Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)

Sorry, it's a 3/4 black iron pipe 6 inches long

Ok, that doesn't sound all that bad. I have a 6" burner. Frosty's directions helped a great deal. I still need to work out the drill press since it isn't tuned for precision yet.(its been sitting in a garage for a while) Other than that it does hold a loud flame with a flare.

Its not. I have a trickle stream of excess cash to spend on my hobbies. Thats why I cant outright buy the stuff I need. I also havent bought propane since a little under a year, mainly because I dont have a working forge. At this point I guess Ill put it on hold till I can afford the materials I need. Any idea what I should be aiming for? i dont need a large forge, just maybe average or slightly smaller.

I know that I need ceramic blanket. Is there anything I can do for the time being? I just cant afford a full ceramic insulated forge just yet. As soon as I have the money I will put the proper forge body together. I suppose what I'm asking is this: if I cover the forge body in pearlite could i get enough insulation to heat up the forge or am I just out of luck until I get insulation?

Ok. so I attempted to make a T burner. I thought it came out ok considering that I couldnt get the threads right(crooked). But I was able to get the burner burning. The temp gets rebar to bright orange heat but it wont go any higher. The body of the forge is solid cast mortar and firebrick. It is about 3/4 inch thick. I am guessing that is the reason for my problem but im not entirely sure. Both mouths of the forge are open and quite a bit of flame shoots out of them so thats something as well.

Thanks! I will take a look down there. As to the ITC 100 I read someones experiment with it and plistix. He said that half the forge was coated in each and it turns out that the ITC managed to keep the temperature hotter than the plistix. I figured I would just ask the people at the pottery shop since I'm sure they have more info or experience than myself.

I have been looking around as much as possible to find sources of ceramic wool and ITC-100. There are websites that sell these products, but I am curious if there are any supplies of it locally in Washington. It would give me something to do instead to sitting on my hands waiting for shipping. Though I suppose I do need to work on my patience. If everybody gets it online then I guess I'll just buy it that way as well. I am not sure if asking where I can get the supplies at reasonable prices is allowed, If so then I guess I'm on my own for finding that sort of information. Thanks Ya'll, Graham.

Ok. I think i was able to finish the knife well despite the setbacks. It has been holding up to every stress within reason. I would not baton with this knife but I think that for cutting and slicing jobs it will do just fine.

Pictures after epoxy hardened. Ill wait till tomorrow to test for strength since its a 24 hr cure time.

Eh. well it broke while I was working on it(probably for the better) I have converted it to a partial tang and have glued up with scales and pins. I will test it after its cured to ensure its integrity. Otherwise I will go ahead and get someone to weld it up for me.

I got the knife straighter now. It has a partial crack on the top portion. I dont foresee this knife going through the kind of abuse that would stress the handle area and I am putting ipe scales on, so I dont think it will go through enough to break it. When I epoxy it up I think the epoxy should help too.

I don't have any plates available, I do have a propane torch and I can set it up in water. It might be worth a shot using the dowels and be gentle with it since that method requires no heating and thus no reheat-treat. If I have to resort to heat, would I be able to temper it myself seeing as how I have an oven at my disposal or would that be something even you guys would be uncomfortable with?

Ok, Got it back from HT and its looking good, the edge did not warp and the finish has been put on it. I sent it off for engraving to personalize the knife and as soon as I get it back I will make a big push to finish by Friday. One issue though. During HT the knife bent a bit at the points in the picture. It isnt a ton, but it is significant enough that putting scales on it will be hard since it isnt flat. The RC is 62 so It has good RC but I want to remove that warping. What is the best way I can go about that? Should I heat the steel in the handle to get it soft enough to change shape or what? I know I dont want to compromise the HT on the blade since that was the whole point of getting someone to do it who knows what they are doing. I dont think it was his fault since the steel is thin in that spot I point out and it must have warped because of that.

out of my hands and being heat treated by a local company. Hopefully it goes well!

Thanks! I used a bench grinder to profile the generic shape and then i used files to finish the shape. After that it was all filing and hand sanding to get it down to its current profile and bevels.

My guess is mostly cutting use and maybe a bit of light wood carving or whatnot. General purpose is what I am making it for. Thanks! I have really enjoyed the process, and its the best looking I've made so far!

Pre-heat treat sanding, first side.

Blade is 3.25" and handle is 3.5" the depth of the blade is 1 1/8 inches and the thickness is 1/8"

I was using a jig. I tilted the file to get the depth and found out it was too much.

bevels. Not quite satisfied with the first side i did and the thickness at the edge is a bit thick, but i would rather have it thick than thin. Bout a dime in thickness and there is a gouge at the riccaso in the first picture from me being over zealous making sure that i got it down to thickness.

Little knife if have been working on for a friend of mine. Shes having a birthday at the end of this month. A2 steel so I will be shipping it off as soon as it is ready for HT.

After much filing! Still not done... lol

here is my progress so far

I agree, He will likely want a nice curve, which is why I will have him test the rocking motion of the knife today and make sure it is to his liking. Graham.

Thank you, that gives me a refined idea of what I should do. I have a few in mind, but seeing as how I only have a few knives at a time that I will ever need heat treated I will be looking for cost effective options, and of course I will call to ensure they can meet my needs. Its funny, for the longest time, I had this stubborn idea that if I heat treat myself that I could save money and it would be way cooler. Now after a few years and tons more research I have come to a conclusion that it just simply isn't worth the frustration and time for knives that I give as gifts or whatnot. I also had another funny thought. All us knifemakers that just do it in our backyards, doing quenches without much precision are really just playing blacksmith. No offence to anybody, but it just seems funny. Obviously there are the makers who have nice setups and are equip to quench and HT whatever steel they have, but for those of us getting into it and are on the poorer, hobbyist end of things, we are like backyard scientists that can only control so much of our environment and have limited applications to what we can do. Don't get me wrong, its tons of fun being a backyard "scientist" and I love the experimentation process. Again, thanks! Graham.