Mephitus

Yeah... Next time I really work with D2 I am going to pay to have it sent off for professional treatment. The blade is now sharp as XXXXX and I have done some mild abuse (throwing it into tree-trunks like a throwing knife and other general utility use) and the worse I could do to it was chip the edge on the tip a bit when I tried to pry something metal apart. I was able to find an awesome supply of really cheap O1 stock that should last me for the foreseeable future. Was going to try my hand at something a little longer like a couple bowie knives with it. But that will have to wait until I can build a gas forge. My wife has gotten pregnant and is very sensitive to the smell of burning coal. So no smithing for me till then. Please read ToS again, this is the 3rd language issue with you, you will not enjoy a 4th time

Sure, since it's D2 tool steel I knew it was going to be difficult XXXX to treat. I followed what I could find on the net as best i could. I wrapped it in steel foil a few wraps and then brought it up to bright orange curie (About 1700-1800^F if I was to guestimate) for at least 15 minutes of soak, being as careful as I could not to overheat it (Still scorched the foil a bit, the blade came out without any problems). I only have a small coal forge, so that was really hard to monitor. I quenched in warm used motor oil until it was cold enough that I could touch it without immediately burning my hands. To be sure I repeated twice more. I then tempered at 400^F for about an hour and a half in a toaster oven before turning it off and letting it cool in the oven (took another 20-25 minutes). I dont have anything to test the hardness properly, but I have really had to work at giving it an edge with my wet stone. As of right now one side is only a little sharp and the other is what I would describe as "utility" knife sharp, can cut hair with a little difficulty. I have been trying not to be overly aggressive with sharpening it quite yet, just in case I make a major mar on the pristine surface I am enjoying so much. The handle is 2 pieces of alder wood I shaped and then epoxied to the tang. I tried to drill it for brass pegs before hardening, but either my bits XXXX, or the steel hardened from the attempt, but I broke 3 before getting all the way through and giving up. Finger guard was just a small square of steel I shaped with a dremel and sandpaper. I still want to round it off more eventually. The leather wrapping was put on wet and stretched taught before stitching it, once it dried and shrunk back down I havent been able to budge it. I am working on a new sheath for it as I completely fubar'ed my first attempt. It came out way too uneven and messy. But hey, thats what this is for! My plan is to make a ring of metal for the pommel and affix a cut D20 dice inside that and encased in clear acrylic to look like a jewel. Without a metal lathe, I have been stumped on how to do this as a single piece of metal though.

This is my first dagger/knife I have made. Forged out of D2. I still need to finish polishing down the finger guard into a more rounded shape and I am working on a pommel piece. The high polish on the blade doesnt show fully in the pic, but you can see yourself in it. The beveling is a little uneven as I did almost all of it by eye and I am still getting a razor edge put on it. Otherwise I am very happy with how this turned out.

I have been working with my new toy a couple times (i have 2 knives im working on i will show later when they are done) and i have learned much both on everything involved. Though a critical critique has come up about my forge that may require a rebuild.... Namely that the fire pot is too deep. While the 7" deep conical shape is extremely efficient at retaining and reflecting heat. I can get 1/4" x 1" stock from room to yellow heat in under 2.5 minutes with it and welding heat about 3-4 minutes. A bit too much air and i even accidently melted one piece i was working on. (live and learn) It also seems to be reasonably fuel efficient as well. With about 15 hours of hard burning on it I seem to have only gone through maybe 10-15lbs of coal. But because the pot is so deep i can only heat about 3" sections of the first 5-6" of a given piece. Good for small knives, but last night i was trying to make some long handle tongs and couldnt get far enough down the metal to heat where i needed to work the rivet section. So i think i will try to make a new one that is a bit larger with a fire pot thats only about 3" deep, flat working surface, and more surface area for coal. TL;DR Fire pot too deep, will need to redesign.

Thats exactly what i was going to do. Cut a circular hole in a steel full sheet pan and then weld a stand around it with another sheet pan bent/wrapped around one end as a shield and backstop for more fuel. Was only going to make it only about 3 foot tall as i want it to be pretty small and portable. Then i will have to work on a proper stand for my anvil. Which i have cleaned the scale off and painted with high temp engine enamel. Its cherry red and looks badass, haha.

So I built the first part of my forge today. Im calling it the Crazy Chef Forge since its made from a wok. No, seriously, its a 16" 14g high carbon steel wok i nabbed from a local restaurant supply for $17, some black iron piping for duct ($8) with that end being PVC so i can tool it a bit depending on what blower i attach (broke the one i had put on there). The end only gets warm to the touch, no worry. The rest is fire brick and refractory mortar i got for under $30. I am working with a friend who has access to a plasma cutter and industrial welding equipment to make a good stand. Im thinking i will put locking caster wheels on it so i can move it around as needed. I have only fired it once but seems to do a smashing job and coal cokes very nicely in it. I will fire it again tomorrow and push it a bit harder and try working a bit with it.

Cool, i will see about doing some of that as time goes, i like the idea of how to bolt it down. For now, i think i will just see about securing it down to a log till i can get more supplies. All my money is going to moving right now.

Here it is. Tell me what you think! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQYza_rf_W0

My plan is to weld some feet on and to take an old axe head and fix it up like in this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN2Xqf6uxCk&feature=related At least, once i get my hands on a welder or if my friend can help me as he would know how. Not a bad idea to weld plate to it too...But i can think about that down the line too.

If it helps, you can do what i did and check your local machine shops for any large scrap pieces. Its how i scored this: Or even any steel supply in your area. Ive seen people score large scraps from a billet and do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN2Xqf6uxCk I have also seen people score good pieces at metal yards. For example, there are 2 large scale metal recyclers in my area and before i made my find i was going to get in touch with them to keep a look out for anything that would have fit the bill too as they will sell it at weight cost alone.

Xxxx! Thats one hell of an anvil you moved! He was able to weigh it in under 200lbs. I was going to attach some car nylon straps on it rated for over 1 ton on top of some boards ive lined the trunk with. He is not sure exactly what kind of steel it is, but is leaning towards that its 1018 steel. Do you guys think i will have to worry about hardening it? If it helps i will make a little video with it to make a better judgement on that. If you wanted to see the belt sander he is helping me make, you can find it here: http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/threads/23230-Belt-sanders-we-built?highlight=2x42+sander The CNC plans are on page 3 if any of you wanted to make one for yourself. Hehe, i cant wait, it feels like christmas!

Thanks for the recommendation phil, i didnt think about that. I was going to pick it up today but something came up. I will try again on monday, but i will make sure to put some wood down to protect the trunk. I will make sure to post on it once i get it home too.

Haha, best part, his shop foreman said "if it just disappears, I won't notice" Now...to try and fit it into the trunk of my honda accord on my way home from work...

I have a friend who is an engineer for a machinist shop that designs equipment for other manufacturers. So he has access to some fun stuff. For example, he is helping me CNC water cut a belt sander assembly to bolt on an an electric motor i salvaged. I realized i could ask him to check for scrap that i could use as a makeshift starter anvil. A few minutes later he sends me a pic of this (So you get an idea of dimentions, its about 5" thick)

Related to that deal though, in case you (or anyone else is interested) Theres a melting furnace and crucible that just went up for $1,800: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=21062790 A decent looking blower: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=21332749 And a small forge (That would be very tempting if i wasent in the process of moving or having my machinist friend help me make for free out of scaps from his work): http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=21490628

Yeah, thats exactly where i saw it. As an update, she declined the offer and sold it to some other schmo for $700. So i will just keep my eyes open for another deal.

Aparently they had it appraised at $1,200. (how they got this, not sure) I told her whats up with it and lead to a lower price. So we will have to see what she comes back with.

So im pretty open by my status as complete newb as far as everything goes. (But i still love learning) A person relatively local to me is moving and offered me this old PW WW2 era anvil for about $1k. Luckily, I have learned from you all to avoid spending the money i do not have on what I now understand is just an ASO. But i wont lie, the aestetics and character still call to me on it. What do you guys think?

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=21361730&cat=272&lpid=&search= Found this and figured that if someone wanted to snag it if its still available. I wouldnt have anything i could do with it, but i bet one of you could find something useful for it.

http://www.ksl.com/i...lpid=12&search= I still havent had a chance to build any other part of my starter forge, but this seems like a deal that it would be hard to justify passing up. What do you guys think?

Good advice all around. Question though, I wear prescription glasses but they are pretty small as far as protection is concerned. Aside from a full face shield, can anyone recommend a partuclar safety goggle/glasses that i can wear on top of my existing ones? Most the work i do on things is pretty small dremmel hobby work, but i really hate even thinking about anything threatening my eyesite.