basher

Dave has it pretty much spot on . I will add to that that both these steel specs will be available in europe . I know Akim Wirtz sells and equivalent to both those specks in germany and Nordell knives (either norway and finnland). I used to buy my stock direct from udderholm but had the last lot brought in from america. In america Kelly couples will ship to UK and shears to size . I know there are a few people searching out alternatives for these steels as they are so hard to get in the UK. the problem is that 15n20 and en42 or 1095 are so well suited to the pattern manipulations and HT that blade steel needs. what you are looking for is differences in Manganese against a material that etches lite (15n20 has 2% nickel) , more manganese makes the steel darker grey/black less makes it lighter but manganese also affects the depth of hardening. good luck in your search

all the time..... I did craft fairs 24 weekends a year for 8 years! people have a urge to comment or feel like they know something or just act like jerks , they are not your customers so just shrug it off. at least you probably made them smug and happy! so good service ! people often do not see hand made work in the same light as we do so keep putting it out there and educate them ! take satisfaction from the people who appreciate and buy your stuff. all the best Owen

Its a good video . I wouldn't consider a scarf weld to be a butt weld though, to me a butt weld joins end to end. the scarfing of the joint helps to blend the thinning edges into the bar , it helps to prevent the edge of one piece cutting into another . re flux and sparks et al. when welding up wrought iron or mild steel the sparking of the iron doesn't really screew up the metal , the hotter you get it the easier it welds , you do lose material to the fire but as long as you account for that lost material in your weld prep as in this video it isn't really a problem.At these high welding temps you really don't need flux at all you are past the melting point of the iron oxide on the surface of your material so why use flux . Regarding wire brushing , by the time your sparking metal is out of the fire any wire brushing you did pre heating is redundant . Forge welding is not one of those one technique fits all kind of gigs and welding mild and wrought iron at high temp without flux is just as easy as using flux to do the same job , with the added advantage of being simpler. I weld up carbon steel with flux , but avoid it when working wrought and mild in a coke forge as its nasty stuff and not needed in that application.

I am willing to bet you could buy a full size forging manipulator for the same price as one of those hands . it is an amazing thing but I am not sure i would want to put my bionic hand near a forge.

That looks like a really well made hammer. where is the allowance for taking up the horizontal movement that occurs when transferring the ark of the spring into the vertical movement of the tup? my initial thoughts about changing the UHMW for linear bearings made of bronze is that there would be no means of adjusting for bearing wear , unless you consider changing the bearing surface as a routine maintenance schedule. would there be any real problem with reducing the surface area of UHMW you have in contact with the ram? by machining vertical slots in it or removing the middle portion and leaving the top and bottom of the contact surface intact ? this is the first kinyon style hammer that I have seen that makes me actually want to build one . very good job. All the best Owen

I know of a reiter 25kg and believe it was the forerunner of your hammer it is installed on a concrete block though smaller than yours in width . I have seen this hammer through 2 smiths, the first one bought it second hand in wales where I used to rent shop time 17 years later the hammer is now local to me and run by another friend I'll get some pictures . It is a fine hammer and I regret not buying it when it was offered to me , I was traveling at the time...hey ho.

I have had good results with ford graphite grey paint , its close . no paint really looks like polished steel. to keep stainless stainless after forging it really has to be electropolished.

It kind of depends on whether you want to do the gig or not . I spent 8 years demoing at craft faire 24 a year!! I was paid £100 a day and that almost covered expenses . so there was no possability of making a big loss . It can be a little dis-hartening being the person who adds the "quality" to an event .

I have an old hammer somewhere where the forge weld eventually failed and the steel face was held on with a bent nail through the steel into the wrought body. I do a lot of steel/wrought and mild steel/steel welding . the main thing to remember is you are not welding at sparking temperatures or you screw the steel. simple steels will be easier .

thanks guys, the motor is on a speed control and has enough power to make pressure at 1/4 speed so its not too fast. the low tonnage helps to act as an auto stop and I have not managed to totaly ruin anything by over pressing yet. I have found its limits pretty quickly . these are great tools and I have wanted to make one for years but lacked the hydraulic knowhow.

firstly I would like to thank all the people here for there great information on this subject . I finally built a forging press . I have been gathering bits for a while and figured the only way to know from all the various ram /pump configurations is to go ahead and do it .all the theory is great. so from bits I have gathered I built a press . 10hp single action pump at 3.5gpm 4" ram. it is an inch a second under power . topps out at 3000psi .and is quite , no screech . I think the motor could handle a bigger pump possably a 5 gpm but as it is there is no strain on the motor so thats good and quiet . I calculate its putting out around 16 tonnes which is great for punching and hot forging but shows its limits on thin or cold steel. I have quick change dies and already have numerous dies made. the cost so far pump and motor £80 ram £40 valve (new) £70 tank £30 , plumbing about £150-200 steel from my pile... .maybe £150 all in around £600 in bits and 3 man days . I have had an electrical engineer design a switch system that will let the press cycle full auto to fixed stops to speed the forging process up a little ......

I shared a house with Mark at Hereford. good to see an old friend passing on good information .

well I think you know your mind go for it. however . I do not think that function be all and end all. what I am trying to say is that a wall hanger could be made to a very high quality without being functional. it could be a worthy and fine thing . function is fine and for some things it is the whole thing , but so little value is given to beauty.........

here is another I just hardened and polished. a tad under 10" at the edge

I really would not bother trying to make up my own there are good unite available both compressor fed and fed from belt mounted fan units . I use one for welding and grinding and now almost everything . my unit is a 3M adflo and although they are expensive they are really good and one of the few saftey features that make life better as well as safer.

I have done it 3 ways pre fprm the ears before you punch through the eye , pre form them before you wrap or as I do with these , use a cross pein to draw them out whulst you have a mandrel in the eye . all the best Owen

I think that a lot of what has been said here is a little OTT . there is absolutly nothing wrong with making a pleasing or beautiful sword or knife like piece of metal . do a good job of it and it is no less of an object than any other piece of art. If there are people who want somthing made and are willing to pay for it ....why not ? unless of course you dont want to or are too busy. I have made a "fence of the fallen" for the chelsea flower show and it comprised of lots of "fake" swords hacked about and roughly forged .It employed me and pleased a good client and led to other work. saying I wont do that because I dont" believe in" it is all well and good....but work is work and getting away from the confines of function can really set ideas free.

forged under press and hammer . the big one hasnt been hand hammered yet , I'll pull the ears out on the poll by hand all the best Owen

do as you wish . however there is nothing wrong with making something pretty to go on the wall.

I have been practicing my dane axe forging , using the punch and drift method . here are a couple in the works. made from en9 (1050) 45mm square. small one is 7 1/2 inches along the edge and the big one bigger at least 10 inches along the edge . these are prototypes to get my material dimentions right . the small one has all the forging done and the big one is strait off the hammer. I will forge the ear tabs next .

how do I get on the archaeological metallurgy mailing list ?

Id be interested in any info you have on what the grades mean . I like the term muck bar . and yes I have ended up stacking rather that folding .

I have recently been consolidating my own bloomery iron and was wondering what the old quality grades of wrought iron were and if there are any sources for what they meant in quality terms and number of folds etc all the best Owen

have a look at the work of UK knife maker Grace Horne http://www.gracehorne.co.uk/ she has mad knives with steel and precious metals . tis good (great) work......

I am embarrassed to have posted on this thread.....