bigfootnampa

I am not familiar with the steels that you mention but I once made a blade (long ago) from an old hollow ground planer blade (7 1/4" portable circular saw size) that has been incredibly useful and durable. I only sharpen it about twice a year. It is a woodcarving blade so that kind of edge holding is quite amazing! Carbide tipped blades are NOT likely to be good steel as the body of the blades is not used for cutting edges. I think the blade that I used was an Oldham brand. Tempered to medium straw color. I think any hollow ground blades might be worth trying out.

I always like your work Dave! It's exact appeal is sort of subtle but for me, quite magnetic! I don't think there is anything wrong with using modern adhesives... but if you want to do without them (at least for the wooden handled ones) you can do so. Forge your tang to a square or near square cross section with a slight taper and predrill your handle slightly undersized (round of course)... then heat your tang to around 500 degrees farenheit (black heat) and gently tap the tang into the handle. Done this way the resins in the wood become natural hot glues and the fibers are compressed around the tang creating a super high strength zone around the tang socket. Ideally you have melting with minimal or no charring. I like to use heavy tongs to grip the blade as a heat sink to protect the HT of the blade and they also add mass to small blades assisting in the tapping home process. Blades (or any other tools) seated in this way are so solidly mounted that loosening is extremely rare even under abusive conditions. I have chiseled barbs into the tangs sometimes but have come to regard this as a totally superfluous exercise. Even tools that will be used with pulling motions (like horse hoof picks) practically never come loose.

There is such a market, as Auriou rasps (handmade in France... by one man) are quite expensive and usually out of stock, awaiting shipment, etc. I have bought several at antique malls for just a few dollars each though. I have understood that the rasps are toothed hot though at exactly WHAT heat I don't know. Personally I have considered the notion of making some highly specialized files or floats for things like planemaking. There exists the possibility of coming up with some sort of out of the box techniques... for instance I retooth old sharpening steels with coarse diamond files and they seem as good or better than new ones. I know that some of the blademakers on this forum use commercial or home-brewed fluxes to reduce or even almost eliminate scale and that approach would seem promising too. All in all this topic seems worthy of discussion whether any files ever actually get made or no.

Soft copper (annealed) is pretty easy to cut... snips, chisels, knives, shears, even heavy scissors (for thin sheet). Even low quality chisels and punches will normally be hard enough when used for copper. Soft solder works well on copper but it can also be hard soldered as I have often done. Riveting, stapling, bent tabs, wire wraps, fusion welding, forge welding, adhesives are some other possible joins. You can get some neat effects with transparent acrylic colors that can be similar to enameled looks and are easier to do for the less experienced. Also try the faux-stained glass products.

I think I'd call that a slitting chisel and as with many punches or chisels you can use the shank of the tool like a drift though it would not be called a drift. HC railroad spikes are still just slightly higher in carbon than mild steel... so NO not tool steels... though you CAN make a tool with them. For my punches and chisels that will be called upon for hard and repetitive use I use old cold chisel or star drill or pry bar stock. All of these work well for me but I tend to like the pry bar steel the best. Mild steel or railroad spike steel is fine for many purposes though. Many smiths use 4140 steel for most of their tools but most tend to choose more durable steels for their heavily used tools. IMO the reason for the widespread use of railroad spike steel is that railroads are pretty nearly everywhere that people live and their track beds are literally littered with old spikes... PLEASE DON'T pull out the ones holding the tracks down (even if they seem loose... as they will in dry weather)... I only say this because I have seen where some people HAVE done this and it could cause a TERRIBLE accident.

One thing I often find are good files. I often get nearly new ones for a dollar to a dollar and a half. I have found nice rasps (the handmade kind) for four to nine dollars... some of these cost over a hundred IF you can find them new. Floats too (the file type floats). Pry bars are good steel and make fine punches, chisels and headers... at one to four dollars I collect them. Sometimes a good whetstone will turn up.

Thomas is correct. I have used this method on steel traps and it does create a sort of light blued look that is significantly more rust resistant than bare metal but it is not going to hold off all rust forever. Some tree barks do the same thing. I like walnut oil as a finish for things that will be used for food like cutting boards and carved wooden spoons. It will dry and so you can build up two to three coats for fair durability. It is a slow drier though and I find that lots of heat (like direct sun or car dash exposure) is useful to accelerate the drying time between coats. For this type of use it is quite reasonably priced... a pint bottle costs me about $5 to $7 and will finish dozens of spoons and bowls. Total edibility is the big advantage for this type of use.

Certainly you can make use of this vise... you'll still want a post vise (or several) one day, but as you are just starting out this will do you for now. I have a big old chinese machinist type vise that is pretty useful in my shop... it is a low quality vise but it's size and weight make it reasonably useful anyway. In any case a vise is not one of the most ESSENTIAL needs for you at this stage.

Okay I have heard back from my brother about this knife and I will share what he says about it: "i have worked with the new knife some late nights... and it cuts really smoothly ---- glides ---- i did shorten the handel ---- as it just didn't balance nicely in one hand with the long handel ---- but i think it was a good idea to leave it long and try it that way ----- this is a very good knife for most of the major work as it cuts clean and smooth and is easy to hold for a long time ----- but i still find myself reaching for the exacto blade when i get to the finest details ---- the difference is the width of the blade ----- the exacto isn't rounded off at the piont and so by cutting shallower i can get to where i am using the needle tip of the blade only to turn superfine corners ----- i wonder if there is a type of metal that is strong enough to make a blade that is like i dream of ---- with a needle tip ---- sharp and smooth with a rounded back so it dos'nt drag in the rubber ---- yeah ---thats what i need most ------- if it is possible ---- a needle knife ----- i have used the finest tip end of the exactos for many years without breaking one so i think they are made of pretty good stuff ---- but they broaden out quickly ---- and the back of the blade is square and creates drag which sometimes causes a ragged cut that i don't want --- not to mention that it takes more pressure to push through and when you are struggeling to focus on the finest details you can't be also forceing the blade at just the proper angle and just the exact depth ----- all this gets more and more difficult as the years go by and the hands and the eyes go bad ------- and so this fantacy of a blade that cuts the finest details in the rubber just like the needle tool cuts in the clay ----- but of course the rubber is harder to cut than the clay and mistakes are irrepairable ---- and the blade would have to be sharpenable ." I know what he is looking for as a friend makes them for his woodcarving. I will make a much smaller spikier version for him but I would not create such a fragile and specialized knife for anyone less than expert. My friend makes them from old straight razor blades and they are such a tiny sliver of steel that it is hard to imagine carving wood with them. Last I saw he was carving wood spirit faces into #2 pencils with one of them. They are quite a challenge to grind and sharpen as my belt sander would remove ALL of the metal in such a blade in a TINY fraction of a second... so hand work requiring full sunlight and plenty of patience. The width at hilt of such a blade is about 1/16 inch and the length around 5/8 to 3/4 inch... they are pretty much triangular. Maybe my eyes are still good enough to do it under ideal lighting. I thought that some here might enjoy reading about this after having seen the original posts. Clay

It is possible to sharpen files efficiently using acid baths. There are some tricks to doing so to get the best results but it is not rocket science as I have heard of people just using reclaimed acid from old car batteries for this purpose. There have been some threads on this here so do a search. If you are experiencing short life from your files the most likely culprit is poor quality files to begin with. If you'll try Pferd files when you buy replacements I think you'll be astonished at the difference they make. I used to cut firewood professionally and did lots of chain saw sharpening... I found that the Pferd files would outlast Oregon or Nicholson files by about 10X. Grobet also makes very fine files but their pricing fully reflects the quality they produce while Pferd prices hardly vary from those of vastly inferior file manufacturers. Pferd is sometimes hard to find locally (but well worth the effort). Online is no problem. RE: Sharpening Craig's list has sometimes had file sharpening services listed and the old threads here might also list some. They essentially do the acid thing for you but some are quite effective and many of their customers are very happy. I do not personally use one as I have been able to buy MANY fine files from antique dealers in the malls here for so @#$% cheap that it would be senseless to pay to have old ones sharpened. Maybe someone will chime in with the contact info of a good service for you.

1500 degrees is way too hot to temper knives. Read Steve's sticky above on basic heat treating. I have heard of using hot brine as a quench (for hardening... not tempering) which may be what you are referring to... this type of heat treatment is WAAaaay beyond the basics which you have yet to master. Don't confuse yourself with such industrial systems. Hardening and tempering are separate but related steps in heat treatment. For most steels both steps are needed to get a quality cutting edge that will take and hold a good edge. Back up and start over. Make a couple of small practice blades and practice heat treating them and then test them (BEFORE putting handles on them). If you get spotty results try again. Once you can consistently get nice edges you will be ready to start with learning the handle making end of things.

Philip; James tells me to use non-detergent motor oil. It is harder to find but usually available here. Most air machines use it so I have had small quantities for nail guns and staple guns always. You will love it! Clay

Here's a link to their schedule of events. Looks like it is October 10-11 at Cedar Lakes Park (near Ripley WV). Fee is $15 or donate a hand-forged item to the auction. Sounds like fun! I wish I lived closer. Calendar of Events / Classes

Blacksmiths are TUFF! Hallelujah!! Clay

I have tried to make corkscrews before and found it astonishingly difficult. I eventually got a really nice looking one but it tore up the corks (my wife was determined to force the issue... just could not accept that such a fine looking tool would refuse to function... the resulting geyser of wine still stains my kitchen ceiling). I am so pleased to have this lesson and hope that I might ultimately redeem my smithing reputation now! Thank you so much Mr. Hofi!!!

Pickle it in sparex.

Thing is you'd have to get it red hot to harden it. You are attempting to temper it and that only works when you have hardened it first. Tempering actually softens the steel and is done to correct excessive brittleness that is created by the hardening process. Unless you harden at red hot heat tempering will be ineffective and unneeded.

Deb posted in slightly more detail over at Metal Artist Forum... apparently Frosty was injured somehow while cutting a tree... one of the beloved pyrenees roused Deb. He is in rough shape with both physical injuries and serious head trauma! This is a sad day! Clay

Here they are: Shop 3M: EXL

Thank you sir! I use a similar process but I can see several little shortcuts and refinements that will improve my techniques. These are VERY nice sets of photos and a really useful lesson! With teachers like you and Brian Brazeal and Mark Aspery here we have a truly golden opportunity! Bless you! Clay

Here are some more pictures of the longhorns, James driving the hammer and a seven inch diameter puffball mushroom that grew next to the longhorn pasture. I have just replaced my monitor so I can now see to edit my photos properly. I have a few more for later. Clay

I got the hammer off the truck and set up (kinda temporary) so that I could use it a bit. I worked on some 1/4" X 1 1/2" stock that I am making into large 30" long strap hinges. I had previously made a prototype by hand hammering so I had a good reference. It was much easier and faster with the new hammer!! I noticed that I drew the metal out about three inches longer (on half of a 36" bar) than I did the one that I did by hand. I may have to rework that one to even up the looks. I also made a new hot cut chisel from one end of an octagonal bar that seems to be crowbar type steel. I had previously made a small tapered square punch and drift by hand hammering on the other end of this bar. The hammer noticed the strength in this steel but was able to force it into submission anyway. Much much easier with Mr. Anyang though! I am quite happy with the overall performance. I need more practice but could realize quite a significant increase in output immediately. Clay

Well it may actually be possible to selectively harden the edge of a knife without removing the handle by taking advantage of the quick heating that is possible on the thinned edge. Having said that though I would suggest that you'd spend your time more productively by starting over. I would even suggest starting by forging a couple of small test blades and practicing your heat treatments before even attempting a blade that you intend to finish. Then when your next keeper blade is fully shaped AND heat treated TEST it's edge BEFORE taking the time to handle it.

I have been using some old mower blades as raw material for garden tools... I like the steel as it mostly seems pretty strong. I have even made one into a plane blade (took some patience to get that upset to my desired thickness). It seems like you tightwads are threatening my steel supplies with your excessively thrifty ways! JUST STOP NOW! I will heat treat them after I retrieve them from the scrap pile, thank you! Grant I want to try that with my new Anyang! I will get some watches from the dollar store. I have some people that want to come over and see my shop... this will be great! I have to look properly chagrinned when the hammer falls! I must look shocked and embarrassed! WOW! It's gonna be FUN! Thanks for sharing this kind of real blacksmith lore! This is what's so great about this forum! It's the best place on the web since the old "Badger Pond"! Clay

Often a medium carbon steel 4140 or similar. Usually will make good hammers and hardy tools. As with all recycled steels though, test and guess.