TheGreenMan

Has anyone used 15n20 or L6 and weaved or layered it in with cable before?

Thanks guys. As to the 15n20: Either size. I figured I'd have to draw it down but was hoping to save myself the time and effort.

There is a video on Youtube some where that shows the quenching process on a katana, strait to curved. Pretty cool looking. I'll see if I can't dig it up.

I have some cable I got with a nylon rope core. Any suggestions for what to replace the rope with? 1095? I also have some mild steel cable. I would like to put in some steel before welding so I have a hard edge. Would I put it in the center? One last question: Can you get 15n20 about the same size (+-) as the strands in a steel cable? Thanks for the help!

I would guess you could just cut off the partial tang and weld on a full one with a mig/tig/whatever welder. Being new to this though I may be wrong.

Here is my first try. I know that I should have forged it square or round not flat. Do you think that is my only problem or am I also trying too cool? The center was too cool but I think I would have gotten the ends OK if I had forged it round. Any thoughts? Thanks.

I got a piece of metal about 4x3x1 I am using for an anvil. It is on top of a large trunk but I can not get it fastened in place so it bounces. I know of no where around here to get any large pieces of scrap. I have a chuck of RR track but that is no where near here and would also need to be fastened any way. I tried to use some bent-over screws but that did not work. Any ideas?

I have a small 'two brick' forge heated by MAPP gas using a Hot Head torch (Hot Head Torch Head), which is used for lamp working. I would like to get the brick a little hotter. I can get small pieced up to a yellow heat with a little time and if I partially cover the ends with some small pieces of fire brick. I would like to be able to get that hot a little quicker and would like to try and be able to reach a welding heat. Would getting a different torch head make a difference? Any suggestions on a torch head I could try? Due to space limitations I will have to keep using the 1lb sized MAPP containers and I don't have the ability to fabricate anything myself, if it involves anything more complicated than LEGOS (drilling, welding, etc.) I don't have the tools/space. Thanks for any help!

Well it failed due to the water before anything else. So 1: Go to oil no more water, 2: Temper more to get the edge softer, if it is still as hard after an oil quench. Thanks guys. Your on a roll now don't stop! I am interested to know about my temper line questions.

Yeah, that be a 1 hour drive, easy. I'll drop them a line though. thx.

Come one man, give us a break, there are 88 of them. Besides I had a job up that way once so I know where it is.

And to smithing in general. I have several questions. I have read different postings on the site but can't get the answers. They may be there but i am more of a seeing/doing type than a reading type. I hope that asking some questions specific to me will help me understand what I need to know. I also probably don't have the terminology down. what terminology makes me -----> :confused: I apologize for the long post but found it helpful to write out all of what I had done. Questions are at the bottom. I could use some help/tips. I tried to make a knife by the stock removal method out of a file. I annealed the file and used an angle grinder and a bastard file to get to the shape I wanted. Finished up with some 120 grit sandpaper. I normalized the piece twice in a small '2 brick' MAPP gas forge. I removed the scale with a bit more 120 grit. I decided to try and to a differential clay temper. I mixed up some Satanite and put it on the piece covering about 1/2-1/3 of the blade about 1/4 inch thick at the thickest, left the spine bare, and gave it a wavy edge. I let the Satanite dry overnight. The next day I put the piece in the forge and heated it until non-magnetic and quenched it in some hot water as I have no oil and I do not know what the apartment 'people' would think when black smoke started rising from my porch. I tempered the knife in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes 2 times, letting it cool to room temp in between. i tested the edge with a file and the file skipped off the edge just fine. I then polished the knife using 320 grit paper, 400 grit paper, 600 grit, and a polishing stone. OK couple of things: 1: When I removed the clay you can see the edge of where the clay was as a very shallow 'trench' (decarburization?)and there is some very pitting where there was no clay. After tempering I polished/ground them out. What causes this? Is this normal? Is there a way to minimize this that I could do with my little set up? 2: There were also some small circles (not pits so much as actual circles) of decarburization? under where the clay had been. Again what causes this? 3: When I saw the lines I got excited that I would at least have a bit of a temper line. But after polishing the knife to about 600 grit there was no temper line that I could see. I even tried etching and got nothing. I have seen knifes made from files before that had temper lines. Did I do something wrong or did I just end up with the wrong kind of steel? 4: The knife ended up having a crack in the edge from quenching that went through the hard edge to the temper line, so I really didn't mind playing with it a bit. I did the normalization and reapplied the clay to get some practice but this time there was no decarburization? line. What did I do differently? I can't think of anything. (ETA: Ah, I remember I don't think I removed the scale from the normalizing and i didn't add the Satanite on as thickly.) 5. Is there anything I could use to quench that I don't have to worry about catching on fire that would work better than water?

I'm a beginner smith in Cincinnati, OH. At the moment trying to teach my self how to make a knife (using what I can at the small apartment I have). I like all the info and help this site has to offer, unfortunately I am more of a 'seeing and doing' than a 'reading' type. Anyone in the Cinci area care to help this poor schmuck learn a thing or two?

Not to steal this thread but can you use any of the cable you find in Homedepot/Lowes for a cable knife?

After thinking it over some more I'll just go the commercial route. I'm thinking of making a small gas forge out of a .50 cal ammo can. I got plenty of those as I collect rifles. It will be small enough that it may actually be able to fit in my small patch of grass, what some might generously call a "yard". :-)

Noobie to all this, if you can't tell. Question for you all: I was wondering about making some high alumina refractory to line a furnace instead of buying some. I have access to different types of alumina (calcined alumia, tabular alumina, and therally reactive alumina) but have no clue what exactally would be needed and how mix it etc. Anyone here know a recipe or would it be easier to just buy some commercial refractory? Something similar to this would be cool: High Temperature Adhesives and Epoxies, Ceramics, Insulation