craig

cool, but then your tang is close enough to one of my designs, I am biased The flax works well with the rough hammer finish also, good choice.

Is the flax wrap sealed?

Glad you think so too :-)
No, it is not sealed, I just wrapped it around, tied some knots and stuffed the tail back underneath...I know it won't last overly long, but I can always re-wrap it or try something else too.

Thanks !! That's kind of what I was trying to replicate...I've seen a few pictures and videos of people using them, and I thought "hey, that seems simple enough" rather than buying or building something only to discover afterwards that I should have made it differently, all I have to do is move a couple of bricks and a few handfuls of dirt...and I was thinking about just using a small stool or maybe a pail to sit on.

The picture is pretty self explanitory as far as where it came from...
I used the angle grinder to remove the piece from the "stock" after that it was only hammer and file...blade is 5 inches long with 3.5 inch tang.
It is normalized, just needs sanding, quench, temper, and handle.
I'm planning on using some type of scrap wood for the handle to go with the recycling theme
PS...this one was the first thing to come out of my new outdoor ground forge

Here is one a started a while ago and recently finished.
Steel is from a short length of leaf spring I found in a field, so I'm guessing it's from some type of old farm machinery...handle wrap is linen twine made from flax straw a few years back I figured it's about time to put it to use
Works good enough for a beater...

Here is my temprorary set-up for nice weather...unlike my brake drum forge, the shape is easily adjustable to make it more fuel efficient...anvil is cut off from some type of huge crankshaft nearly 4 inches in diameter.
I'm happy I finally got to put my crank blower (thanks to SaskMark) to use !!
It get's a little hard on the knees after a while sitting there, and I want to shorten the blower tube a little too, but overall I'm pretty happy with it...that is one EASY set-up !!

I tried welding some barbed wire a while ago...a small portion stuck together, but I think it was just too rusty.
I hope your's turned out better than mine !! Can't wait to see it :)

Oh, I saw "bayonet" and just had to look
I have one just like that, but mine is from 1918 with "Alex Coppel, Solingen" on the side and the "W18" on the spine...I paid more for the bayonet than the rifle it sits on (K98) Though it is made for the G98(which I don't have) it fits on both.
I know some of them had saw-teeth in the spine, some being removed and some intact...
Personally, I would not re-finish it...just get rid of the rust and protect it as is.
Hang on to that thing, they are not real easy to find !!

Nice setup !! I like that anvil :-)

Brother I hear ya on the budget thing. my setup is on the back porch, wife is making me build a shed to get it out of her way.

Think of it as "she's letting you build a shop" ;)

Hey, that's cool !! I think I will have to see if there is anything like that in my area :-)
Thanks for the info !!

For removing scale before hammering, I find scraping it off with one of my older "knives" that didn't turn out well enough to bother finishing works very well...I got the idea from
YouTube - Murray Carter forging a Japanese blade Part 2
Much quicker than a wire brush.

A blueprint? I have some photos and can explain each step. Do you want me to just post them here or send them to you in an email?

oakwood, those are some fun looking knives to make. Neat handles!

Blueprint is here to what the Tutorial is on your site...I'd have to say, a lot of people here are sure to have already viewed it and been impressed !!
At least I have Very good looking knives !!

Do you have any pictures ?

I don't know too much on this subject, but if I were to guess, I woud say the lack of contrast could be cause by carbon diffusion between the different steels if the tip was heated more times/longer then there would be less of a difference in carbon/alloying elements in that area of the blade since the more heats/longer heats etc. would allow more time for everthing to even out...

That's a nice looking blade, sucker rod will make a fairly tough blade, though I doubt it will harden up all that much...should be a bit better than RR spike though.
It will be tough to fit a handle that follows the back of the blade...
I've only done one hidden tang knife, and like Don said, you should center the tang in the with the blade...give or take a bit.
If you really want, you may be able to move the tang down slightly by laying the bottom of the tang on the anvil and top fullering at the transition area with the cross pein...
I've only tried this once, and I buggered up the knife I was working on, not trying to discourage you, just a heads-up...more experience people probably have better solutions.

Awesome job !!!
Those look cleaner than my first ones for sure.
And cool little loopy twisty thingy there too ;-)

maybe I was incorrect when I assumed since he said he was using a "reciprocating saw from Lowes" that was all he had, guess I should have asked what other options he had.

Heh...on a similar note, I probably shouldn't have assumed he had other options, I never thought of that.

Aarongann, what cutting methods do you have available ?

A decent metal cutting blade should go through a leaf spring.
Are you applying maybe too much force when cutting ?
Make sure you allow the saw to cut it's way through, you won't speed it up any by trying to push it through...and if that's the case, could be just that you overheated the blade.
Try a new blade, go easy on it and see if it works.
Some type of cut-off wheel would be the quickest, either chop saw or angle grinder if you are just making a couple cuts across the width, you'll be done before you even get your forge lit to hot cut it...But if you're trying to split it down the center length-wise or something like that, you'll likely want to throw it in the fire and hot cut.

Those are awesome !!!

There may be no visible smoke but charcoal still gives off CO and Co2 when it burns. Both are undetectable to us and both are dangerous.

Yes, you still have to be careful...I've just found that my chimney does a pretty good job taking away the gasses with the blower on, but my forge doesn't seem to create enough draft when it's not running...and if there is smoke, some of it doesn't go up.

Great welds, its really nice when it starts coming together and you wonder what all the problem was originally. Usually judging the right temperature

Yeah, I think that was the problem I had before... just not getting the metal quite hot enough.

Not a bad looking little utility knife Craig.

Have you tried draw filing? It's a LOT faster and WAY more controllable than most folk think. It yields a truly fine finish.

Frosty

Thanks, but no,I hadn't even thought of draw filing, I'm sure it would have worked well...I've read about it but have never tried it.

Softwood charcoal usually burns faster than hadwood, but both burn fast...Are you just using dead trees ?
I like to use lumber scraps as that stuff is fairly easy to come by and generally free. Also, easier to cut and handle as opposed to going out and cutting down trees...which would best best to let dry for a year or so.

I like it...no smoke.

Yeah, it's a pretty small hole, I suppose a square needle file would fit, but it would be slow...The punch worked well since you can use it from the other side afterwards to make the slight taper that holds the nail.

Thanks !! I wasn't expecting much as the bar I started with was heavily pitted with rust as you can see...I just went over it good with the wire wheel before heating to remove the loose stuff.

Well, straightening it out was trickier than I thought it would be, and drawing the tang took a fair bit of work...definitely tougher than mild steel ;)