Feukair

I have the same problem with heating the whole blade evenly. Mine developed a small crack, that i didn't find until one of the later stages of polishing, near the area where the blade got hottest during heat treat. I got to get me a gas powered heating setup...

Clean that thing up so we can have a look see!

Lt

Tha' BUZIZZLE was crunk'd out, FO SHO. The girliez was like "Heeeeeeeeeeey!", and we was like "yo".

Has anyone noticed that appman's output has drastically increased since he got his kmg toy up and running... I love this sword...

Very nice. You are a pro at forging those bevels in...

Cool, love that you left the hammered look on the sides.

Thanks. I'm learning alot as i go along with these projects. So far i think the most important things i've learned is how important it is to forge very close to the shape you want the blade to be, leaving extra meat all over to file away, then file very cleanly, leave no deep cuts from the file, etc... Man correcting leftover mistakes in those early steps after the blade has already been quenched is crazy hard work. The next one I forge and file i'm going to take more time with getting those steps done cleanly.

Lt

More pics after etching...



If anyones wondering, yes i'm still working on the last knife. I'm waiting for some supplies to do a proper etch and final polish of that one...

Lt

More pics after 250grit waterstone work...



Lt

Here's another I've made using the same methods as in this thread.

I've got to get a little more creative and direct with the application of the clay though.. I think my hamons are a little two simple...

Here's some pics. This is W1 drill rod, forged, filed, clayed, quenched by heating in charcoal forge and quenching in brine. Then cleaning up with 250grit water stone, then a hot vinegar etch to show the whole hamon.

Filed Clayed Wired Quenched

Lt

Yeah, really nice and cleanly made!

Thanks guys.

Finally, sorry for the delay, here are some pics after going through the following stones: 500, 800, 1000, 1200, 3000, and then these pics are after 4000grit stone. The last pic is after a hot vinegar etch to make the hamon show. My next objective is to try to darken the area above the hamon to give it a light grey tint, the vinegar kind of does that but it whipes off to easily. On DFogg's web site he states he's used Simichrome polish to get a grey tint. I'm going to order some and try it.



Lt

well...Im was researching a bit for a Damascus Steel "definitions" article when I found that, I'll be linking all the sources for a blueprint supposedly)


in the meantime the recipe for a modern recreation of a real Damascus steel
" making a real damascus steel knife." (Internet Archive pdf) by John D. Verhoeven & blacksmith Alfred H. Pendray, Scientific American January 2001

Awsome job! There are truly some gifted artists on this forum...

thx for the advice, gladly taken. yeah I'm not doing that again. this whole thing is a hobby for me but I have very little time to put into it so I need to do what I can to maximize success.

I think i'm gonna keep it for when i work with copper...

I might try that waxing then etching thing, that make sense, the wax if put on in the right direction, protects the tops of the little "blades" and the etch gets underneath to cleat out and etch the underside of the blades.

Thanks for all the great info!

Very nice. You've got real activity in that hammon, the little white lines leading down to the edge. That's where i hope to be someday with my tanto and wakisashi.

I've read that article also. I know i've been making mistakes. I don't have a setup to heat my blades evenly and accurately to 1450 deg. Right now i work the blade back and forth trhough the forge in charcoal. That means the middle of the blade always gets the most heat as i'm going in and out of the forge, and the tip and tang end remains cooler. So by the time i get the tip or tang just past the non-magnetic them the middle is probably a little too hot. I'm still haveing a few tiny (very tiny) cracks in the blades, but they are always on the edge and in the middle where the blade get hottest. Exactly one of the causes described in that article. Also, because I travel up to my dads to use the forge at night for quenching when i'm done i drive the blade home then temper it cuz i'm too excited to wait. Not doing that anymore...

Sorry to ramble in your thread...

Lt

There are business's that sharpen file's and rasps, they use an acid etching process. Try searching under "tool sharpening -file" Some farrier's have their rasps resharpened and I have a few AFA Convention directorys that list suppliers and there are few companys that offer file and rasp sharpening (but that is on the shelves in bedroom, so try Google again, my wife is asleep...;-)

Cool, thanks for all the awesome info guys...

If this thing wont make a good cold file for steel I might save it and later anneal it and make a little dagger out of it or the like. It's almost 3/8" thick with the teeth, so after grinding the teeth off i'd have a 1/4" bar to work with that would just need some bevels hammered in... cool...

Lt

My dad gave me an old nicholson file that has some very light rust on it. It still works good but i think it would work a lot better if i could sharpen it somehow, i'm using it for when i hand shape my blades. It looks like a single cut file but each blade (or whatever you call them) has little knurls on it. The file says "Bodifile" on one side and Nicholson on the other.

Is there any way i can sharpen this?



FYI... i usually try to do research on questions like this before posting but googling for "how to sharpen a file" or "file sharpening" seems to only want to tell me how to sharpen the quality of an image file like in photoshop... :-

thx for any help. Sorry if this is the wrong area for this post...

Lt

Holy cow i think that guy in the first video that Glenn posted is using a 4lb sledge for a hammer...

Which 150 grit stone did you get? I've been thinking of getting one that rough but i don't have one yet.

I have been working on it a little. I'll get more pics up soon.

What stones did you get?

Very nice.

I heat to just past non-magnetic then i quench in brine water that is at about 130-140 degrees (cuz that's the hottest the water will come from my the tap at my dads place).