Latticino

It will certainly help. I have done no specific empirical testing, but the theory holds and that is what I've done with my shelves and half crystallite bricks in the past (the latter are great for flux (glass) contact, but quite expensive. I wouldn't kill a knife sharpener (though I did certainly use my wet diamond lap wheel on some brick as well and it worked). I think the high alumina shelves are more in the glass range than sapphire, but have no real idea. Either way silicon carbide belts will do it, and a spray bottle wielded by a friend can keep your belt wet enough (watch the spray around your motor though).

Actually one of the best sword het treating forges I've seen is the 55 gal drum "Don Fogg" style vertical forge with a single burner. Since you don't really want to get up to forging temperatures you need much less burner. Line the drum with 1" of frax blanket. Make a lid with a hole in it for the vent and sword. Modulate the heat by moving the burner closer and further away from the burner port and opening or closing the vent hole some (get a pyrometer for accuracy). Advantages: large volume relative to the sword heats very evenly for the full length. Can use same burner for your small forging chamber and forge the sword efficiently (as noted by others). Unless you have some fairly sizable machinery (at least a press, power hammer or rolling mill, you are unlikely to need to heat more than 6" of the sword blank at a time. vertical orientation doesn't lead to sword bending from gravity during heat treatment Feel free to ignore this advice and buy a 3-burner Majestic, NC Tool Whisper, or Chile forge. You will likely be happy with any of them, but I don't think any hit your price point.

You can belt sand (I used silicon carbide belts when I beveled mine, anything less "hard" will result in the shelf abrading the belt instead), but it helps to keep it cool while sanding. I used a wet belt sander. Just taking the corners off should be helpful, mostly you are trying to reduce the crack initiation points. The manufacturer's do say that the mullite/codierite shelves are more thermal shock resistant (presumably than true high alumina, but they don't necessarily specify), but they are also less flux resistant. Molten glass is a pretty aggressive solvent, which is why the big Corning Glass tanks are lined with a layer of platinum. As I understand it alumina is a more cost conscious alternative. Perhaps a good coating of kiln wash would do the trick. Personally I think I'm going to go back to a thin layer of Mizzou cast in place (though then you don't have the alternative of easy removal when the forge floor gets loaded up with molten flux). The issue with thermal shock is pretty complex, and hard to generalize about. The thickness aspect is pretty interesting, and mostly has to do with the interior of the shelf cooling at a different rate than the exterior skin when the forge gets turned off resulting in stress on the shelf surface. Since the shelf is not a particularly good insulative material, it may not be as big a deal and the extra strength of a thicker shelf may offset that mechanism. Just remember that typically the kilns these are made for warm up and cool down pretty slowly. And now they have those new hollow core shelves as well. I have no idea how those respond.

You also might consider relining it. Most of the Johnsons I've seen have lots of thermal mass in their lining. Not sure if the older ones have any asbestos insulation (outer layer). Take care if you work with it. I've not seen one with a loose side unit before. Looks like a safety sensor on the front and some kind of variable blower control on the side. Way cool. Can't wait to see how it works.

Most likely for natural gas firing. If want to run on propane will need to replace orifice

Note that all "high alumina" kiln shelf is not created equal. From my research the lower priced shelf cordierite/mullite will not either withstand the same temperatures or glass contact, as a true alumina shelf. Paradoxically the thicker the shelf, the more prone it is to cracking from thermal shock. I'm not sure how you shaped your shelf, but any significant surface irregularities or edge defects can turn into locations for crack initiation. Even the best high alumina refractory is quite prone to thermal shock. Used to take me days to warm up and cool down my glass furnace to avoid cracking the 1 1/2" thick high alumina crucibles. I've not used kiln shelves in my forge as yet (though I have certainly used them to support crucibles in a glass furnace). If you plan on replacing the one you have I would recommend going for a 1/2" thick shelf, keeping it a consistent thickness, and carefully beveling the edges. Other alternatives include just casting in a 1/2" thickness of Mizzou or a top coat of bubble alumina. In any event, try not to have the shelf exposed to rapid temperature change (leading to thermal shock). I use a side mounted burner, so that shortly after the burner gas gets turned off I can shut off the blower. You can also close off your forge doors to allow everything to cool down more slowly. Good luck and keep us posted.

Getting steel to spread out in width is most easily done by a beginner using a 2 - 3 lb. cross peen IMHO. A lot depends on how good you are at hammering. As Frosty says, best if you read up on smithing techniques and learn some of the basics of metal moving before you attempt blades, but if you are driven to making spike knives I think Walter Sorrels has a good video on that. When watching a smith work you will need to pay careful attention not only to which side of the hammer is being used, but how hard they are hitting, what portion of the anvil the stock rests on, how the tong side is being held, what angle the stock is being held at...

Frosty, While I completely agree with you regarding sticking to a single design and following it slavishly if you don't want to have to go thru the development trials that the designer has to make the burner function well, it may be possible that the extreme visual off-center of the mig tip in the photo is more due to parallax in the photo than actual construction. Don't have to tell you that photos can be deceiving... Side-arm burners I've seen have bullhead reducing tee fittings, and specific ones that have the correct taper if I remember correctly. If you insist on making one I suggest you get the correct fitting. These won't be available in a normal hardware store (at least not over here), you will have to go to or contact a plumbing supplier. Of course it should be easy to source the correct part online. You might also want to confirm that your mig tip isn't obstructed and that you have your propane regulator at the correct setting (what is the correct setting? Don't know for your burner design, but I'd start at around 3 psi and work up from there). Of course you have no way to meter the air other than the mig tip location, so may have to play with that as well. This is the easiest solution to your difficulty if you need to stay with a NA burner. Of course you could always cross over to the dark side and build a blown burner. These latter are less critical to build and easier to tune in my experience, but that is just me. Also, in the name of safety, please seal your refractory blanket insulation (which you could use more of, unless I am mistaken and you actually have 2" insulation thickness).

Love the hatchet. Would have been tempted to go $25 just for that alone. You had a great haul

Thomas gave you the information to locate links for the IBA (Indiana Blacksmithing Association). I thought you young guys were supposed to be computer savvy. It took me around 1 minute to google them and find their calendar from the info Thomas gave: http://www.indianablacksmithing.org/. He also gave you better advice, which was to save your money for a larger and more helpful conference (Quad State) which has one of the best tailgate sections around.

I know there isn't really sufficient information here, but please bear with me. Is there any chance the press in the attached would be suitable for forging (primarily for making pattern welded billets and punching hammer/axe eyes)? I'm not that familiar with presses, but have done some homework, and know that the 15-60 ton range is reasonable and that cycle speed is one of the critical parameters. The hydraulic cylinder here looks smaller than I've seen for most hydraulic forging presses and the hand cranked "winch" on the side worries me as well. The current motor appears to be a 2 HP one, but the photo showing the hydraulic pump info is to washed out to read. To me this looks like a smaller press, perhaps from an automotive repair shop or for light fabrication, but I really am not sure. Thanks for any advice.

Hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like one forge has a NA burner and the other a blown burner. That might be a decisive difference for you, depending on your shop utilities or experience with same. Hand crank Champion blower might be a winner as well, if it runs smoothly. Good luck.

Well I have the garish plated harbor freight chain on my Peter Wright, which otherwise is loosely fastened to a fair sized stump. Not sure where you are getting your info from, but there is a noticeable difference in noise level with and without the chain. I think it looks horrible and at times interferes with dropping punches or drifts thru the hardy hole. On the other hand, my shop is in a residential neighborhood and I have close neighbors. Until I find a better way to reduce the ring I'll have to keep the chain. I'll have to try bolting it down more securely first. I've tried the magnet trick, and it doesn't work for me.

Don't think you were being stupid. Looks like the punch was fully hardened all the way to the portion you strike. I usually only quench the bottom 2" of mine, and then attempt to hit the striking end with a soft hammer whenever possible. I usually use a brass Harbor Freight hammer or the head of my treadle hammer (which is mild steel). Glad you didn't get hurt.

Definitely good for tempering. At forge welding temperatures the, presumably, type K thermocouple will break down more rapidly than you want. Not sure how accurate they are above, say, 2100 deg F, but it will still give you a general idea. I've used on in my forge, with a ceramic thermocouple well to protect it somewhat from extremes and flux.

Definitely on the right road, nice distal taper in particular. A couple of things to consider to bring the design a little closer to what is a typical aesthetic/function convention for modern bowies (not bashing your design, just recommendations - and many of which I struggle with in my knives): Use a more rectangular profile for your ricasso, the curvature "down" on the blade edge side not only does not match the handle width, but it makes it harder to use the part of the blade closest to the ricasso on a cutting board. Add a choil to make it easier to sharpen Work on making your plunges a little more crisp The handle looks a bit outsized in relation to the blade. I think a bowie style blade can be a bit thicker (and the handle a little thinner) Keep working on the precision fit between the blade, tang and guard. You are really close, but that is one place where enthusiasts are especially particular. The guard is visually thin. I know that this is a product of the brass material you used, but an extra couple of stacked pieces of brass, perhaps with a contrasting material between them, would have been a nice touch. The don't all have to be the same size, just give the illusion of thickness. Sorry I'm not sure of the correct technical term (bolster perhaps) and I know I'm not describing it well.

Personally I would be just as concerned about how much grinding you will have to do to the mystery metal after forge welding it into a billet as a blade edge. Do you have a full face respirator to use that will work with a beard?

Good plan. Onward and upward.

There are different grades of wrought iron. The lowest grade, with the most slag inclusions, needs to be either worked very hot or consolidated before working through a more "normal" temperature range. Consolidation is compressing the billet crossection at close to welding heat. In any case, with my limited experience working wrought, it responds extremely well to being worked at higher temperatures (from almost white hot down to an orange heat), but tends to crack or fracture if you try to do anything but planish much below that. Of course, once you get it up to temperature it is a pleasure to work: moves like butter and welds easily without flux.

Nice knife and interesting shape. I personally like the distal taper and the slim profile of the blade, but as you say it is far from a traditional knife of this type. To me it seems like you have hit a middle ground between leaving the forging marks on the blade and bringing the knife up to a full polish. I'd like to see you commit to one or the other. I do like the combination of materials you have used for your handle. Overall looks like a very effective little utility or EDC blade. I can see where it is puukko influenced, but the profile, tip, bevel grind and handle diverge enough so I'd say it was a stretch to call it a puukko. I believe that a typical puukko has more of what many are calling a "scandi" grind, which has hardly any secondary bevel (or looking at it alternately a secondary bevel that extends a fair way up the width of the blade. Most puukko I've seen have a more rectangular profile with a wider radiused tip (see below) I'm not sure if you attempted to make a more traditional puukko or not, so please don't be offended by my comments. This is what I think of when I hear puukko (not mine, just online image):

On reflection, he may be just asking his question in a misleading fashion. Perhaps he simply wants to know what is the cheapest method to bring zinc materials up to casting temperatures and is planning on using broken airsoft parts as sources for the pot metal.

I'm no industrial metals caster, but those are quite complicated forms with tolerance requirements that are likely far beyond your ability to hold if you have to ask this kind of question. That is if you are attempting to cast these pieces and actually use them in making airsoft guns. As far as I know, it is the setup work that is the big expense in making products of this sort: purchasing the equipment, making the multipart molds, designing and implementing the finishing systems to remove flash adequately... This not to mention that one piece looks like it was stamped from sheet metal. As Glenn hinted, there is an economy in making quantities of this type of item. Unless you plan on making these in the multiple thousands I expect that you would get them more cheaply by buying existing guns and ripping them back apart for pieces.

Not too much forging lately, have been working on finishing up some knife blanks I forged earlier (you know, the boring grinding and finishing part) and trying to get the tooling setup for my fly press. The latter is a recent craigslist find that I'm giving a temporary home to while my brother gets his shop setup. I've been struggling with the heavier material fabrication needed for the press, but hope that now I have a slower bench drill press, (other than my previous hand cranked post drill), that I can speed things up a bit. Almost had a 4.5" grinder cutting wheel explosion to report as well, but only had some chipping when it bounced out of a cut in progress on some 1" thick steel plate. Fortunately I was pretty well protected: grinder safety shield intact, safety glasses with side shields, Lexan face shield, heavy leather apron...but was still stupidly wearing shorts. Got to learn to love to sweat more I guess. I tried to upload a small picture of my press, but think for some reason has rotated. Used to use photobucket, but understand that is not a good path for the future.

Cutting and welding certainly get steel up to a temperature where it can either get locally hardened or locally annealed, depending on the type of steel and the speed at which it is cooled off. You might also want to consider that your countersink may have started out sharp, and in the process of use on the first hole got blunted.

Only special equipment I had last time I cast a lead counterweight was a vicegrip, large coffee can, and simple propane torch. Likely the weight configuration you need is more complicated, I have no idea what that particular counterweight needs to look like. Mine was just cast into some steel pipe.