Colt Coates Metal Arts and Design

This is a camping knife I just finished for the ‘Fisher’s of Men’ GA division Bass tournament trail.
It’s a simple design but what makes it special is all the extra metallurgical & design features.
It has a special heat treatment; edge hardening with “blue backing” on the spine. It has an extra thick spine with a flat grind and an edge sharpened at 20 degrees. it’s designed for abuse. Even hammering. It also has a choke up finger slot for people who want to shave kindling, carve, or maybe even do some skinning. It also has a tie for a lanyard.
The steel is 1095 and L6, which was a real b**** to grind and drill because it’s such hard steel.
The handle is custom epoxy & dyed maple.
This blade took me about 4 solid days to complete.

Grinding. It can be the worst and the best part of knife making. This is where you either throw it in the trash and start over, or you revel in your craftsmanship.

Getting ready to install this banister post at the customer’s home. This material is 1.5” solid, and it is heavy.

This is my first mono-steel Gun-Blued knife I just finished for a customer. I decided to do a 2 tone finish with the gun-blueing on the sides of the blade, and shiny polished silver for the spine and underside of the blade. I honestly like it as much as the Damascus. Steel is 52100.

A couple blades I just finished up for some customers. 10 layer twist Damascus

Every now and then you run into a blade that just gives you challenge. This one here is my 3rd attempt. First it was a challenge to draw the Damascus material wide enough for this blade. I finally had to fuse 2 pieces of Damascus together to give me a wider piece of material. The heat-treat is tricky because I’ve decided I need to harden only the lower cutting edge of the blade to keep the thin pieces near the hole from snapping. This handle is also getting Mokume Gane, which is basically Damascus made from Nonferrous metals. So the melting point is much lower and much more finicky. I probably spent $300 on copper and nickel only to find delaminations after the forging on an entire bar. 3rd time’s the charm. Actually, it’s more like my 5th. …5th attempt, 3rd blade. I feel like I got it this time!

A couple profile sketches for the next 3 knife customers.

Continuing the forging on this hanging wall sculpture which will be up for sale soon. It’s about 3ft tall and weighs about 70lbs.
What should I name this piece?

Recently finished forging this hammered railing for a customer. All solid square bar. The banister ends were 2 inch solid and the pickets were 1-1/4 inch. Cap rail was 2”x1/2” flatbar with another forged textured flatbar accent hand riveted on top. This railing was genuine Mortise and Tenon joinery traditionally forged together. Each rail ended up weighing about 400lbs each. It was a feat, and took months to build and a small team to install.

Get you a woman who can do your welding for you! The install of this rail is a beast. Still have to remove it and take it to be powder coated.

Before and after restoration of this old Franklin stove from Atlanta Stove Works

EDIT: **SOLD**

Unclaimed blade up for grabs. Shoot me a message.
8” recurve Bowie knife. 14 layer Damascus twist pattern with a black coffee etch. Maple burl handle & a brass guard.

Brisket knife for a customer. 14 layer twist Damascus with Giraffe bone handle.

10 layer Twist Bowie knife. Brass guard and maple burl handle. Etched in coffee. Custom commission. 8” blade. Big enough to do a little damage

EDIT: **SOLD**
thank y’all so much for your interest & inquiries!

Guys, this carry blade is for sale. It’s overage from Damascus stock I made for another customer. Someone Take it off my hands. 300 layer feather Damascus and water Buffalo horn handle.

300 layer feather Damascus chef’s knife I just finished for a good friend. Kinda looks like a black hawk feather.

Hand forged railing. 1-1/4” solid hammered pickets with mortise & tenon traditional joinery. Heated & hand hammered rivets. No welding. And 2” solid hammered banister posts. This run is only 9ft long but it weighs about 400 pounds.

The 2 Sisters
One is a Cu Mai (copper layer) blade with 300 layer cladding Damascus & Mammoth ivory handle, and the other is 280 Layer feather Damascus with water Buffalo horn handle

I think you gotta be a little crazy to forge 2” solid square bar

Just finished up this Japanese Santoku kitchen knife for a Christmas order for a customer. This blade is paper thin. The Damascus is 14 layers with a twisted pattern. It has a rough forged integral bolster. I thought the rough marks looked artistic so I left them & didn’t grind them out. Maple burl for the handle.

Damascus wood scribe and a fiber cutter. Just in time for Christmas

Hard to believe that this is going to turn into an integral bolster feather Damascus chef knife

Simple recurve carry blade. 300 Layers of a slight unconventional feather Damascus with a water buffalo horn handle

Father’s day knife I made for my dad with a maple burl handle and 300 layer feather Damascus. The feather Pattern comes out this way when you skip a technique called “crushed W’s” when folding the metal. So it kind of makes the Damascus look like wood grain. Which I think is cool. Also, I just started being able to offer custom laser engraving. I can also do punched engraving as well, which gives it a primal rustic look.

Excited to be making another knife for the GA division fisher’s of men tournament trail raffle

Well Hot dang, look at me. I’m legit now thanks to my beautiful friends Holly Wise-Nicholson and Doug Nicholson.
Go look at my metal work!

C**t Coates Metal Arts – Artistic Metalworking, blacksmithing, fabricating, welding, bladesmithing and more. The process of using pre-formed metal from the mill or personal creation, then cutting and welding it in order to make a structural design.

Out of all the complicated intense things I’ve made over the years, this is probably one of my favorite pieces. I think there’s something to be said for simplicity in art. And as I get older the story told in this simple wall hanging means more and more to me. It’s called “May the Circle be Unbroken”

A couple grape leaf embellishments from my Dad’s forge on a gate in Stuart, Virginia.