julian

thanks for the replies,

I have zero knowledge about lathes, and I dont know how precise these tools even need to be; I'll tell him about buying M-2 tools, I wouldn't want to set him up with tools he already has that aren't getting the job done!

blades are an addiction of mine as well I really like primitive and "forged" looking knives, I enjoy making them as well as the shiny ones. Welcome to IFI!

I have been asked about making some lathe tools for a woodturner who needs to work mesquite. He says he wants me to do M2 steel for the peices; I have done some reading on M2 and i don't have the equipment to heat treat it; says I have to temper at 1000F or so for 2 hours twice, and my toaster oven doesn't get that hot

I have been told O-1 is good for woodworking tools (I also know how to heat treat it), but I'm not sure if it would work in this case because I haven't done anything with lathes/woodworking. The guy who wants it says he has to resharpen his little lathe tools every 5 minutes or so because they lose their edge on mesquite. Does air hardening steel work for wood lathe tools? I have a peice of S-7 and maybe A-1 around; are these more suitable for the job than O-1?

as Sam said for beginner/intermediate knifemakers leaf springs are great, and in the proffessional market some people can be more picky. Personally I think forged knives are a whole market of their own. Like the Grateful Dead, forged knives have imperfections and are very unique and appeal to certain people. Virgin steel is best used in stock removal and sent away for heat treating; if you're going for a perfect knife, get it perfect in as many ways as you can .

here's a bowie i finished from carriage spring, same as leaf spring, a while ago

I like leaf springs because you can cut them into smaller pieces or draw them out if you want smaller knives, but the width and thickness of the springs can make for a real big knife. Not to mention they're easy to get!

that is what came to mind, andy. Third one down in first pic has a nice shape Sam.

Ed that hammer looks great! I am jealous :)

Pat, a lot of experience is gotten through trial by error, so don't worry about messing something up. Beleive me, lots of people make worse mistakes than I'm sure you have

What color are you working the steel at? Any pictures of what you have so far of your RR spike knife? The only spike knife I ever did I didn't draw out at all.

I agree with those who have posted on here about soft mats. They help a ton with eliminating fatigue. The ones I have worked on are foam mats that interlock like a puzzle on your shop floor.

Nice setup man, Very organized! Welcome to IFI!

very cool anvil, it fits in well with a colonial shop!

He looks happy as a clam Woody before i saw this, i saw the pic on the gallery that also said the handle is stacked leather; did you have any trouble getting the leather to glue good? i tried a leather handled knife awhile ago and Gorilla glue didn't want to get the peices to stay together well, I had to reglue it in 3 places.

my forge is in a little corner of the backyard adjacent to the garage, where my grinder and other tools are (in a little corner of the garage). all in all a little shop I took the poll on the homepage, too

ron if all suggestions fail you can try bringing your fire to welding heat, put the peice in and get it almost to welding heat, then let the fire die down to an orange. This should get the heat to really soak into the billet. Then leave the peice in and bring it to welding heat again and see if it'll stick.

ron this knife must have taken a ton of work, it looks nice! I have never peened a tang over the buttcap, however I do know that with rivets you need it to have as much steel sticking out to peen over as the steel is wide in diameter.

Jim that is a beautiful blade, i don't have enough patience to do that much work on a blade...yet I look forward to seeing the finished peice!

Jim; M2/A2/D2 -- wow!! that is a tough blade! someone on IFI was asking me if M2 was forgable; is it "technically" forgeable and if so does it work around how A2 feels? That is a very interesting mix, man!

For damascus I have heard 1084/15N20 cut real nice, and I have seen some really nice contrast in blades with that combo. I use 10XX spring steel (dunno what it is exactly but it hardens nice) and pure nickel; only downside is nickel doesn't cut worth a darn..it does etch real nice though, so for guards/buttcaps its fine. I'm going to switch to 1084/15N20 when I get more serious with damascus. For cheaper costing "junkyard" damascus I have used motorcycle chain w/ nickel, and cable, both cut good and look interesting. As Jim said with the metoric iron, the motorcycle chain often gets the "wow" factor Damascus is just plain fun stuff!

I use 20 mule team borax with a coke forge, it works just fine. Sand seems kinda dodgy to me, considering the dirt that might be in it, and how you would fine sand pure enough to weld with. Anyhydrous ( I think it's called) borax that is cooked to get the water out of it just makes it melt on contact with hot steel; usually it jumps around a bit.

Wow, handfiling is alot of work! Nice looking blade, I look forward to seeing the finished peice :)

Just get 20 mule team borax; get the peice a dullish orange, pour a liberal amount of the borax on, then get it to a "welding heat" (bright yellow). it should sound like rice krispes after you just poured the milk on :)

to support the claim that you dont need a grinder to make a knife


I used a grinder to make putting an edge on that knife quicker, but otherwise all you need is a file, vise, sandpaper, and the tools to actually forge a knife. You can also try wrapping your handles with paracord/leather and epoxy, it makes for an easy knife and you get practice in forging/grinding knives.

the handle guard and blade all blend well in that knife Bill. Very nice job!

tyler those small utility knives seem to be the ones I always grab to do something. Nice wrap job on the handle

I haven't posted a knife on here in a while, so I decided I may as well post this one since it's going to Richard Thibeau (now he can brag about it ). This hunter style damascus knife has a blade of 40 layers random pattern nickel/spring steel. The handle material is antler with a brass guard, mosaic pins, and a wood buttcap.

cooter what you need to have to start coal up is a good heat source to begin with. I make a small fire in my firepot and let it burn until it has that nice roaring sound when you start the air. When the small fire gets going well enough, put broken up (i forgot to mention before you start break up what you plan on using) coals around the fire, and then put a handfull on top to keep the fire in. Start running the air (not too much air) and you should get big clouds of nasty green smoke. From there just keep adding coal until the coal is burning well, then I usually pat the fire down with a shovel lightly to fill in any gaps that the burning wood left. There you go, you got a fire

I use pre-coked coal, and I found it pretty hard to get going at first; if you use a wood fire to start it you should have no problem unless the fire isn't big enough.