NightbladeCH Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Hello everyone! Some of you I have kindly met already for those I havent my name is Corey. Im new to the art of amithing and have only been doing it for roughly 8 months now and ive greatly enjoyed it. My ultimate goal is to make knives and nice decorative odds and ends. For now however i just practice my techniques and such. Below ive posted my gear so far, however the anvil is a recent addition. Had a rr anvil before that. Ive got some rail steel imma attempt to form a decorative blade with. Its nice to be here and i look forward to getting to know yall! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njanvilman Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 That rr clip will be a real challenge just to straighten it out. Once there, it will be job to draw it down to knife thickness. Keep us apprised on how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickOHH Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 welcome Corey, you've stumble on a great resource here! Im intrested to see your progression through turning that clip into a knife, it will be quite a work out, but that doesnt mean not to go for it! it would be nice to see a post when your done of various points along the way, best of luck in your en devour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
781 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 welcome to the group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Welcome aboard Corey, glad to have you. That spring clip will make a dandy set of tongs. clips are typically medium carbon steel and CAN be hardened enough to hold a fair edge. However the steel has enough carbon to make wonderfully light strong tongs. Its also a pretty good grade of steel for hatchets and hawks. Frosty he Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WayneCoeArtistBlacksmith Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Corey, The Alex Bealer Blacksmith Association of Georgia www.alexbealer.org meets the third weekend of each month. Go to the web-site then click on calendar to find out where meetings are going to be. The meetings will usually be somewhere around the Atlanta area. You can learn a lot by attending meetings. Let me know if I can help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightbladeCH Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Thanks guys for the warm welcome! Ive managed to straigten the tie out, even though it took me nearly an hour and 1/2. Ugh. The pic is on my phone, which is sadly dead atm so ill post it a little later for yall ^^ Also managed to forge a small tang, though the steel is so thick im thinkin i could prolly get two blades from it hah. Ill look into the ABBA meetings, I would certainly love to see how the professionals do things, I figure I could learn quiet a bit merely from watching. Thanks again guys for the warm welcome, I made the forge myself and scrounged it all together from mostly bits from a nearby scrap yard. Made the Adobe myself as well, though it seems to not be holding up as well as I had thought it would. The only real issue I have currently is the small size of my forge makes it difficult to forge anything of decent size. I can get it plenty hot, its just a small area. Made it rather imteresting trying to heat that clamp for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Hi corey, welcome to IFI. How's the new anvil working out? (I was talking to ya about chuck on FB.) If you don't have enough space, try adding a deck. Mount that disc in a flipped over lawnmower deck for example. Refractory "firepot" optional. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/36989-cam00121/ Or try cutting down a 55 gallon barrel to make a "55 forge". (search the forums here, or google it.) I upgraded yon lawnmower forge about 6 months ago by building a frame and cutting up a metal barrel for a deck. It's under that clay. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38362-forge2/ Lot's of options, but a deck will give ya a litle more room and allow some more depth. Good luck, hope to see you at the Bealer meetings. PM if ya need help/advice. I'm working just down the road this week in Mcdonough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Oops, wrong pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibrariaNPC Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Welcome to the forum! I would also like to see how you progress with turning that clip into a blade, as it looks like an interesting challenge. Good luck with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightbladeCH Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Ok, so I was forging my xxxx off today, finished the tang and water quenched it. Mind you i worked on the tang for prolly bout 1-2 hrs. Then I switched sides and started working on the tip, i was holding the tang in my hand (yes its that long) and while i was hammering the tip the tang literally snapped in half. *Epic sad face* Any thoughts on the reason to this? Is it the steel? Or a result of the quenching? Thanks in advanced guys ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickOHH Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Quenching, you hardened it by doing so it gets very brittle so it needs to be tempered to reduce the it to a manageable level. Gotta be careful working with steel with medium to high carbon content I only quench to do the final cool once it's lost most of its heat already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GottMitUns Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 If you mean you quenched it while it was still red hot, (above the non magnetic state) you made it as hard and brittle as it could be made! Kinda like a piece of glass. You need to draw it back from the "full hard" state by bring it back up to a lower temp and letting it soak at that temp for some time, that process is called tempering. sorry to say it but you now know the history behind the phrase "lost my temper" my rule of thumb is any time I have quenched something, treat it like glass until it has been tempered, but I have only been at this for a few years. If the tang was below the non mag state at a black heat and you dunked it in the slack tub to be able to handle it, there may have been a stress crack from forging the steel to cold. if that's the case you now know the history behind the saying " Strike while the iron is hot!" Keep reading and tryingNightblade. Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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