EVGATech_MDecker
After you compressed the spring it looks kind of like a chainsaw blade 

OMG I just had an idea re-reading this...
 
BRUNO.... shop pics... stat.  

I will be traveling somewhere to see that eclipse. I will NOT miss it.

GO NUTS.  you have access to a forge, then go for it!
 
We found some places along the line that are military friendly (armed forces vacation club).  There is one in South Carolina that is (kinda) a days drive from Jersey that we can get there.  

nateman_doo
See why I said an angle grinder is a must?!
 
ok, and a way to drill holes.  
 
He uses a drill press, angle grinder, and a file.
 

I have all those on hand down here. I can get it done, just cant go as fancy as if I had access to all my and the family tools up north.

Got Scarlett's address, need yours Bruno.
 
Here is an update.  This is what the blade will look like if you don't grind off too much of the surface:

 
Here is what I suggest you guys do.  Find yourself an old large can and build one of these if you don't have access to a forge.  This is ALL you need.

 
If you pound it into shape, you will get a pattern similar to what I just pictured.  This has incredible potential for a DEAD SEXY knife.  
 
I really think you guys should make a small forge, and hammer it a little bit on an anvil.  Even your vise anvil will be enough.  I may make it a bit easier for you guys... but more on that later.

Bruno747
wow totally zoned out on this thread. 
 
PM'd address.
 
The image of the metal after being cleaned up and taken down a bit. Yup, thats gonna look awesome with what I have in mind.

ahh, you are alive.  Perhaps you should SUBSCRIBE to the thread?!   :)
 
Are you going to do any hot work to it?  You going to make a coffee can forge, or use a real forge?  
 
Let me know if there is anything you need me to do to it.  If you guys send me your emails I can link you both and we can chat a little easier

I wonder though, if Scarlett wants to come up & make his own, then you can have that entire billet.  Its just under $40 in steel.  Takes around a day to crush and draw out the material into a similar size billet.  
 
 

  pretty cool stuff guys.

May is shot for me.  Headed to Fort Pickett for a month long rotation.  :(  
Will probably have to schedule for June.  Probably will be bringing some knives with me to knock out all the mundane sanding that still must be done. 

Alright, picture time. My apologies Nate, I should have listened and put it in the forge and flattened it a bit more to keep some more of the pattern.
 
Trying to take some of the nics out where the spring steel didn't quite fit together make me take too much off the center. I still love the look though. and now that its etched, the nics seem to give it a nice character.
 
Okay, First pic. Blank arrived, and put the base design on with a sharpie. Oriented the blank so that the blade end is the end where the spring steel was penetrating deeper into the billet
 

Second Pic. Cutting off the excess on the end of the blade.

Third Pic, rough cutting the notches out where I would eventually grind out the curves of the blade. Dremel seemed to work best for this, even my big angle grinder with a cutting wheel was incredibly slow going.


Most of the rough cuts made, I decided to make some changes to end at this point, didnt like the way the curve on one side looked weird.
 

 

 
I completed most of the shaping for the last few curves and the end. I decided to do an etching test. I only had Muriatic acid on hand, so its a bit lighter than I would like. Still need to work on the last curves and make the blood grooves.
 

 

 

 
Finished the sides, and tried to start making a blood groove. I think I am going to take this over to my buddies place and have him mill out the groove. Doing it by hand is looking terrible and I keep skipping the tool out and making marks next to it. I also dont have anything wide enough to get the width I want without making the cut really uneven. I etched the blade longer and wiped in between checks to start getting a good color to it. Lots of spring steel taken out from the grinding. I know, I have let our master Nate down. Forgive me master.
 

 

 
Still need to cut out the handle area, fit the guard and pommel and start cementing the layers of the center of the handle. I have a friend who collects knives, so unless we are having a raffle here to keep this competition going, I am going to give this one to him as a present. Nate, I wanna pay for the cost of the materials so that you can make another billet and have another competition here. This has been a lot of fun. It's been a long time since I made a knife from a blank. Thank you for getting me back into this.

I only used the Dremel for polishing and cutting the big chunks off. For some reason it was much much faster cutting g the original major hunks out with the Dremel wound up to 35k rpm.

The major shaping and grinding down was done with a grinding wheel and starting with 80grit flap wheel going progressively smaller grit as I got closer. Then polished with 400grit Dremel sanding drum and the polishing buff with compound.

Damascus one is profiled and etched. I found some wood I like better for the handle so it will have some beautiful ironwood slabs on either side.

I made this knife from that damascus billet btw

I will be home late Sunday, and will try to visit the Nateman Palace as soon as work will allow me to.

nateman_doo
WOW... I am very interested to see where that guard goes.  Man... that looks incredible so far!
 
I am still away on orders until 11th of June... so it will have to be sometime after that.

Yeah that is a beautiful piece of Damascus.

If you have another damascus blank or two I'd be happy to purchase them from you. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting back into this. So much so I purchased a 4x36 bench top belt sander. Once I get more comfortable grinding in the blade profile, I plan to make a set of Damascus kitchen knives.

Problem is this is a rabbit hole, now I want some leather tools to make a sheath.