GeorgeLots

http://imgur.com/a/wnL9V/all#0 I hope this will work so you guys can see the pics.

it seems i have a prob with showing the pics :(

Okay guys here is my 1st attempt on making a blade. I experimented with a small stripe that was cutoff from a leaf spring and tried to do the basic shaping and forging of a blade to see how well i can handle the blade making sequence. I rough grinded heat treated tempered and grinded again with 120 grit and then hand polished with finer grits . The marks of the 120 grit are still visible on the blade but i didnt tried to completely removed all marks. After all it was only an experiment. I will be using this blade to the yard works to clear grass etc. it is a bit sharp anyway :) Didnt went all the way to very sharp edge. Well that's my 1st experimental knife ( roughly shaped, polished and assembled). Of to next tries now.. All comments welcome.

great job Jim. The blade looks beautifull and the work on the grip and the case looks amazing. I like the gold shade of the blade on the photos. :)

Well yes Thomas that's what i am trying to find out atm. There are some machine shops around that they repair bouldozers and heavy trucks etc so i guess they would probably use high carbon steel that i could get some. All i need to do is to get to know someone of them :). Working on that also.

Yes i thought that also John. But the prob is the retail price. I want a flat bar of 1060 or 5160 for knife/sword making attempts. I have some leaf springs but i cant bring them to correct thickness to shape them correctly for a long blade. So i need a fresh bar of 4mm thickness max to experiment with. Prob is on the retail price or the factory price. most engineers buy them on mass quantities from factories. i want a few bars only. Anyway i'll keep searching around :) Thanks anyway.

Hello everybody.. Didn't know where to post this one so i started a topic here. Does anyone of you know an online shop that i can buy steel bars in Europe , or anyway that they would sheep them to Greece? i am having a bit of a problem locating a supplier in my area. I asked around in metal suppliers and they only have iron bar or poor steel. retail shops with alloy and high carbon steel found yet. Would appreciate if anyone knows any sites.. Thanks a lot.

Thomas thanks for pointing those two out :) didnt know that we had knifemakers in Greece besides Crete. BUT i say again in MY TOWN there is none. I cant leave my job and my family and move south 500kms or more to become an apprentice of these knifemakers. all i can learn is some basics on blacksmithing from blacksmiths in my area (if they are willing to learn me) and the rest on bladesmithing to learn from books, web and myself. I appreciate that you are trying to protect the new starters from making terrible mistakes and waste their time and work but this is something i wanna do. It's like someone that wish to do a skydiving and his friends say " it's dangerous and what if you wont open the parachute etc etc " but he still jumps from the plane. I wanna tinker along and find out what i am capable of doing with the forging. Who knows i might be the next one to pick up the lost art in Greece. North Greece Kozani. if you check the map of Greece and see Kozani and Fokida and Athens and Crete you will understand it's not easy to just pop up on the store of one these guys and learn his work. I am alone in this place and my teacher is the web and my own skills. Thanks for your concern though. Cheers.

thanx a lot Jim :) Passionate or not all of you guys are a treasure vault to someone like me that is looking anything he can grab on to :) Cheers to all !! :)

i am in Greece :) no bladesmiths in my town for sure. only shops that sell kitchen and butcher knives and some hunting stores.. If i will do anything i will do it by myself that is for sure :)

well thanks everyone for their advices and comments. you were all very helpfull .i am not in the US so no bladesmith around to teach me anything.I am doing this for my own pleasure and i love the feeling of the forge and the hammer trying to shape the metal. I hope i will finally reach my goal and satisfy myself :) Thanks everyone. i' ll keep you posted on any progress i will have.

Well yes i get the point that we cannot determine the structure and the materials in the piece of metal of the leaf spring that i have. I have read the book of Jim Hrisoulas you mentioned and found usefull advices. The thing is that am not a professional blacksmith that just started his shop. i am doing this only because i have a great love for swords. If a sword construction fails on me i dont really care to do something else. So all the info is on the sword making that i wish to know. Yes i thought to try and make a knife 1st to see how it goes and how the steel will come out, but i am so anxious to make my own sword. Anyway i suppose the best thing is to buy a new piece of 5160 or 1060 steel to work with or get the piece i have to the phamatografer to analyze it and see the materials it has. The other question now is how can i see if the fatigue limit is passed??

Hello to everyone. As a newbie in blacksmith/bladesmith and for amateur purposes (for my own enjoyment) i started searching info on how to make swords etc and seen on the web that leaf springs could make excellent swords because of the elasticity they have. Reading this article now you guys made me anxious that i am tinkering in the wrong metal. I have some leaf springs that i got from a small truck (car size not the big ones) and i started working one a piece of them. They are a bit dirty and some rust on them but i grinded the surface of the piece to remove the dirt and it was smooth as i far as i could see. I am trying to forge it all the way, heating it to around 1800 F (orange colour) and forging and i would heat treat it when finished and anneal it also. Will there be still a problem with it? if it is a bad idea to procceed i might as well dump them now that i am on the early stages. Thanks a lot.