I’ve been watching since Barker Street and I gotta say that the current era of “Alec does whatever the heck he wants” is a hell of a lot of fun.

@ChuckCanada1

2 ай бұрын

I too have been watching since Barker Street and have to agree with you. This is great to see Alec able to do just like you said, whatever he wants.

@Jeremy-fy1sz

2 ай бұрын

@@ChuckCanada1 well said!

@dearcastiel4667

2 ай бұрын

The magic of having people working for you producing the goods you sell so you don't have to make everything yourself anymore.

@jenniferk239

2 ай бұрын

Same

@thenakinavy

2 ай бұрын

be good to get an epic 40 video build again...

You need a Micro Welder! I work as a gunsmith and fixing small tiny parts is a weekly task. These welders are great for jewlers and fixing issues like you just experienced!

@U014B

2 ай бұрын

Even dropping the piece like 20 times?

@thecatofnineswords

2 ай бұрын

TIL about jewelley welders and my goodness they look amazing. I want one!

That prong had the spirit of a 10mm socket. Its fate was to disappear -- you were just delaying the inevitable.

@MrWjgonder

2 ай бұрын

This wins the internet for sure.

I think the smaller more subtle guard lugs actually look better and more in line with the almost minimalist nature of the stiletto.

Dude , at 12:45 I nearly died. Bloody slippery pliers. This episode was an emotional rollercoaster. Keep up the good work

Alec I dare you to make a sword without any power tools

@dadanny187

2 ай бұрын

Power tools shouldn't be used in the forge. Simple as that.

@Lasthand2011

2 ай бұрын

He's done it.

@dadanny187

2 ай бұрын

I'm sure he has. I don't know much about a forge. I just don't think they have a use in a forge. But I wouldn't know.

@The-Caged-King

2 ай бұрын

@@dadanny187take your old school elitism bullshit elsewhere

@janbernad4729

2 ай бұрын

I find your comment below every other video. I dare you to stop spamming your nonsense.

I would have given up with that first crack and just replaced the cups with soldered on brass ones. (or gold if I had the money). Glad to see that you managed to get it to work after all.

@ScottCalvinsClause

2 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing but silver

@Agar4Life

2 ай бұрын

@@ScottCalvinsClauseI was also thinking the same thing, but the same thing.

@dragonwing4ever

2 ай бұрын

or mokumai gane to keep with the damacus theme

@InsaneGeraldo

2 ай бұрын

just make a little cap out of softer metal for the gem to sit in so that when you squish the steel prongs you can squish the cap a bit and not crush the gem. kind of like a gasket but silver or gold or something.

@JedReynoldsBitratchet

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, I was wondering why not tap the holes in the arms and screw in a brass bolt with tangs carved out of the head of the machine screw

The way it looks in that last shot is insane, i think this project is maybe the most beautiful thing you've made so far

@bartolomeumalfeitor965

2 ай бұрын

bruh, the viking sword.

@Naheu_

2 ай бұрын

the cavallerie saber...

@RM_3D

2 ай бұрын

let's not get carried away xD

Alec, very thin sections of carbon steel can air harden. It may be that by heating those thin prongs to orange and quickly removing the torch, you were adding hardness rather than reducing it.

This is without a doubt the nicest shiv I've ever seen

Reminds me of the projects you used to do when I first started watching. High quality work Alec. Keep it up

I'm trying to carve a miniature statue of my childhood dog right now using a Dremel and some common carving bits. So, thank you for showing us the shitty parts of trying to be a craftsmen. As someone aspiring to do something similar, the screwups are the best part of the video. Also shout out to Jamie for helping you with your morale when things go wrong. It must make a load of difference having such a good friend in the shop. Esteemable work as always Alec!

Cut off both pronged ends, go back to the latthe, drill and tap, install a pair of inserts of softer metal (silver) and set the garnets

That came out beautiful in the end! Aged Alec by about 5 years but I think it was worth it

It seems like you're having a ton of fun. Is despair fun? The relief afterwards probably. It seems like you and Jamie have a solid friendship. It's a lot of fun watching you two have (what I hope is) a lot of fun.

The smaller garnets, modifications on the guard, and wider prongs for the setting look much more stout and in proportion imo. Came out beautiful!

I am so glad you made a symmetrical guard and changed out the gemstone. For such a symmetry reliant design, that is super important.

5:22 is now the next funniest thing I have seen in a while. This first sound that he produced here is next to primal in the frustration and denial of reality. 😂😂😂

@heyheyhey1481

2 ай бұрын

Ahh… 10:33. Resignation at last.

3:05 is the funniest thing ever.😂😂😂 I have been laughing for several minutes now.

Am I the only one who prefers the new pommel? For a hand hold that small, the 1st one sticking out would have felt a bit pointing on your palm

@joshrepik

2 ай бұрын

Whoa!! You watch Alec?! Amazing!

Alec, for prong setting try getting either some grooved pliers or grind a groove into on side of a pair of smooth face pliers. (Along the length) it gives the pliers a corner to grip and not slip off, gives way more control when setting. Cheers

For future reference: I suspect the prongs may have cooled fast enough after heating to harden significantly because their surface area to volume ratio is high and they also had a lot of material to conduct heat to. They were only cherry red for maybe half a second when you removed the torch.

Hands down one of the the most visually stunning pieces of art you've ever made. Hats off to you sir. And Jamie, always funny and helpful, definitely could've been a fighter pilot with eyes like those.

A solution to setting stones in steel is to make a little cup of brass, silver etc. and braise or pin that to the steel. You can then set the stone in the soft cup.

Gives you a major appreciation for weaponsmiths in the middle ages who managed to make jewel encrusted weapons. Some were even fit for combat. Good job Alec.

I’m just so glad to see you making weapons again Alec. Would love to see you make like a Damascus Viking spear, or another big European sword, a messer maybe? I used to love those longer format, 10-15 episode sword builds.

alec, from one alec to another, im not gonna lie, i didnt know where this project was going at one point, it looked a mess after that second spur started breaking all its gem holding prongs, but my god, those final shots are UNREAL!!!! love this channel so much .

I'm just here to congratulate Alec on that smooth ad integration

Whoever submitted SponsorBlock segments before this video was even 10 minutes old, thank you!

@DLockholm

2 ай бұрын

Don't forget to upvote the sponsorblock so it stays that way!

@ryangross5446

2 ай бұрын

just hit the "L" key 6 times or 9 depending on the ad. in this case you did miss a bit of filing on the prongs in this video

@JaggedJack1

2 ай бұрын

@@ryangross5446 Yeah, that's exactly how I did it before I got sponsorblock. Now I don't even have to worry about it, sponsorblock is great!

This has to be one of my favorite pieces. It looks amazing. Anytime you do the inlays or jewels I always wonder if you could make a crown? Another video of agonizing torment or triumphant victory!

I love these projects, (just wish there were more of them) because he never tries to hide the mistakes and almost always finds a way to fix or overcome them. p.s. I have big hands and any time I am working with little parts or pieces, I put down a clean piece of cardboard and lay out a clean one-color cloth on it just in case.

Hi Alec, jeweller here. I have done a fair amount of setting in hard metals. You only need a very small amount to grip the stone, due the strength of steel. I would suggest in future, fitting the stone as close as possible and then using a hammer handpiece just to "mushroom" the setting over the stone. This places much less stress in the stone and setting material. Hope that helps. I feel your pain.

Jamie going back to the video to track the broken piece 👌 Dagger came out well Alec

I'm a jeweler (hobbyist) and I can relate to your trials and tribulations. I love your content.

So... why are you not using a screw style clamp to squeeze in the prongs? It would not stop the damascus from cracking of course. But at least it would not suddenly jump in, snap off and fly away stage left into the "sock universe". In the end you recovered well and it came out great looking. And yeah, it's nice to see a return to this style of project. I really enjoyed this series.

@archibaldthearcher

2 ай бұрын

My thoughts exactly, slowly squeeze it with screw based clamp/vise. It is still not guarantee but would eliminate problems related to closing it by hand

The elegance of a Stiletto may only be rivaled by a well crafted Rapier. It looks wonderful!

The gem stone in the pommel looks gorgeous!

It’s nice to see the old Alec’s hair coming back.

Alec, you should teach yourself to cut gemstones! The equipment is inexpensive and the ability to do such work yourself is nigh priceless

Lol. Me watching Alec trying to inset a gemstone, bits breaking off. Me: "Why doesn't he just stick it in with Araldite?" 😄

Your so patient! I would have passed out from yell at myself 😂

Quick tip for picking up small metal parts off a messy floor is to just wrap a big magnet in a cloth/bag and wave it over the floor. should pick up anything ferromagnetic, and the cloth/bag will keep the magnet clean

The small quillons look fine. A stiletto isn't made to block and parry anyway, the crossguard is just there to keep your hand from slipping up off the handle. And it accentuates the "small and precious" look of the weapon in general (I did find it a little undersized already)

I laughed so hard at this because I understand the struggles of finding a small bit of metal on a shop floor

03:56 - You smoooooth bugger you! 😉🤣🤣 😎🇬🇧

12:25 could have gone the historical way: "it'll stay like that, however beautiful it is, it's dangling on a belt being looked at from at least a meter away, nobody will ever see that"

You could file the ends of the guard flat, silver braze on some bronze claws, and more easily set the stones with a nice contrasting metal on each side.

Congrats on the completion Alec, Time to buy a magnet for the next time you want to catch that fiddly bit! Looks awesome, and that hollow grind if memory serves, made it more lethal the same as triangular bayonets.

Idea: A fully Damascus butter knife with a full-sized 17th century basket hilt attached to it. Bonus points if it's all one piece. Basically, the fanciest butter knife known to humanity.

I wonder if a set of parallel-action pliers would have helped spread the force out better, we were all gasping along with you that first break.

@lw8882

2 ай бұрын

Parallel gem setting pliers are for this exact thing.

The Royal Family called, they want this in with the Crown Jewels.

love that you show the difficulty and setbacks of the trade

I am so happy you are making these longer videos again. All I want to see is you create beautiful amazing work. Whatever you want, whatever excites you. It is so much fun to watch you create! Keep it up! And let me make you a wallet!!!!!

U need to give Jaime a A bonus for finding that.

@teeslunk

2 ай бұрын

Even tho u broke it.

Alec - if by any insanity, you try this again, may I suggest using a small Vice to squeeze the prongs? I think it would create a more controlled environment, and if you needed to heat the prongs to get them less springy, that would be a bit simpler between Vice jaws vs trying to hold them in your hand. Just a thought, gorgeous work!

I really appreciate showing mistakes and then working through them. Absolutely amazing work!

An IDEA: Cut of crowns with prong settings, drill holes and tap it, make brass screws with crown setting with gems, use thread lock glue.

I really enjoy the, "let's make an absolutely beautiful and very challenging weapon," series and this one was great! Very excited for the power hammer restoration too.

The editing on the last two videos has been phenomenal, super engaging, super punchy and very much in the perfect Alec Steele style

This feels like a blast from the past, this is the kinda vibe for which I subscribed when you were still making hammers.

That’s really cool. I never would have thought of setting gems in steel. I would have thought you would make the ends in such a way that you could solder in sterling or gold stone settings 🤔.

you should make a brass fitting and tap it onto the tips of the guard. and use these to sett the garnets.

Hey Alec Induction heater to heat the quills. Light taps to set the hot metal. They use them for loosening stuck nuts.

Absolutely.Stunning blade.Congratulations getting them Jam stones set in the end.

The Damascus X Gold contrast was very nice!

Gorgeous piece!

Love to see you pushing yourself like this.

This was the episode I needed. Alec this video was brilliant. Thank you.

Cut the two piece off at the taper and tig weld two gold or possibly palladium pieces on the end that you pre cut and set the stone. Apparently that’s what jewelers have done in the past .. however, their methods are usually trade secrets. So , From what I’ve found , you can try fusion welding with tig. Concentrate on the Damascus and pull the gold into it

Love this! Been missing these kind of builds!

This is the prettiest thing you've ever made

That is a beautiful piece! Well done!

I’m late to the party like always, but wow Alec!!! This was a very cool and fun series. I loved watching you actually calculate mass and turn to form on the lathe! Well done despite the cracked prong!🎉🎉

This series seems to be "Alec learns in a short period what generations of medieval smiths probably learned over a lot of time"

Beautifully done!

Now this is the style of videos we have missed. Now just bring back those american influences. Something BIGGER! 😂❤

I wonder if you could do a gemstone inspired Damascus? Then use them to embellish a crown to reward Jamie for his hard work.

This came out awesome. Im glad you didn't give up on the garnets. I cant wait to see what you come up with next lol

so happy to see some more multiple part projects.

Just casually building legendary soul stealing stilettos.

Congrats on pushing through

you have the patience of a saint Alec! well done

I loved the process. The end result reminded me of a very elegant and lordly letter opener. Thanks for sharing!

Simply simply lovely, bloody good job sir ❤

Young Alec haircut at the end send me back in time xD

I really like the open pattern on that steel you got Mr Steele!

Looks amazing. Im glad you never give up

In today's episode of "Let's see how many times we can drop this crumb of broken steel", Alec and Jamie are nearly defeated by a crumb of broken steel.

Oh Yeah!!! Thanks Alec!!!

Triumphing over the adversity and your work ethic have earned my like on this video. Good on you Alec.

I love these types of projects! Keep up the beautiful work

Thanks for the preview in the last episode. Parts of my body didn't recede from cringe.

As usual a cracking vid from Alec.

Nothing to do but to crack on, Alex! 😂

Sometimes I'll use a small vise for those bends so the pressure is more direct instead of pliers pressing it sideways. More pressure control as well.

That looks amazing

I think it's about time you make a crazy over the top sword tbh we miss the casting and engraving I've followed you from day 1 I remember the old videos

Enjoyed this series! More like this mixed into it works well

Strong work! Keep it up!

It’s beautiful Alex and you are truly a craftsman.