A Wedding Sword

[Tim Adlam]

#1 of 3 swords

Photo courtesy of Point Seven Studio

The Process

Carving the wax


Preliminary sketches


The inscription; There is one creator of the creation-through His grace alone do I receive blessings in life.
In every cell and fiber of my being do I feel Thee.


Tip design rough draft


Final engraving before scalloping the top


Handle and throat detail


The Team

Designer/bladesmith - Jot Singh Khalsa
Engraver - Tim Adlam
Gem setting - Julie Warenski
Scabbard - Vince Evans

Specifications

Blade - Devon Thomas stainless ladder pattern damascus
Handle - Cast sterling silver, w/ heavy 24k gold/zirconium plating
Tip and throat - Sterling silver fabricated by Vince Evans w/gold plating
7 carats pave' set diamonds and 15 carats green tourmaline gemstones
Handle scales/guard - Ocean jasper from Madagascar
Heat treat by D'Holder

It was a privilege to be part of this team effort, and this project will always be a reminder to me
that faith and courage triumphs in the face of adversity and personal sorrow.

Tim

Edit/photo credit

[MCirelli]

That?s sweet Tim. That?s my kind of knife. Was this a commission or is this for auction. It is a work of art. Did you do the waxwork? The engraving, setting, handle, blade everything just goes together, masterfully crafted. What is zirchromium plating is it like a chrome plating I'm not familiar with it. How long did endeavor take?
Beautiful
Mike Cirelli

[Tim Adlam]

Thanks Mike,

This was a commission, and is one of three swords to be completed.

Jot supplied the finished wax model for carving.
This is the first time I've heard of this type of plating.
As I understand it, it's a heavier and more durable gold plate process.

I estimate my time at around 200 hours, but that doesn't take into account the numerous phone calls, e-mails and
time packaging and shipping back and forth.
I would guess that collectively this project went well over the 1,000 hour mark.

Tim

[Danny]

That is really wonderful work - it takes a long long look just to see it all correctly. Masterfully Done!
Along with Cirelli's question, just how much is this thing worth? That's an as delivered price - not an auctioned or for sale price - if you don't mind me (us) asking.

[Danny]

One more question - Who would use something like this? Its a wedding sword, yes, but who uses swords at a wedding? To cut the cake to fend off the other guys, or to fight your way out (symboligy speaking)?

[Tim Adlam]

Danny,

I never asked the " dollar worth" of this project.
100 years from now no one will care anyways. They will look at the effort this team produced.

The sword has a part in the Sikh wedding ceremony, but I'm not familiar with the particulars.

You can learn more from Jot's website...www.khalsakirpans.com

Tim

[TexasJack]

That's a beautiful piece of work - but that's not surprising considering the group involved in making it. It's also not surprising that the real pros step up and perform despite their own personal problems. That has some real soul built into it and should be a treasure for many years to come.

Now, as for it's use in a wedding, where I come from they usually bypass swords and knives and go straight to a shotgun.

All right, the first part I meant most sincerely and the second part was just fer grins!

[Tim Adlam]

Grins are good medicine, and most appreciated!...

Tim

[Joe Mason]

WOW, great project. That is a beauty. I can imagine the time spent on this project. Job well done by all here. I really like the engraving.

Joe

[Darren]

WOW, Love it.
All of you did a wonderful job. This will certainly become a highly valued family treasure.
Thanks for showing this process Tim.

[ron p. nott]

Tim . your part on this knife is just fantastic i wouldnt even know where to start or what type of design to use .. where did you get some of your ideas from, it must have taken hours of research .. thanks for sharing ron

[Nalis]

WOW! All I can say about this project is that you people are just scary talented. Every time I get a look at this board I feel so....... not talented. How long does something like this take? How do you even start to figure out how to put a price on such art as this. Totaly amazing, just totaly amazing. Great job.

[Tim Adlam]

Thanks guys,

I received the wax halves from Jot at the Blade show, and worked out some ideas then.
He wanted large sculpted leaf shapes, and the focus was to create as much impact as possible within the time allowed.
These are big pieces, with the tip measuring 9 inches in length.
I think this particular scroll works well on a large scale.

We really hustled to get this project in under the wire.
I believe that the wedding is Sept. 4th.

The blade came to me way too hard for cutting and keying the inscription.
It was annealed some more until it was workable.
The blade was with D'Holder getting heat-treated when I got the call that my brother suffered a massive stroke.
Julie stepped in and finished the gold setting for me which allowed me to jump on a plane for Anchorage Alaska.
The morning of the day I left home I mailed the scabbard parts to the plater.

The theme here is that as technical and personal problems arised, we worked through them together to keep moving on.
At times it felt like we were a team of fire-fighters more than anything else.

Like I said, this was a memorable project for me, and brought all of my energies to bear.
Considering the losses Julie and I both suffered during this time, we banded together and did our professional best.
Buster and Terry would've expected no less.

Tim

[SharpByCoop]

Incredible work by all parties. Tim, I am really pleased to see you involved with these three legends.

Leap and the net will appear...

Coop

[6T7L71CPE]

A work of ART for sure! Thanks for showing how pieces such as this come together.