oakwoodforge

Here is a shot of my forge from last weekends Des Moines Ren-Fair EasyPics - Fast and Easy Image Hosting - Share Your Photos Jens

Katsumoto, I've had good luck creating hamon lines in 1095 using a hybrid method. Coat with clay as normal, I heat to mid/upper critical- a shade brighter than non magnetic, and quench in 120 degree canola oil ( rape seed oil ) , Temper - well that depends on the size of the blade and application 375f - 475 f . One thing to keep in mind is the sori or curvature caused by quenching is backwards in the oil , instead of curving up it curves down. I've been experimenting more with water quenching , but still crash allot of blades , with a Oil quench I have better than 90% success rate, with water it's , 40 % if I'm LUCKY ! Thomas has it quite right , if you want to water quench start with some 1050 or 1065 or be prepared for lots of warps and cracks ... Best of Luck ! Jens

Every thing said so far has been good advice, especially coming from 2 of the most experienced folks on this site. Possibly you can tell us what steel you are working with and what you are making and the good folks here can give you specific advice rather that generalizations. Skal ! Jens

In Iowa we have two kinds of coal , bad and worse, Charcoal is my only option besides gas , check out BP # 338 for one way to make charcoal. http://www.iforgeiron.com/blueprints-300-400/bp0338-making-your-own-charcoal.html Jens

These brave men need all our Prayers, stuck 1500 feet below ground. Take a moment and send some knee mail for these brave souls. Check out the story here : Mine rescue operation expected to take days

Possibly stakes used for concrete forms , Got pic ? Jens

Ecart, I like my charcoal broken into golf ball to ice cube size for regular forging , and sugar cube size for forge welding or heat treating. Jens

Nicely Done Nick, What type of steel did you use ? Jens

Dang Rich , It's a Beauty !!! Jens

Well Done Sam !

Hand forged 1084 blade, walnut handle, brass fittings & pins http://www.easypics.us/pics/Walnut_handled_small-sax.JPG Jens

For a clear wet look finish on forged iron work exposed to salt air / bad weather - I Highly recommend POR -15 's GLISTEN PC its awesome stuff. Kind of a pain because it takes a few days to cure but it wont get milky or yellow and it'll last and last and last and last ... Check it out here : Glisten PC Hope this helps Jens

If I won the Lottery I'd keep making knives till its all gone Jens

Jim, Move away from the coins and go on to copper and silver alloy sheets and you will have less de-lamination probs. You should also hard silver solder ( the High temp stuff ) the edges of your mokume billet prior to patterning and drawing out. Mokume doesn't like big changes in shape so if you need a piece 2"x2 " x 1/4 " (finished size ) for a project, start with a stack 2 "x 2 " x 3/8 " good Luck and happy hammering Jens

Well I can't answer for rstegman, but since this is my thread I'll post an answer. When I use files to make blades I anneal them (Heat to critical and cool VERY slowly burried in ashes) afterwards I grind all the teeth off the file. I then forge to shape just like regular bar-stock, I de-scale the blade in muratic acid then draw-file /grind to shape leaving the edge about the thickness of a dime. I then coat the whole blade with thin layer of satanite refractory cement, and thicker on the spine, dry , heat , quench , temper and finish sand , followed by a quick FeCl etch and add the handle, THEN sharpen the blade ( still have all 10 fingers ) For full heat treat instructions see BP0355: BP0355 Heat Treating With Clay to Form a Hamon Line hope this helps Jens

Thanks for the kind words guys, hope the new owner enjoys it for years to come. Jens

When Shopping for cable to forge Look for these words : EXTRA IMPROVED PLOW STEEL, RIGHT REGULAR LAY NO fiber core , No Guessing as to what it is, and its cheap ! The Knife specialty stores charge 3 -4 X's what the stuff is worth! But you can go here : WebRiggingSupply - Wire Rope Cable > Gen. Purp. Rope They charge about $3.84 per foot for 1.25 " dia EXTRA IMPROVED PLOW STEEL ( Treat it like 1095 ) , RIGHT REGULAR LAY, They may think you are a Little funny asking for 3 one foot sections of 1.25 dia cable , But hey they sell it by the foot right Happy hammering Jens

I use O2 & Propane in both my hobby shop and the scrapyard at my day-job. Had to change the tip for cutting and use larger tips for brazing, but the switch really cut the cost. Jens