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Barnaby. I use wood ashes from my fireplace. I keep them in a metal trough(bucket, tub, anything metal will do). When I anneal the steel I just pre-heat the ashes with a red-hot chunk of scrap and then put the steel in the ashes, leave until cool to the touch(I go 24 hours) and your blade should be soft enough to work. A disclaimer: I use old files and 5160 for my knives so my annealing process may be primitive. Other, more learned makers here should be able to fill you in on their process with materials more sophisticated than mine. Good Luck!

Very nice! What material did you make the micarta out of?:)

Nelson you got the job as technical director if this movie is ever made! Frosty, Bonaduce is allergic to bees so I doubt he would take the role

Steve since you are going to be the hero you need to pick someone to play your role...unless you want to try it!

Drunken, flaming, kamakazi bees ****bent on destruction, blowing up blacksmith shops! The movie is getting better!

Hey Steve I have a great idea! You can be the hero in my new Hollywood blockbuster about Alien mutant killer flaming kamikaze bees! A heroic blacksmith comes to the rescue of a small town that is mercilessly attacked by Alien mutant killer flaming kamikaze bees using the only weapon that can destroy the monsters...A handforged sword made from a meteorite that originated from the bee's now destroyed hive-planet!.....OK, it's a work in progress. Can't wait to see the pics...hurry up!

Drunken, flaming, kamikaze bees **** bent on destruction....I'm think real bad b-movie or Hollywood blockbuster depending on how one markets it!;)

Sehr Gut! That is a fine looking blade. Keep up the good work!:D

STOP!!!! The guard looks great. Tweaking a finished knife is like scratching a bug bite. It might feel good, but can only get worse the more you scratch! Beautiful knife as is IMHO:)

Try Tandy leatherTandy Leather Factory - Home

Very nice...can I steal your idea and make myself one?:)

Welcome to the dark side!

Very nice!

Beware of some of the African hardwoods. Pink Ivory and Ebony are two that come to mind. The dust from sanding can be very irritating to some. Several years ago there was an article in Blade Magazine that listed the hardwoods that were irritants or worse. I'll see if I can find the article and post a more detailed list. :o

Give in to the "dark side." It's okay that you are starting to like it, you must just accept it. I think the knives are super!:D

Radio Shack use to sell muriatic acid. It has been a few years since I bought any so I can't say if they still do.

The pattern is just the rasp teeth. After forging the teeth are flattened then filed so they take on the appearance of snakeskin. My six-year old son calls it his "snakeknife"

I use files and rasps almost exclusively in my knives. I have had good luck with the steel while forging, hardening and tempering. It also is very inexpensive for those looking to forge on a skinny wallet. I get dragged to garage sales by my better half constantly and am always finding files in and amongst the other booty. Here is a knife I forged from a farrier's rasp last summer. After heating the rasp to it's non-magnetic temperature I buried it in preheated wood ashes, leaving it there for 24 hours until totally cool. Then I forged the steel to about 95% of it's final shape, normalized it by heating to non-magnetic and allowing it to cool to room temperature. I do this three times. After the final heat its back in the wood ashes to anneal for final shaping which I do with files and sandpaper. Once the knife is ready for a handle I harden and temper the blade. I harden by heating the blade to non-magnetic and quenching is a mixture called "goop." Wayne Goddard uses this recipe in his book The 50$ Knife Shop. It is essentially a mixture of paraffin, bacon grease and hydraulic oil that is the consistency of Crisco. Before quenching I heat up the goop with a hot piece of steel so that it is liquid and place just the edge of the heated blade in the goop. Once all color is out of the blade I lower the rest of the blade into the quenchant, leaving it there until it has reached room temperature. The blade is then sanded and all oil removed for tempering. I use the oven because the wife has not yelled at me yet. Three cycles for 1 hour each at 400F allowing it to cool to room temp between cycles. Then the guard gets soldered on with silver solder and a handle goes on...voila, a knife! There are many more learned colleagues than I on Iforge who hopefully can fill in any information I have forgotten or inadvertently omitted. You can PM me or ask me further questions on this thread if you have anymore. I will try my best to help!

Super grind! You have a pleasing sweep to the knife and I am sure it is a cutter:). Once again very superb!

If you have ever wanted to forge blade and had any questions about how to go about it I HIGHLY recommend Tim's DVD.:)

I forgot! jhrr This guy right here is probably one of the best sources for help on IForge. Steve knows more about knives and steel in his little finger than I could possibly tell ya. Listen to what he says and use it! It's tested and it works!:D

You have definitely come to the right place. Education plus experience is the best way to start. I started making knives from finished blades which are available on many websites. Just google "knife blades" something will come up. I was in the Army and did not have any where to work on knives except the barracks. With just a few hand tools and materials that I ordered from catalogues(this was before the Internet)I was able to make some respectable knives. What it taught me was how to assemble a knife. I had to learn later on how to forge, shape, harden and temper blades. I would like to plug one website and DVD on knife making that I found to be a great help to one just starting out.http://www.livelyknives.comYou don't need a lot of equipment and power tools. You can get those later. Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop is another good source for one starting out. This forum is one of the best locations to gather a lot of information and help as well...Good luck

I bought some aquafortis from Old Thunder manufacturing about ten years ago(yes, it still works and goes a long way on knife handles). I also have made my own by dissolving steel wool in nitric acid. I used a glass jar, filled it half full with nitric acid and dissolved as much 0000 steel wool as it would take. Do this outside!!!!!!!!!! The fumes can be nasty. Hershel House uses this formula for making aqua fortis which he uses on his muzzleladers. I also have found an online source for the stainhttp://www.buffalobillsshootingstore.com/accessories/html

I think that it will be a very good looking knife. I especially like the finger notch. Why do you want to use aluminum pins? Good luck and hurry up so I can see it finished!!!;)

You suck Sam! Start to finish in one day!!! Just kidding:D I like your sheath and ditto on the synthetic sinew. I use it alot...exclusively I should say. Way back when I thought about trying real sinew...Book of Buckskinning showed one how they could make it usable for stitching...like I said..."thought about it" You gotta hand it to those guys back then. Once again...you suck! LOL