Wadhams

Maybe I'm crazy but I get sad when I finish a blade. You have this great relationship going and then it leaves you...Such is life. Tell me what you think about it. a a The knife is 5160 steel. The bolster is made from pewter and the handle from some curly sugar maple I had cut down awhile back. It's treated with aqua fortis and I've since treated the handle with Tung oil and the curls jump out even better. Comments and/or criticism...

Candle scones Be creative, inventive and resourceful! Use what you have. When I first started on my own I was forging sconces in my wood stove with charcoal and had a thick piece of plate steel as an anvil. Oh how I miss that old Jotul. Open all the dampers and crack the door just a bit...She would roar!

Scale can be a pain. Nevertheless it represents carbon leaving your steel. I think one loses somewhere around .03% of carbon PER HEAT! Now that may not seem like alot but remember, steel is going to lose it's heat quicker than that mild steel that you're so familiar with. Work quick and forge the blade as evenly as possible to reduce the number of heats. Here's a trick I use and love...Wet the anvil before forging. Now this may seem crazy and one would think that it would cool the blade too quickly but the scale flies off. I even wet the hammer head when I'm getting close to the end of the forging process. Oh yeah, don't get scared by the loud POP that you're going to hear. This method works for me and has saved me countless hours of polishing! Experiment and decide for yourself!!!

Nice firstknife JWB! Tempering RR spike dosen't help much. They're about 30 points of carbon and are good for letter openers and practicing! For the hawk try heating up your spike and quenching the ends before upsetting. It will give you a more controlled upset. Look forward to your second knife!

I'd have to swear by 5160. They are awesome for making plane blades. They cut through knots and never break...Even when used outdoors at sub zero temps! I cannot tell you how many blades I've seen break when used outdoor in the cold northeast. Note to selves...This stuff dosen't weld to iron well, at least not for me anyway. Alot of old plane blades were wrought iron with a steel bit welded for the cutting edge. Steel used to be precious and would be today if you had to make it. Normalizing your blades will make a surperior blade. Don't be afraid to do it 2 to 3 times with 5160. I also temper my blades 2 to 3 times(each for an hour) as well. 350 for an hour, 375-400 for the second tempering and I finish it off at 400-425. This will give a hardness of 58 or 59Rc. Don't wait to temper this stuff after hardening. There's alot of stress in steel after hardening. Why wait and chance dropping it. I've even heard of blades cracking into two or more pieces overnight just sitting on the bench. Then again those folks never normalized. Hmm...Well the point is that I've never had a knife or blade chip or crack that was made out of 5160! Oh well that's a bit more than 2 cents.