Falconer

It's work like yours...beautiful, harmonious, balanced...that made me want to be a blacksmith in the first place.... Thank You for the inspiration...it is pure poetry in steel! WOW...

Patrick, How about leaving me a private message with your phone number and / or email address and I'll try one more email...or just call if that's OK. Thanks! Terrell

Hi Patrick, Sorry, I never got any emails??? I was hoping to hear from you. I understand you are the resident expert on Bradleys... Looking forward to chatting. Thanks, Terrell (Falconer)

I just made a deal on a 200# Bradley upright strap hammer and one of the guys on the forum was kind enough to send me the manufacturers stats for it... This may be overkill but here goes: Length of the concrete pad on top...8'3" Length on bottom..........................9'8" following a slight taper like a truncated pyramid Width at top.................................4'3" Width at bottom............................5'10" Minimum depth recommended...........5'6" Recommended to use 1 1/8" bolts...30 9/16" long... My foundation guy says to use 5000LB concrete and let it cure for about 8 days before trying to use the hammer... Also recommended is to put a piece of oak plywood ( 1" ) on top of the pad...useful for marking the bold configuration too. You can request a copy of the manual for Bradleys from: Cortland Machine and Tool Cortand, NY 607-756-5852 They have an 18 page booklet that has general info on the monsters...but they want 35.00 for it... I'd be happy to copy mine and send it along but it's already a copy of a copy and the quality is pretty degraded. There are a couple of resident experts on the forum that may be more helpful.

Nope...it's just much quieter in close quarters. I qualified with a 1911 and making a good shot at 30 yards takes some practice. Perhaps you should consider a shotgun for your mayhem needs!

...on what you mean by "Test". The only test neccessary for a vintage katana was the cutting test. I have one that was made in 1624 by a sword maker named Bokuden and it still looks and cuts like new. The Japanese will bundle a bunch of reeds together around a bamboo center and soak them in water until they are water-logged. (This is said to simulate the human neck..) They then cut it with a series of strokes from different angles to test the blade. Other than feeling the balance and visual inspection for defects...there are no other 'tests' neccessary. The same is true for a modern blade.

You're a kindred spirit! I find it too easy to misread peoples moods over a forum. I started to feel attacked on several sides after just posting my opinion here... Sorry if I gave any offense. As I said, 5160 makes a fine blade. Sword fighting is the best test for a good sword. Those that have never done it are missing a big dimension in the study. I studied JuJutsu in the Marine Corps...about a hundred years ago! Got a Shodan and the instructor insisted I do so in another art for Nidan. I chose Kyokushin Kai Karate...mainly because it was what was nearby. My instructor was also a Kenjutsu / Iaijutsu instructor and I LOVED the sword! Still do... I've been doing it now for 30 plus years... (I feel old!!) Making swords has added a whole new dimension to my understanding. I'm now a full time blacksmith...and find it much more rewarding than my previous life. I'm looking forward to the tet-a-tets on the forum. I've learned some new perspectives already. Electrician huh?...I wish you could walk me through three phase conversion to single phase. I'm buying a 200# Bradley Upright Strap hammer in a week or so and need to run it on 3ph. I know how to do with an old three phase motor adding a third phase to the system. Is that really better than a static converter though?? And...if I buy a static converter from Grainger...they say it is for 4-8HP. Will that run a 1-4 HP as well? (Quite stupid in the ways of the electron!!) P.S. Apprentice man...I don't have a web site but I'll be happy to shoot you some photos of my blades. They are the culmination of a LOT of mistakes!

You may feel free to address me directly. Apparently I've stepped on a few toes and bruised some fragile egos by disagreeing with some of the statements made here. That was not my intention. I only wanted to add my experience to the mix. To date, I've forged almost 30 swords over the last ten years. I've used 5160 on occassion and it does indeed make a fine blade. In addition to making swords, I've taught Japanese swordsmanship for over 25years. I now what a good blade is and 5160 will just not hold up as well, (maintain a razor sharp edge and the flexibility to take blows from another blade). Those of you who only know the metalurgy of blades and have never actually made or used a sword have offered nothing but your opinions. Each of us has the right to our own and I respect that. To change my mind, however, I want to see proof against my own experience. I do, in fact, believe that Japanese swords are the finest in history. I've studied the craft for some years and am well aware that they learned much from early Chinese masters. Unfortunatley the secrets discovered by the Chinese have largely been lost. If one believes the Europeans made a comparable, or better, blade than the Japanese, or Chinese, I'd like to see it. I don't have a web site to sell my swords. What I have is a near 3 year waiting list for one of my swords. The last one sold for over 5000 dollars. Disagree with me if you wish. It makes little difference to me. All the proof I need is in my experience.

Perhaps my posts have been imprecise... Your use of 'stronger' and 'softer' are as well though. High carbon steel holds an edge because it is harder. Hardening the same steel makes it harder still. It distributes the carbon in such a way that they doesn't allow the iron crystals to shift. At the same time it becomes more brittle and less ductile. It becomes too hard to bend like a real sword needs to. Tempering softens this. Tempering to the point where so much hardness is taken out of the blade reduces it's ability to hold a good edge, however. The Japanese found that inserting, forge welding, a mild steel core inside a high carbon casing reduces the stress of the hardening and tempering process and allows the steel to bend and still retain a very sharp edge. If you use simply HC steel for a blade...you can differentially harden, then temper the edge. The result is a long blade that holds a decent edbge but is still unable to bend sufficiently for use as a real sword. It will remain too brittle. I know this because I've done it. A beginner is well advised to make his / her first attempts using one HC steel. No question... The question that was originally asked was: Can one forge mild steel onto HC to make a good sword. I was attempting to point out that that is the BEST way to make a real sword. When making wall hangers it doesn't matter what steel one uses. When making Damascus blades one is making more of a work of art than a real, usable sword. Each process has it's pros and cons.

I've been forging swords for just over ten years now. I've been using differential hardening and tempering on all kinds of tools and blades for the same time. And, yes, I know the Japanese have used it in swordsmithing for centuries as well. It is correct that the carbon steel was folded over and over to uniformly distrubute the carbon in the blade. And all experienced smiths know that when you increase hardness you reduce ductility and so on...This is all basic metalurgy. I can tell you from experience though that the range of hardness needed for a good blade is too high to make it flexible...which is why it is useful to look to the Japanese swordsmiths. If you use some form of high carbon steel, even differentially hardened and tempered, you cannot achieve the same results.

You asked if you could forge weld mild steel and high carbon...absolutely. While I'm in complete agreement with the folks that say you aren't ready if you have to ask...I do not agree that you can temper high carbon steel to make it softer and stronger. High carbon, properly tempered, can hold a razor sharp edge. The problem is that it is too brittle for a blade of great length. You need the flexibility of mild steel combined with high carbon to attain both characteristics. To learn how this is done properly you need to look to the greatest swordsmiths in history...the Japanese. The Samurai sword was / is made by forge welding a high carbon "U" around a mild carbon center. Now, unless you are a brilliant prodigy in sword-smithing, you probably won't be able to do this with any real success for years and years. I, of course, allow for the possibility that you are a genius at blacksmithing...or the reincarnation of Masamune or another master swordsmith. Keep learning. Keep hammering...

I hope that everyone on the forum, American and Non-American, will take a moment to give thanks to the Most High for the gift of this life. We are all blessed...every footstep, every heartbeat, every breath is a gift from our Creator. He's given us a beautiful planet that supplies all our needs. He's blessed Americans especially with the greatest country in the history of the world. It is also my hope and prayer that each of us will take, at least, a moment to remember the men and women in the service of arms for our nation...their willingness to stand against the darkness and the blood they've spilled doing so has kept this nation free...and freed people and lands across the globe from tryanny. May God bless them all and bring them all home safely. We have so much to be thankful for...

You did a great job on shaping the steel. What you have is not a sword though. It is a piece of mild steel in the shape of a sword. That is only the first step...and it's the easiest. The next phase is to learn to choose the right steel for the kind of sword you want to make. (Will it be for piercing steel armor?, Will it be for cutting through armor?, Will it be used for drawing? "Iaido in Japanese", Will it need to bend and still hold an edge?, Will it simply be a wall hanger?) Then, learn to harden and temper it correctly. That's an art all by itsself... One that many blacksmiths are not very good at. The final stage in making a true sword is learning to sharpen it without damaging the temper and learning to polish it. Breathing life into steel is what a true sword maker does... You did a great job and I don't mean to sound discouraging at all...but tool and weapon making are the highest forms of the art of blacksmithing (in my humble opinion!). I collect swords, mainly Japanese, and I make them. I'm still learning and still have a long way to go. Definitely keep hammering...Keep studying...and reach for perfection!

"atoms are connected in metals by metallic bonds. Molecules are connected by covalent bonds. Yes, all matter is made of atoms but the way the atoms are bonded is different between metals, organics, and ceramics." Excellent point...if you were working with pure iron that would be the case. Steel, however, is made up of iron crystals interspersed with carbon atoms and other atoms and molecules that align the iron crystals in different ways to make it stronger etc.

Annealing and normalizing are two different things. If you attempt to anneal your work in a cooling forge...it will likely cool too quickly. Annealing is best done in vermiculite overnight. That allows the piece to cool very slowly. and takes the stress / memory out of the steel. Normalizing is done by leaving it in open air until cooling. It's sometimes only a subtle difference but on a molecular level the latter can still leave some stress in the steel...depending, of course, on the kind of steel used. Buy some vermiculite at a Home Depot; put it in a five-gallon bucket and bury your work in it immediately after taking it out of the forge. Leave it overnight and you're done.

Sorry...had a funny photo to go here, but it wouldn't upload!!

Frosty you are a man after my own heart! You gave me simple, straightforward directions in Plain English! You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar! (There are xxxx few of us left!!) My original post now has some dark, crappy photos to give you some dim hint of what a Bastas hammer looks like! Note the longer, thinner flared pien. It give you greater finese and from any angle bounces back into your hand instead of away like a flat pien does.

Whenever I click the upload image icon it only offers to add one with a URL address? I have them on my hard drive but am not that computer savvy...I'm only a Blacksmith after all!!!

I'm new to the forum. Since the military, and a cult I was once a member of, I'm not much of a 'joiner' but, being a dedicated Blacksmith, IFI is just too good a resource to pass up! I love the idea of being able to pick the brains of more experienced smiths. I've been reviewing some of the past chatter on forging hammers and I wanted to add my two cents...(that may be an exaggerated value for my opinion!) I have a German pattern, a Swedish pattern, a French pattern, a Hofi hammer, and some bastard children of all of them. I find pros and cons for each of them. I went to Austin Community College in Austin, TX a few years back and got an AAS in Welding Technology-Art Metals. Most of my classes were Blacksmithing classes. Most of those were with William Bastas. He's studied under, or worked with Hofi, Tom Clark and a number of others. William teaches the Habberman method and has designed his own forging hammer. He teaches his students to make their own Bastas hammer in Tool Making classes. Bastas hammers are both beautiful and functional and, I have to say, I like them the best of all I've used. He used to sell them through Pieh tools but just got too busy to continue. Anyone else out there have one?

Good to see there are some fellow former Marines on board! When I got out of the Corps things were alot different than today. I can still remember being spit on by Americans I had pledged my life to defend... It's nice to see Vets being honored. Semper Fi!

King Architectural Metals

Any help you could offer would be great. I would especially like to have the specs. and foundation requirements for it. I'm building a shop right now and need to know how deep to pour the pad for the Bradley. Please respond to my email. Thanks!

Hi Thomas, I will be at the December meeting of SWABA. Take a look at the post I left on the calendar...We'll be having a blacksmiths art show and conference here next May. We'll talk about it at the Dec. meeting. Terrell Perkins