Metal Musings Blog

Today I’m finishing up the engraving on the Hel side of the dagger.  Above, I’ve removed the background, using what I call a “scribble” texture for the cloth of her robe, and I’ve used a tiny four-sided point to stipple the non-cloth areas (see around her dead eye, and between her ribs, as well as the little Celtic cartouche at the bottom).

Here

, I’ve finished up the shading, and inked in the design.  Hel has really popped into being now!

Next, I’ve got to make lathe turn a tiny moose antler peg for her dead eye.  Getting close to finishing!

Thanks for Looking!

Today I tackled the gold inlays on Hel’s robe.  This is always a stressful time, and a major effort for me in the process.

I chose to inlay the areas in parallel gold wires, since these are mostly long and skinny locations.  I began by excavating a shallow pocket, then cutting a single line along the edge.  Then, I used a tiny flat graver to cut little undercut pockets along both bottom edges of the cut.  The gold will flow into these undercuts and become trapped.  In the images above, you can see the little flat graver cuts along the lower edge of Hel’s hood hem, and the first bit of gold wire I tacked into place.

Next , I just repeated these steps with more parallel cuts, installing a wire, and making the next set of cuts.  Above, you can see (left to right) a single wire inlaid, then two wires, then finished, scraped and smoothed.  I used four parallel wires at the widest parts of the inlay.

Above, you can see all the finished gold inlays, ready for the shading.  That’s enough for today…

Thanks for Looking!

Now it’s time to work on the Hel side of the Helheim Dagger.  I can’t claim sole authorship of the Hel design – my daughter has done a lot (most?) of that work.  I’ve been stymied for a while on this side, and my she solidified the design and came up with the shading protocols.  Thanks – now get back to studying!

In the two images above, you can see the transfer applied (left image) and the first set of engraved cuts (on the right).  Next, I’ll inlay the gold trim on her robe, and I have to do something about Hel’s dead eye.  I’m leaning towards a moose antler inlay, similar to Japanese netsuke of ghosts and decapitated heads.

Above is one of a famous Japanese netsuke

, and one of my favorites (albeit a really horrible little thing!).  I’ll do something like the inlaid eye in this one for Hel’s dead half.

Thanks for Looking!

Today I’m finishing up the engraving on the Odin side of the Helheim Dagger.

Above, I’ve finished shading the Celtic knots of Odin’s beard and the little Celtic ornament at the bottom.  I’ve added a little temporary Sharpie™ inking just to see how things will look.  You can see the definite contrast between the shaded lower half and the unshaded top half.  Shading really makes thing pop and come to life!

And, above, I finished all of the shading , added some fine decorative cuts to the gold helmet “eyebrows,” and inked the whole thing.  This is my first time doing much engraving on 24 karat gold – surprisingly, even though gold is really soft, it is surprisingly difficult to engrave well.  Because it is so soft!  Next, I’ll start on the Hel side.  No rest for the wicked!

Thanks for Looking!

After a lot of design pain I’ve finally come up with a design for this side of the knife – One-eyed Odin.  Above, you can see the design transferred to the knife scale, ready to begin the engraving process.

Above, I’ve engraved all of the major lines and begun the gold inlay process.  On one side of Odin’s helmet you can see a mostly completed 24 karat gold inlay, and on the right side you can see a pocket I cut out for the other inlay.  Incidentally, this inlay is too wide for a single gold wire, so I’m using a technique of inlaying parallel gold wires into the pocket, and them hammering them down into undercut grooves.  Above the surface, the gold will run across the surface and run into the adjacent gold wire.  As long as I keep the gold pretty clean, the separate wires will cold weld together and result in a really strong and wide band of 24 karat gold.

Above, I’ve completed both gold inlays, and also removed and textured the backgrounds.  On Odin’s helmet, I’ve chosen a bold texture for the relieved background, and a finely stippled background for the Celtic ribbons of Odin’s beard.

Next

, I’ll begin placing in carefully thought out and very tiny shading lines, which will really make the engraving pop to life.

Thanks for Looking!

Now were ready to begin the “knapping” process.  I’m gong to be using a small drum sander in my Foredom™ flexible shaft grinder to create “flakes” in the steel similar to the flakes removed from stone to create a stone blade.

Above, I’ve carefully ground away the “flats” I so diligently placed on the blade with the angle grinder in the previous steps.  I’ve created a “lens” shaped contour on the blade, and am now ready to use the sanding drum in my Foredom™.

Above is a side view of the lens shaped blade.

Here, I’ve been carefully sanding in “flake scars” in the steel.  Notice how I alternate the length of opposing flake scars, just because I like the visual effect.

Further along grinding in the flake scars.

And, this side finished.  Now I have to grind the other side.

Above, the same side with a little cold blue patina, just because I’m impatient to see how it will look when I’m finished.

Above is the other side with the flake scars all ground in.

And, here is the back side blued.  Looking good, so far.  Keep your fingers crossed…

Above, I’ve drilled holes for the pins that will retain the knife scales.

To keep the weight of this all metal dagger down, I’ll remove as much metal from the handle of the knife as I can without weakening it.  Above, I’ve marked where I’m going to begin drilling holes.  I’ll join all these holes together with a jeweler’s saw.

Above, all the holes drilled.

And, in the two images above I’ve sawn through the little webs of metal between the holes.

Next , I’ll harden and temper the blade, then I’ll install the scales, and we’ll be ready to begin engraving.  Of course, the really hard part of the process is coming up with an interesting design to engrave!

Thanks for Looking!

Here is the start of the “Helheim Dagger.”  Done in 1075 carbon steel I decided to do this one in my signature “knapped steel” style, so it resembles a stone knife.

Helheim (” the house of Hel”) is one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology, and is ruled by the goddess Hel, who is half beautiful woman and half corpse. Those who die of old age or disease go to Helheim, while those who die bravely on the battlefield go to Valhalla (which is ruled by Odin, the greatest of the gods).

I began by making a wooden mockup of the proposed dagger, then transferred the pattern to a piece of steel.

Above, I’m carefully sawing out the knife, trying to be as neat as possible.

And, here is the resulting blank.

Above, I’ve clamped the knife blank in a vise, ready to begin shaping with a hand held angle grinder.

The first pass with the angle grinder.

More passes with the angle grinder.

And

, above after quite a few passes with the angle grinder.

And, above, both sides ready to be shaped for the “knapping” process.

Thanks for Looking!