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I've never been one to care much for trends, but most of my work is in out-dated styles anyway...:) Brass has been around and used for fittings since Roman times, if not earlier, and I suspect it will still be around and used long after we are gone. I personally prefer bronze, and detest...

My thoughts also, great job man.

Judge not.... (squash your inner pharisee like a bug!)

Amen... I've always felt saying "God is good" was such an understatement, but our language contains no words fully capable of describing Him... I know that if God has promised it, it is as good as done.

I'm starting to see a bit of a dha influence in your blades... beautiful work.

I guess this is one of the nice things about forging to shape, I have not cut out a blank in many years....

After drilling I remove the excess with a jewelers saw, with careful layout you can get very close before breaking out the needle files. If the guard-stock is thicker than 3/32" or so, you can use a rotary tool to remove material from the backside so less material needs to be removed with a...

Have you seen this thread?

I love your blade finishes Steve. You guys might enjoy this... The big one has a 15" blade of W1 with 2 twisted 1084/15n20 bars, and is the biggest pattern-welded blade I've yet to attempt, in fact I'm sourcing parts for a bigger quenching tube as we speak.... I have no excuse whatsoever not...

I do the same as Laurence. but rough the tang and scales up with a 36 grit belt...:) Ideally you want to use a drill bit that is a few thousandths larger than your laynard tubing or pins. This is were number and letter size bits come in handy. For a 1/8"(.125") diameter pin I use a number 30...

What Bush Monkey and Doug said! To avoid burning your handle material when grinding down your corbys, First either file or saw the tops down close to flush with the handle material so there is less grinding needed to bring them down completely flush. The same strategy works for most types of...

I have 2 tanks and swap them out when one freezes up, but a larger tank, as Bruce said, would be ideal.

Here's what I'd do to find out if it is usable steel. Heat up the tang of one of them to about 1500, or a few clicks past non-magnetic, and quench in warm oil. Now clamp the end of the tang into a vise, and wearing a protective face-shield and apron, bend it over. If it snaps like glass...

Darrell Evans wrote that one, though a few others have covered it.... it's a good one...:)

I searched this forum and didn't really find anything, so... More info about alloy banding than you can shake a stick at. I'm no expert on it, but know it if I see it...

Looks like alloy banding.

5160. From my experience, 5160 doesn't care too much what oil you quench it in, I use 120 degree canola oil. As far as temper, well, that depends on what hardness you are shooting for and how hard it got in the quench. For a sword you will want to sacrifice edge-holding some in favor of...

I'd suggest 5160, 6150, L6, or 80crv2 for a modern, through-hardened short sword. All of these steels are known for toughness. 1075 or 1060 would also work well. Wilkinson made swords from what amounts to W1 (.9-1% carbon), and they had quite a reputation for being nearly unbreakable. In the...

I was thinking the same thing myself, this piece was to learn the skills and complexities of the design without accidentally destroying $200 worth of handle material in the process, which strikes me as both admirable and rational... use musk ox or pearl on the next one, you're ready now!

You don't really need that much to forge blades, I get by nicely with a guillotine for drawing tangs, a hot cut, and 3 pairs of tongs...:) Everything else is just a luxury for a pure bladesmith....