Matthew Paul

That is looking very good! I like how far you finished it with the hammer.

I said that I'd post a picture once It was on a qiality base, and I finally built one this weekend. My buddy shoes horses so he and I cut an old shoe in half and shaped it so that I could use it as the hold downs. We secured them with shoe nails too. It looks cool. So, here it is:

Fantastic work!

Thanks everyone! I use Gorilla brand 2part epoxy to hold the scales in place until I rough shape the handle and flare the pins. The guy wanted to break down wood for his stove. He said that he had an old cleaver that he has been using for many years but wanted to retire it.

I was asked to make a 15" overall length cleaver for someone. That is the only spec that he gave me besides "make it cool" So I got some 1/4"x2" 5160 and had at it. I decided to use the handle design from my personal knife and give it a gently curved blade. I dont normally use a cross pine when forging blades but I wanted to get as much height out of the blade as I could without lengthening the stock too much. It worked well. Here are some pictures from when I was making it and the completed cleaver. Let me know what ya think fellas.

Thank you for the info Thomas

Well that's not good news. It was hard faced when I got it,with some type of extremely hard plate. Instead of fixing the defects in the face when they welded the new face on they just notched the plate at the same angles and it is really uneven and wavey along the edges. I just migged a small spot on the corner of the face for now. I'll Have to make a plate that fits in the hardy hole like you said. That's a good idea. Ya think 1095 would work well for that? I have a bunch of 1/4 thick stock. Thanks for the info.

I finally got a nice anvil. I found an 1884 fisher 90# locally for a good price. It's in fairly good shape and has been refaced, but the edges are not too sharp. It works great for now until I can get them fixed up. Here is a not so good picture. I'll take better ones once it is mounted proper in a stump. It's nice an quiet, and I like that. -Matt

Thomas... Your right. Lame excuse and making up reasons to not do it. I did however try it and it was a no go. I have had a 50/50 (more like 25/75) percentage of my welds take. But then again... I have no outside knowedge besides what Ive tried/done and the small amount of "Warm it up, put borax on it, white hot, and hit it" I do need to read some more about welding. We'll go with the - A majority of my welds don't take ;) And Vaughn, I think I understand what you're saying.

Splitting it and twisting would save me some time. Wraping the 1/2" stock would not work for me too well. I'm working with a small, garbage, anvil. WQhen I get a chance I'll try wraping with some 3/16x 1.5" stock that I have.

Very Nice! Thank you for sharing.

Rich - That is an understatement. I'm hopeing in a couple weeks I'll have sold enough stuff to pick up a nice narrow horn Peter Wright 130lb Ive had my eye on.

Thomas - I would upset it first but I'm only working on a 55lb cast anvil so its a ton of work to upset material like that. I can do it but it takes a very long time. I'm thinking that your second sugestion will work much better for me, I'll stack the two 1/2x1 and forge weld them togeather. Next time I buy stock I'll buy some 1x1 or 7/8" square. Thank you sir. Matt - I'll check that book out, thanks basher - I'm not sure I could work 1.5 square to well on my setup. I just use a 2 brick forge and a small anvil. I'm thinking that I'll stack the next one, and after that buy some square stock. I cut the eye with a couple slitting chissels that I made. A thin eye working loose is exactly why I asked you pros how to fix it ;) Bentiron - That's how I did the one in the picture brother. I actually made a hawk like that today. Nothing like the work that yall do, but it's a hawk no less.

That looks good. Did you upset it and draw it out like you did the hawk? or did you hot cut it down the middle?

I made an adze today and had a question. I see some fantastic axe and hawk work here so I figured that someone might be able to help. Do you gents have any sugestions on how to draw the eye down more? I would drift a little, then hammer from the side with the drift still in. Then drift, hammer from the side, etc.... But I couldent seem to get thhe material to move down. This is my first time punching and drifting an eye into something. The stock started as 1x 1/2 and basicly stayed that size. Should I square it up before I punch and drift? The materials used for the head were 1x 1/2" mild steel bar stock and 1x1x3/16 1084 for the bit. The 1084 was forge welded to the front edge of the steel stock, which became the bit. The bit was drawn out and shaped. After the cutting edge was forged to shape, the location of the eye was hot punched, then drifted using a series of three drifts that I had made earlier in the morning for this project. The eye measures 1/2" wide and 1" long, tapering to the lower section of the eye. The handle material is oak, as ash or hickory is not available in my location and I do not keep a stock of seasoned wood. Although, I will in the future. The handle is secured to the head using three wedges -- two wooden and one steel. One wedge secures the head left to right, the other sets the angle of the head, and the third metal wedge secures the handle in the eye front to back. Thank you, Matt P

If you are just starting to make knives, and not doing it as a full time buisness. I would sugest that you make a few with the equipment that you have. High grade belts can be had in 1x30. Then, you'll see what you need/want in a grinder. For what I do, the craftsman 2x42 works just fine. If money was not an issue, I would deffinatly have a KMG style grinder. But I don't have it like that yet. Do I plan on buying one? Absoloutly. I would sugest making a few knives with what you have, and going from there.

I forged a few more and figured that I'd share. This one is 5160. 1/4" thick 5 3/4" blade. This one is 1084 (I love this steel!) forged from 3/16" x 1" stock, 6" blade This kephart style test knife is also forged fromr 3/16x1" 1084 This little carving knife is 5160

Very Nice.

I came across a perfect Peter Wright 130# for $525. The anvil looks new except for very light surface rust. No dings, nicks, nothing. Not painted. It has a narrow horn, which does not matter to me. Question being, is that an ok deal or a little high? Forgive my ignorance, I don't own a proper anvil.

Thanks everyone!! I got it! Stupid me. I tempered it twice more at 400 and it's perfect! So, lesson learned. Temper at 400 three times, like everyone says... Well I still learned a lot from you folks. Your information (and patience) is much appreciated. -Matt

Matt, Yes I did. The blade is plenty hard. It's jjust slightly softer than when quenched it seems.... I just cant seem to get it soft. I checked the oven, temp was only ten deg low. I put it back in for two more tempers at 400. I only got it once at 400, but that should have don it anyway... I don't know... So far it has been tempered at 300, 350, and 400, each for one hour. I'll give it another go at 400 then raise the temp again. Thomas, Oil was warm and viscous but not extremely hot. Just warm maybe slightly hot to the touch. I'm saving for one of them high temp ones. That should help lots. Thank you all very much for the help so far. I even learned some stuff!

Matt, He had two steels listed. 1084fg and 1084. I purchased the regular 1084, unles he just forgot to put fg after the first few that he listed. I can set the forge to keep steel at basicly any range between just dull red on up. The problem is knowing what the actual temperature is. I would love to purchase or build an oven but it's just not possable for me right now. I just purchased a thermometer that reads 400deg at room temperature.... quality. I'm headed out to buy an infared thermometer now.... That should help with the tempering I think, and let me know if that's where the issue lies or not. Once i have a few more pennys saved I'll see if I can get a high temp one that reads above 1600 deg. I would assume that would help me narrow down the forge temps.

Most excelent information. Today I'll do some hardening samples and break them to see if I have excessive grain growth with the hardening I'm using. I completely take your word on shorter soak times, I just like to see how bad I mess things up, ya know... I'm going to get a more accurate thermomiter this morning and check the oven temp. I'll grind and test it, I'll also retemper it at 400 twice once I get a goo thermomiter. Great information. I like the paper trick! I don't believe so. It was purched from USAknifemaker.com It's my first time dealing with them so I'm not sure who they get material from. Aldo sells his own stuff though, no? That is similar to what I do. I just want to be sure to have a proper hardness edge.... without a large grain structure.

Well it is a larger knife and I was looking for a softer edge that would hold up well to chopping without chipping. I suppose I should just take it to the belt ginder and then try it out. I did use a magnet, it was slightly hotter than I was aiming for. I should have reworded my first sentance. I just re read it an it sounds like I made my first knife today. It was simply my first knife that I made out of 1084. It's probably my 20th knife or higher. I suppose that I'll grind it and test it out. Thank you for the information Sir.

I made my first blade out of 1084 today and I'm having some trouble tempering it. I'll explain what I did so that you have a good understanding. I use minimal equipment and do not have a digital oven. After the blade was forged I heated the blade in an LP forge, to an orange color and placed it in a container of vermiculite for several hours until it was cool. The blade was then rough ground. Once the blade was ready for heat treat, I heated the blade to an orange color and let it sit at that temperature for approximately ten minutes. The, I let it cool to room temperature. I then reheated the knife to an orange red color, soaked again for approximately ten minutes, and let it cool to room temperature once more. Again the blade was heated, this time until it was red in color. It was held at this color/temperature for another ten minutes and then was cooled to room temperature. Now, I was ready to harden the blade. I brought the knife blade to an orange/red color. I was aiming for a bright red color, but it went a little hotter by mistake. I held the blade at that color for around 3 minutes then quenched in McMaster-Carr 11 second quench oil. I let the blade cool to room temperature and placed it in the oven for one hour at 300. I let the blade cool again to room temperature. A file would still glide over the edge. I tempered for another hour at 350. Same results. So, I tempered again at 400 for an hour. A file still glides over the edge, but cuts just a little. The spine is soft. Is it possible that there is a carbide buildup on the surface? Should I grind with a heavy belt and see what the steel is like below the surface? I was not sure if I should continue to raise the temperature on the oven and re-temper until I have the desired results? Any help would be great and I thank you in advance.