Steve Shimanek

S-7 or H-13 would be good choices, or some of the air hardening steels would work. There are many other choices also that have their own benefit/deficits. Sounds like you need to do some more research to learn about heat treating before you get too far ahead of yourself. Or you can do some experimentation and expect some failures before you succeed.

About 5 minutes.....the washing soda in the tub helps greatly.

That IS a big one....you have a lot of filing to do, looks like you have it well in hand. Nice one! Please add more photos as you progress on the project.

That is amazing!

Thank you Sir, your work has been an inspiration to me; thank you for your kind words.

Thanks, actually that is only the second one I made and the first one was pretty bad; I tried to do better on this one I watched the youtube videos by Pavel Bolf on koshirae and they gave me some good clues. The finish on this habaki is just 220 grit and the habaki is pretty plain jane compared to what some guys are making. I was happy with the fit on this one. The saya is made from rock maple which was some wood I had on hand. My last attempt was with koa wood but I was concerned that the oils in the wood could affect the blade so i went with the maple. Finish is just a few coats of Danish oil rubbed in well. Thanks for the comments, aloha, Steve

generally pipe sizes reference the inside diameter.

That is a higher plane of metallurgical understanding than I possess; I have yet to hear a simple explanation of why it happens, just that it does happen.

If you quenched in oil, that would explain the downward curve; oil makes the curve go the opposite way from water. Looking good so far.

I have been going through some significant issues of my own, so it is hard for me to say much that is inspirational, other than I hear you and wish the best for you....aloha, Steve

Epic fail in civics.....

Not a bad job at all for a first effort; have you thought about a handle yet? The best time to consider handle style is before the tang is forged, ask me how i know : Aloha,

Good looking tool and made in America, good on ya!

You can be a knife maker by stock removal but you have to forge it to shape to be a bladesmith.

My advice would be to stick to a simpler monosteel knife for your first one; there is a lot to keep track of on the first few blades and dealing with multiple laminations will just add to the potential for negative success. I second Rich's comments above. Good luck!

Howzit Robert, yes, the "clouds" show up on both sides, definitely a happy accident, now to see if i can figure out how that happened!I just finished a 4 burner blown forge for longer heat treating so hopefully i will post more successes in the future. Regards, Steve

Here is what I ended up with; I am pretty happy with it but the photo doesn't really do it justice.

I don't think it gets any better than that...awesome work! Glad you are back to work.

Cool blade, reminds me of a combat chef's knife, like something Steven Seagal would use....nice work!

Aluminum is not recommended for "combat"; some stage swords and Japanese iato are aluminum alloy but are not expected to be in contact with hard objects.Swords are pretty rarely used in "combat" these days; ya getting ready for a zombie invasion? :)

What kind of flame retention device do you have on your burner tubes? For blown burners it seems they work best with some kind of partial restriction on the end of the tube. I am no expert but I recently built a 4 burner blown forge and am using a sink strainer (modified) inside each tube. I tried using those stainless steel scrubbers in the tube and that worked also but since my tubes are vertical they don't stay well. Some designs seem to use burner tubes crimped on the ends.

Our sincere condolences and may the Creator grant you peace.....Steve and Aleta