azmike

Tom, glad to see your stepping up and forging ahead---old coil springs should work fine, but if it were me i would uncoil them full length and work one end and use the other to hold on to (i have as yet to make a "good" pair of tongs)---there is something about them (and me) that just doesn't come together quite right as yet---take care --azmike

Tom, welcome. you will find that the knifemaking community (here and other sites) is top shelf. hope to "see" you for the friday nite chat -- azmike

I use coffee cans and poke a hole in the bottom end-slide it on a 6" pegboard hanger and hang them from a piece of pegboard-----works good for smaller stuff and is large enough to store lots of stuff.

Glenn, I will do that when i get the key words and such set up (may give me somthing to do at work tonite). thanks, mike

pete46--the bush blade is 1060.

this link should take you to some pics that my friend Todd (Forginhill) took last weekend.
hope you enjoy----azmike
Picasa Web Albums - mike

here are the only 2 pics i've got of my first forged bowie style. OAL is 11 7/8", blade is 6 5/8' made from an old harrow disc. the handle is bloodwood with ironwood and copper screen spacers--the S guard is wrought. the sheath is mesquite bark wood with leather spacer and bloodwood bead. this was made for a friend at work, and is really my first "commission"----he was very pleased and for that, so was I.
thanks for looking........mike

Noob--always knock the scale off the blade and the anvil before you hmmer--if not you can drive the scale in deep and spend to many hours filing to get it cleaned up. I still use an angle grinder (4 1/2") sometimes in the very rough state of the blade, and find that the 60/80 grit flap wheels work for me. from there its files and sandcloth and time.
azmike

Tom, good start. forging in the bevel would require a flat faced hammer to help reduce frustrations (hard to remove dents), and then a good file or grinder (i still do the file thing). I have been taking the edge down thinner as i get better at this and have had very few problems as yet, as long as i normalize several times during the process. taking a hardened edge down from 1/16" to sharp without powertools, is difficult and time consuming for me, so the closer it is the better i like it. i've already resolved myself to the fact i will experience warped and/or cracked blades but i'm willing to live with that. please take any and all i say with a grain of salt, as i am by no means as knowledgable or talanted as many (most) who post here. azmike

Pascalou, thats very nice--i like it. azmike

Saiga308, welcome--I used to live there in Springfield (8+yrs), and the daughter and grandkids still do--beautiful country.
take care and good luck with your new adventure. azmike

Jonny, welcome from another arizona desert rat--saw the post of your knife and if your just starting making blades--you must have some blacksmith in your blood. again-welcome azmike
just re-rread and my mistake on your post of a knife----it was just a reply (the years do make it hard sometimes----hahaha) azmike

these are a couple i did this summer/fall--the first is forged 1084 with ironwood slabs and brass pins. the second one was forged by Forgin Hill and finished by me--L6 blade and ironwood handle. the third (weird) one was made for the sister-in-law for harvesting herbs, 1084 with a 2" cutting edge-approx 6" OAL. azmike

You all may know and use some fashion of this--but if not, its just a tip from a newbie that it works for. I don't have a belt sander and found this is one way to work on the finish.
I have a block of the dense, black, closed cell foam insulation (armaflex), about 2" wide x3" high x 4" long-cut it dead center on the 2" about half way thru and full length. just take your sand cloth/paper (sized to fit the full length/depth of your cut-when folded in half) slip it in with the abrasive sides facing and slide in the blade. hold the block and slide the blade / hold the blade and slide the block - edge up or down, changing grits as you go --- just like your using a saw.
give it a try--azmike

Jens, i really like that one. i have gotten a few that stuck and held (3 out of many tries), but i have not gotten that color.....what coins did you use and did you use any special etching solution? i have a blade in the works (need much more skill/practice/experience before i go too far with it (a large dagger/arkansas toothpick)--But--i have a real nice piece of osage orange for the handle-and with some black horn mixed in that color would be killer.
thanks--azmike

Ralph--i don't try to weld every time, maybe i should -- but, like i said, i have so much else to learn that its not a big deal for now.

JPH- the saw blade was a Starrett and i did in fact get a blade made from the result---for right handed work, as the saw blade steel is on the left side--and for fear of having a de-lamination, it looks more like a wide straight razor----but it works in the kitchen.

thanks, mike

I'm near the end of my first year learning to forge, and to date, i've gotten one "weld" (med. carbon/recip. hacksaw blade) to take. i just figure that if it doesn't work today---maybe next time...there is so much more to learn and i can always improve at the anvil. thanks, i guess i need to "search" the forums here and see what else i don't know. mike