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I Forge Iron

Askdamice

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  • Website URL
    http://www.wildertools.com

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  • Location
    Wheatley, Ontario, Canada
  • Biography
    Nobody special... just Rick.
  • Interests
    Primitive Skills, Drums, Martial Arts
  • Occupation
    Knife Maker and Leather Worker plus stay-at-home-dad

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  1. Yes its a baffle. I can remove it when doing swords.
  2. I like that alot! Great for us small shop guys. I don't think there is a WRONG way to use RR track if it does what you need. I use mine laying flat. The section is about 15 inches long and I mainly use it to prebend and straighten blades. My "anvil" is a 4x4x24 piece of 1045 set on end and burried in a chicken feeder..... lol.... I know of atleast 3 master bladesmiths who use the same set up. I'm seriously considering making one of these stations, now. Thanks for posting. Rick
  3. Actually, I can have my tank to temp within 5degs in less than 5mins. You also need to have symetrical flow if you choose to agitate your tank. The flow must be the same on either side of the blade. You are better to have no agitation at all then have inconsistant irregular flow. Rick
  4. Most railroad spikes are in the neighborhood of 1020-1050. The ones with the "HC" are on the high end when it comes to carbon. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think they use they have to use the HC ones at junctions or high stress corners on the trackline. Anyway.... They can be hardened but not to the point of usefulness as knife steel. They are better left for hawk heads and art pieces. To answer the original question.... you can buff a hardened knife..... just keep the heat down. Rick
  5. Phil... having fluid flow would be the best way but it takes alot to fit a quenchtank with pumps and heaters. I chose the next best thing... which is blade movement. I have a spigot about 8" up from the bottom of my tank to lower the level enough to get something out. I would like to make a basket at some point... it would be much easier. Rick
  6. Wrapped handles are not for everybody... Thanks for the honest criticism... and the compliment on the blades. Rick
  7. Flashing happens when the oil temperature is so high that it ignites. Most of the time it only flashes for a few seconds. Unless the entire tank heats up... then the fire on top perpetuates itself and the oil keep burning. That's when you need to cut the oxygen off. Flashes aren't usually dangerous unless they spill over and catch everything on fire. If your tank is too small the oil will over heat. If you don't have motion, the oil superheats rises to the top and flashes. Once the piece is completely in the oil, ANY flashing is a bad sign. (as you put it in, the surface will flash a bit, but should go out quickly) The tank doesn't need to be stainless...... any metal will do.... avoid plastic or anything that will melt if the hot blade touches it. You need to be able to heat your oil to 120F-140F in most cases. (Some quenchants work at different temperature, though) I quench bars of heated mild steel to get my tank up to temp. It really sucks if you go over. If you don;t have room to add cooler oil, you'll have to wait it out. The tank dimensions are up to you.... just remember.... CONTROL VOLUME + PREHEAT + MOTION/FLOW = GOOD QUENCH
  8. Yes.... I use basic tools that help everything line up. Here is a quick overview.. 1. My tools from left to right: Stitching palm, pliers, freehand stitch groover, guided stitch groover, edge bevel and an overstitch wheel. 2. Use the stitch groover to set your lines and recess the thread in the leather for protection. 3. Roll your overstitcher to set spacing. 4. Useing a drillpress is much easier than punching through thick leather by hand. I put a polished pin in the chuck that is slightly bigger than my sewing needle. 5. Use the beveler to make the edge nice. (doesn't matter when you do this step) 6. On the opposite side, use the stitch groover to "connect the dots". 7. Run the overstitcher across it to line everything up for stitching. 8. My stitching hand is packed full of goodies... the stich palm for pushing, the pliers for pulling and of course, the needle and thread. (sorry about the ugly stained fingers... lol)
  9. Thanks guys... Here are the specs: Material - 5160, handforged Thickness - 3/16 " at spine, flat ground, convex secondary bevel. Blade length - 4"-4 1/2" cutting edge. Blade width - 1 3/8" at widest. OA length - 9"-8 1/2" Sheath - 10oz. vegetable tanned cowhide, hand stitched, tooled and riveted To expand on the handles a bit... They are jute wrapped and soaked in West Systems 105/207 epoxy. The outside fibres may get a little fuzzy but its on there for life. You would have to chisel it off in chunks. Think of it as "wrapped burlap micarta". They are suprizingly comfortable and very grippy when wet. Rick
  10. I just finished a couple of Bushknives in a jute wrap... Whatchathink? Rick
  11. My mark is hot stamped in... you can see it in my signature banner. Rick
  12. I made my own Characters and Wally Hayes carved them out for me. They represent.. Wildertools Rick Marchand The top mark is a combination of the "W" and "T" from Wildertools and the bottom one is the "R" and "M" from Rick Marchand. It has an Oriental look that I like. Rick
  13. Use gunblue.... but after it is dry (don't wipe it) soak it in bleach. Depending on how long you soak (15mins to 2hrs).... you get this.... Rick
  14. I normalizing after forging at the industry standard (around 1600F) in order to get everything into solution and get the grains uniform. Then the blade is allowed to air cool until it is black, this will refine the grain. You have to heat past critical in order to get grain refinement. Anything else and you are just reheating the same grains. I perform more 3 normalizing heats, done at lower temps in order to bring that grain size down. I anneal on the final normalization by quenching the blade and then repeatedly heating to a dull red. I can then grind, drill and pre-finish. For the final heat treat I bring it to 1500F and hold for a 10 count or so... longer is better for 1095 (might as well use 1080 like Matt stated) but I'm working in a gas forge. I quench into an 8" dia x 34" deep tank with canola oil heated to 130F and keep the blade moving up and down for a count of seven and then interrupt the quench (about 450F) At that point it is safe to tweak into straightness if need. As soon as the blade is cool enough to hold for any length, I temper. I start out at 400F, check the hardness before bumping up the temp and doing it again. 3 cycles for one hour each. This is not a magical formula, by any means. I did not invent this process. It is based on metallurgical principles. (with a little fudging on my part) I must give credit to folks like MS's Wally Hayes and Kevin Cashen for pointing me in the right direction as I stumble through all this. Rick
  15. Thanks for looking...... Rick 1/4" 5160 Hand forged 1/4" spine 1 3/4" wide blade, flat beveled with a micro convex 9" cutting edge 15" OA length 5" handle, tapered tang, distressed oak scales, jute wrap.
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