vaporlock

Hi Tempelhound, Agree, but I would think that to study edge retention when using a knife free hand would be difficult. too many variables to be able to draw conclusions. I was nevertheless less surprised by the fact that edge angle has a greater influence on edge retention than hardness.

Hi All, I stumbled upon this study, started to read and had to share. http://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/06/18/maximizing-edge-retention/ very interesting and an excellent effort. vaporlock this will be moved to the knife making section.

Hi all, Thanks for your kind words. All shaping is done by hammer including the point and bevel since for me this is the most difficult part of the forging. I try to leave a 0.5-1.0 mm edge on the bevel for hardening. The original bar was 14 mm octagonal XC75. As far as the hammer dips go, I just have to get better control and hammer more evenly, especially to get an even spine. I still have a hard time predicting the shape of the point and i am still going back and forth between ‘shaping the knife then hammering the bevel and continuously straightening the spine as a consequence’ or ‘shaping the point inverse and letting the tip come up as you forge the bevel’. The olive wood is from a tree which died in 1956 when an exceptional cold in this area decimated the olive trees. Managed to grab it before it went into my neighbour’s fireplace.

yup, I did not pay any attention to how the pic was taken . these are the pics i take to keep a history of what i have done (which i forget to do most of the time) they are simply taken on my workbench. i will take more care with composition next time. thanks

Hi All, It has been a while since I have posted some pics. In the mean time, i keep on forging but how are things coming along? you tell me : XC75 forged as far as possible olive handle with a bit of liner to compensate "hammer dips" in the handle area. I am not ready yet to polish up the whole knife, I still like to see the forge in it. vaporlock

very nice haul especially knowing what people ask for some worn out tongs on "le bon coin". the anvil looks to be in very good condition. did you try the rebound? nice size, nice weight once you have it in its proper place. I gave a knife to a German friend of mine once who introduced me to the tradition of making the gift a transaction by paying a token coin for the knife. He told me he picked it up when he sailed the oceans after setting of from home when about 16 years old. he is 80 now. His explanation, you do not give "a weapon" you can only buy or make one it should be your choice and not a gift. I picked this tradition up since it made sense to me and when I would ask people for a coin in exchange for a knife, some would understand it as "avoiding the cutting of a friendship " tradition and some would not understand at all but nobody other than my buddy ever gave me the "weapon" explanation.

haha, yeah my good ol Dutch heritage. a decent pair of clogs . not advisable for forging though. to much space between foot and clog for scale to drop into.

Oh man, I just stumbled upon a lucky picture. the writing is a lot clearer "Tarreria Farge" . The above anvil is displayed in the entrance hall of the "tarreria bonjean" knifefactory .All of a sudden I have a lot more info. Antoine tarrerias was an anvil maker born in 1838 in Thiers . His father was named Jean Terrerias and his mother was Anne Farge. No idea yet who made the anvil but it should put its date of manufature mid to end 1800. However I do not see a year nor a weight on mine. More digging to do in the manufacture of anvils in that area. vaporlock

Pas mal ton Français, pas mal du tout. I think that her curves will be sufficient for the moment, no need for the "bigorne" yet. She looks more like she was chipped out of a block of steel than cast. strange also the non symmetry between the front and the back. Unfortunately I can not really make out the writing. It does not make a lot of sense to me.

Hi All, As promised, some detailed pictures of this anvil. she is crooked and weird and beautiful. Not a straight plane or angle on it. she is all curves and legs. Pritchel hole has been drilled and squared on the table side she is on the heavy side, liftable but not portable (by me). She rings like a bell (but less so than the little brooks) has no dead spots . Beautiful, I look forward to putting her to work, I just know she will make me sweat. Vaporlock

Hmm, they where visible yesterday. I'll edit the post and see if i can fix it.

Hi All, As promised, some detailed pictures of this anvil. she is crooked and weird and beautiful. Not a straight plane or angle on it. she is all curves and legs. Pritchel hole has been drilled and squared on the table side she is on the heavy side, liftable but not portable (by me). She rings like a bell (but less so than the little brooks) has no dead spots . Beautiful, I look forward to putting her to work, I just know she will make me sweat. Vaporlock

A great new year to all and a BIG thanks for the time everybody takes to make this site a great read.

Hi all, I think the vid Frosty refers to is called "Swinging a Forging Hammer the Helm Way" In case someone is interested. vaporlock

Well, I would like to know what this type of anvil is called but most of all I wanted to know which type of metal worker used it. I do think the three hardy holes will prove to be useful (if I can get over the reflex of taking the hardies out of the anvil) .

Hi Andy, The anvil is on it's way and I will look for makers marks as soon as. I keep looking for references to this type of anvil but I can not even find one that vaguely looks like this one. The region it comes from hints heavily at blade forging but even there i do not see another one like it. I am hoping the previous owner will be able to tell me a bit more about its "maybe" specialised use. Hi Ian, I missed your post. waw, such efficiency, the point where he says this is the most important part of the blade and bangs away with this big doghead .... amazing . I have to look at it a few times.

Hi Ian, Interesting thoughts, I actually bought the anvil a few km away from Thiers. Apparently it had been in the family for three generations . I asked the seller if he could provide a bit more info on the history of the anvil and he will check with his dad whose father used to use it.

Hi Matei, Yes, I think I saw your thread on the "pig style" anvil you found and the subsequent discussion on which country it was made in. as you once said, The area of France richest in anvils is the northern half of france and especially in the west. The south where i live is a bit poorer in anvil culture. If ever you need a hand getting one shipped, let me know, we will see what is possible.

like being able to place a scrolling mould on the anvil. with two or three post support instead of one.

I do have the feeling it was some specific purpose anvil. I do not seem to find one like it on the net.

really, "pig style" ? ha, it does look like one, never thought it would be a style. I give her a whirl and let you know how much fun she is:-)

Hi All, In the series "you can not have enough of a good thing" i bought another anvil today but this one more for its unusual shape than anything else. looks like a nice big table with enough holes in it to twist and turn. As soon as i have it home I'll look if there are any markings on it. the anvil is 68.5x13x26.5 cm and from the size i would guess 120 ish kg (but that figure is probably totally of the mark). I have no idea if there is a reason for this anvil type and I can not find any info on it or anything similar. Any ideas? vaporlock.

Definitely looks like a brooks model. even the heel's edge being slightly slanted inwards is seen on some. interesting.

Hi All, Ian, Foundryman, Thanks for the info. I'll look into the brooks anvils and see if i can find out more, I did find it in France and the D does look like a proper D, i'll give that a closer look as well. It is a very nice anvil to use. It has a very lively bounce a lot less tiring than the fisher who's bounce isn't that lively (anymore). I missed my mark once (completely) and xxxx did that hammer come back up quick. no time for though, reflex or anything else. vaporlock

Hi All, I found a nice portable anvil so I do not have to lug the Fisher Norris (a bit less than double the weight of the little one) around. I would like to know what manufacture it is but google only returns john deere when i search for the JD initials. not sure if it is one though. I thought they only had these little marketing anvils. I do not see any other marking than the "1 1/4 CWT JD". Does anyone have an idea if this is a john deere anvil or something else all together. Great anvil to use, excellent bounce but a ring like nothing else. very very clear, very high pitch and looonnng. only after hanging 4 proper neodym magnets underneath and on the sides and hanging something else of the magnets, it calms down to totally bearable. might try a chain or whatnot. I would appreciate any and all ideas regarding manufacture, age etc. cheers vaporlock