OK, back to work – I’ve decided the area between the blue arrows (above) needs something to formalize the transition between the handle and the blade.
I’ll address the area by using a small sanding drum in my Foredom flex shaft grinder and add a waist on the top and bottom, then texture the entire area, top, bottom and sides.
In the first image above, I’ve marked where I’m gong to engrave lines to mark a smooth demarcation between the textured area and the smooth part of the blade. Below that I have engraved the lines, and the bottom is just an enlargement of the cuts. I will cut away half of those lines, leaving the edges to the left untouched (I hope…).
Above is the knife in my engraver’s vise with my Lindsay Palm Control Airgraver I used for engraving the lines.
Here I’ve begun carving away the surface at the blue arrow (leaving the blade-side half of the line untouched). I’m using my NSK micromotor grinder and the large carbide burr you see to the right.
Above, I’ve begun making my “scribble” texture. I start by outlining the edges and corners (leaving half of the engraved lines intact) with a scribbled texture using the smallest of the three burrs I’ve been using for the carving. Then I gradually fill the interior with the scribbled texture. In this image, I’ve completed the area at the top, as well as all of the outlines.
Here are all of the surfaces with their completed scribble textures, including the sides of the waist. I also engraved my signature in a small reserve on one side. I have to add my signature now before heat treating the blade, because this area will be far too hard to engrave after the blade is hardened.
Above, I’ve cold blued the blade prior to heat treating, mainly to see what it will look like when finished.
I’ll also add a coating of boric acid to the areas to be hardened to keep oxygen away from the steel while heating the blade prior to hardening. The boric acid will melt and form a kind of glass covering. Oxygen at those high temperatures (we’re talking glowing hot!) will burn carbon out of the blade, called decarburation, and reduce the ability to harden the steel, especially in the thin areas like the cutting edges.