Hilt and Hammer Workshop

 I like where this project is headed. Very much. The ability to accurately transform a concept into a reality is a difficult one to develop. It seems you are having no trouble in that area. :)

 Praying .

The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

 The Mastercraft series with Don Barker was really enjoyable ,even if I disagreed about the good  Mr Hobbs decision in the end ;)  I watched the whole thing, even learned from it. A pity I don't reside on the other side of the pond for this one !

 Not partial to G10 either (or any snythetic handle material,for that matter) , but this is a very clean looking knife.I like the hallow rivets.  Excellent work, good sir .

 Well executed. However, if it's from welded cable,shouldn't there be pattern that you could etch for ? That would add a lot to the blade...

I too have a 2X72 Knife makers grinder from Grizley tools. Have had it for 5 years. A great tool for the money.It has one disadvantage, that being it only runs at one speed, and that is too fast for some work. I reciently coughed up a small fortune and bought a Burr-King with all the attachments. This is a top of the line machine suitable for the professional metal smith, $3,600.00 it has variable speeds and is the best and most usefull tool I own.

  I'm not an electrician or anything, but wouldn't it be relatively simple procedure to wire up a variable speed switch to the Grizzly to compensate for that issue?

 Wonderful news. Praise God !

 Beautifully executed. Not being a stringently a "knifemaker", can somoen enlighten me on why the term "sub hilt" is used?  

 Thanks Ironman! I use it everyday. And yes, my tools are quite the motley crew...

 I assume you etched to get the hamon distinction? What etching solution do you like to use?

Fantastic !

  There's always the slight chance of having issues with old leaf springs at the molecular level.. But I would never turn a beginning knifemaker away from using them as blade material. I've worked with leaf springs of all thicknesses and lengths,all used,and I've never had the slightest issue with the integrity of the steel .

 New ones are naturally superior ,but they are also much more difficult to locate. I just wouldn't conclude that using old springs is a bad idea. Even the infamous Nepalese Khukri knife is often forged from recyled truck springs. Part of the historical craft of smithing is using whatever materials you can obtain to their best advantage,old or new.

 Very attractive tool ! Just out of curiousity, what alphabet of runes did you use?

 The type of belt and belt grinder is also important. Are you using a little bench-mounted sander,or is it an actaul belt grinder meant for grinding steel? The belts should be specifically designed with removing metal in mind as well...

 I wouldn't think anything along the lines of silly if someone was coming at me with that thing... very menacing, love it !

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. It's not that I hadn't forge welded before,it was the specific weld/situation that was giving me issues. After a bit of tinkering,I do believe that my burners may have been running too hot,or at too high of a psi,which was causing my flux to burn,as well as the steel. I adjusted accordingly,and although I haven't attempted the same weld again,I've been working on a wrought iron/ 1060 billet ,which welded with no issues (see attached photo).  So in a way,Mr Hale,you were indeed correct...the steel was hotter than I thought. Appreciate the input,guys

 68' Mercedes Benz diesel...

 Thank you ! Excellent videos, that did indeed shed some light on the situation . I think it's possible that I wasn't applying enough flux to keep scale from forming,perhaps. I'm going out to experiment with a simpler weld. Anyone else have any input?

 Making knives is time consuming. If you don't have a lot of time,maybe you should find something else to do. If you're working with a file ,you will save yourself an exponential amount of frustration and time if you take care with the annealing process. Files are very brittle,I've broken my share of them by just putting pressure in the wrong spot. So the longer you anneal it (the slower it cools) ,the easier it will be to work with the result.  If you are hasty, the material may still retain some hardness,and trying to shape it will be  slow and difficult.

  Hello,everybody .The California evening had cooled enough here that I couldn't resist heading out to the forge. I had no specific project in the works,so I decided to experiment with forge welding,particularly what I've heard referred to as a "jump weld" (see attached photo). I wanted to try and weld a 1/4" piece of square stock to a larger 3/4" square stock,using a jump weld.

 Things didn't go so well.

  I cleaned up the stock with 80 grit on the belt sander,rounded the end of the smaller piece,and created an indention to fit the rounded portion on the surface of the larger stock. (yes,I should have taken some pictures)  Making sure the pieces were totally clean,I set them aside while the forge preheated. I was using a propane NC forge (two burner) ,with the psi set at 15. My anvil was cold,so I heated a scrap piece of plate up to orange heat,and set it on the anvil for a while to warm my welding surface.

  Once the forge was up to temperature,I put the 3/4" piece in,waiting until later to insert the smaller one to avoid burning it while waiting for the large stock to come up to temp. I fluxed both with borax at bright red heat,almost orange .

 That's when things started getting strange <_<

 Although the flux melted initially, it started to form a strange black substance on the surface of the steel,instead of bubbling and behaving like flux should. The longer i left it in,the worse it became

Soon the whole surface had become contaminated.Needless to say,the weld didn't take  ( I don't know why I even bothered to try at that point ) I cooled the steel in water and examined it.. a black,glossy,almost glass-like substance coated parts of the steel,which I assume to be my flux gone wrong. There was also heavy scaling,which looked more metallic than what I'm used to seeing. I tried the weld twice,with the same results. Instead of frustrating myself further,I figured I'd seek some exterior knowledge .

 So,are there any ideas on the issue?Has anyone experienced the same thing? Is there too much oxygen in my forge? Did I burn something? Is there something wrong with my flux?I'd love to hear what all of you experienced peoples have to share :)

 I live in California as well,and I've seen that one on craigslist more than once now. As you may know, a good deal on an anvil here on CA craigslist goes FAST. And this one has been lingering for weeks . Which tells me there is definately something not quite right about it . Just as a comparsion,I picked up a much cleaner Wright in the Sacramento area for 325$

  My suggestion would be to go and approach the situation carefully. Test the rebound. Inspect the face. See if he'll come down in price... It's still a great work surface, defiantely not junk. Just be careful  you don't get  ripped off. People on craigslist think every anvil is worth premium price.

 Nice clean lines there :)  Did you use hot forging or stock removal to shape the blade?

 It is all about the motivation... I had the idea in my head for weeks,it just took a long time to get around to it :rolleyes:  It really is an easy project too, it only took an afternoon to build. I just did a demo last saturday,and yes,I would have been lost without that table !

 The tongs I actaully obtained from another smith as part of a deal. They're made by Jim Keith over at JK Tools. http://jktoolscom.ipage.com/index.php?page_id=2

 Frosty, in regards to wheels, the concrete floor in my shop has yet to be,so they wouldn't do any good for me. But once i get it poured, I'll definately stick some rollers on it

It sounds like you have ,in all probability, what is known as an  SLO (sword-like object),or wall hanger. These are ,of course, meant for decoration only. I hope you haven't tried cutting with it .http://youtu.be/xGTQLB1VQrA  

  As you can see in this video,there are some obvious reasons your sword blade might not want to stay in the hilt.  If the sword is special to you,and you absolutely must fix it (instead of leaving it on the wall),there may be a way to do it (two part epoxy,pins,etc.) . However ,in order for us to help you out,you'll definately need to provide some photos of the problem.

  I'm sure many smiths just starting to set up a permanent shop have run into the issue. You're hammering away at your lone anvil, and find that you need to set the hammer down and grab another tool. But there's no good place to set the hammer. Frantically, you review the options in your mind. The anvil? No,that will be in the way. On the floor? Tripping hazard. On the workbench? Too far away. And in the end, the steel gets cold and you're still holding the hammer, feeling like a fool.  (Or perhaps I'm only speaking of myself here :P )

  When working at the anvil,you need a place to put tools. Some shops have a bench close by,but I didn't . And since I'll be doing a public demonstration this weekend,the need for a "tool table" had to be dealt with.  So here's what I came up with...

 I wanted to capture that "old fashioned shop" look,so I didn't use any new materials. I built it out of mostly seasoned redwood and pine.The front is a "well weathered" piece of sheet steel I had laying in a corner,secured with lag bolts and washers.  Table top dimensions are 20"x16",with a height of 28"  . It's lightweight but very sturdy, and a convenient size. What say yee,fellow craftsmen?