Graham Gates(Ionic Muffin)

I am familiar with most of the basics for bladesmithing and have made a few knives successfully. I am taking on a project of making a kitchen knife set for a friend's wedding. I am limited by time since the wedding is at the beginning of June. I currently have a coal/charcoal forge, and I have a gas burner that I need to fix since it isnt heating the forge properly(or maybe i just need to make a new forge body?) I would be fine investing some money into an electric oven that could temper and heat-treat the knives, especially since I will be doing stock removal for the knives to save on time and avoid warping. I figured an electric oven would be efficent as far as time goes, since i could control the temperature precicely. I also read, that if I use a 220v power source it would be less costly for the electric bill. Then again, if its going to cost 100+$ for me to heat up the knives using electricity then I guess gas would probably be a better option. Just curious if electric would be a decent option or not.

The material for handle was osage orange and I have completed a sheath but havent had a chance to take a picture and post it.

Just an update. The knife has been great for just about everything and does everything with ease. It has kept its edge so far.

I do like it but i want to make a high polish for my friend. Found out that there is no blade length limit in cali if you arent in LA and if you carry from the hip. So i think that knife will be a bit better quality for him. Its a late bday present already. Thanks to all of you who gave me advice, I really didnt like the way it was going to turn out before fixing the curve

Here is the finished knife that I was working on. I chose to leave the imperfections in it this time because it looks kinda cool! http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38552-sam-0685/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38551-sam-0684/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38550-sam-0683/

What files did you use for this? where could i get some like the ones you used? It looks like you have an excellent hand for working on metal with files but the tools make a difference.

Ill have pictures tomorrow but ill try that out when i go out to forge.

ok, so I've been working on forging a knife. As i forged out the blade I realized that it was curving up and that i had left the spine strait before i started the blade. This means that now it is becoming a spine that sweeps upwards and away from the blade edge. I don't want this but i don't know how to re straighten the blade so the spine is strait. Any help would be great! Thanks!

Ok, well I just picked up the supplies for an EZ burner, so now that ive got that and a propane tank with a set up for the shut off valve I just need the wool cast able and the wash. If im going to use 2 inches of blanket in a 10 inch pipe i will wind up with a 6 inch diameter hole, the bottom will be made of a firebrick because its cheap and locally sourced. If i just need to add the cast-able to the upper part of the forge then would i want to put 1/2 inches of cast-able on and then add the wash? If so how many lbs will i need of the cast-able?

Ok, so ive been doing research and looking around at other forges that people have built and have come up with a general idea of what i want. I was planning on a 10" pipe 12 inches long with 2 inches of kaowool and a firebrick floor. The inner diameter would then be 6" or maybe a bit less and so i ran the volume and got about 300. This seems like it would be right in the range that works well for a 3/4" burner. I didnt want to have to make more than one burner anyway. I dont like the cost of the kaowool rigidizers so i was wondering if i can just use tile cement. I used it in my charcoal forge and it seems to be doing the job, but it rubs off probably because of the heat. Is there a wash i can make myself that is relatively cheap so that i can put a better wash on it or would the tile cement work just fine? Ill be putting a door on each side and the back side restricting the opening down to 2 inches by 4 inches. I hope that i can save a bit of fuel by making this as efficient as possible but im sure that i will have flaws with my first one.

I bought coal on ebay, bit expensive on there but better than just using charcoal from lowes. I did not restrict air flow.

Ok. So i tried out the anvil and attempted to make tongs as well as a punch. I got the punch done, but then i broke what i had been working on in terms of tongs...guess its going to take more time to adjust to the skills needed. I thing the anvil worked out very well

Here is the anvil in its stand. Im going to do some smithing right after this post. It doesnt wobble much at all and it certainly wont fall onto my toes, which was the point of the stand in the first place. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38269-close-up/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38268-anvil-stand-and-step/ http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/38267-4x4-and-2x4-with-nails-and-wedges/

Sounds good. Ill be making a punch and tongs today so that i can pick up work.

Ill take a look and probably go with one of them. But i was wondering if it is possible to forge the hollow part into the blade using a fuller(large fuller) or something and make it hollow so that i dont have to buy a belt sander set up for hollow grind.

The metal used is a socket wrench socket. Its one i found at St vincints and it came with the socket and a round bar that extended with a detent ball and a hole through the end. like this ::}-----o that is literally what it looked like. I have another one but it is a bit deformed from attempting another forging. Basically I was going to make a strait razor and not knowing what they should have in terms of a blade i didnt think about it much, but now having all this info from you all I think ill be able to get somewhere.

The problem Im having is that when i go to set it in the log i need to cut the log in half and hollow out a section down the middle, then ill probably take bands and bind it so that its stable.