Derek H

Yes. I used a soldering torch to run the colors from the spin to the edge. Quenched it again when the sraw color reached the edge.

Hello everyone, I finally got my hands on a few pieces of high carbon steel. I have made two knives out of it so far, but this is the only one that survived. The first one was actually nicer than this one but it broke when I tried to harden it. I was using water even though I knew better. I had enough of that first piece left to forge another blade. So here is my result so far. The blade is 2 1/2 inches long. It’s not perfect, but I am very pleased with the results, especially since this is my first one. The edge is slightly off center but that’s ok. I used a crappy 6 inch bench grinder to rough it in then finished with sand paper up to 800 grit. I used peanut oil to quench in and it seems to have worked fairly well. I had it tested at work and the reading was 54 rockwell. I know it’s not ideal, but it works. And it will shave hair. Darn thing cut me twice before I even sharpened it. I havn't decided if I want to pollish this knife any farther than it is now or leave it. I am going to do a little more work on the handle but not too much as it is going to be covered up. I am fairly happy with the blade as is so I may just leave it. I still need to make a sheath and handle for it. I have an old rifle stock that is made out of black walnut that I am thinking about using. Let me know what you think. And thanks in advance for any advice you can give me for the next one.

I am new to black smithing but have built a forge smilar to what tou are describing. My forge is 6 inch diameter and 9 inch deep. I curently have a 1" mongo burner in my forge. It gets really hot. I t also uses a lot if propain. I am currently building a 3/4 inch burner. It should ne more than enough for my forge. The suggestion given to me by some of the other members is to " build the smallest forge you can live with" and also your probably not going to want a sigle forge to do everything in. You will burn way more fuel than necessary for small things. I cant remember where it is at but i believe their are plans for a variable size forge on here somewhere. I hope this helps. Im sure some of the more experienced people on here will chime in too