So saturday the 13th of September I decided to start a new blade project. Not exactly how it ended up with this theme but here it goes...

I started stacking material up for a new billet of damascus (or pattern welded steel if you prefer...). I started with a 13 ft of bandsaw blade and some sword blade stock and stacked it up. With the pieces I had I ended up with 7 layers of chromoly and 6 layers double wide of bandsaw blade, yup that makes 13 layers.

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I fired up the new forge I built with Paul Dubro of Legacy Forge over last week and welded this stack up.

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Twisted 13 times around with no additional stacking. Today we forged it out into a blade a little over a 1/4 inch thick with distal taper over 31"

Here is the pattern in bar form, it will change quite a bit once we cut into the pattern by grinding to create the edges. Still I really like the bold look, once we grind the broader areas of pattern should show several layers.

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I'm thinking maybe a horseshoe shaped guard and a 13 facet pommel? I really could use a few ideas if any come to you guys. I didnt really preplan this theme but I'm willing to let it dicate the project.

13 layers, 13 twists, 13 feet, 13th of sept

Thoughts?

Btw the blade is 31 inches long with 8 inches of tang. 13x3=39

Kerry,

Long time no see! I bought my first sword from you at the MD Ren Faire back in '89 or '90.

How long will the grip be? Maybe 13 inches? If not, perhaps 13 cord risers underneath the grip material?

I can't wait to see the end result, whatever it looks like, and as I'm still in MD (Columbia) I might have to stop by the shop sometime.

Cheers!

Christian

I like it!
You guys have great talent there, and Im sure it will turn out to be something really special. I like the 13 facet pommel idea.

Sam

Kerry, How about making the guard look like a recumbant 3 with filed in 1's as decoration? I think 13 fullers might be a bit over the top, but maybe 13 runes or letters in the blade?
Ray

I like the 13 runes or letters on the blade idea. I also like the 13 facets. You don't see odd numbered facets often.

Kerry ground the blade and HT it. I am sure he will get some pictures up soon. He has been a damascus making mad man this last week.

It is time for an update on this project.

I have the blade ground and polished, so I gave it a fast etch and took some pictures. This is not our final finish, but you get the idea.

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This slipped under my radar somehow. Nice work! Sounds very lucky though; all those 13's have to cancel out somewhere, right?

M.

It looks fantastic, keep up the good work :)

About time for an update.

Kerry and I have held on to this blade for a long time now. It being 13 themed we both knew that at some point we wanted to finish her up and give it to our older brother Emory because his favorite number is 13 and because Kerry wanted him to have his first pattern welded sword blade.

This weekend is Emory's 50th birthday and gave us the proper excuse to get this baby done.

Here it is as it sits. More finishing and final etch still needs to be done but it is pretty much together.

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There are 13 modules on the hilt and 13 facets on the pommel. yes 13...that was fun math!
The handle is tiger stripe maple leftover from Paul Reed Smith(http://www.prsguitars.com) and still needs some hand sanding and finish.
Emory is a musician to say the least and this is an extra detail just for him.

Thanks for looking. Comments welcome.

Wow, that looks way better than I would have ever imagined great work guys, I really love the way the hilt turned out, and I sure Emory will love it too.

Here is the engraving that I worked up for the blade.

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Made sure the deer had 13 point rack.

This will be diamond scribe egraved on the blade after etch.

Cool etching, this piece just seems to be getting better and better :-)