bigfootnampa

Thomas I would like to have a stock of 5160 but have never run across a particularly enticing source.  I do have a few old leaf springs, but am quite unsure what they are made of.  I've passed on some beauties that must've sprung dump trucks or railroad cars... 1/2" + thick leaves bundled in 300 + pound stacks!!!  I just couldn't handle them!  Been kicking myself since!

One would assume that, Charles... NOT so though according to "the Scythe Book"!  He says that European manufacturers use something close to 1085 or 1090.  I have considerable skill with mine and can swing them pretty close to visible obstacles with amazing accuracy... trouble arises when a steel stake or spiky stone is hidden within a copse of tall grass!  I tilt mine down at heel a bit when swinging close to a sidewalk or some such, so that the blades back edge drags first... mostly works pretty good!

I have made mine out of steel that is only about 35 points carbon.  I now regard this as a mistake!  In future I'd like to use about 1090 steel.  The kids here have seriously damaged the edges on one that I left in sight... I ground most of the nicks out and it cuts pretty nicely again.  Of course, no steel is going to take abuse without degrading the edge.  Since I prefer a VERY SHARP edge, I think the 1090 type steel tempered back a bit will give me a more durable edge!  I have some old mower blades targeted for making a new batch of scythes!  

Personally I think goats fed on fresh clover give urine that is just as good for quenching!  Though I haven't really tested this theory!

BTW... my tang extensions are about 20".  Kind of like the shafts on golf clubs.  I bend the shafts at the base of the sickle to get the right cutting angle.  I like a slightly saw toothed edge that grabs the grasses, so I do the honing with a fairly coarse stone or diamond steel... an old way was to leave the scythe hang on the porch overnight and let the dew slightly rust the edge

I extend the tang on mine.  Creating an extension of the reach that keeps me from bending as much.  They'll spoil you for weedeaters!  Mine have less curve in the main blade area with a good curve at the tip.  The longer reach also increases swing speed.  By keeping a very sharp edge I am able to reach close to buildings and trees or posts sliding my blade into position and then taking a quick snatch cut!  This makes for less blade damage and more safety for the obstacles!  So... some ideas for your next ones!  Forge on!

Pretty cool sculpture!  Quite an ambitious project!  I hope it finds a worthy home!

There are probably some who can do 8" stuff!  Could you possibly do the machining first?  CNC carving machines work with solid wood all the time!  Baltic Birch plywood is another option to consider, pretty stable as it comes from the factory!  Or... how about one of the many composite woods now available? Trex, Azek, etcetera?

I do not and I do not think you'll find someone!  Modern stabilization is only done on small pieces of wood... it is really impractical on anything like a large slab!  It is NOT just a matter of tooling scale!  The difficulties multiply exponentially for large slabs!  EVEN if costs were unlimited (hardly ever the case) it would still be impractical to stabilize large slabs!  You'll need to rethink this project!  

Yeah, I had a wren that insisted on nesting in my squirrel cage blower... obsessively filling it with tiny sticks!  I finally got used to shutting the intake completely each time I shut down!

Yes, very nice photos and lots of cool variety in the work!

Also make a search for scrap yards.  Surely there is at least one on the island... dumps are even better!  Rebar is good material!  I use it often!  It is a bit more work because of the textured surfaces.  I usually start out on my power hammer retexturing the entire surface of the rebar... NOW it is a MUCH more interesting material than manufactured rod!

Working only by hand I would cut corners somewhat by using some of the original rebar texture as "character" for many pieces!  

Attend local farm sales, flea markets, and seek out junk stores (sometimes called "Antique" stores).  Soon you'll have a NICE pile of various metals!!!  

Wives are almost always right!  I think it is GREAT!  In about a five to ten pound version with light forging hammers it would be a great jewelers forging setup!  In case you need some new ideas!

Personally, I find that I work rather intensely, usually with two irons in the fire.  There is a good bit of walking involved and lots of arm work.  Not a truly intense workout but an enjoyable one and time seems to disappear when I am forging!  I like to use a rebounder a few times per day for leg and trunk exercise... but my arms and grip get a very nice workout while forging for two or three hours at a time!  

I also make a lot of real neat stuff while I am at it!  I can make better woodworking tools than can be bought... at ANY price!  Large gouges, spokeshaves, drawknives, carving knives, slicks... some of the woodworking stuff I make!  I also make scythes that will spoil you for weedeaters forever!  Handmade nails that are beautiful and STRONG!!!!  Vastly stronger than manufactured nails!  My detail carving knives are unequaled and my wife is moved, almost to tears, by the beauty of my simple J hooks!  Hinges, latches and iron bindings can take a simple piece of woodwork to the world class level!  YES, YOU NEED A FORGE!!!!

I made a nice lever handle for the "Long, Long, Trailer"!  I left the head on to keep the look, but forged the sharp edges back to soft rounded curves. 

No, the twisting process shouldn't affect the metal strength... if done wrongly or to extreme it could though.  A tapered, hand forged nail or spike though is, IME, several times as hard to withdraw in wood as a similar sized screw of modern manufacture.  They are more comparable to ring-shanked nails in my opinion!  Further if even MORE holding power is desired (hard to imagine WHY) then a much easier way of doing it is to nick small barbs along the corners of the tapered, hand-forged, spike or nail!  Only places where I might consider doing this is where I might be hanging something weighty in direct line with the fastener shank.

I reckon that's true Thomas and I've heard that some damascus swords were quenched in boy's urine.  Still... it seems doubtful to me that BM454 would be up to the tasks of making either type of steel used in those examples!  I did not realize that W steels were water "quinchable".  I have certainly "quinched" my share of steel in water... but NOT while making high quality blades or other very sharp cutting tools.  

So... anyhow, BOTH iron oxide and aluminum oxide are more abrasive... harder... than the parent metals.  Significantly so!  I have seen sand melted into ingots of glass by downed power lines!  I used to keep some around for show and tell... from my days as a firefighter!  Sorry guys!  I just gotta stir the pot a little!

What you are looking for is not existing to my knowledge!  There are air quenched and oil quenched steels that make good blades!  Many steels are water quenched in large hunks... for anvils or hammers.  This does NOT work well for the thin cross sections of most blades!  Steels with very low amounts of carbon can be hardened a little by quenching in water or even super quench... they still make marginal quality cutting edges!  Railroad spikes and mild steels are examples.  

WHY???  Because IME a tapered spike on a J hook will hold tighter than a lag bolt in solid wood!  I have NEVER had one pull out under load!  PERFECT performance is very difficult to improve upon!!!

I have a good horn on my anvil... but I wouldn't use it on this project.  I would free hand all of those bends.  My advice is to practice doing free hand bends more!  IMO the twists are not attractive on this type of project... I'd leave them out!

I am surprised that no one has yet mentioned the option of keying the rivets!  It seems much easier than using square rivets.  The simple way would be to use a star drill to nick the edges of the holes.  A grid like this, with many rivet connections, would have tremendous resistance to racking forces owing to the natural variation of the rivet placements, friction from tight rivet heads and the locking keys!  

Based on my work with Monel, I think you'll find the nickel content to make for tough forging!  

Monel takes a great scale patina that is thin and extremely durable!  It is a tough, stiff material.  Extremely stainless... the ultimate!  Makes a decent match for plated finishes like brushed nickel and pewter... with the proper polish.  Heavy duty for handles!  As noted my experience is with Monel, but I understand them to be similar alloys.  Industrially they are used for dies and in corrosive food or chemical processing.  I'd think it would make good knife furniture.  Personally, I think I should experiment with it for jewelry highly textured and then polished on the outer surfaces for nice contrast!

It can be done... upsetting the spike head into square without cold shuts.  Hardly worthwhile IMO though!  It takes a lot of patience!  Too many heats!  I just square them up and use them for a tong grip then discard after I have used the rest of the spike.  UNLESS I want to save the handle as for a door handle with that spikey flavor!  Then I just upset the edges, slowly and gently, to get rid of the sharp places and make it more comfortable to handle.

I'm pretty sure that's a WWII german bayonet.  I have one similar.  Toward the latter part of the war i think that the, usually picky, German workers were using some inferior scrap steels and cutting all kinds of corners!  Defects seem common.  Remember that the German war machinery was under tremendous pressure and very desperate as the Allies closed in!