DaQo'tah Forge
The Klingon* Bat'leth

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Follow along as DaQo'tah creates his Ultimate Weapon...

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If you have a question about DaQo'tah's Bat'leth, you may email him at-

daqotah@hotmail.com

Also, if this is your first visit to the DaQo'tah Forge website some of the photos below may load slowly on your computer, but on your next visit things should go faster.

No, Nothing Here Is For Sale!
This is a Fan Site Only!

What you are about to view are photos that document the creation of DaQo'tah's masterpiece - The Super Bat'leth.

As with all the weapons that DaQo'tah has made, the process starts out with DaQo'tah sitting alone in front of his drill press.

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The DaQo'tah Forge is a noisy place, for not only is there the constant din of power tools mixed with a generious helping of profanities to deal with, there is also the music!

DaQo'tah makes true warrior weapons, so what better music to listen to while creating them, than a true Warrior's music?
A thumping Mind-blowing sound system belts out American Indian Pow-wow music. The blade is now birthed to the sound of its heavy drumbeat.

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After the pattern has been drilled around using the drill press, the blade is freed from its bed with the bandsaw and jigsaw.

After this comes the very labor intensive grinding and disk sanding of the weapon. Here we see DaQo'tah using a tile cutting disk that has been "chucked" into his drill press.

Note the safety glasses and breath mask. DaQo'tah is aware that such things make one look like a bit of a geek, but has to keep thinking "Safety First" in order to continue on schedule.

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This is DaQo'tah's one inch belt sander... DaQo'tah has a Love/Hate relationship with this power tool.

The little sander is key to his success in Bladesmithing, however this tool also provides most of the troubles DaQo'tah has run into over the last year as well.

Here you see the edge of one of the tines being worked on. At first DaQo'tah felt that just a round beveled edge would be good enough for this weapon, but as more and more people started showing interest in acquiring it, DaQo'tah reshaped the edge to a fine sharp point.

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The sides of the Bat'leth have been sanded down to the point where there are millions of little lines from the sandpaper to be seen. Instead of continuing to sand the blade down to a reflective shine, DaQo'tah likes to see tons of scratches.

The scratches will catch the light better than a smooth surface would... the need for this type of light-catching surface will become clear as the blade enters its next phase of completion.

Coloring With Fire!

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Here we see DaQo'tah using a hand torch to heat up the steel of the Bat'leth untill it starts to change colors. By heating different areas to different temperatures, you can achieve awe-inspiring coloring effects.

This type of Rainbow coloring is a trade mark of a true DaQo'tah blade, and is unlike any other Bat'leth treatment. The end result is a weapon of Un-earthly appearence, as one would expect if one were serious about owning a sword that is supposed to be of "off earth" origin.

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Starting at one end of the Bat'leth and working to the other, the torch is kept moving using slow strokes over the surface of the blade.
You will notice that the color changes slowly and has to be watched carefully; truly a job for a patient artist!
The Bat'leth is, in effect, Painted with Fire.

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Yes, I know what you're thinking.

My Gawd this thing is beautifull!!
Note the gloves on DaQo'tah's hands. Following the heat treating, the Bat'leth is still hot enough to bake cookies on, yet it begs already to be held by its creator.

The moment DaQo'tah beheld its beauty, he knew this was to become his masterpiece.

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I'm not sure any photograph can do this Bat'leth justice, for the colors really do jump out at you.

When this Bat'leth is seen by someone for the first time, there is always a moment of uncertainty revealed in the expression of the person. This is due to the fact that he or she has Never seen anything like it, therefore they have nothing to compare it to. But usually what soon follows is the intense desire to purchase the bat'leth for their very own.  But it is way better to make your own.

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DaQo'tah and the Batleth


I made my first Bat'leth long ago it seems like, but it was only a year ago. yet it was before I had found the KIWG website.

I knew nothing about knife building, nor about anything like that, all I knew is i HAD to make it.

I made it out of 1/4 inch aluminum, and wrapped the handles in leather , it was made to be "Just Like the ones on TV"

but,,,,,,well,,,,but, it was so dumb.

turns out the prop on the TV show could NEVER be used in a fight, the leather is not even enough for you to hang on to, so,,,I knew I had to change it a bit, and to this day Im still changeing the shape of my Battle weapons to make them seem "better" to me.

I changed the handle. made it with wood,,,and moved the wood to different parts than the ones on TV,,,,and its better,,,but,,,,,

But it still was dumb to me.

Aluminum Bat'leth?....not for a battle ,

so I thought stainless steel would be the right stuff for a true  weapon,

so next I had cut for me a Bat'leth up town at a welding place a Stainless steel bat'leth.

they made it out of 1/8 inch stuff just like I see on EBAY all the time for sale.

well,,,,it was dumb too..

1/8th inch steel?......it sounds good right?...but,,

But the truth is that 1/8th inch steel looks and feels like cheap sheet metal when you get it cut out to shape.

I made handles out of Oak I think for it, and that helped, a bit.

but there was another problem, its too good, its too even,,,,it has no personality.

turns out that when a you hire a guy with a computer to cut out a pattern for you, the end result is more art than real.

to me, a weapon should show the scars of battle,

like the battle of its birth....

my 1/8 stainless steel batleth , only shows that a geek hit "ENTER" and pop! its here

Thats Not A warrior's Way To Make A Weapon,,,,,wheres the blood?...LOL

so...after makeing about 40 alien knives and filling 4 walls of my sword room. I have started to make my 3rd Batleth.

but this new Batleth is different,,,,first I made a better pick of my steel...

1/4 inch steel scrap from off the floor of a welding shop..

this type of steel is not staniless at all,,,,its real,,,,and its heavy.

and, it shows the scars even now at its birth, of many a disagreement with its maker.

I dont make my weapons smooth.I disk them with a power disksander and then color them with a blow torch.

I like deep colors on my weapons, I want them to look unlike anything anyone else can buy.

My Batleths like the sword of honor I made (see it's webpage) are strong,,,,I even draged one batleth behind my Dodge at 60 mph!...try that with some of the crap Ive seen for sale on Ebay and you would end up with a pile of junk,,,,,,and junk makes a poor story around the fire.


my Batleths can tell their own stories..LOL

DaQo'tah