Saiga308

My Dad really liked the fixed blade pocket knife I forged the first time, so I hammered him out one too. The steel is 1/2" round bar and I used red spacer material and Bocote wood for the handle. I tried to taper the spine from about midway forward and to the back, I also made the edge convex, including the chisel. The sheath is Kydex, the trick was getting it to form a clamp that will grip the top seam of the front pants pocket so that it will stay put and not slide around. Anyway it was a lot of fun and I am already looking at the last piece of steel I have thinking, what if....? Here are some pics

I finally got to do some cutting today with my first forged blade. I started out battoning it thru some dry white oak fire wood, and then battoning thru the pieces, after that I found a nice little sapling and battoned thru it and then chopped off all the limbs and cut it to length. Next I made a little stake and hammered it into a stump deep enough that I could chop the knife into the stake and it would stay. It was a little cold outside for my son and I so I decided to try out the BSA striker cut that was on the back of the blade. I used the flat end to scrape off some cedar bark and then collected some twigs. I pushed the flat end into the stump and held onto the handle with my weak hand, and then drew the metal match across the scalloped edge with my strong hand, having pushed the cedar tinder nest right against the blade. After I found my sweet spot on the edge the sparks flew! Very soon I had a nice little fire going on the stump and my knife did not have a rolled edge for once. So after all that cutting the edge could still shave, and I was a very happy new owner. I even went so far as too chop up a deer thigh bone from November that the dogs had drug into the yard. After a few minuets of fast chopping all up and down the blade, the edge was finnaly dinged up. The little dings were so small though that It only took a few passes on my Eze-lap to get the edge back up to scary sharp! I also did the same test with my CS Master Hunter, there were more dings on that blade and they were bigger, is it sad that it made me smile?

Thanks for the kind words folks! The metal was a piece of 1/2" round bar steel that I had welded together in shop class back in 1990....I was a terrible welder but since it was the only welding that I had done I kept the piece in my shop. It is VERY heavy for its size, but I don't know what it is.:confused: I did press the edge sdieways against a brass bar to see if it would chip or get bent, but it came back to true so I am hoping that I lucked out and got the heat treat right. I cut that original bar into 3 blanks, so if this one goes well I will keep using it for the next two. I have some Bocote wood, and some Pink Ivory!:D

I just finished forging my first knife today from

irst off, thank you all so much for your help getting this forge up and running. OK, I took the tub off and used it for a place to bust charcoal up. Once I put enough charcoal on the forge it runs great, and it is much quieter now that I replaced the hair dryer with a squirrel cage on a dimmer switch. I also moved the Anvil closer and put a fan behind me trying to keep as much clean air coming at me as possible. I do have some more questions, I am using 1/2" round stock, any idea what type of steel this should be and how I should quench it? Water or oil? I keep reading about soaking the charcoal in water before use to keep the sparks down, do I just spray it on, or do I dump the coal in a bucket of water? Here are some pics First off is the old tub and the charcoal bag, I am using an old plow share that I found 90% buried in the woods as my crusher, it works great! I wounder how old it is? Photo 1 Here is the squirrel cage Photo 2 Here is the new anvil location, the only ID I can find on it is on the base under the horn, it says T A80 4 Photo 3 I am working on my first blade right now, I hope to have some more pics tomorrow.

Thanks everybody for the info, funds are a little low and I don't have access to a welder so I am kinda going with what I have got for right now. The first thing I did after reading about problems with using the tub was to start a hot fire in a burn barrel with some firewood and after it got good and hot I left the tub on it to burn off as much of the shiny as I could. It worked really well, 98% of the finish was gone when I went back out a couple of hours later. I am planning on taking the tub off and trying just the old hub again too, because I have learned that the first time that I tried to use the original forge I did not use near enough charcoal. Today I was able to heat up the 1/2 round stock and cut it into lengths, I also got the steel hot enough to work with much easier. My biggest problem it that time just seems to fly by while I am working on this stuff, if it had not been for my two little helpers I would have forgotten about lunch! I am ashamed of the condition I let that anvil get into, it was never left out in the elements, but it was left untouched in the shed for years, I am going to make her shine again. Also when I do I will post any markings that are on it. Anyway I just wanted to update you folks with some pics and thank you again for all of your help so far.:D

I am about 7 miles NW of there along the Finley river, but I was raised along the Douglas/Ozark border...the closest place on the map was Almartha and Rock Bridge. Great place to grow up, just no work!

I was wondering about that myself, is there a way of telling if the tub is getting hot enough to put off fumes? The ash of course is there to insulate the tub, but is there a tell tale sign that its getting too hot? So far (one entire fire!) the sides did not discolor, or seem to really get hot. Do they make these tubs out of other material....this is the only type I think I have seen. Thank you all for the info!:)

Hello! I put my forge together today so I decided to post some pics. I have had the base for years, it is from a model T wheel, that I put some cement in to protect the metal. Since I have a tape showing Tai Goo's forge so I decided to copy that design, I used a wash tub, and put together a twier out of steel pipe about 18" long with a slit down the center. I can put a plug in the "T" connector and just use half of the twier also. I am using a hair dryer for right now for a blower, but I would like to switch a squirrel cage on a controller. Right now I am working with 1/2" round steel, trying to flatten it out into a blank for a knife. I am wondering...how much lump coal do you usually put in the forge for this type of project. I can get the steel to a bright red, but it cools quickly and seems to take a while to heat back up. I am only using a small pile of coal and I "think" I would do better with a larger pile to start. My next step is to try to fit my hot cut chisel into the hardy hole with the edge up so that I can try to cut this bar. Right now I am having a real hard time cutting the bar by holding the chisel with tongs. Anyway enjoy the pics!

I live about 26 miles East SE of Springfield in the country, but I grew up in Douglas aka:"Booger" County. I work for the Fire Dept. in Springfield and my Wife works for the local hospital. I just got back from the Hardware store, I am upgrading my forge today. Hopefully I will have some pics to post later on!

Just wanted to say hi. I finally started to pound some metal today, after sitting and dreaming about it for a few years! I was given an old forge made from a Model T wheel hub, (so I was told) when I was a kid, and have kept it all these years....it needs some touch up but after tinkering with it today I actually started to turn 1/2 round stock into a semi flat bar.......to me that is very exciting! Standing beside the forge watching the steel turn red, and the coals glowing as dusk came in for the night was special . Anyway I am a certified knife nut and am looking forward to learning all I can from you folks, I'll probably need lots of help!