Custom Forged Blades by Dan Weatherby
GALLERY
Below are photos of previous knives I have made, illustrating various designs and materials used. As you will see, I love to use natural materials. All of my handle materials have been stabilized with resin in a vacuum chamber to eliminate shrinking, warping, and cracking as well as making it waterproof. Each blade I make also includes one of my handmade custom-fit leather sheaths. Finally, I include a signed certificate of authenticity describing the process and origin of materials used. If you are interested in a blade similar to one of the knives pictured below feel free to send me an email!
BUFFALO FIGHTER
This 7-inch Bowie style knife is forged from a Weatherby .30-378 caliber stainless steel rifle barrel. The blade features a mirror polish showing the subtle San Mai Damascus pattern with O1 high carbon steel forming the cutting edge heat treated to 57-58 HRC. The double guard and pommel are nickel silver. The stacked handle has a section of black Cape Buffalo horn from my father's successful hunt in Zimbabwe over 20 years ago. This section of horn is sandwiched between stacked leather, black Micarta, and nickel silver spacers. It is followed by a piece of polished caribou antler. The pommel displays a Weatherby .30-378 shell casing illustrating the blade's unique origin. Overall length of the blade is 12 inches.
PIONEER HUNTER
This full tang clip point hunting knife was forged out of a Weatherby 6.5-300 magnum rifle barrel. The unique forging process of inserting a high carbon steel rod in the stainless steel rifle barrel creates a Damascus pattern known as San Mai. This three layer pattern offers a blend of both beauty and durability. The high carbon steel, in this case O1, forms the cutting edge of the blade with an RC hardness of 60-61 after heat treatment. The blade length is 4 1/12 inches with an overall length of 9 inches. The blade was forged on the anvil down to it’s final thickness of 5/32 inch leaving the original forging marks and scale on the flats of the blade. The spine features custom vine filework done by hand. The handle scales are stabilized Eucalyptus burl with black Micarta liners along the tang. The scales are secured with two custom mosaic pins.
SAN MAI BOWIE
This 13 inch Bowie knife is forged from a .300 Weatherby magnum stainless steel rifle barrel. The unique process of forging a core steel, in this case O1 high carbon steel, into the 410 stainless steel rifle barrel, creates a damascus pattern knows as "San Mai" which means "three layers." This unique process creates not only a beautiful pattern, but also a more durable blade. The O1 tool steel is heat treated to 59-60 RC for great edge retention. The double guard, pommel, and spacers are nickel silver. The handle is comprised of African Blackwood and polished elk antler. The African blackwood was brought back from Africa by my grandfather from one of his safaris decades ago. The elk antler is a tine from an elk harvested by my father from one of his successful hunts. The pommel features a vintage .300 Weatherby magnum shell casing illustrating the blade's unique origin.
THE OUTBACK
I forged this drop point blade out of a .300 Weatherby magnum stainless rifle barrel. The core steel inserted in the barrel before forging is O1 high carbon tool steel. This steel forms the cutting edge and when combined with the stainless barrel creates a Damascus pattern known as “San Mai.” I added a bit of vine filework to the spine for added flare. The guard and pommel are cold blued mild steel that I actually took from and old workbench from Weatherby inc. before they moved their shop to Wyoming. The handle is made from stabilized Eucalyptus burl which I harvested from my property here in Paso Robles. There are brass spacers to tie in the .300 brass shell casing on the pommel which illustrates the blade’s unique origin.
DEER SKINNER
This 4 inch upswept skinning blade was hand-forged from a stainless .270 Weatherby magnum rifle barrel. O1 high carbon steel forms the cutting edge of the blade with an RC hardness of 59-60 after heat treatment. The guard and pommel are nickel silver. The handle is a multi-piece construction comprised of nickel silver and black Micarta spacers, African Blackwood, and polished deer antler . This African Blackwood was brought back from Africa by my grandfather Roy Weatherby after one of his safaris decades ago. The pommel features a .270 Weatherby magnum shell casing illustrating the blade’s unique origin.
WEST COAST HUNTER
This 4 inch drop point blade was hand-forged from a stainless steel .300 caliber Weatherby rifle barrel. O1 tool steel forms the cutting edge of the blade with an RC hardness of 60-61 after heat treatment. There is a section of file work on the spine for added handling. The guard is comprised of a brass spacer in between two nickel silver and two black Micarta sections. The blade features a partial hidden tang handle with a section of manzanita burl, followed by African Blackwood with a solitary nickel silver pin. This Blackwood was brought back fromAfrica by my grandfather Roy Weatherby after one of his safaris decades ago. The lanyard hole has a .300 Weatherby magnum shell inlay on both sides to represent the blade’s unique origin.
WEST COAST HUNTER VARIATION
This blade is the same as the West coast hunter with the exception of the guard and spacers as well as the lanyard hole not displaying the Weatherby shell casings. This particular blade was forged from a Stainless Weatherby barrel in .30-06 caliber per the customer's request. It also has 52100 high carbon steel for the cutting edge with an RC hardness of 61.
ELK HUNTER
This 4-inch drop-point blade is forged out of a Weatherby stainless steel .378 caliber rifle barrel. The core material forming the cutting edge is W1 high carbon tool steel hardened and tempered to 58-59 HRC. The guard and pommel are nickel silver. The spacers are brass and black micarta. The handle is comprised of manzanita burl and polished elk antler from an elk my father, Ed Weatherby, harvested years ago. The pommel contains a shell casing of a .378 illustrating the blade's unique origin.
ELK HUNTER VERSION 2
This is the same as the original Elk hunter with the exception of the San Mai pattern being more drastic as well has having longer 5 and a half inch blade. Core steel forming the edge is O1 instead of W1 high carbon steel.
ELK HUNTER VERSION 3
This is another veriation of the Elk hunter. It has a natural pattern of the two steels forge welded in the San Mai pattern. This blade was forged out of a Weatherby .30-378 Stainless rifle barrel. The cutting edge is O1 high carbon steel. The handle is comprised of elk antler from my father, African Blackwood from my grandfather, and manzanita burl.
DEER HUNTER
This 4 and a half inch drop point blade was forged from a Weatherby 6.5-300 stainless steel rifle barrel. A hardened high carbon O1 steel core provides the cutting edge of the blade at an RC hardness of 59-60. The stainless steel barrel creates a softer jacket on the outside of the more brittle cutting edge providing a more durable blade overall. This unique method not only provides functionality but also creates a stunning look. The guard and pommel are nickel silver. The spacers are nickel silver and black Micarta. The handle is comprised of African Blackwood brought back from Africa by my grandfather, Roy Weatherby, decades ago from one of his safaris. The Blackwood is followed by a piece of deer antler. The pommel features a Weatherby 6.5-300 shell casing to signify the blade’s origin.
DARK HORSE
This 4 inch drop point blade is forged from a stainless .30-378 rifle barrel. The core material is O1 tool steel heat treated to 59 HRC. The acid etch reveals the San Mai damascus pattern with an aggressive look. The guard and pommel are brass and the handle features stabilized leather spacers with thin brass accents followed by African Blackwood, brought back from Africa by my grandfather decades ago. The pommel displays a .30-378 cartridge illustrating the blade's origin. The spine of the blade has a section of jimping for added grip.
THE YUKON
This blade was inspired by a caribou hunt I took with my father in Alaska when I was 15. I can remember gazing at custom knifes in the local hunting stores similar to the design of this blade. It features a 4 1/2 inch clip point mirror polish blade forged out of a Weatherby .300 caliber stainless steel rifle barrel. The core material which forms the cutting edge of the blade is O1 high carbon steel. After heat treatment the hardness is just about 60 HRC. This blade has a section of filework at the base of the spine for the thumb and a large area above the guard for the pointer finger when choking up for finer work. The guard and pommel are nickel silver. The handle is comprised of stacked leather, nickel silver, and black Micarta spacers with a polished section of caribou antler. The pommel dispalys a .300 Weatherby mag shell casing to represent the blade's origin.
8 INCH CHEF'S KNIFE
This 8 inch stainless /high carbon San Mai Damascus chef knife was forged out of a 410 stainless steel .300 caliber weatherby rifle barrel. The core forming the edge is 52100 high carbon steel heat treated to 61 HRC. The handle is comprised of African Blackwood with maplewood and black micarta liners. I custom made the mosaic pins and of course it features the shell casing inlay on both sides to illustrate its unique origin.
6 INCH CHEF'S KNIFE
I forged this 6 inch chef’s knife out of a .300 caliber Weatherby rifle barrel. The San mai Damascus pattern turned out very interesting with a 52100 core forming the cutting edge at about 62RC hardness. The handle is comprised of stabilized walnut burl with maplewood and black micarta liners. I used mosaic pins for some added flare. The structure of the blade was forged by hand so I could create the integral guard. The spine of the blade is right at about 2.5 mm.
DROP POINT HUNTER
This drop point hunting/camp knife features a 4 1/2 inch San Mai Damascus blade forged from a Weatherby .300 caliber stainless steel rifle barrel. The cutting edge is made from O1 high carbon steel and is heat treated to 59-60HRC. The partial hidden tang design has a single nickel silver pin in the center of an elegantly contoured African Blackwood handle. This wood was brought back from Africa by my grandfather Roy Weatherby on one of his safaris decades ago. The guard and spacers are nickel silver.
THE YUKON VERSION 2
This blade is the same as the Yukon model listed above but with two differences. It was forged from a 6.5-.300 Weatherby stainless rifle and the guard, spacers, and pommel are made of brass.
LIGHT DROP POINT HUNTER
This blade was a gift to my twin sister, Jessica, after her store-bought blade broke in the field while she was field dressing a deer in Montana. It features a 3-inch drop point San Mai Damascus blade forged from a .300 Weatherby mag. stainless barrel. The cutting edge is made of W1 high carbon tool steel. It is a partial hidden tang design with a single nickel silver pin. The guard is made of nickel silver, black Micarta, and Brass. The handle is made of African Blackwood and curly maple.
SAW BLADE SKINNER
I got my hands on an old large sawmill blade made from 8670 high carbon steel. I made two full tang skinning knives from it. This blade features curly maple handle scales, black Micarta liners, and mosaic pins. I did some vine patten filework around the entire spine of the handle, all done by hand with small needle files. Hardened to 60-61 HRC.
SAW BLADE SKINNER 2
Made from the same saw blade as the knife above. This full tang drop point skinning knife features African Blackwood handle scales with mosaic pins. The vine filework around the entire spine is accented by maplewood spacers left over from materials used on Weatherby rifle stocks.
