# WW II commemorative knife build. Photo intense



## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Here is another WIP of a project you might be interested in.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine on another forum was contemplating a commemorative knife to honor his uncle who had recently passed away. His uncle was a veteran of the only land battle to take place on U.S. soil during WW II. The battle of Attu Island. A little known island way out on the Aleutian Island Chain. It is actually closer to the Russian Mainland than to the U.S. mainland. Anyhow, anyone interested in learning more about this battle can look it up on Wikipedia here Attu Island .

I volunteered to make the Damascus blade for this project. Andy, my friend, had contacted the Coast Guard Commander stationed on Attu and was sent the base material to be used in the construction of the knife. It was an exploded artillery round and a rack of truck springs. The shell was from US artillery and the truck spring is unknown as to what vehicle it came from. SO it could be US or Japanese. Here is a shot of the material as I received it.










I then cut a test piece to ensure harden-ability. Andy had done some research and found that the shells were normally made from 1080-1090 high carbon steel so I was not too worried but still wanted to make sure.




























The hardening test came out great and we decided to proceed with the project. Next is cutting all the material



















Here is the shell all reduced to workable sizes.










Now the work really begins. Forging all the material out for the first billet.

(more to follow)


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## Jonbnks (Jan 21, 2012)

Amazing how after all this time, that steel still looks like it only had surface rust. Looking forward to seeing how well the knife turns out.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

The forging begins

First get it hot then beat it out.



















As you can tell the long thin pieces were the spring and the shorter oddly shaped pieces are the shell.

Then forge into more usable shapes. All shell in the next pic










Here is the stack getting ready to put the billet together. I will be adding a bit of 15n20 to provide a bit of contrast. 









And now stacked into the first billet. 









Now its time to get it hot










Then put the SQUEEZE on it.









Now it's time for lunch










More to come. Need to get some more pics from Andy.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

So continuing on. Here is the billet after the first press.









Opening it up to see how it went.









and drawing it out ready to cut and fold.










Now cut ready to re-stack










From this point it is just a repeat of the first stack, reheat and draw again then cut and do it all over. Until I get to 550 layers. Then it is time to pattern. Here is what it looks like to do a ladder pattern. This distorts the layers and gives the wavy look. 

















From this point I grind off the high spots and forge a blade. The next photos are of the blade, finished ready to send to Andy for the handle and guard. 


















Now for Andy's part. I normally finish off all my own knives but for this project Andy took it from here.


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

This is AMAZING! Thank you for sharing this. I am excited to see the end result.


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

That is really fasinating!!


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Now Andy has the blade and has assembled all the materials for the final product. All the parts came from Attu except the ivory. It came from mainland Alaska. Still appropriate for this project.










So lets get started on the guard made from a piece of the spring. Andy hard at work.










Filing the slot










Fitting the guard










Now the plan is to use the bases from a couple of 30-06 shells in the guard obtained from Attu.










And now in place










Guard Soldered to the blade










So lets tackle the part that give us knife makers the willies. Nothing like cutting into a $1000+ piece of ivory to make your sphincter pucker a bit.










and handle in place for the next step.










More to come


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Andy had a pretty neat idea to make this even more linked to Attu. He wanted to cast a replica of the island in brass from the 30-06 shells used in the guard.

The map of Attu and the wax relief he carved.










And a close up of the wax










The buttcap and 06 shell to be used










Investing the wax.










and the casting soldered to the buttcap










Cleaning it up a bit










Finished knife to follow.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Here is the knife put together. It is not finished at this point. Originally we had panned to have it engraved but the guard was too hard for the engrave so he passed on the project. So we opted to have it Scrimmed. I have not seen the final knife with the scrimshaw but I am sure it is magnificent. All this project was done by volunteers so the scrimshander had to do things as he had time available and it took a couple of years Anyhow here is a 360 of the finished knife before scrimshaw.





































The base was made from the artillery shell base with a .50 cal bullet for the blade rest.

The project is finally done and I hope to have the final pictures soon. We plan to raffle the knife off and donate all the funds to a WW II charity of some sort. It was supposed to go to the memorial in DC but the project took to long so we missed that opportunity.

Thanks all for looking and I hope you enjoyed the journey.


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

I always wondered why custom knives cost like they do---mystery over! Very captivating read/thread. Please post the rest of the story as it develops please, thanks for sharing a most interesting read


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## Rick Howard (Feb 25, 2012)

Stunning!


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Absolutely beautiful Chuck !

I do hope you'll let us know when the raffle is and how to purchase tickets.


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Very good story indeed, great artist at work, will also be waiting for the final story, thanks for sharing.


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

Very nice knife and I never knew about that island, thanks for sharing.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Stonegod said:


> Well that was amazing!!!! A true piece of art for sure! Whoever wins that raffle is going to be one happy/lucky guy!.........though when I posted my reply yesterday......I was figuring that this would unfold over a few weeks....not hours!LOL.....as usual.....I figured wrong!LOL


Yes this was a project that began almost 3 years ago. Took me a while to get my butt in gear then Andy had some personal situations and the scrimshander took forever. That's life in the big city though. Glad you all enjoyed it.


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## Helmet_S (Mar 18, 2010)

Very cool story. that was one impressive peice of ivory. I would be willing to bet measurements were take quite a few times before making that cut. haha.


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## Weasel (Jun 18, 2012)

Absolutely amazing!


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## 220swift (Mar 2, 2011)

A beautiful labor of love!!!!!! I too would like to know when and where to purchase raffle tickets.


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

WOW, I just got the photos of the finished product. I am very impressed. The scrim turned out great. Here are some of the shots.





































This was the first time I actually saw the finished product. I am not dissapointed. I am trying to get some more info on the raffle and will update this thread when I find out more info.


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

Awesome work by the scrimshander. What a beautiful tribute to those that fought that battle.
I'll look forward to the raffle to benefit a very deserving cause.
Thanks for posting this thread Chuck, and thank you for your service.


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## BondCoCoyote (Feb 14, 2012)

True American craftsmanship about true Americans!!! Beautiful Work!!!

Thank you!!!


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## Antlerz22 (Apr 18, 2011)

youngdon said:


> Awesome work by the scrimshander. What a beautiful tribute to those that fought that battle.
> I'll look forward to the raffle to benefit a very deserving cause.
> Thanks for posting this thread Chuck, and thank you for your service.










hard to add to that!


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Just a little side, the reason I really wanted to make this blade was I was stationed on Adak. Another island in the Aleutian Chain. In fact it was the island that the battle for Attu was staged from. Felt a little like home making it. Was my favorite duty station.


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## prairiewolf (Feb 19, 2012)

that whole knife is apiece of artwork!!!


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## youngdon (Mar 10, 2010)

chuck richards said:


> Just a little side, the reason I really wanted to make this blade was I was stationed on Adak. Another island in the Aleutian Chain. In fact it was the island that the battle for Attu was staged from. Felt a little like home making it. Was my favorite duty station.


That will make for a great story for me to tell my friends after I win it !


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## hassell (Feb 9, 2010)

Well said every one, truly a work of art and inspiring story.


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## bones44 (Jan 7, 2011)

That is absolutely stunning !! Everyone involved is to be commended for what you guys did. I loved watching how this whole thing unfolded. Thanks so much for sharing Chuck !


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## El Gato Loco (Jan 15, 2010)

Chuck - this might just be the coolest thing I have ever seen posted out here. HELL of a great job man!


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## chuck richards (Feb 1, 2010)

Thanks all. I was very honored to have been a part of this project. Now I hope to see it sold via raffle to benefit the WW II war memeorial. Looks like the tickets will go on sale in Jan. Will keep you posted.


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## 220swift (Mar 2, 2011)

Please do. I'd like a chance at that knife and the monies are going to a great cause.


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