Latticino

Check out some of Tom Latinè forged tools for great examples. I say why shouldn't I want my tools to be a work of art, or at least fine craft? They are the things I use when I'm trying to be at my best. Make them myself or celebrate others skill in making them, both are valid, I think

I thought they might be misusing the term, indicating it was a technique rather than the result of a series of operations (like a temper line for instance). Tough to achieve that level of presentation in the time permitted, particularly since a lot of it is traditionally influenced by the laborious hand polishing step. Your choice of the clay heat treatment makes even more sense. Thanks for the clarification. One other question, if you don't mind. I heard from the rumor mill that the producers of the show ask contestants to sign a contract that requires them to fork over a percentage of their future knife sales in return for the exposure they get from the program. Can you corroborate this?

Agree that Theo made some very good design choices for his chopper. The shape clearly fit the test format, and the choice of full tang worked well for both strength and speed of handle assembly. Though it gave him some trouble down the road, I also think that he was particularly clever in claying the spine of his blade, though not necessarily to create any kind of hamon. If you consider the mode of failure for Walt's blade you will understand why I feel that way. I certainly agree with you Frosty as regards the San Mai blade. I sat there the whole time marveling out loud why that experienced bladesmith didn't go for the folding operation to get his "dog in a blanket" construction. Guess when you get into a rut under pressure it can be hard to see the forest for the trees (to mix metaphors....). The one blade making technique that I wasn't completely familiar with was the last one (canister Damascus, straight Damascus, San Mai, and <some Japanese term I can't remember to look up>). Can anyone help clarify this for me?

Great job Theo. I was also quite disappointed that you didn't get to show us the whole 3-D printing and casting process, or at least part of it. Sure would have been a shoe-in for the directive to show something that only you could do in your own shop. I was really hoping for one of your cool "twisted wire" printouts for a guard on that Naginata, or at least a butt cap for the wood section. Too bad you couldn't use a program you already wrote and just churn something out. I know that there is a lot of upfront programming required for 3 D printing, but couldn't you just adapt something you already had made up? After all the 3D stuff is just another tool. I'm sure they don't force the other contestants to make new press or power hammer dies, fullering tools or the like in the time allowed.

By all means test it out if you have the inclination. Nothing is better than an empirical test for proving a concept. Not sure of where you are getting your BTUH data from for burner operation, but assuming your calculations are correct I believe that you may have the following issues with the proposed design: Typically I select burner blowers for high pressure/low airflow operation as the standard commercial ventauri mixers have some backpressure at the mixing chamber. With a simpler mixer (straight tube gas side inlet) you will likely have less loss in the mixing chamber, but there will still be wall friction and burner outlet friction. I believe that the computer pancake fans are optimized for high flowrate and low static pressure. Though I don't have a fan curve for them I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that at full airflow they only exert 0.1" WG of external static. The key reason for getting a fan curve is to see whether the fan will give enough static at the proposed reduced airflow, or just stall out. 5 CFM in a 1/2" OD mixing chamber has the fluid velocity at around 3,667 ft./min at standard conditions. This equates to a duct friction loss of 97" WG in each equivalent 100' of duct. While I know you don't anticipate a long duct length (by this calculation 3' of the 1/2" pipe would be 3" of static loss, so I think you may have missed an order of magnitude somewhere) you need to be aware that any elbows or rapid changes of duct diameter will equate to a fairly significant equivalent length (as will the entry condition for the fan and exit condition for the burner). A single 90 degree elbow can be more than 15' of equivalent length. For this example that is almost 14" WG for an elbow alone. Note that a 1" mixing chamber is much better (2.7 "WG for each 100'), but that is still relying on your estimate of 30 MBH burner output. Placing computer fans in series (your turbine configuration) will theoretically maintain the flowrate while increasing the external static pressure available. In practice turbulent effects and fan speed controls makes putting fans in series rather problematic. My suggestion would be to pipe up your forced air burner in 1" pipe, right up to the forge inlet. At the end of the mixing chamber I would recommend some kind of a burner outlet (multi port burner block, flame retention ring, 1 x 3/4" reducer...) to provide a clear velocity transition at the burner exit to allow you to tune burner operation easily while limiting precombustion in the mixing chamber. You certainly can try a pancake fan, but keep that centrifugal draft inducer fan around if it doesn't work (I assume it is a centrifugal fan you are talking about, not one of those cheap, inline paddle wheel draft inducers that get put onto furnace flues). Good luck and please post your results. Remember your residential pressure natural gas line is typically quite low pressure (0.25 psi), so long runs of natural gas will have to be larger diameter than your relatively high pressure propane. By the way, yes I have made a couple of 3/4" mixing chamber blown burners (for glass furnace pilots), but those used industrial ventauri mixers and air provided by the same large high pressure blower that I was using for my main furnace burner. Kind of a different application. May try to pipe one up for a paint-can forge sometime, but will likely use a small Dayton squirrel cage blower.

Take a basic bladesmithing class.

Can you explain why your door opening is taller than the opening of your forge? Normally I make them shorter to aid in keeping the heat in.

Very cool. Please say hi to Dick for me.

These inline fans appear to be optimized for high volume and low pressure. I could not source a fan curve, so can't be sure. There website does indicate that the 6" fan provides 440 CFM at a required energy input of 121 watts. Using standard fan calculations this gives us approximately 1.8 " WG of external static at that flowrate at standard conditions. Also not sure what airflow needed for your coal forge configuration, but think it more likely that you will need relatively high pressure and low flow. Blacksmith Depot sells one at 112 CFM flowrate at 2.55 " WG external static pressure for smaller forges, so I'll assume that is a good general size (substitute electrical current for the flowrate in CFM, and circuit voltage for the static pressure as a good parallel for analysis). Depending on your duct configuration you can use up a lot of the external static pressure capacity of the blower in fittings as well as entry and exit conditions. Without a fan curve it is hard to tell what static the fan will provide at the lower flowrates you may want for your installation. Worth trying, I guess, but try to minimize your duct length, offsets and sharp transitions.

Going cheap on a motor for a belt grinder is a false economy in my opinion. If you don't get one rated as TEFC you are either going to have to build a filter box to keep the metal grindings out or replace your motor after the dust gets into the windings. If you don't get at least a 3 speed pulley setup you will be letting yourself in for burned blades and ruined temper after heat treat (unless you plan on hand sanding after heat treat of course). I have 1.5 HP on mine and can still stall it at times (but that may be a product of my VFD torque limiter and/or belt drive), so would recommend at least 1.5 HP. You also need to decide whether you go with a 1750 RPM or 3600 RPM motor, which is directly related your drive system.

I certainly don't qualify as a truly skilled knife maker, but I'll take a stab at tending the same kind of constructive criticism that I appreciate for my own work. All of this is purely subjective as regards my personal aesthetics, your blade appears quite balanced and useful, so it passes the critical "function" test as far as I'm concerned. I also like many of the design choices, including selection of handle scale material, location and size of rivets, and general proportions of blade and handle. As far as things I'd look into further: It looks like your primary bevel is too short, or your secondary bevel is too long (hard to tell from the photo). I personally strive (not always successfully) for a crisp break between the primary bevel and the flat section of the blade. I also like to see the primary bevel either follow the contours of the blade profile, or clearly depart from same. To me it appears that you have tried to follow the profile, but not succeeded, especially near the tip. I also like to see a defined plunge line where the primary bevel starts at the riccasso as well as a clearly defined riccasso. Suggest you try to photograph with diffuse natural light to minimize the washing out effect of the camera flash. As I noted a nice looking early effort. Of course some of knife evaluation is in the intangibles: how does it feel in the hand, is the balance optimized for slicing or chopping, how successful was the heat treatment... Bottom line is that you are happy with it, and you learned something from making it. My aesthetic suggestions are only recommendations for your next project.

Can always make a bigger base plate and just adjust height of the vise. Current setting appears to allow vise to lower, but not raise up, so larger base plate will work. However I do prefer to have the post tied to something solid as well to prevent it walking under load.

There was a post not too long ago on propane fired NA micro-burners. I would expect that one of those would suit, but will still not give you the output of oxy-propane or oxy acetylene. You could also look into an acetylene torch sometimes used by jewelers and plumbers. I believe it is called a presto-lite, and they are often available cheap, on the used market (Craig's list and the like). Not sure on the output, but think they are used for brazing on a regular basis, so they will most likely be better than a big-box butane torch.

Hard brick will have lots of thermal mass and limited insulating value. It can be used for a forge design, but will be quite wasteful as regards energy. My preference is for a relatively thin inner layer of refractory or hard brick and a thick outer layer of insulating material (soft firebrick or refractory blanket). The Zoeller brick forge is made of soft (insulating) brick. If you are going to follow it I would use soft brick rated for 2600 deg. F as is clearly spelled out in the design sheet.

I think that you will find that the typical wisdom these days is that brake drums are a bit too deep to be effective while brake disks are a bit better. Of couse a lot depends on whether you are planning on burning coal or charcoal.

Nice blade, but gorgeous handle.

Please call them burners, for ease of communication if nothing else. I like the burners to enter at around 1 or 2 o clock, approximately tangent to the inner wall of the forge. but have also used 3 oclock with good results, depends on what you want from your forge. Yes the blanket sealant is to both limit the water the blanket would extract from the refractory, but also to rigidize the surface so there is less blanket compression when you put on the refractory material. Search for refractory blanket rigidizer for alternates. Note that there are many different refractories. You want one that will withstand 3000 deg F, at least directly across from the burner port. You can use Kastolite 30 as a reasonable insulator that is reasonably flux resistant, but Mizzou is stronger and has more flux resistance, and you don't really need the firebrick if you use it (it is a much poorer insulator and has more thermal mass, so it is always a tradeoff).

A split brick is a half thickness brick. Since you are not a production shop you probably don't need the thermal mass of a full brick floor. Heat treat forge can indeed be quite different. If you are truly planning on just heat treating you will only need one burner, but need to be very careful with placement to limit hot spots. On a relatively small forge volume (for heat treatment, not general forging) like this one I would consider indirect heating of some sort, depending on what you plan on heat treating. As far as I can tell nothing indicates the design for a dedicated heat treatment forge other than the title. I assumed he was not clear on terminology.

Mikey, Agree with all your other comments, as usual, but if he is planning on using the 3/4 x 1 SS reducer as a flare, as his post appears to indicate, he can't cut off the forward thread on the mixing tube. On the other hand, it is questionable whether he needs a flare for his burner, but it isn't my design.

I get you at around 500 cubic inches, assuming some minor compression in the blanket during construction. Suggestions: Plan for two burners. Design doors or purchase additional bricks to block off opening when not required. Seal blanket with colloidal silica, or equal, before refractory coating. Use split fire brick for floor, or high alumina kiln shelf, instead of full firebricks Depending on refractory type you may want a thicker layer of refractory. I have been using 1/4" and am finding it too fragile.

Not completely sure, but I've always made the distinction between hawks and hand axes as relating to the type of eye and handle configuration. By my definition that would be a hand axe as the handle isn't a full taper and assembled from the "top" of the tool with a friction fit, rather than from below with a wedge (like many hammers). Regardless of semantics though, nice first effort.

Currently work as a professional HVAC design engineer (means I'm certified to stamp construction drawings), for a small consulting firm, working primarily on health care facilities. Several former jobs, but the most notable was around 10 years as a self-employed glass blower (still hesitate to call what I did art rather than craft, so won't use the glass artist title). Blacksmithing only a hobby at this point.

Nice punches. Suggest you photo them with a recognizable object to give a clear sense of scale.

Fantastic project. Always intrigued by timepieces

Very glad you got rid of the quick release fitting on the gas train. You would be much better served with use of a true piping union fitting if you need to be able to take a joint apart for service. I don't believe that typical compressed air quick releases are rated for gas service.