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I Forge Iron

jmccustomknives

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Everything posted by jmccustomknives

  1. That is an oldy. They don't make 'em like that any more.
  2. Really, wrought moves easier than modern steel but it must be worked very hot and you can't work it below a certain temp otherwise it will begin to split. So no, his assessment is incorrect. Wrought has its benefits but being able to stretch it like warm cheese isn't one of them. It takes less hammer weight to move the same amount of material but modern steel has a broader heat range to work so you get more time to work it during each heat.
  3. One thing I learned early on, a sheath sells the knife.
  4. Cable doesn't exactly work like laminated Damascus. Even fully hardened breaking them is an adventure. It's that way because it is a true hi/low Damascus and the wires twist through the billet. It only works if done right though. These are well done. Can welded?
  5. That depends....do you have a boat and need an anchor? It's cast iron, so no.
  6. My local TSC has had some on order for a while. I love it. It's not smithing coal but it does reach welding temps for me and ash wasn't a problem at all.
  7. Steve, if every first grade teacher who'd been at it 30 years expected her new kids to know what the prier classes had learned she wouldn't be a good teacher would she? Some folk are so new that even navigating around this site is a daunting task. It doesn't help when you have all those yay hoo's on youtube and other places making it look so easy and feeding bad info. I give folk the benefit of the doubt until it shows that they are just dreamers and wanna be's. I'd never heard of that steel, so I looked it up (I was curious, ok ). If I have time to do that I can reply. I'll let the forges fire clean out those who can't handle it, it doesn't take long. He'll learn soon enough that swords aren't knives, and it isn't near as romantic as books and movies make it.
  8. Sup9 is similar to 5160 in chemical composition (a little more chromium). It would make a tough blade I'm sure. As far as anvils go, cast iron ones are boat anchors. A farriers anvil is made for light work, if you are planning on heavy forging those anvils aren't going to hold up. Just like matching the steel to the blade your tools will need to match too.
  9. I built a single burner gas forge that can handle the HT on up to a 12" blade easily. I probably have around $120 in it. My double burner Diamondback Knifemakers Forge was pass through (like the one I built) and I was able to HT a 18" blade in it. A forge like this is an investment, you will use it for other things. Dare I say, for knifemaking, you'll all but quit using the coal.
  10. Probably, but it would be slow going. Better to use a metabo style slicer wheel on a grinder. If you can get a real Metabo (they aren't cheap) it's well worth the investment. Otherwise a good grinder and slicer wheel will be a lot faster. Wear your safety gear.
  11. I don't know that you'll get very far doing that. It didn't look like he was. Alloy content will contribute to the problem too. So no, cold working tempered steel isn't a good idea. I don't know about the rest of the guys here, but if I caught someone doing that on one of my anvils they'd get knocked up side the head with a bucket of coal at minimum. That is how one ruins an anvil.
  12. Farriers rasp are notorious for being case hardened. It's always good policy to test every one of them. Even Nicholson used case hardening and good steels in their rasps over the years. You never know which one you have until it's tested.
  13. I once tried mixing case hardening compound in with my borax for welding up my cable. Wouldn't you know it, that's about the only stuff borax won't dissolve. But I did come up with taking some charcoal and grinding into a fine powder then mixing it with my borax. It works. Now as to any benefit, I haven't had enough testing to see. But the patterning did seem a little more defined. My problem was I did it during the changing of the seasons. The temp of the ferric chloride really has a lot to do with how the cable etches out.
  14. I had a Kohlswa, it was almost as good as my Fisher. The problem I had with it is when it was used people would show up in their Sundays best ready for church. Yeah, it was that loud. lol. The Fisher is like a stealth fighter, you never hear it until the work is done. lol. Great find!
  15. Both opinions are right. The hammer does do the work, it's up to the smith to give it the energy to do the work. Your going to move more metal if you double the kinetic energy in the hammer. The difference, and a painful one to learn, is not to "push" the hammer through the work. There's also the anvil which is lost in the discussion, an anvil with a high rebound will move a lot more material than a soft anvil with the same energy exerted by the hammer.
  16. It's an amperage thing with the goggles. Your machine is probably under 20 amps? You could probably get away with shade 3 if you can't see with the 5's. Your machines instructions should have come with instructions that would have told you what lens you need. I
  17. Long sleeve shirt, leather gloves (mig or tig gloves will work better as they are lighter), Shade 3 or 5 glasses, the darker the better for your eyes. Like Glenn said, list your body parts you want to keep. A plasma doesn't throw out the UV's that welding does but it does through them out. Also keep in mind a plasma will cut anything that will conduct electricity, including you. I was talking with the Miller rep one day and he shared an incident where he was doing a demo by making a jack-o-lantern out of a coke can. A good customer of the place he was at told him to let the customer make one. Long story short, the customer cut off one of his fingers. Yep, once it came off there was no putting it back either.
  18. You got a very good plasma. I've been selling plasmas for 20 years and in this current market the hypertherm is the best. You got a big one too. You might want to get a machine torch and table to take full advantage of the machine.
  19. I used a small shop vac for years.
  20. I recently got some 80crv2 from Aldo. It's a little tougher to forge, doesn't move quite as easy as other steels but the HT was simple. It took a soft back draw well. That knife was a 11 1/2" Bowie. It warped slightly. I used a soft back draw to straiten the blade, the steel took the soft back draw well and straitened right up. The drop test left a divot in the floor. It chopped through a 2x4 easily and was still sharp. So my next project with it is a hybrid San Mai forged with cable and the 80crv2 at the core. So far the billet has forged up well. I've got other projects pressing so this one has went to the back burner. I'm curious to see how this one turns out.
  21. I think it's one of the dumbest things ever. You know the old question, "What weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of steel?". Well, a pound is a pound. So if my job requires a 1lb hammer that's what I'm going to use. If it requires a 6lb hammer, that's what I'm going to use. Why would I want a 3lb hammer the size of a 6lb? It's the weight of the hammer that does the work regardless of the material the hammer is made of.
  22. rule of thumb. If it's made for strength = medium carbon. If it's made for wear your getting into higher carbon. Well, with the exception of ar plate.
  23. I do think it a whole lot safer than chopping on wood blocks. If you are doing it without wearing proper safety gear nothing in knifemaking is safe. lol. In my experience the drop is just a quick test of the tip, never have I had one break in the center or really break at all. I'll also capitulate that I only do the test on knives that are intended for rough use. Skinners are not one I'd ever do it to.
  24. Steve, I do the drop test all the time. Never had one do that. The problem is doing it without understanding heat treating and what is going on. First, don't harden much into the handle area. If you do use a torch to do some differential tempering. It's not really complex but doing it right can be. Keep your next blades simple. Get some steel like 1084 that's better suited for a newb. If you intend on making an unbreakable blade learn the "soft back draw". Good luck.
  25. Looks to me like it's had some resurfacing. I'd be concerned about it. Take a ball bearing to test it.
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