Kwisatz

Nice work! I haven’t even started learning how to build handles yet. I am going to scrounge up a few unique materials for them over the next few weeks.

I have an 4 1/2 inch angle grinder but I can’t seem to get the angle right with it for an American Tanto point. Should I hot cut it with a chisel? Is a bench grinder how its done? I appreciate any advice. The best I can get it to without messing up the blade with the angle grinder is something like this: I want it to come out like these:

Thanks for posting this. I need to keep this in mind all the time in my shop. I am new to Bladesmithing and metalwork. The very first safety instructions my friends told me to be mindful of weren’t about not getting cut and burned. They said that "cut and burned” comes with the territory. They told me about how dangerous my Angle Grinder and Wheels are.

I am trying to create a Tanto tip. Did you pound out the Tanto point with a hammer in the forge, or is it the result of a grinder? Thanks for sharing your work.

I made a Brake Drum Forge just like this one

This is my first knife. I am having a great time figuring out what end of the hammer to hold because have no formal training at all, whatsoever. After using a wire attachment on my angle grinder, I progressively sanded it to a 120 grit finish. I haven’t tried to put an edge on it yet. Blacksmithing has quickly become one of my favorite weekend pastimes! Everything I learned about this art I learned from books (20%) and YouTube (80%). I did this as a first project after watching a few youtube videos and deciding to make a forge and try it. Once I told my friends that I wanted to try Blacksmithing, they started dropping off all kinds of odd pieces of metal along with railroad spikes. I have no idea why my friends just randomly have railroad spikes, but then again I am not going to ask. I have heeded the warnings and not tried to pick up spikes near a train yard. I just posted a short write up on the RR Spike Anvil I made, so feel free to take a look a that if you are interested. I appreciate any constructive criticism and advice. K-

First off, I want to say that I am having a great time figuring out what end of the hammer to hold because have no formal training at all, whatsoever. Blacksmithing has quickly become one of my favorite weekend pastimes! Everything I learned about this art I learned from books (20%) and YouTube (80%). Nothing complex here. I wanted to set up a backyard blacksmithing operation for as little as possible. I strolled down to a railroad office and asked for a pice of railroad track. After a 5 minute conversation, I was driving off with one. Once I get better at it I am going to blacksmith something for those guys, maybe a few thank-you knives. The knife next to the hammer is my first Railroad Spike Knife! I will be posting a picture of it after taking off the scale and sanding it down with 120 grit sandpaper in the Bladesmithing forum. Its a basic piece of railroad track with metal straps holding to to a tree stump. Simple and effective. I saw pictures of others online as well as this as a simple guide to various ways to mount the railroad track. Anvil: http://www.anvilfire...rail_anvils.php My hammers: http://www.harborfre...ndle-95129.html http://www.harborfre...ammer-6746.html I use these pliers instead of tongs: http://www.harborfre...iers-44874.html I am going to attempt to make a set of tongs when I can find a very simple set of directions. I am always looking for constructive criticism so anything you all tell me that helps will be appreciated. K-

I really like the styles of knives you showed us. One of my goals it to make an entire set of cutlery for my kitchen. I will be keeping tabs on this thread for tips!

Excellent knife!

Thanks for sharing. Is the purple painted on, or the side effect of some sort of processing?

Thanks for sharing. RR Spike knives are going to be my first project. I will begin blacksmithing this month.