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My Christmas gift ... Wow!

It was a fantastic Christmas here. A big, big thank-you to my daughter, her boyfriend, and Alan Davis Knives for this outstanding liner lock that they gave me for Christmas. The three of them had been conspiring and collaborating for the longest time to come up with the perfect gift for me. It is a one-of-a-kind with a 2.5" cutlass shaped blade forged in Alan’s dual layer feather Damascus. The bolsters are solid sterling silver, hand forged/shaped and textured by Alan. The back spacer is also sterling silver which is fused to a titanium backing. Scales are fossilized interior Walrus ivory. Had never seen interior Walrus ivory in person and the exposed nerve core makes the scales very unique. What a way to end the year!!

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Albums: Custom Gent's Folders - Various Makers

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Featured Comment by dead_left_knife_guy on January 1, 2024 at 13:00: Woah...

Comment by Dennis Hibar on December 31, 2023 at 10:36: It's all magic to me!!! Always appreciate people with talent. I first started collecting Alan's knives back in 2012. I thought his work was outstanding. His work continues to get better and better, which is hard for me to wrap my head around. I mean, how much can one improve before plateauing?

Comment by Kevin D on December 31, 2023 at 10:01: I have never made damascus yet, so this is simply what I understand to have been shared with me.

For the raw damscus billet, it has been recommended to me to use a crushed 'W' as well as a generic random pattern layup (2 different sources). The crushed 'W' I think makes for a less 'smooth' appearance. Once you have a damascus billet of the desired number of layers you split the billet using a dull wedge. This distorts the pattern of the damascus. after the split, you re-forge weld the two pieces back together in the same orientation as before. This will give the 'feather' look to the billet. with the center portion pulled and compressed from the splitting. From what I can gather, the 'feather' damascus has no functional purpose at all, but it is truly amazing to see it pulled off well.

Once the feather damscus billet is made, the blade forming forging needs to be done pretty carefully, so as to not disturb the feather pattern too much. So many steps that need to be done correctly and with the bladesmith knowing what they are about. FAR too elaborate for me to attempt at this point.

From my perspective, if a bladesmith can pull off feather damscus well, then they are showcasing their mastery of the entire damscus making process. Top marks my friend!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on December 31, 2023 at 2:54: That's a question I wish I could answer Kevin ... but I can't. I assumed it was a process for creating the inner (tight) and outer (wider) patterns in the blade to make the feather pattern. But .... you know what they say about assuming! Alan just used the term double layer when describing his feather pattern.

Comment by Kevin D on December 30, 2023 at 18:35: I am a little confused about the 'double layer' feather damascus. Can you explain that to us? From the photo, I would have suspected a mid-range layer count on that damascus. Certainly more than 2... So I am now assuming that the 'double layer' means something else to people that are more in the know with it. Thanks!

Comment by Dennis Hibar on December 30, 2023 at 17:33: Thanks J.J. Alan has come a LONG way in forging his own Damascus. Always improving.

Comment by J.J. Smith III on December 30, 2023 at 15:16: WOW is an understatement, Dennis.

That feather Damascus is simply beautiful.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on December 30, 2023 at 11:50: The only thing I understood Kevin was your last sentence!!!

I have no idea what the heck kind of fir it is. It is a background pic I downloaded to use for this particular knife. I modified it a little (darkened, etc) so it would be visible, but not clash/compete with the knife. Figured since the knife was a Christmas gift, a nice fir would make for a good background. Choosing the right background is just as important as taking a decent picture of the knife. You could take the best picture in the world, and the wrong background could absolutely ruin it. Here is a downsized version of the original pic to aid in identification!

And thanks ... I love this knife!!

Comment by Kevin D on December 30, 2023 at 9:37: CRUD! I tried to edit my comment and ended up deleting the whole bloody thing. Trying to closely re-create it from memory.

Dennis,

Do we get a bonus point for getting close to the identification of the tree in the background of your photo?

It looks like that is certainly a member of the Abies genus (Firs) of trees. These trees typically have rather striking purple or blue cones (when in season).

This particular one is not one of the 'silver' species (like Abies korena 'Silberlocke').

Also, it appears from the photo that the needles are rather sparse on the bottom side of the branch. This means it is not close to the Abies pinsapo species. That one has a very even distribution of needles radially around the branch.

My guess would be a Abies gamblei (Gambler Fir). Being as there are literally hundreds of cultivars of Abies, the chances of me getting this precisely correct are pretty slim.

Yep. I am a little bit of a nerd.