Steve Sells

Monday Tuesday Payday

Borax IS a standard flux.

ok Normalizing is to relieve stress. Annealing does that PLUS softens the steel a lot more. to allow easier shaping cold, ir grinding, filing, sanding,, I better pay more attention to the words I chose. Sorry for any confusion my pea brain caused..

Nice work Spike

annealing is done after forging to relieve stress. when heated to forging temps it erases most of anything that was done before. Old spikes may have stress fractures in there already, New won't have them. sharp angles, areas of drastic transition of thickness, are stress risers in themselves. so dont use a 90 degree inside corner, rather a small rounding at the intersection to avoid this problem. hammering too cold. Most steels have a temperature range they are happy to be forged in, and a range that they are very "annoyed" in IF hammered at black heat it can crack from that.. Please don't give up, keep trying. Used materials have their own problems that cant be avoided. only worked around

I have found its very hard to get a hollow grind by hand. Most of us use a contact wheel. This blade shape and file detail, looks a lot like some kit blanks I have seen, Just wondered, since you posted this as a first blade.

something happened. IF you want more detailed answers, we need more detail of the blade, steel type, new/used?, HT, annealed?> forge/stock removal? thickness... it could be many things, but with out knowing, its all wild guesses. forged?

What kind of machine did you use for those bevels, and how was it heat treated ?

I guess I missed your log in, sorry for not saying Welcome to IFI sooner.

Yes, BUt you may have misunderstood the meaning of that term. De-rating a circuit is done many times. But de-rating is for the total load of a panel, NOT the individual line, a breaker (fuse, etc) is there to protect the wiring from over load. An example is a 8 unit building, each unit may have a 100 amp panel, but the building set up may allow you to de-rate that to a 400 amp main panel to service the entire building, as when the units are offices, they may have 100 amp sub panels. but never need that much. it does NOT mean to use smaller wires. a 100 amp panel needs 100 amp wire, a 400 amp needs 400 amp wire. 50 amp welder plug needs a 50 amp wire and breaker, IF you have 10 gauge then its 30 amp. putting a 50 amp breaker on a 30 amp line, is removing the stated protection, and can cause you or your kid, friends, etc, to DIE. A laundry have have 20 circuits for 30 amp dryers. While each circuit is still a 30 amp breaker, the main panel can does not need to have 600 amps. due to de-rating it can be less than a 600 amp panel, because it should never need that much. But each 30 amp line, must still be protected by a 30 amp breaker if they are wired with 10 gauge THHN wire. Just as 50 amp breakers should have at least 8 gauge THHN wiring. Any more info and I will have to charge you :)

Not that I will bis, living here in the states, but Heavy isn't an exact weight, a shame they cant tell ya before ya get it

I love my Smith, But to be fair for comparison, its a "Little Torch" the jewelry set up, small, tiny, great for my knife work. The 3 smallest tips have synthetic sapphires for the jets and produce a flame that can barely be seen in strong light, so a very localized heat.

I have been using Boric acid as an additive ( about 5 to 10%) to my borax and it seems to work better as a flux, Cheapest way for me is buying a can of Roach Proof ( 98% boric acid) also as Thomas stated, beware of Di Hydrogen Monoxide, it has killed countless people over the years..

come up here some weekend I can help you to make your own mandrel. Since I want to make a bick for my new anvil as well. I even have some nice 5160H for making those spears out of somewhere....

I would use the IN HAND 7 inch pipe you have BUT: put 2 sections together and make it a 14 inch diameter flue. Assuming you have the type that is made flat and connects down the side. I have seen two of the 5 inchers used for a one 10 inch flue... my new side draft is 12 x 12... brick ala JeremyK

nail it to Ian's Forehead, see how long he takes to notice it there . Welcome the IFI

Most shows I do have a stated price, but for the Ren Faires, I 'pad' the price a little, and they feel better after talking me down, (Yes they pay the same price as my web site, or the other shows in the end) just part of the game.

As an electrician I have tubes on the service truck. WARNING metal ends. the metal WILL go through the plastic PVC ends, I know. had to stop fast, I did, the conduit in the tube kept going, right on through the pvc caps. the tubes are great. the foam may stop noise, but it won't stop inertia and forward momentum.

here is my setup, safety fence, bellows and anvil all here.

5 ??? ummmmm no. You must have me confused with Howard Clark or Jim Hrisoulas, there are only a few that make blades deserving of those figures. I think its the stone mushrooms I used in the leading photo, giving the illusion of a false grandeur. I will admit 4, and I should have charged more than I did. But I think many of us feel that way sometimes after finishing a longer than planned project.

Coal forge, and a 4.6 pound hammer and anvil is wastefull the rolling mill I built last year helps. not really 15 pounds, to be exact, 14 pounds 10.5 oz. scale plus the 1/4 inch grinder disk to make the ladder... After I finish building my new shop, I will build a press. Not to out do the 85 + ton Julius Squeezer :cool: but in the 25 to 50 ton range would be nice. But thank you Jim, praise coming from you is a high Compliment. And I used Oil quench

the SORI is the amount of curve to the blade, When you lay the blade on a flat surface, its the measurement of the "gap" when the point and the back of the blade at the cross guard are on the table. notes: its strange, a few months ago I started with almost 15 pounds of 1095 and L6 and I ended up with a katana. the Tsuba is only 60 layers. I am honored people like It, I hope my client does, he had the curve and and length, and ladder pattern requested, the rest was up to me. I really wondered about doing a silver Habaki, and about using pure nickel rather than the a203e then hot bluing the tsuba.... so many ideas.... so little time.

also what temps and are you normalizing before the hardening? is it new or used steel?

The files will be great. BUT 5160 is very hard to forge weld, to anything. I have so much trouble with it, that even after 15 years of welding, I wont use it unless I have to, and since I call the shots in my forge. I dont have to very often. It is your call, but I suggest another material to mix with the files.

I posted a section of this blade when I first etched it, now its ready for delivery. Here is a 460 layer pattern welded katana I made for an Iaido practitioner for light cutting, 29 inch blade, 1/2 inch sori, 0.3 inch thick at tsuba, 0.2 1 inch from tip, Habaki is copper, Tsuba is 1095 and A203E in a radial ladder pattern. 1/4 thick. Differentially ( clay) hardened, then tempered 4 hours at 440F. Very sharp, the Client will make the rest of the mounts, saya etc.