The blade is a little over 9" long, made from 1/4" thick 1075. Originally it was a straight blade, but I didn't like the way the heat-treating came out the first time, so I did it again. When I did the tip dropped a full half inch. I quench in oil (McMaster-Carr FastQuench), and I know that with japanese swords (which start out straight) they curve upwards if quenched in water and downward if quenched in oil. But this was not done japanese style with clay, so you got me.
This is the first blade I carved the braidwork pattern on, and the first one I carved the handle on.
Originally there was supposed to be a face on the end, but as I started bringing the braids onto the end it quickly became apparent that they were way to bog for the face design, and they swallowed it - as you can see here. Those are wormholes in the wood. One of the things I was experimenting with was making a knife look not new. The aesthetic of having everything perfectly polished and flat is somewhat interesting, but I get bored with it pretty fast. It's also very impractical, as anyone who has every bought a dark colored new car will tell you. That super-shiny looks only last about 2 days.
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