Weld Gallery/Explanation.
The blade above is as described in my last post, the very first really solid forge welded blade I have done. Please refer to the last post regarding the change in techniques I made. As you can see, some pattern is starting to show after acid cleaning. The circled area is where the fold was and did not weld correctly. If I would have continued to fold this would have solved itself but it was more an experiment on proper technique. This material is just stock 1018 for practicing the welds. I used borax as the flux. Strength was increased greatly after folding for a low hardness steel. Forged in very high carbon content coal fire.
Reverse side.
Another good clear shot of the folding points. These issues solve themselves throughout longer welding projects however this was consistently folded without issue and welded in a coal forge which I am very proud of, I built the forge and it works very well for this process as it reaches steel melting temps easily. Next project is doing Swedish lamination. Surrounding 1080 with 1018 for max edge hardness and max spine durability.
Till next time!
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Knives And Jewelry Gallery 2012
Jewelry and Athame in 2012.
HC Rebar 40 Grade. Polish/natural finish.
Mjollnir Amulet. Upcycled steel with SP ring.
HC Railroad Spike Knife
Norse Serpent
Forged Mjollnir With Loop.
Coin Silver Mjollnir with Solid 925 Ring.
These are just a few of the items being produced in my fire between late 2011-2012. Hope you enjoyed the gallry.
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Norse West Shop. Tons of New items!
1080 and why I think its the best trade off steel.
No grand new year statements or plans of action, just another no BS article on why 1080 is a very good choice.
I am a picky smith when it comes to my choice in HC steels. I tend to prefer the tougher alloys and how they react to being worked and then quenched over being obsessed with the level of hardness achieved. I have been making RRS knives for a very long time and I love the properties of the 1040HC used in the spikes. It hardens and forges easily with little worry of cracking so I wanted to find a Bush knife quality HC steel with a similar ease of properties in a flat stock form. I decided after having issues with used leaf springs cracking I would order fresh flat stock steel. I chose 1075/1080 blade steel because I felt it would be a balanced and easy to forge steel for my line of Bushcraft knives. What got in return was better than I expected because not only does this steel forge nicely, it has shown no quenching issues, over hardening or cracks while forging at all. The other really nice thing about this steel is that you still get high edge durability and low material cost.
When we are talking about making survival knives it is important to remember what is actually needed in your blades performance. You must have your hardness and durability balanced so that it can survive the punishment and also be easily sharpened. A steel like D2 can be frustrating and difficult to sharpen due to its hardness level but it has great impact durability and strength. I prefer a carbon steel like 1080 because it is not complicated and can be cared for with a simple wet stone. The hardness can be adjusted to be perfect level for durability and edge retention.
Forge at bright orange to yellow.
Quench in oil.
Temper for 30/1 hour at 300/400 degrees.
I highly recommend you try this for a good trade-off of features.
The second knife shown is a hybrid of an ornate Viking iron knife and a small Seax blade.
Cold Chiseling Runes Gallery
- Katala spelled in Elder Futhark. Chiseled pre hardening.
Athame: A tool used by a Witch, Sorcerer or Shaman for various energy practices and rituals. Done in Nordic style with chiseled Runic marks.
Recycled Wrought Iron with Visigothic influence. ATHAME.
Wrought Iron Athame with Chiseled Runes.
Wrought Iron Athame with Antler handle.
Recycled Steel: Wroughr iron Athame with brushed finish.Cold chiseled Runes. Heat Steel to orange and allow to cool fully for best result.
Hand stamped Runic engraving. (Cold chiseled in to steel while still soft)
Outside the box-The new cutting edge. Bushknife Tech.
- The Starcke T1.5 Seax
New post!: its been awhile and I have been thinking of what I wanted to post and I decided to talk a bit about unorthodox knife edges and how they improve or atleast living up your creations. The knife above is a D-2 tool steel Starcke T1-5 Seax or Tactical Seax (Copyright Norsewest Industries 2011) The knife has a rather radical cutting edge in that is has only one bevel and the opposite side is flat ground. This allows the user to maintain the edge almost exclusively with a steel. I myself was skeptical having seen similar ideas in pocket knives with less than stellar results! but when I finished this version 1.0 prototype I was shocked how proficient the edge was and how truly sharp the knife is with a single sided bevel.
As you can see the side 2 shot notes the straight angle with no bevel. By using the Seax design it allows a perfectly straight cutting edge with no awkward to sharpen angles. Combine this with the single side bevel and you have an easily maintained Bushcraft knife with modern and ancient designs. So far this design has managed to make mince meat out of 3/4 inch rope, leather, vinyl, fabric and wood with total ease, so I recommend you think more creatively about your edging and have fun experimenting with new angles and applications to your knives.
Experimentation is a good thing in any craft or art form and without bold new directions and ideas no art form can survive. Always have fun and bring your best intentions into the workshop. Hope this inspired some out of the box Knife or any kind of metal crafting. stay tuned for new Starcke and Greenlandr Bush knife experimentations/ideas in design.
Copyright Norsewest industries 2011.
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Norse Seax and its finer points of design.
Norse Seax in Battle form with Reindeer antler handle.
- Utility lenth Seax Forged from High Carbon Steel.
Iron Seax.
The Norse Seax:
Length 7 to 24 inches historically.
Date of invention early: Iron age.
Meterial: Iron/Steel.
Notabe details: Steep drop angle nose and straight cutting edge.
Name: Seax is from the Germanic word “SAX” meaning short sword or long knife.
NORSE: Sax
ANGLO SAXON: Seax
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The Saxon people derived there name from this weapon because of there lengedary use of the weapon. No man was without this blade in the time of migrations. The popularity of the blade was so woven into Nordic culture that the Seax in style existed from the early iron age through the Viking age.
The Norse/Saxon warrior often carried:
1 Spear
1 Seax
1 Sword
1 belt knife
A hand Axe could also be added to this already fully stocked personal armoury.
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HIGH CARBON STEEL DAGGER GALLERY.
The Quest for the perfect steel:
It has taken roughly 2000 years of metallurgical evolution to come to the consistent high quality steels we have today and this allows us to make the finest quality blades and tools. Blades during the early iron age were basically wrought iron with small amounts of carbon sporadically forged into the blade during the making process, today steel is carefully formulated for each use and application. If steel had never been invented our modern world would not exist. Blacksmiths are behind one of the most important human discoveries to ever be made. IRON is one of the single most valuable things ever invented or discovered and is still the core of all modern life as we know it.
Collectors piece: Olaf the Dragon slayer.
Greenlandr 2.0 Bush Knife. Tool Steel with custom handle.
Long dagger with Reindeer handle.
Spike with ring.
Spring steel Norse food knife.
The Call Of Steel 