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I Forge Iron

Carlin1985

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    revcsa@hotmail.com

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Red Oak, Iowa
  • Interests
    Playing music, Working Metal, Hunting, Fishing, Foraging, pretty much anything that involves being under the open sky.

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  1. Been working on knife-craft lately and feel like it is getting better every day. Love the info on this site.

     

    Here are a few pieces I am working on:

     

    https://flic.kr/p/VqZvJG

    https://flic.kr/p/WvyzaP

    https://flic.kr/p/WkB4Am

    35665126090_40da7ef0b8_b.jpg

     

     

  2. I am sorry that it has been some time since I posted. I still have not finished those knives due to hardening issues. Already, it is easy to see how frustrating mystery steel can be to work with. I have been working with chainsaw bars as a side project since my last post to try and test a bit of advice handed out freely when I was a teen.

     

    According to the “steel guru”; Any bar that is over 24” in length and is not pressed together with rivets is likely to be high to medium carbon steel. It should be noted that this person offered no evidence other than a good ole, “trust me, I know what I’m talking about…” I started with a Forrester blade and used this experiment period as a time to put together a little shop where I could work with known alloys at the same time.

     

    This is the starting point: 

    https://flic.kr/p/VP5EEo

    After the were roughed out using a file and hand sander to grind the metal I was left with this set of knife-shaped lumps of metal:

    https://flic.kr/p/VSkbWP

    After these were roughed out using a file and hand sander to grind the metal I was left with this set of knife-shaped lumps of metal:

    https://flic.kr/p/VSkbWP

    It was at this point that I was faced with a fun set of choices on how to proceed. I wound up vacillating between setting up a propane forge and going out to the old farm and trying to do a classic charcoal style heat treat. I should note at this point that I like to test some of the silly prepper tips out there as a hobby. It turns out that with both hard wood and regular charcoal briquettes one needs to have some form of forced air to gain any reasonable hardness. 

    https://flic.kr/p/W1nmdN

    https://flic.kr/p/W1njjh

    I came to this conclusion after hours of fanning a lump of coals on two occasions and using both water and oil as quenches I found little luck. Frankly, this was expected as I barely reached colors that would let me even think about hammering at the best of times.

     

    After this set of failures, I decided to go with propane and set about creating a Frosty “T” burner from various plans found on this forum. After using some red bricks to make a primitive oven and weighing the burner onto the top, I tested the burner and made a small piece of mokume gane in the shape of a little arrowhead necklace as well as some small tools out of rebar. 

    https://flic.kr/p/UMwJdf

    https://flic.kr/p/UQhqe8

    During this time, I also found a beautiful stump at a local side road and asked the owner to cut it down and keep the wood once it was confirmed to be mulberry.

    https://flic.kr/p/VSk77P

    https://flic.kr/p/W1nh5C

    https://flic.kr/p/UQhCKk

    Got some beautiful spalted wood and found that mulberry is harder than I had ever know wood could be.  My Stihl hated it. I also took some time off to hunt Morels. Around this time, I also ran into the myriad of issue involved with trying to make a forge that is semi resilient and stable in heating my stock.  This was beyond frustrating to try and do from scratch. Over a month of researching later I came out with a very close resource for dozens of refractory products from a reliable supplier in a nearby city and gained a great supply of O1 tool steel from Bohler-Uddeholm in a stroke of luck.  This would later lead me to destroy my smoker from Bass Pro Shop. 

    After relocating and attaching parts in new locations, I used Inswool and 3000F refractory cement that is impregnated with stainless steel needles to create my first handmade propane forge. I think it will be obvious that I got all the plans and ideas on here…

    https://flic.kr/p/W4Mcrc

    https://flic.kr/p/UQaiZ8

    https://flic.kr/p/W4JpMR

    https://flic.kr/p/W4JpH2

    Since then, I have been learning how to work my forge and work with my materials. I cannot thank everyone on this forum enough for all the help that has been given freely to someone in rural Iowa like me.

     

    Here are some pics of some O1 steel and Micarta I have been working with. 

    https://flic.kr/p/VScyqX

    https://flic.kr/p/VScyD2

    I will post as often as possible with updates and welcome any thoughts on my little journey here. 

     

    P.S.  If anyone wonders why I would post this, it is simple: I did all this without needing to ask a single question thanks to this forum.  That astounds me.

     

  3. Hi Slag and Birksy, Thanks for replying and Birksy can I ask what side of Ia your on? Really glad to see another Iowan here! Slag, the steel is mystery steel. I am using a chainsaw bar which is acting like a high carbon steel during a spark test. I have made throwing knives since I was a kid a was taught how to pick out a bar with decent steel ages ago in Az. I would comfortably guess that this is right around 1075 as it is springy and is throwing off great spark. The scales are black walnut and cherry. Cut em on grandpas farm and used a sawzall and sander to shape em into what you see. Thank you very much for the compliment!
  4. Hi fellow Craftsmen, My name is Carlin and I am 31 year old in Red Oak, Iowa. I have been reading the forum for several year and have been a silent member for a few years as well. Having finally figured out a way to start making knives I am now hoping to be a productive member of this incredibly helpful website community. Thanks for reading and here are a few pics of my work in progress.
  5. Up early to grind. Pics will be up today of my first project knives.

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