Hey Kevin and Will. Thanks. Well, Will, kind of both, as I understand it. It insulates and prevents the spine from getting up to the same temp, and also prevents it from cooling as rapidly. Kind of like a heat sink or buffer. Regardless, besides that cool hamon, that edge is file hard, and the spine is dead soft. Should make for a VERY durable and tough blade. It also caused the blade to arch up some. It started out dead straight, and now has a bit of an arc. Legend has it that's how the Japanese get the upward curves to their swords, simply via the differential hardening. As far as I know, those files are W2, and I quenched the whole thing in lukewarm water. Which, incidentally, helped bust some of the clay off too. <grin> No, not at all, none of it 'sounds dumb'. You know the saying 'The only stupid question is the one not asked'. I'm not sure what the intricate grainy structure is from, whether that is some sort of alloy banding or what. Neat nonetheless. Hey, you guys both do some neat work, are you interested in exchanging reciprocal website links? I LOVE some of your fountains, Kevin. Beautiful. Will, those gauntlets are incredible. Peace out.

Mmmm...
Just had a look at your site - those are some stunning knives my friend. I've only dabbled in damascus, and blades. Got out of it before it could develop into an obsession!But you've obviously sold your soul to the god of blades...and kudos to anyone who welds billets of chainsaw wearing shorts!
I'd be happy to add a link to your site from mine next time I update it - don't know if it'll do you any good commercially but ya never know, and it'll certainly be of interest to any knife addicts looking at my efforts!
Will.

Will Jones

Hey Will. Thanks. No, actually. We do barter and negotiate from time to time, The Muse and I, but my soul is not for sale. Why did you quit? It's magical. I don't really care, per se, about the commercial aspect, it is, if nothing else, a good resource to have valid, relevant, reciprocal links, plus, your stuff is cool.

Hello Mele. Thanks. You can send them to me if you like. I don't know how many of them I'll use, but will give it a shot. I have a couple friends that love farriers' rasps for blade stock. 

Hi Gimper. That's the thing, you either are a knife fetishist or you ain't. It's almost inborn, commonly kindled when Grandpa gives you your first pocketknife. If you are, there's no need to explain, and if you aren't, there's no explaining it. As I mention on my site, it's pretty much the First Tool, as primates go, and the one that makes every other one possible, damned near. Yes, Scots and Irish. I have a hard time watching movies like those, I get angry and want to grab my sword and start lopping off English heads. Apparently it's become sparse, some manufacturer went out of business or something, but you can try this place:

http://home.comcast.net/~eellis2/EllisCustomKnifeworks/refractorycoatings.html

Yes, you can do it with a torch, have a nice chunky magnet handy and when the blade is orange evenly and beyond it's ability to stick to the magnet, quench. Good rough rule of thumb. Works pretty damned well.

Hey Jake. Same here. I too love the science versus seat of the pants aspects.The thing is, like you say, people figured this out centuries ago, and that old tech works. I do some silly shite like quenching with the blade pointing to magnetic N, only quench while moving the blade in a back and forth, stabbing motion, etc., but have VERY little side to side warpage, so who can say what's truth and what's voodoo? Endlessly interesting, for certain.