Sam Salvati

See with propane forges and coal forges(as coal is going up too), there is that huge difference of(for this example a hand crank blower, or air grate flapper, take your pick, mine is hand crank so that's what i'll use for the example), when you stop cranking and turn to forge, the forge stops burning fuel at a high heat rate. There should be some way to make something for a propane forge that makes it so that when you step up to the forge to heat something up, you can put your foot on a pedal, which adds more propen and/or air , and when you step away that pedal is not pressed decreasing the amount of propand and/or air. I do not know much about propane forges and burners, but I guarentee there has to be a simple way to fix the problem of the forge burning super hot at your back and waisting all that fuel while you are forgeing.

Looks like your hand is right on the hot steel Mr. Hofi. Cool picture though, is that 2 inch square bar?

I like the LG style better than the helve style, there just seems to be less possible damage to your body.

Wow, Jr that sounds cool.

I just made a new knife today in less than 2-3 hours. It is out of a lawn mower blade, and it came out pretty neat. I'll get pictures up soon.

Ok cool. I thought after reading that article(I wish I could find it) that due to carbon being the hardest material on earth, that on a microscopic level the carbon crystals would be less worn away by a grinder or stone, so that they would kind of stick out. But back to the semi original part of the question, if the diamond dust was very fine, I mean like FINE, and added slightly here and there each weld, maybe it would not be detrimental, or atleast make a cool looking blade. I personally think that open seams and stuff look kinda neat, as long as they are not all over, specifically I am talking about the little cable damascus knife I made. the little open seams at the base of the little blade kind of spiral up and then close, going up the blade towards the tip, which looks so cool.

Awww please do!

Oh cool. Yeah my water is pretty warm all the time, except if I get to the shop in the early morning. It's a small little bucket, so a few quenches heats it up pretty quick.

What!? Well Tar, more specifically I meant by carbon crystals, that when an edge is sharpened, no matter how fine you take it down, there (on a microscopic veiw of the edge) will always be the rough bits. I thought I read somewhere that the little saw tooth looking jagged bits wer carbon crystals protruding from the steel/iron, as steel is an alloy of Iron and Carbon. Like I said though, I am not sure if that is true.

Buy That Sweet Thang!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, please don't give me the "just another kid with some BS BS urban legend" speil, I truly want to know if this has been tried or what, and if so if it worked. Now to the question, we all know there are those diamond dust sharpeners, and I was wondering: If you take a flat bar of steel 12 inches long by 2 inches wide and 3/8ths of an inch thick, like a simple high carbon steel like 1050, or 1075, maybe even a high one like 1095, and fold it over so it is like a peice of angle iron, heat it up to forge welding temp and sprinkle diamond dust all over it, then heat it up again and forge weld it over, then fold again and add mopre diamond dust, and do that like 3-4-5 times, then form that into a blade, would it show neat surface effects, have better edge holding ability/cutting ability? I know that one thing that contributes to edge cutting ability is carbon crystals on the surface of the edge(or is that not true?), so maybe some diamond crystals might show up there too? If anything it might make the blade sparkle? Thanks.

And that punch has been abused, not abused abused, but let me just say i hot punch EVERYTHING, and use it as a drift as well too. I have flattened the tip more than once, re ground the tip and used it again, and like I said, it shows no cracks, no nothing. But it could also be my punching technique, I just drive the punch right through, then knock off the little slug.

I have never had a problem, I use water for most everything, and i still have a center punch that has been used and abused that I hardened and tempered in water, last year, it is 5160, and it shows no cracks, no nothing. If you want to know the trick to it let me know.

Springs, not spring knives(I think?).

How well does a side blast forge work with coal? As good as an underneath blast? I also wanted to as, if I have a brake disc, that has a little very shallow pan(some even have no pan, but not that kind) and I built a foirge so that the air would come in through the vents in between the plates instead of up through the bottom, how well would that work?

I am also wanting to build one too. I have a bunch of designs from helve hammers to Little Giant style to ones of my own.

You know, I was talking with a metallurgist about forging tungsten, and he was saying along the lines of how you would have to have an airless vacuum, as well asn an airless fire, and you would have to get it HOT, like hotter than regular stuff.

I also wonder about this, wouldn't a light blue or purple be adequate?

See now that looks like you can put the hammer down over the anvil outside, then slide it inside and place it on the pad. Easy-peesy-lemon-squeezy.

I have an oil quenching question. Say with water and a 5160 knife blade, you heat it up to critical/non magnetic and quench it(hardening?), then temper, right? But with oil, because it is not such a quick rate of cooling, woiuld a knife blade still need to be tempered, or could it just be hardened in the oil and be usable and tough?

What a shame!

I can't wait to read it. The thing I love about Don Fogg's work is his hamons, they look like WAVES, or CLOUDS, and they REALLY do, it is not like flash backs.

I really am not a big fan of bone as a handle, it is nice, REALLY NICE on some things, but on others it is just blasphemous.

Nice, now I want to make one too.

COOL! The hook plain and simple would be neat! Maybe with both horse heads turne out away from the wall and facing forward, or maybe slightly forward and out facing each other.