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My first foray into the world of swords, the world of wood carving and a couple other things as well. This blade was by far the largest piece I had made to date (2009). Several years ago I built a heat treating oven for sword blades, but had never had occasion to use it until this piece. 

This blade is forged from a 1" round bar of 52100, and differentially tempered for a hard edge and a spring back.  The blade has a tapered tang and distal taper in the blade so it is surprisingly light and fast. In fact, this blade is a fraction of an ounce less than my personal 10" camp knife! The blade is hand finished on the flats, and mirror polished on the tang and spine. 

The handle is another new adventure for me....carving. I was inspired by some heavily "rusticated" smoking pipes that I really liked. The desert ironwood is deeply sand blasted with a mask on the scroll area. The scroll was carved out to give it some visual depth and the perimeter is smooth and polished. 

The scabbard is heavy duty premium leather with an ironwood escutcheon sandblasted and finished to compliment the handle and then sewn to the sheath.

The blade is 15.25" long with an overall length of 20.75" 

I am donating the full retail price of this knife to ESVO Ministries, a Blacksmithing school in Nicaragua.  We will use the money to purchase an American-made belt grinder and supplies that I will be taking with me on an upcoming trip to the school.  Check out this video of two of the students turned instructors at the school.     

 Because I'm donating the price of the knife to the school, it is my wish that an interested buyer will be generous, considering the cause.  A similar piece made today would run about $1600, but as this was the first, you decide what you think it's worth.  If you're interested, please email me with an  amount you'd be willing to give.  

If you would just like to donate to the school, whether $5, $100, or whatever you can give, go to the Missionary Ventures Int'l website (the school's parent organization) at https://www.mvi.org/donations   Fill in the donation amount, then select "Other" from the list and type in "Mike Deibert - special projects".

Thanks!