Chuck Richards

That lengthwise opposing squish is the start of a W pattern. Now cut it into 4 equal lengths and re-stack. Do that 3-4 times the forge out a blade. If you continue to fold it the same way it will give the W's. John is right that you should not have a problem with the bimetal blades. Cobalt will homoganize with simple steel. Be sure to use a good respirator when grinding and a dust collection system. Cobalt is a nasty material and can cause serious problems over long periods of exposure. Builds up in the system and takes years to flush out. It is ground all the time but proper precautions must be used.

EV, What width strap banding do you have? Also I grew up in the SF Bay Area. Were abouts are you?

You need to use commercial/wide BSB. They are normally at least 6 inches wide and .04 thick. The metal saw blade material as mentioned can be bimetal. Needs a much higher temp to melt. The edge metal is a cobalt base and will not weld well and also is toxic to grind. If you are using banding and wood BSB or carbon steel BSB then the two are not different enough to show much pattern. The wide blades are normally 15N20, which has 2% nickel.

Here's another piece that followed me home a few weeks ago. it is 1018 but has a really nice rebound. Face is 4x10, 24 inches high weighs 200lbs. Using it for finishing bevels.

The 2 smaller springs in the picture are from trains. The larger of the 2 is 1" dia stock. That big single coil on the right it a 2.5"dia spring off a cat. It forges great with a power hammer and press. The train spring forges and HT's like 1070. Gives an interesting Hamon.

It was a major forging shop. They supposedly had some heavy drop forges and used the 52100 for dies etc. The white tag on the end of the bar is the orig mfg sticker with the atsme and 52100 printed on it. I about messed my pants when i saw the bin of this stuff. The bigger stuff was marked and I am getting some of the smaller stuff (4.5") tested. It hardened up just fine. Just want to make sure what it is. Slabbing in process.

Already got a 200lb post anvil and a 250lb fisher. I picked up a piece of 4.5 dia yesterday. Will be steel stash material.

Had this chunk follow me home the other day. Solid 52100 6.25 dia 33 inches long. Lots of knife blades there....

Forge out a small piece (less than 1/8th thick). Bring it up to heat until it just looses magnetic attraction then quench it in water. Then stick it in a vise and hit it with a hammer. If it breaks it is probably good for a knife. If it bends no good. If it cracks in the quench then use oil for the knifeblade. If it does break look at the fracture and see what it looks like. You should see a nice gray surface with no granules like sand in it. If there is it was over heated. Or possibly l not normalized properly. But this is for future HT applications.

I was a bit older. Was on Adak 87-90. Talk about the two extremes. Adak Then Guam both islands in the pacific. Other than that completely different.

Here is a link to common RR steels. Test the plate by HT a small piece. BP0011 Common Railroad Steels

Habu, Looks like a track gang pile to me. Track bolts are good too. Most of the clips I see are the newer ones. I prefer the solid 1" square ones. Phil, Most isolated island???? Try living on ADAK. Just about as far from anywere as you can get. Don't call it the birthplace of the wind for nothing. However I did love the 3 years I spent there. I almost have it too good. Need to stop buying steel, yah right

Thanks Phil and all. I do Ok. Hope to be much better at the craft.

Pics?? nothing showing up. I worked for the RR for a couple years. I just found the yard here were we just moved to. I will be down there looking sometime. Here's my stash so far.....

Just a suggestion, Many are making knives out of RR spikes. They are great practice and look really cool. I admit i even make a few now and then. But do not discount some of the other steel available from the RR. The coil springs off the cars make great blades. Not sure what the steel is but it gives a killer Hamon. Tie clips are also a great source of steel. These are used to prevent the ties from sliding under the rail. They are 1" square and usually made of 1084. Gage bars are also made of 1084, they are used to ensure the track stays at the proper distance apart so the train does not go on the ground. If you live near a good RR yard check with one of the track gangs. They are more than happy to help out especially if you come bearing gifts.

W-2 is the only way to fly. But then there is 1095, O-1, 52100, 5160, 1084, 15n20:o:o:o;) Oh yeh L6...

It is 1018. I found a bunch of 52100 in large rounds last week. Had I known about them I would have made it from the 52100. I was getting a 50% rebound. Not bad for mild steel. I have been work hardening it and it is getting even better. I am only going to be finishing with it so it does not have to have great rebound.

I set his one at proper height. My main anvil is a little low and may have to raise it. I have been using the 250lb fisher for over 10 years now and am leery about raising it. I like the surface and edges on the post anvil. It should prove beneficial.

Just thought I would share what I put together. 200lbs of 4x10 steel. Will use it for finishing bevels.

Just a little W-2 chopper 10.5 inch blade canvas micarta handle and 303 SS fixtures. Hope you enjoy

The long skinny ones were used on bridges. I used to see them when walking track. Worked for the RR for a couple of years fixing signals. I would love to get a hold of some of those big spikes. Might have to go see the local track gang. Got a bucketful of reg HC spikes. Great for teaching and demos.

The HC Spikes are used for switch ties and some of the heads are larger. I can only speculate as to the longer spikes, probably used on bridges and such that would require extra holding power. Need to find and OOOLLLDDD railroader hopefully a track gang member and ask em.

You can also use muriatic acid from a pool supply or plumbing or rock supply. Use it full strength. Be sure to neutralize the blade well as acid left in the spaces can cause problems. I use 1500-2000 grit sandpaper to scrub mine down with and then polish with semichrome. if you want the really dark color polish it as described clean it well then dip for a few seconds just to get the color. Some will not take a dark finish due to alloying. If you can get some FC then all the better. Chuck

I just picked up some .5 and .25 micron diamond polish. A little of this goes a long way. Finish to 3000g then micro polish. Chuck

I have tried electrochem etching, turbo carver with hand initials, stamping, having jewelers engrave them. Electrochem did not work well or consistently on Damascus, turbo carver (with my handwriting nah), Stamping was not neat enough, jewelers have become too expensive $35 per knife. I just purchased my own flat engraver and will be marking my name with that. it looks as good as any jeweler and I don't have to wait or pay for the service. Chuck