Dean O Riordan

Hi everyone, I am going to try and make some Damascus steel, now iv tried this before and not had much luck at it. I have a good idea how it's don and what i was doing wrong before, not hot enough, hitting it to hard. So iv got my billet made and hope to start on it next week if i am off work. The steel i am using is 2 bit's of 5160 an old file and 2 bit's of mild steel, here is a pic Now starting from the top of the billet, 5160 mild steel old file mild steel 5160 Do you think this is ok and will it weld together ok ? All comment's are welcome.

I NEED HELP!!! ok i did the Harding and tempering the other night, and to night i started to polish it, First i had to remove the scale from the steel which i found to easy, any way i got the blade all smooth and sharp and wanted to test it out even thou it not finished. so i cut some paper all was good so far but when i chopped into a piece of wood and then looked at the blade i seen a dint in the blade, now it's not a big dint but a dint that should not be there. now i did the very same thing as i did when i hardened the last knife, but for some resin the blade is just not hard as the last one So does anyone know why this is and is there anything i can do to fix it ? Oh i used old engine oil to cool the blade in. PLEASE HELP ME Here is a pic of the dint. Oh the only thing that i did do different this time is i use my gas forge i made to harden the blade,last time i use the coal forge

wow very nice knives you have made, i love the last one. very good workmanship.

Thanks, i can't wait to get it finished This is only my 3rd forged knife iv made so far, the first one i made which i still have, was not very good looking.I used an old file to make the blade and then i got lazy and used a wooden file handle for the handle, the seconded one i made which you might of seen in one of my last post, was much better BUT the handle did not go very well with the blade, the handle looked good and the small 4" blade looked good but together not good This time i thing iv got it right and iv gone all the way with this one, by making all the part's needed to make the knife.

Just an update tonight i did the Harding on the blade and now it's in the oven. The blade look's ok no sine of crack's so hopefully all is good.

Thank you The wood is oak, i got some off cut's off a fancy oak staircase on a job i was working on last mouth.

Hi all, Okay i am making a new knife and it's the best knife iv made so fay ( well i think so ) The steel i am using is 5160. I have forged out the blade and tang, started the handle made the but cap and hand gard, all i have to do now is harden the blade and then temper it, and polish the blade but it all together file down the but cap until it fit's the shape of the handle. Here are some pic's of what iv don so far. The pictures are from the start of the project to what iv don so far. More to come I have still a lot of work to do with it but im all most there :D

Hi all i finished that knife i was making so here are some pic's for you. and here is a link to a video iv got on youtube. My video

Cool thanks for the info Sorry but what dose rc60 mean i tried the search bar but could not fined an answer.

Thank you for telling me that Iv put it in the oven to at 350d* F. Oh do i leave it to cool down in the oven after it's bin in for a few hours, when i tern the oven off ?

Okay guy's iv just don the heat treat ( Hardening ) of my knife. I used old engine oil, and as far as i can see no sing of crack's the tang is soft but the blade is hard. Now Tempering of the blade, What's the easy-es way of doing it or the best way of doing it. lol i stink of burnt engine oil Here is a picture of the knife.

Just found out that 5160 steel will not give me the temper line (hamon ) that i would like. so ill have to do with out Search bar help me out again with this answer Any way do i use oil for Harding ? Thanks for the help so far :)

I have old engine oil, the steel is 5160. Thank's

The steel is 5160 as far as i know it is an alloy steel ( I use the search bar to find out that answer ) It's cut from a leaf spring a very thick one 10mm thick.

Thank you ever one for the nice welcome, ill give you pictures if that's what you like :D

Okay im working on a small knife.I have forge out the basic shape of the blade today and filed down the blade smooth. Now i am starting to think about the finish on the knife, and would like to have a hamon ( temper line ) on the blade. Now I know how it is don but what i would like to know could i use fire cement to put on the spine of the blade when Harding it. Here is a small picture of the knife. Any help would be of gait help to me. Thank's.

Okay this is my home made forging press I made this press about 7 year ago and it's still going good :)

Oh wow that turned out nice well don.

That's a nice looking anvil and well made by the look's of it.

Thank you, The stone i am using is an oil-stone. Well as far as i know wetting the hammer and anvil dose help reduce scale or remove scale from the metal surface. Here is a link to a website that sell's the same oil-stone i have. Oil-Stone

Hi everyone I found this site last night and spent about 1 hour looking at the site be for singing up, just to see what sort of thing go on here, I came across a lot of very nice work don by other member and hoped that one day ill be as good as them I am from Ireland a place called Mohill in co,Leitrim ( in the west of Ireland ) Is there any other member from Ireland on here ? My day job is plumbing and my Hobbes are metal work, i love welding and making thing. Iv tried making Damascus steel but that did not work out for me I also made my own coal forge and a gas forge. I also made my own anvil out of a piece of Rail rood track it's not the best but it's doing ok for now. I also made a 10Ton Hydraulic press for forging. I will get some pictures of it soon.

Hi every one, I have bin forging on and off for the last year or so, i am by far NO expert on forging. What i think i know is what iv learned as iv gon along I have tried forge welding and not had much look with it yet but plan to try again soon. I am forging my first Sword and iv bin working on it for about 2 weeks now. The steel i have used is a leaf spring 2" wide by 1/4" thick, i had to cut down to size be for i could start forging it. The blade length is 22" long, The over all length 33" long, Here is the link's to some videos iv put on youtube video 1 video 2 video 3 hope you like what iv don so far. Here is a picture of my first sword i made out of stainless steel This next picture is of my old sword and the start of my new sword,

Oh wow that is one nice looking sword you have made. I am making a sword and it's not 1/2 as good as your sword. I hope one day i can make some thing as good as that. Well don.