dennis_hl

Here is a link to a knife demo that I put together for the Armour Archive. http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=57695 I'm going to turn it into a formal howto, but would like some feedback before I do so. Should I do it up as a blueprint too? Dennis

This may be a better view. I think I can see this as wood grain. I draw filed, then hand sanded it.

Are the smaller band saw blades also L6, I may have access to several yards of it from my dad. I think it came from a portable saw mill, the blades are about 1" + wide. Never mind, I read the post on bandsaw blades. D'oh!

BTW: I found some L6, a friend has a length of bandsaw blade from a saw mill. It's not much, only a 12" section. I'll be giving it a try as soon as I have it. Dennis

Thanks for the info in your post above. As to the pattern in the photo, I was dealing with the sun and reflection and I think you are seeing some of the deeper sanding marks. The blade is still a work in progress. The bar was a lam. of ss ms ss ms, doubled, I squared the billet and twisted it. The pattern flattened a bit while working it into shape, but there is a twist visable when you're not fighting a reflection. Dennis

I came across a few drawings online of an 8th century Germanic Seax, which I based this blade on. This blade's cutting edge is 8.5 inches. I welded up a simple twisted bar of 5160 and mild steel, drew it out and then welded on another length of 5160 for the edge. I forged the blade to shape and cleaned it up with a file. One thing that I noticed when hardening the blade was that I had to quench it in cool oil to make it hard enough to take an edge. Plain 5160 I found, needs warm oil (cool oil seems to make the steel brittle--my shop's working temp during the winter is often in the teens F, it's not heated and is largely open to the elements, I frequently have to brush snow off of the anvil, so cool oil is not solid oil if you know what I mean). This took cool oil, I suspect it was the mild steel and carbon migration. For my next blade, an Anglo-Saxon seax, I'd like to use some wrought Iron that I have and 5160 for the edge. Will carbon migration be so much of a problem as to not allow the steel edge to harden enough to take and hold an edge? If so, what are some of my options? Cold oil? Ohh, almost forgot, here's the pic of the latest blade:

Thanks for the feedback. I have a couple of more knives in the works. I'll post when finished.

Opps, I meant using epoxy on scales, not giving up on scales on knives. The only problem that I've had really is drilling my holes, I free hand it--no drill press. I used 5 min epoxy off the shelf at Wally World. I'm going to try mounting the scales without epoxy next, though I sort of have already. (I feel funny using epoxy on knives that follow historic examples, it feels like cheating . If epoxy is an excepted means of setting scales to a blade, I'll keep using it on my modern knives, keeping the above advice in mind. The following is the blade that I reffered to above. I left it alone until this morning. The scales are ash, the epoxy held up until I took a torch to the handle to "age" it a bit, they popped off, next time I'll set the rivits first. I sanded the handle with sand paper down to 1000 grit, polished it up nice didn't it?

Up to this point I've been making one piece knives. I thought I'd give scales a shot. The scales on this knife are ash, the blade is 5160, I rivited the scales on with lengths of brass brazing rod. I used epoxy to hold the scales on while I drilled the holes for the rivits. I have one more blade with epoxied scales currently clamped up, it will likely be my last. I was iffy on my ability to rivit the scales on and have them hold, but these held very well when I flexed the blade and handle. Dennis

Here are some more knives that I've made in recient days, they are made from a coil spring off of an automobile. They were inspired by a Viking "woman's" knife that I saw somewhere online. I'm not trying to duplicate anything historically specific, I liked the style. Comments, critiques? This one is about nine inches long. This one is about six and a half inches long. None of these are pattern welded.

Here is the second folded steel blade (100 or 73 layers, depending on how you count them). The pattern is a bit more pronounced, I put a high polish on it then etched it in vinegar, then touched up the polish again with a worn piece of 1000 grit sand paper.

Strine, Makes perfect sense, thanks. Now I'm gonna have to sit down and do some figuring, I've made another one. I thought it had 100 layers. Using my old method of counting layers I inserted another piece of spring steel at "12" and then folded it to get "25" layers, then again for "50," then "100." Is that 73 then, when counting properly? I'll post pics when I get it cleaned up.

This is my first folded steel blade. I made this blade out of mild steel and a length of car coil spring. It is 24 layers, I twisted it after each weld. The mild steel bar was about two feet long, provided a great handle, didn't need to use tongs at all. I bent one end into a rough 4 inch U shape and inserted a 3 inch length of spring steel. The first weld had 3 layers, I doubled it for 6, then 12, then 24. I squared the handle, twisted it near the blade, drew out the end to a point, and then rounded the handle and put the little curl at the end. This is my thrid or fourth knife (depending on how you count them)

I'd start by asking family and friends, then move on to neighbors, ask around. You'd be surprised! Place a want ad in your local paper, look for them at farm auctions...

I used the cheapest, 100% pure clay, kitty litter from Wally world. I cut it with sand from the beach at about 50% by dry volume and used it for the body of the forge, then used uncut kitty litter clay to line fire pot itself and cap/seal off the clay/sand portion. I mixed the clay and water and let it sit over night and then worked it improve its consistancy. The first lining had large cracks throughout as it dried, then I read somewhere, maybe on this forum, that one should use as little water as possible when lining with clay, worked great. I fired up the forge that day and found that cracking was minimal, the previous lining I left to dry for several days before firing. Not sure if the small cracks formed because I fired it up before drying or if cracking was minimized by my early firing. Either way I've gone back and filled in the cracks that formed with more clay and haven't had a problem since. As for fuel, check your local hardware store to see if they can order lump hardwood charcoal for you. BTW: just to cut off any jokes, I used fresh kitty litter. Dennis

Thanks for your time and the input guys.

I'm very new to blacksmithing, been pounding hot iron for just a little more than a year. I'm finding it very difficult to come up with new things. For a while making square-stock round and round-stock square was very rewarding. I learned how to make things pointy, scrolls, and the like. But now it seems that I sometimes stand at the forge and kind of stare at the fire and wounder what to do next, so I make a chisel or work on a pair of tongs (I'm still trying to perfect that skill, I blame the same part of my brain that makes me think d's and b's are the same letter-yes tell me that each piece is identical all you want, but for some reason that message dosen't get through from my hand to the hammer, I know, I need more practice, maybe I should make a low priority higher on my list). I've made many of my tools, and continue to do so, and if someone tells me that they need this or that I can mostly meet their needs (heh, unless it's a pair of tongs). But I have trouble imagining myown things to create. What processes do you go through to come up with new creations? I've found wonderful inspiration by looking at other people's work, yes, if I want a belt buckle like so-and-so's I probably can make something similar to it, same with a candle stand, etc. I'm not looking for any sort of "hang in there son" or "don't worry, it'll come." I know I might sound discouraged, I'm realy not, eight hours at the forge still feels like ten minutes, I'm just looking for suggestions to get over the creativity hump. Dennis