jmccustomknives

I've found that many files when forged will "grain" out. Not totally sure what steel, probably a W series as the Simmons, Black Diamonds and Nicholsons didn't grain out.

Nice, where's your PPE? :o Looking cool is one thing, but not when your dead. I've had more than a few customers end up in the hospital from grinders. One in particular had a wheel come apart and go through his ankle, boot and all. He was down 6 months. Another had half his nose half removed by a wheel, and he was wearing glasses and face shield. :unsure: Be safe, that way you can enjoy the things you make. B)

My wife gave me this, pretty much sums it up.

I'm gonna beat 'em to it. You should post your location, you might be surprised at who might be in your area. As far as the RR track anvil, for blade smithing you don't need the hole. A square block is all you need. I have a forklift tine anvil I use for my knife making. Good luck with your new hobby, it can be addictive.

If it's made in 1887 then it can't be Chrom Moly. CMO is probably the company that had it made, I'd bet the 1887 was a model. Some folks will use deceptive practices to sell junk. Take a ball bearing or small hammer and check it out. If it fails walk away. It only took me almost 5 years to find my Fisher. Anvils are like women, there are a lot of fakes; the good ones are hard to find and you'll want to keep them. ;)

I've got my Diamondback on a stand but you can use bricks. Turn 2 flat and put the forge on it then you can turn the others up and they will be level with the opening. Watch the borax flux, it will eat your insulation up. :blink:

You've got a couple of dynamics, the first is down here they melted any "scrap" for the war effort. That means a lot of good anvils got melted down. Second, collectors; you know those guys who slurp them up and never use them. A limited market + high demand means premium prices. That being said, too bad your on the other side of MS, I'm just about finished with a monster RR track anvil. Keep looking, I found a 126 Kohlswa in a junk shop.

Lol, the longer you stick with smithing the more stuff you will aquire. Check the local flea markets, junk shops for hammers. You can never have enough hammers. Just in making one knife I can use as many as 5 different ones. Tongs, that's another thing you'll need. Those books will get you started.

Golf ball isn't a legitimate test, you'll need a large ball bearing or hammer. Looks like a cast iron anvil, the lack of a pritchet bothers me. If the hammer leaves marks, walk away. :o

Your anvil looks lonely <_<, where's the rest of the stuff? :unsure:

No, you have to go deeper. Being from Lufkin, in the dead center of East Texas that what we referred to our area as. Good having you.

Not to bad for a first knife. Did you check if it was a heat treatable steel? Some files (I believe the one you use is one of them) are case hardened and will not harden.

Sometimes we have a right to gloat. :P Man, I could really annoy my neighbors with that thing; them and the next county. B)

Howdy from T-town. 1st thing, loose that harbor frt aso. I, like you bought one when I first started. 100% useless. A piece of RR track works many times better. The guys at Vulcan are a good bunch. Good luck.

Nifty. I think you could park a simi on it. ^_^

Just a thought, I would forge the handle out first, rap it then forge the blade. In your pic of the progress note that the blade is bright orange. If you were to break that blade you'd likely find large grain growth. If you reverse your process and follow good forge theory you will minimize the grain growth and make a much better blade. ;)

There's your problem. The fryer style regulators are low pressure (2-4psi I think). You'll need a real regulator that you can adjust. Mine starts chugging at 4psi and likes the 6-9 psi range.

Being in the states we don't see many Fronius. But what few I have seen, they seem a well made machine. They are expensive here though.

What is your gas pressure? Sounds like it could be starving for fuel.

I've got a bunch of this steel. One piece had the Remanent of Udderholm stenciled on it. After some web sloothing I found that it was basically 1070 with a little more manganese (if I recall correctly). That made sense because the test blades performed like 1070. I use the stuff for Damascus, machetes and throw away work knives. L-6 is never used in band saw blades, at least I have never ran across a manufacturer that listed it. It isn't the best steel, but good practice. I can be a little challenging to anneal (due to the extra manganese?) but not killer.

That case hardened rasp was a Bellota, made in Spain.

I had picked up a couple of rasp in a lot of old files. I planned on making a couple of matching blades. As is my SOP (standard operating procedure) with an unknown file I heated the tang, quenched in water then tried to break it. As you can see, one broke clean the other bent (case hardened).

Here's an update on that Nicholson Knife file build. I shaped the point and gave it a soft back draw followed by a 450F temper. Then the guard was forged out and fit. I brazed a 5/16 all thread onto the tang (all state 11) and fit the stag. It survived 2 dead drops from eye level leaving a pair of divots in my concrete floor. Still needs a little cleaning up and a scabbard.

Here's a "pig sticker" I started today. I gave it a little soft back draw then a 450F temper. I figure for such a long and thin blade it needed a little more toughness. You might notice a little white on the tip, that's concrete from being dropped on the floor; twice. :o (yeah, on purpose) ;)

That lady called me and said they had more. I went and got them. Anybody wanting one, email me. I don't see myself using all of them. ;)