This is hopefully the last chapter in a saga that has been going on for a lot longer than Ossian or myself cares to think about. I am embarrassed to say how long this has been unfolding so I will keep it between Ossian and myself.
Quite a long time ago I made a 4" Denali for Ossian. All was fine until one morning he got out of bed and the knife would no longer work. After much discussion about the possible problems, I sent him some replacement parts for the pivot that he was more than willing to install to save sending the knife back from Sweden and back again to him. Once he got the parts in the knife worked like a champ........but not for long! After much "tweaking" he finally sent the knife back to me for repairs. Funny thing, when the knife arrived it worked fine. I kept it for several weeks and played with it off and on. Some days it would work and then when I was about ready to ship it back it acted like a piece of junk. Anyway we have sent this knife back and forth more times than either of us remembers....or cares to. The last time he contacted me I suggested he build a great fire and try to melt this knife into a blob and hopefully the demons and gremlins along with it. By this time he had deep feelings for the thing and just could not bring himself to do it. To try and solve this problem I asked him to please return this monster and let me destroy it and I would try and make him a replacement that was a notch or two above the original.
What I find strange is that through this whole ordeal this man has remained very calm, always the perfect gentleman, has not cursed at me not even one time even though I (sad to say) have really drug my feet on getting him a replacement.
I am not sure what exactly we are making but we needed some damascus steel for the project. I decided I would make this a work in progress thread. That way he will know when am working on it and when I am goofing off.
Mr. Grahn, my hat is off to you for showing patience that I am sure not many would have. I am truly grateful to have you as a customer.
Anyhow, I will be posting pics as this thing moves along. I have spent the last couple of days making some damascus steel. I finallly waited until I was sure the weather was warm enough so that I would be as uncomfortable as possible. It was 97 degrees in my forging shed yesterday. I am truly making myself as miserable as possible through this project. I promise.
When I made these pictures I was not sure about the WIP so they are a little random. As the knife parts come into being I will try and do a better job.
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7B41F78759-C455-43C7-8F68-AF51284D1E47%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8715714236&ssdyn=1/OG-7.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7B941BC5F0-D197-4369-BD31-7A7EF72F6B41%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8715864352&ssdyn=1/OG-8.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7B37451CBF-C64A-4484-AD6B-EE6F12DA96B2%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8715990972&ssdyn=1/OG-9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7BE7217546-558E-468C-A4E8-2CF1D57EBAED%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8716130208&ssdyn=1/OG-10.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7B0E5A44D6-ED8A-4B84-B860-56A5132069FC%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8723470833&ssdyn=1/OG-11.jpg[/img]
Time to grab a Bud and keep an eye on the fire.
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7B4035319C-AE43-4210-A7A4-1E58571A6AFD%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.872373125&ssdyn=1/OG-13.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7B80396514-40DA-4D6A-8F26-63C2EE9D1855%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8723865162&ssdyn=1/OG-14.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.fototime.com/%7BD3B1E56D-9270-4790-B1A1-2B304D98ABA6%7D/sspict/640/exp=f&modt=41057.8724018866&ssdyn=1/OG-15.jpg[/img]
It is always a good idea to make more steel than you need. Surely out of 3-4 feet I can get a decent 6" piece for the blade.