[Robert Mayo]

Hello everyone
I am attempting my first carving and would like to know if you could tell me which area to carve next on this knife handle
so i do not get to far and go in the wrong direction. The carving area shown is 4 1/4" x 1" inside the cutout area and the damascus is
1/4" thick. Any help from you seasoned veterans will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Cheers Bob

[tsterling]

Robert Mayo, on Dec 12 2009, 05:19 AM, said:

Hello everyone
I am attempting my first carving and would like to know if you could tell me which area to carve next on this knife handle
so i do not get to far and go in the wrong direction. The carving area shown is 4 1/4" x 1" inside the cutout area and the damascus is
1/4" thick. Any help from you seasoned veterans will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Cheers Bob

Hi Bob,

Here's a link to a tutorial I posted here a while back - it should get you an idea about how I would go about it:
How to Carve Steel - Wormy Wood

And a link to a thread on making gravers - pay attention in particular to Jim Kelso's tips on making a graver:
Gravers

Also, the metalworking section has lots to look at.

To start with on your knife handle, I would use a graver to make small engraved cuts to isolate the interior web from the handle frame. I would limit my work on the exterior frame part to shaping and relieving the outside edges so it feels good in the hand.

The interior I would round over with carbide burrs, and detail the leaves and bird with gravers, then use small files, scrapers and stones to finish up the surfaces.

For a little eye candy, below is a photo of an extraordinary Josef Rusnak knife along the same vein as yours, followed by a link to more pictures of the same knife.

Josef Rusnak

Best of luck!

[Robert Mayo]

Tom
Thankyou for the info and the links as well as the photo of the knife that is out of this world the detail is amazing.
I will probably be back asking more questions before i finish this knife

Cheers Bob

[Robert Mayo]

Here is where i am at now does anyone have any suggestions on where i go from here. Thanks for looking and any help.
I know the photos are a little big but the file size is around 50 kb just let me know if they are to big.

Bob

Attached image(s)

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[tsterling]

Robert Mayo, on Dec 16 2009, 10:42 AM, said:

Here is where i am at now does anyone have any suggestions on where i go from here. Thanks for looking and any help.
I know the photos are a little big but the file size is around 50 kb just let me know if they are to big.

Bob

Texture the branches to look like bark, smooth up the leaves and use small gravers to put in some minimal detail on the bird (as in the eyes, beak, and wings).

It's looking pretty good so far, Bob!

[Robert Mayo]

tsterling, on Dec 16 2009, 02:25 PM, said:

Texture the branches to look like bark, smooth up the leaves and use small gravers to put in some minimal detail on the bird (as in the eyes, beak, and wings).

It's looking pretty good so far, Bob!

Thanks again Tom carving steel is not as easy as it looks in your tutorial i will have a go at it some more.

Bob

[Robert Mayo]

Here's where i'm at now i think it is ok and will go ahead and finish the knife.
Tom will i lose any of the texture when etching the damascus?
Thanks again for the help.

Bob

Attached image(s)

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[tsterling]

Robert Mayo, on Dec 18 2009, 01:23 PM, said:

Here's where i'm at now i think it is ok and will go ahead and finish the knife.
Tom will i lose any of the texture when etching the damascus?
Thanks again for the help.

Bob

Yes, etching will interfere with the texture. You can mask off the areas you don't want etched. The best masking agents are the professional black art masks from the bigger online art supply stores, but for something quick and dirty try the wife's fingernail polish.

[Don Barnhill]

Beautiful work everyone. I'm inspired to try this myself.

Tom, Those knives by Rusnak are outrageous. Thanks for sharing the pictures and info. And Robert, keep on working on it. You're doing well. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

[Robert Mayo]

Tom thanks for the valuable info.
Don thanks for taking the time to comment those Rusnak knives are indeed outrageous.

Cheers Bob

[matthew parkinson]

very nice work!

If you are using ferric chloride as an enchant you can use a sharpie marker as a resist I have used it in the past with good results. the trick is to use a rather new one and get as even a coverage as possible. for larger areas I have used layout blue with mixed results it is easily scratched and re coating seemed to not work all that well with the etch getting under the masked area around the former scratch.
MP

[Debbie K]

Bob:

Believe it or not, hairspray can make a decent block for ferric chloride also. The cheap stuff (like Aquanet) works better than the higher end stuff. But with as much work as you have in on this piece, I'd recommend asphaltam. Make sure and buy turpentine because without it, it's the devil to get off.

I just want to qualify that I have never etched steel, only copper, brass and silver. So if you are even thinking about the hairspray, check on a piece of scrap first. I think the most important thing to do when etching is to check often that whatever block you use isn't lifting. Protect your pretty carving!

Debbie K

[Robert Mayo]

Debbie and Matthew
Thanks for your input on this i will be working on it some more after i get a couple of orders out of the way.

Cheers Bob