Jump to content
I Forge Iron

CrookedPath

Members
  • Posts

    50
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by CrookedPath

  1. I've been able to pass a few of the ABS knife function tests, not the bending in half part. I'll be making another test knife in the next month or so, so we'll see. I'll wait till I can pass those tests before tackling iron bars.
  2. I just learned about this guy through this article. Pretty neat. Anyone ever try to recreate this? https://clarksonhistory.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/secrets-of-the-dead-the-richtig-knife/
  3. I like that Gladius, looks great. Is that a hole at the tip of the blade? Or just a black mark?
  4. Lake City? I live just south of there nearish to Lake Butler. If you need any help setting up shop again I could lend a hand. I am in contact with some people in FABA in and around Gainesville, as well. I wouldn't mind learning from you if you teach as well. Welcome to the neighborhood.
  5. It really depends on the type of steel you are using, when it comes to hitting it cold. I use 1095, and don't have any trouble with hitting it cold. I believe you only have to worry about micro cracks in alloyed steel, that has alot of chromium or manganese. Not 100% on that though. I usually straighten at a black heat, just below red. I try to straighten and true the shape I am working on at the end of each heat, that way the over all shape won't get away from you. Lets say I am working on forging the end of a piece of flat bar into a point for the knife. I'll pull it out at yellow/orange and forge the point with heavy even blows. As the metal cools into the red I lessen the strength of each hit, making them faster and lighter. I do this in order to planish the piece, removing any hammer marks from missed blows. Then I eyeball it for straightness, and give it a few more light hits as it cools into a black heat in order to make it relatively straight. Back in the fire it goes. I will do some tweaking in a vice as well. You want to have the part that needs to bend just outside of the vice jaws, use a pair of tongs with a good firm grip for leverage and bend just a hair past straight. You'll get the hang of it.
  6. I'm glad others feel my pain. Thanks for the good words Kendall. Micheal i am gonna try this. Baking soda, hmmmm
  7. There I was sanding a knife ready to go out to a customer, when I notice this strange shadow along the blade. It doesnt sand out, and I am not sure it's even really there. After a day of polishing and soaking in acid turns out it was a hamon, and I wasnt even trying for it. Really excited about this, my crappy camera doesnt do it justice. This was with 1095 too, which I thought I understood was harder to get these kinds of results with. Anyway I am super happy and had to share this with ya'll.
  8. I thought about the hot punch, but I don't currently have punches in the sizes I need for the pins. I always drilled because it seemed easier, and more precise. It may be I will just start punching. Still this is a good lesson in proper annealing. Love this forum
  9. I live in Florida i didnt think those things were necessary. If this metal is so hard it beats a drill bit made for drilling metal even after a poor but mostly sound attempt at annealing, at the very least it's been air cooled, why the heck am I going through the bother of hardening at all!? I say that mostly in jest. I am just blown away that I have spent the better part of a year learning the how to make my steel tough and hard and springy and all that, only to find that its harder than a drill bit without me even doing anything to it. Seriously though for the helper bar. Just stick a heated chunk of rebar in the bucket along with the knife? Or stick it in before I put the knife in, kinda like I do for preheating my quench oil?
  10. I have recently had some issues with drilling the pin holes for my full tang blades. I am using a 5 speed table mounted drill press, set to the slowest speed, cobalt drill bits, and oil to keep the temp down while drilling through the steel. My problem is I seem to be hitting a section in the steel, maybe 1mm deep that appears to be too hard for my drill bits to go through. Some times the hard spot is deeper, almost in the center of the 3/16 thick handle I am drilling through. I've taken to annealing my blades before I drill, and today it still happened. I went through 2 brand new drill bits just to get through this bugger. My annealing process is to heat the blank as evenly as possible to non-magnetic and stick it in a 5 gallon bucket of vermiculite over night. I am using NJ Steelbaron 1095. What am I doing wrong? I am ready to tear my hair out.
  11. I gave it 30 secs. You will definitely want to test it on a sample first. The saltiness of the water seems to be a factor in how quick it makes a mark.
  12. Red(Positive) wire attaches to blade. Cotton ball soaked in salt water and placed over the surface to be etched. Black wire pressed into cotton ball. It is that easy.
  13. Just thought I would share this with anyone who is new to knife making, and wants a super easy way to put a nice etched logo or makers mark on their knives. I use a stencil I got from a real nice fellow named Ernie, at Blue Lightning Stencils, but you can also coat your blade in wax or nail polish and scrape away the bits were you want an etch to happen. Here is what you need, salt water, a couple wires and a 9 volt battery. Photos are of my rig, and of the knife I etched. Its for someone in a local Beard Club, I've done a couple knives for these guys, and they love that I can etch their logo into the blade.
  14. Yes sir you are on the right track. I've never used it to heat steel with but Cowboy Charcoal gets really hot and may do the trick. Its a natural wood charcoal for grilling. Get your self a brake drum to use as a forge, hairdryers will work fine to get you started, but I don't imagine they are up to the task of being a full time forge blowers. Or you can check out this link. http://www.msforgecouncil.com. It's a blacksmiths club based out of Mississippi. The club I am in in Florida has an annual meeting complete with classes, tail-gate sales, and demonstrators. Monthly meetings too. Great resource.
  15. I was led to believe that a longer soak time leads to a more thorough tempering. Plenty of guys in the knife section of this forum felt it was the right thing to do. I have drawn a temper with a torch after hardening, and not gotten the results I was hoping for. Frank: when I have drawn a knife to blue/peacock the blade broke under intentional testing, and it showed a small grain size at the break. I had only gotten the spine blue and not the edge. Any advice would be helpful in that department. Ironmike: Not sure your comments are helpful. thanks anyway
  16. Yes indeed, all great ideas. Of course we would need to eat lunch, duh, Why didnt I think of that? Making a sheath is also a good one. That's probably what I will end up doing. I've talked to a lawyer-friend about the waiver, but I've been on the fence about the insurance. Havent looked in to it mainly because I am afraid it will be more expensive than what I will bring in doing the classes at this point. I've got a pretty small operation, just 2 anvils and one forge.
  17. I've been thinking of doing a class to teach how to make a hatchet from a ball peen hammer. Initially I would only do 2 people at a time, depending on their skill level I might be doing most of the hammering. The big issue is the heat treat. I would normally want to bake these suckers in an oven for 2 hours like I would one of my knives, but that's a long time to have someone hanging out at a loose end. I thought maybe I could stretch it to 2 days, one for hot work, the other for cold. Just want to know if anyone else has had experience with this kind of setup. Is there some other way to heat treat that would be quicker? Any advice would be good as it's my first time doing a class like this.
  18. Great Idea jacobd, I'd never thought of that before. Have you tried that technique yourself?
  19. It's not a first stab at an axe because axes don't stab. Haha. Anyway I am getting ready to start on my first axe head. I've done some knives and I've done some forge welding. The question I have is this: Should I cut the slit and drift the hole for the handle before or after I hammer out the blade and forge weld the bit in. This will not be a wrapped style of axe head by the way.
  20. The Florida Artist Blacksmith Association has a great online resource, and you don't even need to be a member to view the info. Here is the linkhttp://blacksmithing.org/resources/howto/. A ton of Animal heads. Just 30 min ago I finished this one. It's the first animal head I have ever done, I still want to do some file work to refine the shape, but I am pretty happy with him. If you live in Florida I strongly suggest you join. Only $25 for the year, monthly meetings and a newsletter that always has a good project in it.
  21. Sorry for the slow reply Gerald. The runes on the wooden portion are my makers mark. It's my interpretation of Crooked Path, the name of my forge. The ones burned into the bone are mainly a thanks, a blessing, and request for aid. Little prayers I thought would be useful when harvesting plants and whatnot. I use the Anglo-Saxon Futhork as apposed to the Elder Futhorc.
  22. Well I just got done with a boline myself, thought I'd share it. The curve is less severe, so I didnt have as much trouble keeping everything in order. I worked one side of the bevel, fixed the curved, heated, then worked the other side, fixed and heated. Seemed to work pretty well.
  23. Just got a new anvil! It's a Hay-Budden was made somewhere between 1910-12, and for being over 100yrs old its in really good shape. He weighs 152lbs made in Brooklyn NY. The last picture is the anvil that I am replacing, look at the difference of the facing there. Special thanks to Lewis Riggleman of Ram's Head Forge for selling it to me at a reasonable price. He almost always has at least one anvil for sale. (Except for right now because I bought the last one). Check with him in a few months if you are looking for an anvil in Florida, and let him know Jordan "Two-Beards" sent ya.
×
×
  • Create New...