inuroku842

so bend it over the horn then taper in the clip? you know that might work, I'll give it a try.

Okay, I read and reread tips and pointers as well as the book by Jim Hrisoulas, and am still having no luck with a clipped point blade. I tried tapering out the front end of the bar to form the "clip" then went on to make the blade. Only problem was, when I formed the blade, the clip disappeared every time. I attached a picture and circled what's left of the clip, and that was after about 6 or 7 times of flattening it out and starting at square 1 all over again, basically wasting the whole night. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong. I know I can all too easily just grind a clip, but that's not the point (no pun there) I'm trying to make. I know I can forge the clip in, and want to learn how.

I know that, I always thought charcoal was called just coal though. when i think charcoal i think of the briquettes used for bbq.

ahh ok. At least I was gettin something right. What's the trick for welding with no flux? Perfect fire management?

ahh ok. I think that was my biggest problem, not hot enough because my welds would always fall apart. I've burnt my pieces plenty of times, but never in an attempt to weld, I always waited for it to get just yellow. I'll keep this in mind, I go back to the forge in a few weeks, can't smith in an apartment so I use a local shop. I've also heard something about the flux. When I take my piece out of the fire, do I need to get the flux off before the weld or does it sizzle out in the fire?

Okay, I suppose whatever works, right? It just bugs me that I can't get it down. But I think I realized/was told of my mistakes, so I'll keep at it. I've never touched a welder, don't know how to use one. JB weld works wonders, haha.

Ahh, i thought you were talking about the briquettes. I've worked with regular coal before. But I never used anything to keep the fire narrow and depp, i used to forge in an insulated bucket and while my air flow wasn't the best either, I did have that issue of my fuel burning up without use. Thanks for the help. I think I'll make up another forge and give it another go with regular old coal, that welding is really kickin me in the pants.

I've always heard that smithing with charcoal is a blacksmith no-no, so to speak. How did you manage to do it? I've never even bothered to try working with charcoal.

Awesome, okay then. It seemed a bit sketchy, but I wanted to ask anyway, thanks. That may be my problem though, I think it was that I kept on putting it too far down into the fire, thanks.

I have a forge and am now at the stage where I am attempting to forge weld. I have tried a few welds (only attempted faggot welds), but have been unsuccessful. I know it has something to do with my technique, heating, position, little details like that. But someone tipped me off that it may also be a fire issue. I am using coke as fuel, but I heard that coal works better for welds. Is this true? Is coke or coal better for welding? Does it make a difference? Thanks for the help.

here's what it looks like. Not at all going to become an actual knife, but was the best one i did last night.

well i managed to figure it out on my own. It occurred to me that a clip is merely a dip in the metal since the actual blade part is straight, so I stood the bar on it's side and kept it level with the anvil and pounded a tapered dip into the top of the bar. This created the clip effect and then I formed the blade on the other side from there. Worked pretty good, just needs practice now.

hey, I want to make a good bowie/skinning knife for a friend, but I have no idea how to forge in a clipped point, I don't want to grind one in. Any pointers?

i just joined a blacksmithing group and they said that the hammeres I have been using are just xxxx. they are too flat and too harsh on the metal, and the peen is too sharp to be of any good use, causes more pits and valleys than does any actual useful work. I got these hammeres from Lowe's and Home depot sells the same darn thing. I checked on the blacksmithsdepot website and all the hammers look to be the same flat face kind of hammers I now have. Does anyone know where I can get a decent hand hammer without having to go through an entire file set just to face it? (exaggereation, but ya get the point)

Hey all, I just moved to San Antonio TX and I'm wanting to know if there's any smiths near San Antonio, not Houston. I'd like to get together and hopefully learn a thing or two from another blacksmith.

Hey all, I just moved to San Antonio TX and I'm wanting to know if there's any smiths near San Antonio, not Houston. I'd like to get together and hopefully learn a thing or two from another blacksmith.

ahh, ok. so can anyone point me in the direction of a decent belt grinder? i've seen the kmg grinder and the radius one, but is there anything a little less expensive than the kmg? also, what can i use the slack belt for, or should i not use slack belt to grind?

So I would need to get a grinder that uses a belt instead of a regular wheel for blade work? I'm not trying to form the entire blade with just the grinder, for those were asking, it's for after forge work and post heat-treating. But from what you guys were all saying, spend the extra money and go for one that uses a belt? What is the difference between using a belt and the stone wheel?

I've gotten to the point where I now need a grinder, but I'm not sure what one to get. Will a variable speed grinder help me out in the long run at all or will it be more hassle than it's worth? Should I just go with a cheap 40 dollar single speed walmart grinder or what? Does it matter?

Well i do have down some of the basics and was actually able to figure it out. I've been smithing for a few months now, working the basics such as rounding squares and squaring rounds, bending, tapering, and etc. I'm not a total newbie, but this is the first time i've done any kind of blade work, and i dodn't know how to implement some of those basic skills.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! i honestly couldn't figure out where I was going wrong, but I pretty much understand it now. thanks for all your guys' help, really appreciate it.

it looks good no doubt, but I have a question. since you made it out of a file, which is essentially a bar stock, how did you make the point? Did you cut away material to make the point or did you forge the point? I am working on my first knife and I don't know how to make a point on a blade.

So in essence I should be tapering it down to a point, then form the blade? I really don't feel like cutting away any material before the final grind (am I wrong for doing this?). I may not be a master of the basics, but I know I don't HAVE to cut away parts of my material to put a point on my blade. Here is what I've done so far.

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