jmccustomknives

I like making the cable knives too, it's fun. What kind of cable do you use? I've had a lot of trouble making a decent knife lately. They just wont hold an edge. It seems my supplier only sells the extra IPS cable. I need the XXX IPS but can't seem to find it. The first knives I made were out of a choker, they did really well as far as edge holding goes, now I just use the cable for art pieces.

I'm in the welding/safety industry. In the last 15 years the worse injuries I've ever seen were caused by grinders (falling and one air hammer explosion excluded). One guy had a disc blow apart while grinding on the floor. The wheel went through his ankle, boot and all. One had a wheel explode and smash into his faceshield shattering it. His Uvex safety glasses saved his eyes although he did end up with two black eye's and a broke nose. Another recently had a bench wheel break apart and struck him on the collar bone cutting him to the bone. He wasn't wearing a face shield, needless to say two inches higher and that could have cut an autery and he would be dead. Put the guards on folks, a little inconvenience isn't worth loosing an eye or your life.

I would put pics out there but I don't want anybody seeing my super secret security system. All cords are tangled so they can't be easily taken, same with welding cable. The tools are stratigically hidden throughout among ramdomly placed scrap. I figure if I can't find it niether can a thief. If I need to be careful walking about a thief would break his neck. In other words, it looks like a junk yard exploded. The security system is so good I can't find the tools. Man I'm good.

It was a shallow barrow. I had to notch the backside to access the fire better. The biggest drawback with that setup was I couldn't do anything that would stick 8" past the pot. Low cost is my middle name, accually our family motto is "Cheap or Free". A little know how and a lot of "determination" is all one needs.

My first coal forge was made entirly of junk. A old wheel barrow made the table. The pot was an old brake drum from a Ford p/u with a pipe welded to the bottom. The air was supplied by a hair dryer or small shop vac depending on how much heat I needed. I could forge weld with the set up, though I had to squat down to use it. After over a year of use it finally rusted through. The reincarnation isn't much better, the table is a metal shipping pallet used for welding cylinders but hey, I don't have to squat down to use it. The only cost I have in these was the electricity I used to weld them up. The point is, you don't have to spend a lot of money to do this. They've been smithing with much less for thousands of years.

1st rule of the cutting torch, if it doesn't rust it won't cut. D-2 has way to much chromium not to mention it is an air hardening steel which means you'll have to deal with the heat affected zone. Even 52100 can be difficult to cut, it doesn't have near the chromium that D-2 has. Better to use a side grinder and a slicer wheel, they are the best thing since sliced bread. If your having trouble cutting with the torch contact your local welding supply, most of the time they can help. I do however have customers who travel and they tell me stories of other suppliers that didn't have a clue. First thing, get a tip for the thickness you are cutting. Second, set the pressure properly. Be steady, don't catch yourself on fire.

Wow, I'd never heard of that steel before that I recall. Looks almost identical to Starrett O-1.

You have to love those funky reflections. Taking pics of a polished blade can be an adventure. :wacko:

Ok, I hope the pics come through. I forged a small dagger from a half round file without removing the teeth. The knife was tempered @400F cleaned up a little and then tested. I dropped it on its point without failure. Then I put it in the vice and flexed it. It broke rather easily. If the pics don't come through I'll try to describe the outcom. On side (I think the flat) the grain was clean, on the half round side it was choppy and course. You'll notice a couple of inclusions from sunk in teeth, they were not visible from the outside. Forging with the teeth may work if you grind out the inclusions before heat treating, but I'd rather do it first than take the chance of a falure. Like my attempt at posting the pics if they didn't work. 0

Well, don't leave us hanging. A new car is pretty but it's whats under the hood that counts. What steel? Handle material? Why the brown blade? Give us the skinny. B)

Early on I bought a peice of 5160 to test with and compair to the springs I have, they were identical. From everything I've been told and from experience most automotive and truck springs today are 5160 or some version of. The problem with sword making is the heat treating, it is most difficult to get the heat even through the entire blade.

Woody, that first file sounds like you over heated the steel. I've had that happen a few times when I wasn't paying attention. I do edge quench, and I think that's the key . Not the edge quench but not having anything that could cause a riser when you get to that point. I've got a video showing a guy quenching a blade before he did any grinding, I believe this is a sure fire method for this kind of failure. I'm going to run the experiment tonite forging a file, I will use this method. I think I can get a stress failure.

Bryan, I don't get the tripple quench either. If you follow proper techniques grain growth shouldn't be a problem. I would like to see or hear from some one who has tested both techniqes on 5160 and get their opinion on if it gave any advantage. Stormcrow, I love those blades. I would like to see them with some stag handles to stand in contrast to the dark blades. I'm not biased, I love organic materials. That would take away from the military look.

It may be just me, but every modern leaf spring I've ever delt with was 5160. They included everything from a '77 farmont to a late model f250 4wd and several trailer springs, even ones from a coal hauling trailer. I do understand that from the mid '70's back they were 9260 and some extra heavy duty truck springs (peterbuilt, freightliner...) could be 6150. Finally, I spoke to a gentleman who works in the steel industry. He said during the late '80's and early '90's they supplied GM with 50100 for thier truck springs. I haven't gotten my hands on a set yet, but have a few scrappers looking for me. Offer a free knife and you can get a lot of springs thrown your way.

I was buying it at $18 per 50lb bag from the AFC, but a friend is resoring an old mercintile from the 1890's and wouldn't you know it; the basement is full of coal. My wife doesn't much care for the pile I'm building. :D

I've got a few of the original "black diamonds". I did a simmonds and it did seem to get harder than the lennox but for some reason (I know why but ain't admitting it) the blade warped during heat treat. I'll have to straiten it out and try again. I could have sworn though, the simmonds had "made in the usa" stamped on it.

As someone who works in the welding supply industry, I don't know what you are talking about. B) Not. We complain about all those fee's as much as you. :( You did give me some that I've not heard of, but can now use :D . Nice cart, if I built one it would look like it belonged on a Tim Burton film.

The biggest threat of poisining for a 'smith is from galvinized steel. We all run accross it and sometimes are tempted to use it. The zinc is toxic and builds up in the body and will make you sick and can kill you. The second is carbon monoxide from your forge. Always work in a well ventalated area and if you are using green coal then you've got other toxins in the smoke. Always wear protective clothing, gloves and safety glasses. Things fly around and will put out an eye (most of us only have two), sharp objects can cut off an apendage or cause infection. Keep burn ointment, cause you will be burnt. Be wary of old fire bricks, these also can contain toxic heavy metals. Be smart and enjoy your new hobbie.

I don't like charcoal, it hurts. :wacko: I ran low on burn ointment. How to put it out? Don't waste a good fire, roast some hot dogs over it or make some smores. :D Really though, I couldn't get a consistant fire from the stuff. It was either too hot or not hot enough. I think it had to do with the inconsistant sizes of the chunks. Blue flame = oxidizing = really hot but you'll see a lot more scale.

Any welding supply will be able to order that stuff. 1/8 is most common, at least every welding supply (including the current one) I've worked for carry it. It's very expensive, and going up every day it seems. I've got about 30lbs of .045 wire that was a reject. I was thinking of using is for casting a bronze dagger or something. What are you doing with it?

I prefer to over build my knives. I use mine for crow bars. I've never had one fail due to a stress riser, that being said I've always tried not to leave anything that would cause one. It might be fun to take one of my old files and forge it out and see what it takes to make a stress failure. If I get a failure I will post a pic.

It is very common in files for stress risers to form, forging before grinding the teeth will make cold shuts that will alway cause a failure if in the hardening zone. I have always made it a practice to grind the teeth off, I might leave a hint in the ricasso for the customer to see. I honestly don't think in a stock removal blade that the teeth will cause a stress riser just due to the fact they didn't when the file was made, it's when they are forged into the steel that it becomes a problem.

Thanks, it doesn't come close to the guy who made the 'roo out of scrap. Well, atleast you can put the tree on a coffe table and still see the TV. :)

The wire edge is what most chefs want, this is why cutlery sets come with a steel rod. It is used to realign the wire edge. A wire edge rips through soft stuff very easily. You know you've got this kind of edge because it will bend over where your finger nail can catch it. They don't work good on bone and hard stuff. I've found a comprimise for my kitchen knives. They are made from a band saw blade used to cut through steel I beams. I don't know the alloy of this stuff but it makes a wicked strong blade. I use a convex grind and sharpen with a 220 grit stone. I work the wire edge off. It makes for a fairly course edge that can still handle cutting through frozen meat easily.