the rustic look on this one. I will clean up the wood and shape it after I make sure it is solid.

I thought about trying to sell the ingot as silver but that Pewter stamp on the back might be a give away

This is an order I am just finishing up.

High carbon steel and it will patina pink and blue over time as it reacts to the elements.

Four inch long blade that is three inches wide. It has green burlap micarta scales with green fiber liners and brass pins.

I went to Blade Show here in Atlanta this past weekend.

It is the largest knife show in the world with 900 vendors.

Picked up a 2lb dog head hammer that I have wanted for a long time.

Also got an array of horn, bone and micarta for handle materials.

Now to forge some steel to stick in them handles...

Not too busy at the forge this weekend.

I finished up the sax that I was working on, forged two hummingbirds from a couple of railroad spikes, and forged a kitchen utility knife for a friend.

The new kitchen knife I am working on will have a concealed tang handle similar to the one on the seax. It is forged from a piece of 1095 high carbon steel and should patina nicely on a magnetic knife hanger.

This is a seax I forged from the tip of that chisel bit it is setting on.

Not sure what the steel is, but it was very hammer resistant.

This is a gift for my sister in law. Need to polish the blade and finish sanding the handle, then get a sharp on her.

Oh, and the handle is cherry wood near the blade and not sure what the dark wood is. It was in my scrap pile. I sure love the grain on it though. The handle has a couple of fiber spacer and a brass bolster.

This is my first successful canister damascus.

I used 1084 high carbon steel powder with ball bearings.

My friend at work welded the canister closed, then I got her hot and hit her hard.

Used white out on the inside of the canister and it came off nicely after forge welding.

Now I have a good solid chunk of pattern welded steel for at least three knives I hope.

I welded a piece of rebar to the chunk for a handle as I draw the steel down and out. I grinded all the scale from the outside of the billet and it is solid everywhere.

I am making another one this weekend with the same material. It is all ready to go in the forge and get the welds to take.

This is an order that I am almost ready to color done.

It was forged from a piece of coil spring. That steel is an alloy steel and not supposed to show a hamon, or the lines where the clay on the spine is applied for a differential quench.

A differential quench causes the edge to cool much, much faster than the spine. That creates a hard edge and a flexible spine.

Anyway, I tried it and there actually is a hamon that showed.

The blade is 3 1/2" long and 1" wide at the heel. It is just shy of 1/8" thick near the handle with a distal taper towards the point.

The scales are Kirinite with red fiber liners, brass pins and mosaic pin.

I really like the way this one turned out.

Another one I finally got a sharp on this afternoon.

It was forged from a piece of clip spring like the one on the anvil.

Curly something wood and some jimping on the spine.

The blade is acid etched and stone washed.