r/Bladesmith

Found these at an old abandoned saw mill near my house and wondering if any of it would make good knife making material?

Hi guys I m very excited to join this sub ı have a question for a beginner. I m not directly diving this hobby with a sword or a fancy beatiful Axe I m more interested knife like these in the photos. Do you have a suggestion how can I start?

Single bevel blade with hand-forged ura. Handle in custom linden wood with 8 layers of urushi lacquer.
The ‘’warrior’’ finish was done hot. I rarely do this finish : it always hurts a little to intentionally rough up a blade. I've turned down several projects asking for it. This time, for this particular build, I said yes.
Sometimes the client's vision wins.

It is my first straight razor. It will cut grapes and tomatoes but cannot get it truly sharp enough to shave with yet. The spine is too thin. The 15N20 was to thin compared to the 1080 blanks, so the pattern doesn’t read well. I have a few delamintions. As a first piece of this type I am thrilled with it.

Have been cranking out stuff for blade show 2026 Atlanta. I won't have them on the table, but just ask me,ill whip some out.

Basically finished with this one. My dremel is dead so I haven't quite finished up the handle:blade transition for scratches, I'll run that up to 240 before hand sanding that to finish it.

Feels good to get this bastard out of the way. Been working on this over the course of two years. Had a kid, relationship drama, and so much more kept me from finishing this.

Kingwood handle, brass pins, 5160 steel. Hand forged, not stock removal. Sitting somewhere around 58 hrc iirc. 1200 finish before polish. Was shave sharp at one point, but I have to re-hone and polish it after the past couple months which I'll do as part of the finishing I previously mentioned.

Not a perfect knife, but I'm pretty happy with it. C&c welcome.

This is a custom wooden longsword made from Goyak Bakdal, weighing about 1032 g and priced around 330 USD.

For a wooden longsword, the weight gives it a noticeably substantial feel. It still has taper in the blade, so it does not feel like a plain wooden club, but the density of the wood gives it real weight and authority.

Goyak Bakdal is a Korean hardwood material based on Bakdal, often described as Korean iron birch. The first thing to understand is that Bakdal is not comparable to ordinary birch. In many countries, “birch” usually brings to mind European birch, Russian birch, Baltic birch, or birch plywood. Bakdal is much denser, harder, and heavier. It belongs more in the category of serious dense hardwoods rather than common pale birch.

Goyak Bakdal is not a separate tree species. It is better understood as a special aged or character-grade form of Bakdal wood. It usually has richer colour, tighter-looking grain, and more natural character than regular Bakdal. The wood used here has a yellow-brown tone, compact grain, and a very solid, compressed texture.

In global wood terms, regular Bakdal feels closer to dense hardwoods such as hornbeam, hard maple, dense beech, or hickory than to normal birch. Goyak Bakdal has an even more distinctive appearance because of its aged colour and tight grain character.

It is probably not in the same extreme class as ultra-dense exotic woods like lignum vitae, ebony, or ipe, but it is clearly far above ordinary birch and common lightweight practice woods in density, hardness, and presence.

Overall, Goyak Bakdal feels like a premium Korean hardwood with a dense, tight, and visually striking character. It has the hardness and presence of a serious material, while still keeping the natural warmth and individuality of aged wood.

Hey all! Got a W2 from NJ Steel Baron that I’ve ground and it’s ready for HT. I’ve made one before and it came out pretty good for my first time doing a hamon on W2.

My question is, I’m looking to get a little more detail and activity out of the hamon this go around and I know I can do an interrupted quench in water or brine first for like 2-3 seconds and then into the oil, but obviously my concern is with cracking. So with that in mind, has anyone done a quench in cooled oil for a happy medium with less worry about cracking from the water?

Would love everyone’s input if you’ve tried this or from any of the material autists. lol

Cheers!

Kaz

1095/15n20 and 1095 nickel powder

Come see us! Table 20-S

The grip core is Poplar, channel milled and glued together with titebond 3. Its the shaped on a belt grinder and wrapped in cord. Risers under the wrap are made from leather and finely shaped with a dremel and diamond bit. The over wrap is skivved on a belt grinder, wet molded and glued down with titebond original. It will be followed with dye and paint work. The brass spacer will be aged and antiqued.

I have members videos following my grip making processes 👌