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I Forge Iron

Askdamice

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Everything posted by Askdamice

  1. Yes its a baffle. I can remove it when doing swords.
  2. I like that alot! Great for us small shop guys. I don't think there is a WRONG way to use RR track if it does what you need. I use mine laying flat. The section is about 15 inches long and I mainly use it to prebend and straighten blades. My "anvil" is a 4x4x24 piece of 1045 set on end and burried in a chicken feeder..... lol.... I know of atleast 3 master bladesmiths who use the same set up. I'm seriously considering making one of these stations, now. Thanks for posting. Rick
  3. Actually, I can have my tank to temp within 5degs in less than 5mins. You also need to have symetrical flow if you choose to agitate your tank. The flow must be the same on either side of the blade. You are better to have no agitation at all then have inconsistant irregular flow. Rick
  4. Most railroad spikes are in the neighborhood of 1020-1050. The ones with the "HC" are on the high end when it comes to carbon. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think they use they have to use the HC ones at junctions or high stress corners on the trackline. Anyway.... They can be hardened but not to the point of usefulness as knife steel. They are better left for hawk heads and art pieces. To answer the original question.... you can buff a hardened knife..... just keep the heat down. Rick
  5. Phil... having fluid flow would be the best way but it takes alot to fit a quenchtank with pumps and heaters. I chose the next best thing... which is blade movement. I have a spigot about 8" up from the bottom of my tank to lower the level enough to get something out. I would like to make a basket at some point... it would be much easier. Rick
  6. Wrapped handles are not for everybody... Thanks for the honest criticism... and the compliment on the blades. Rick
  7. Flashing happens when the oil temperature is so high that it ignites. Most of the time it only flashes for a few seconds. Unless the entire tank heats up... then the fire on top perpetuates itself and the oil keep burning. That's when you need to cut the oxygen off. Flashes aren't usually dangerous unless they spill over and catch everything on fire. If your tank is too small the oil will over heat. If you don't have motion, the oil superheats rises to the top and flashes. Once the piece is completely in the oil, ANY flashing is a bad sign. (as you put it in, the surface will flash a bit, but should go out quickly) The tank doesn't need to be stainless...... any metal will do.... avoid plastic or anything that will melt if the hot blade touches it. You need to be able to heat your oil to 120F-140F in most cases. (Some quenchants work at different temperature, though) I quench bars of heated mild steel to get my tank up to temp. It really sucks if you go over. If you don;t have room to add cooler oil, you'll have to wait it out. The tank dimensions are up to you.... just remember.... CONTROL VOLUME + PREHEAT + MOTION/FLOW = GOOD QUENCH
  8. Yes.... I use basic tools that help everything line up. Here is a quick overview.. 1. My tools from left to right: Stitching palm, pliers, freehand stitch groover, guided stitch groover, edge bevel and an overstitch wheel. 2. Use the stitch groover to set your lines and recess the thread in the leather for protection. 3. Roll your overstitcher to set spacing. 4. Useing a drillpress is much easier than punching through thick leather by hand. I put a polished pin in the chuck that is slightly bigger than my sewing needle. 5. Use the beveler to make the edge nice. (doesn't matter when you do this step) 6. On the opposite side, use the stitch groover to "connect the dots". 7. Run the overstitcher across it to line everything up for stitching. 8. My stitching hand is packed full of goodies... the stich palm for pushing, the pliers for pulling and of course, the needle and thread. (sorry about the ugly stained fingers... lol)
  9. Thanks guys... Here are the specs: Material - 5160, handforged Thickness - 3/16 " at spine, flat ground, convex secondary bevel. Blade length - 4"-4 1/2" cutting edge. Blade width - 1 3/8" at widest. OA length - 9"-8 1/2" Sheath - 10oz. vegetable tanned cowhide, hand stitched, tooled and riveted To expand on the handles a bit... They are jute wrapped and soaked in West Systems 105/207 epoxy. The outside fibres may get a little fuzzy but its on there for life. You would have to chisel it off in chunks. Think of it as "wrapped burlap micarta". They are suprizingly comfortable and very grippy when wet. Rick
  10. I just finished a couple of Bushknives in a jute wrap... Whatchathink? Rick
  11. My mark is hot stamped in... you can see it in my signature banner. Rick
  12. I made my own Characters and Wally Hayes carved them out for me. They represent.. Wildertools Rick Marchand The top mark is a combination of the "W" and "T" from Wildertools and the bottom one is the "R" and "M" from Rick Marchand. It has an Oriental look that I like. Rick
  13. Use gunblue.... but after it is dry (don't wipe it) soak it in bleach. Depending on how long you soak (15mins to 2hrs).... you get this.... Rick
  14. I normalizing after forging at the industry standard (around 1600F) in order to get everything into solution and get the grains uniform. Then the blade is allowed to air cool until it is black, this will refine the grain. You have to heat past critical in order to get grain refinement. Anything else and you are just reheating the same grains. I perform more 3 normalizing heats, done at lower temps in order to bring that grain size down. I anneal on the final normalization by quenching the blade and then repeatedly heating to a dull red. I can then grind, drill and pre-finish. For the final heat treat I bring it to 1500F and hold for a 10 count or so... longer is better for 1095 (might as well use 1080 like Matt stated) but I'm working in a gas forge. I quench into an 8" dia x 34" deep tank with canola oil heated to 130F and keep the blade moving up and down for a count of seven and then interrupt the quench (about 450F) At that point it is safe to tweak into straightness if need. As soon as the blade is cool enough to hold for any length, I temper. I start out at 400F, check the hardness before bumping up the temp and doing it again. 3 cycles for one hour each. This is not a magical formula, by any means. I did not invent this process. It is based on metallurgical principles. (with a little fudging on my part) I must give credit to folks like MS's Wally Hayes and Kevin Cashen for pointing me in the right direction as I stumble through all this. Rick
  15. Thanks for looking...... Rick 1/4" 5160 Hand forged 1/4" spine 1 3/4" wide blade, flat beveled with a micro convex 9" cutting edge 15" OA length 5" handle, tapered tang, distressed oak scales, jute wrap.
  16. Generally speaking, that is true... but you must also consider the speed of the whole event... At less than a second from 1500F to 900F, the benefit of dispersing that vapour blanket through movement dwarfs any other issues that arise with the process. The motion of the blade through the oil, coupled with the rapid heating, creates A LOT of flow in a vertical tank. Tested blades have shown no difference in RC hardness readings from tip to heel. If that is still a concern, you can make a long deep tank and plunge edge first. I have NEVER had a flash since adopting this practice. Even after HT'g several pieces in one sitting. That says a lot for its effectiveness. Rick
  17. Mine is an 8" dia SS tube welde to a 10"square baseplate. The tank stands 34" tall. Metallurgically speaking.... The quantity of quenchant is very important... as well as the spacing between the blade and the walls of the tank. For Bladesmiths, about 5gallons of coolant will sufficiently displace heat evenly, without overheating your medium. You have to consider the vapor barrier that forms around the blade as it rapidly heats the quenchant, too. That precious "1 sec" form critical to 900F is SOOOOOOOO important. (even less time, in some steels) That makes movement a critcal factor. I'm not talking about shaking and swirling the blade around in the tank. I'm talking about CONTROLLED movement of either the workpiece or the quenchant. Without having to rig up a tank with pumps and heating elements, the next best thing is moving the blade. This can either be accomplished by a narrow, deep tank where you are dipping the piece down into it..... or..... a long, narrow tank where you are dragging or pulling the blade along the length. In either case the tank should accomidate 5gallons. Don't freak out about the details, though. It all depends on how far you want to go with it. Research your steel and its properties. Find a method that best addresses the BASIC metallurgical needs..... don't kill yourself attempting to make the Holy Grail of knives.... Its supposed to be fun, too!!! Rick
  18. That was a reflection of the lights in my shop, unfortunately..... everybody who sees that pic asks the same question... lol. ...in pic 2 there is no reflection. It is actually a polished surface. Thanks Rick
  19. Hello Folks! It's been a LONG time since I've posted here. Thought I'd start with some pics of a recent project.. Just finished this one for an upcoming show... no sheath yet... sorry, I jumped the gun with this post! 5160 Mat'l, handforged 16" overall 10" cutting edge 1/4" spine integral "faux" bolster distressd oak handle with jute wrap brass pins Hope you like it. Rick
  20. Wow piglet.... that's a good hunk o track!! If you were so inclined, you could do some shaping and get a tonne of contours with that thing... On a side note...... Someone told me of a friend of a guy's friend's brother that this other guy knew:p ....... who coated the sides of his track anvil with spay insulation to deaden the ring...... hmmmmmm.;)
  21. Ya, the shop looked like that for a day or two... That pic was taken the day I got my Grizzly grinder and made that new anvil holder. I also put up the plywood dividers that day... so ya, I had to clean up. Funny how it feels like I do less work when my shop is clean... perhaps its because I'm more apt to take the time to put things away... lol.... for a little while, atleast. Thanks guys. Rick
  22. Cool, Glen..... I've never seen this process on other forums... I'll do it from now on. Thanks.
  23. Thanks Ed, I've been hangin out with MS Wally Hayes and that's the method he taught me as well.... haven't had any warpage (knock on iron) since I've adopted this process. Rick
  24. Dodge, Being fairly green (or shiney, as it were... lol) I'm not up on all the lingo... but I'm pretty sure that the only difference between annealing and normalizing is the cooldown duration. When I normalize after forging (prior to heat treat) I simply lay the red pc on the bricks to let the colour fade out (3 times minimum) and when I anneal, so I can work the steel with tools, I shut the forge down an close it up with the pc inside to cool VERY slowly. I'm not sure what the cooling rate is to achieve good tooling properties... so i may be a little overkill on the annealing. Rick Ps. How is that anvil comming along, bro?
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