oakwoodforge

Beautiful Knife Garey. what Steels did you use in the blade ? and what is that spacer material it looks great. Jens

One small tip I can give if you are trying the wrap and weld style hawk. At least the way I figgured out how... Forge the outer "skin" to shape, grind the scale off the inner surface of the axe cheeks. of the anvil. After starting to shape the eye on the anvil horn, and its sort of shaped like a "V", place it in a vise and heat the eye portion to red-ish-orange with a torch and crank the vise down to close it up, while still in the vise re-heat the eye and drift/tweak the eye till it looks good. Prep the high carbon "Bit" by tapering one end like a wedge ( make sure it is scale free) and cutting a few teeth in the sides with a chisel. Drive the "bit" in & hopefully the teeth will bite in and help keep it in place while you are trying to weld it, or you can cheat and tack it in place with a mig. The first wrap & weld hawk I did was a real bugger, I did it the really hard way, I had tons of trouble keeping the HC bit in place, it kept wanting to squirt out when I tried to weld it, extremly frusterating! But it was one heck of a learning experience. Jens

Book #4, I can't wait. Put me down for 2 copys, I cant tell you how much your books have helped me over the years. The clay heat treating I've been doing has been on non traditional blades, like skinning knives, drop point hunters, scramasax & warncliff blades. So I've been trying to elimanate any sori or sabering effect I've been having a fair ammount of luck. One of the things I like the most about heat treating this way is that with my current low $$ shop I can get a blade much closer to done before I heat treat. That saves me tons of elbow grease Jens

I Just posted this in the Alchemy and Formulas section. http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7930#post7930 And I thought it would be nice to start a conversation about clay heat treating over here. What Kind of clay do you use, and what kinds have you tried ? I have just started using Satanite but haven't polished any of the blades yet ( I just did 'em last night ) so I don't know what I'll find but I'll post pics as they polish out. I wonder if it will be any different than using my home cooked mix? What sort of set up do you use for heating the blade? your coal/ charcoal forge or a gasser ? I use a steel pipe embeded in a pile of charcoal in my forge, it helps keep the heat even, I can see whats going on and I don't knock the clay off. Jens Butler Oakwood Forge

I keep a covered bucket of this stuff in the shop, adding water or other elements as needed for proper consistancy. 4 parts "yellow" Iowa Bank clay or any kind of clean clay that you can find. 2 parts sifted clean wood ash 1 part powdered charcoal ( crush with Mortar & pestle ) 1 part powdered soft firebrick ( crush with Mortar & pestle ) Add water to and let slake ( soak ) for at least 1 hour then remix and adjust water as necessacary to get a consistancy like a thick milk shake. To apply: Take a small amount of clay slurry in a mixing cup add a splash of water to thin it out and mix using a brush. Clean the freshly sanded /ground blade with acetone or spray brake cleaner (to de-grease). Apply a very thin coating of the clay slip to the entire blade, allow to dry, I set it in the sun, or if its cold out I'll put it in the shop toaster oven, yes! a Toaster Oven every shop needs one. I paid $3.00 for mine at a 2nd hand store. Once the first coat is dry, with a fine tiped artist's paint brush lay a series of thin 1/8 - 3/16" lines of clay running from spine to edge spaced between 0.5-1.5 inches depending on the size of the blade and the asthetic desired. (thicker clay for thicker blades ) make sure each side roughly matches the other to reduce the chance of warping. Allow to dry again, when dry use a bigger brush/spatula/popsicle stick ....to apply 1/8" to 1/4 " of clay (depending on size and thickness of the blade ) to the the sides of the blade in a pattern that is pleasing to your eye, once again keeping things even from one side to the next. As a general rule of thumb the coating should be on about 1/3 to as much as 2/3 of the blade depending on the width, but remember you DON'T want the temperline too close to the edge or tip. Also to reduce the sabering ( curving ) effect of differential quenching make sure to clean the clay from the blade's spine. Allow to dry a final time and "Fire" in the Toaster oven at 400-500 degrees for 30 min or so to drive out any remaing moisture. Heat, quench & temper according to the steel specs, I find that 1084 & 1095 produce the most predictible temper line results for me. Polish with waterstones and or or wet sandpaper. Lightly etch with warmed vinegar to darken the temper line. WOW ! I actualy managed to get that down with out using any samuri sword slang Remember to keep and share notes folks. Jens Butler Oakwood Forge

Nice Blade there Julian, that wenge looks good, always been one of my favorites, just make sure you seal it well. You Lucky Dawg ! What I wouldnt give to have summers " off" again Jens

Pic by Rich Hale

As in totaly forged to shape, the only stock removal was drilling pin holes and shrpening the edge. Blade is 1084, with as forged finish, bubinga wood for the handle and nickle silver pins. Jens

Here it is after heat treat, now I just gotta pick out the handle material. Jens

I finnaly finished this one up this weekend. Blade is 1084, with Japanese style heat treat, Birdseye maple handle and nickle silver for the pins. Jens

6 inch blade Nessmuk , forged entirley to shape out of 1084, the only stock removal I did on this one was file the choil in and sharpen the edge. Almost done shaping the bone handle slabs, I will post completed pics when its done. Jens

Ironman, I don't use coal, I use charcoal so this may or may not help... I chop/sort my charcoal in 2 sizes: 1 inch chunks for gerneral forging, and fingernail to pea sizes for forgewelding or heat treating. Up to a certain point I find that the finer stuff gives a more even heat and reduces de-carb & scale. Real large chunks of fuel in the fire seem to give me hot/ cold spots and scale problems. Hope this helps, Jens

Blkbear, here is a nice low cost option for an anvil, a 100 lb chunk of round or square steel 4-6 " in dia. set in a bucket of concrete. Kinda like this: or : http://www.polarbearforge.com/shoptour.htm# Hope this helps Jens

http://www.iforgeiron.com/store/store.shtml or http://www.hammersource.com/index.html

I second stryder's remarks, the first ones are never easy. Keep it up ! Jens

Ok I'm looking for some suggestions here, should I leave the file "remnants" for character or grind them away ? What do you think ? Thanks, Jens

Jim those are awesome, the scaloping across the bottom makes 'em look extra wicked. Jens

PJ its not edge quenched, I quenched the whole thing in warm Oil , the clay coating was just mud from the yard, powdered charcoal, and fireplace ashes. Jens

Nope its not pattern welded, Neither is this one. Jens

This is a little 1084 blade I did some polishing on today, interesting details in the hamon. I can't wait to finish it. Jens

Coppermine critical error is back I see, here is a free img hosting I've been using http://www.easypics.us/

Blade steel is a recycled file, deer antler tine and copper pin for the handle Jens http://www.easypics.us/pics/antler_handle_skinner_1.JPG

Glenn the " Notch" or choil is to make sharpening easier, here is a better pic. http://www.easypics.us/pics/Socketed_blade_2.JPG Jens

I made this for my wife last night, its a prototype display stand for some of jewlery she makes. What have you made from those short little scraps or screw-ups rolling around under the bench ? Jens http://www.easypics.us/pics/IMG_2187.jpg

http://www.easypics.us/pics/Socketed_blade_2.JPG Made from a file, Heat treated last night, almost ready to shave with. Jens