JHCC

Here’s my daughter trying out nailmaking, by the way:

We don't steal ideas -- we steel them!

If only I still lived in NYC!

When steel is heated to tempering colors (between 390°F/199°C and 575°F/302°C), the surface oxidizes and produces colors on a spectrum from straw to brown to purple to blue. At any point in the grinding, did the steel change color and run through that spectrum? If so, you affected the temper; if not, you probably didn't. The shapes of your face and peen look good. Sanding the sides was unnecessary, but if you prefer that look to the previous patina and wear, that's certainly a valid choice.

It is humbling sometimes to realize the limits of how much one can and cannot do as a parent. My daughter had a horrible time in middle and high schools (including but not limited to some horrible bullying that the schools refused to even acknowledge, let alone address), but as bad as that was, it has been amazing to see how she has seized the reins of her life since she went off to college. Should have known that you couldn't keep someone born in a New York City taxicab down forever!

Those are some lovely anvil tools, Hans. Don't worry about being jealous of our projects: we're jealous of yours! (Although it should be noted that one of the nice things about IFI is how readily jealousy becomes inspiration.)

Keep the drilling hammer (the sledge with a handle) for hitting chisels and punches. That way, you don’t have to worry about messing up the face of a good smithing hammer.

Welcome to IFI! If you haven’t yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!! We called that a peavey when I was growing up in Vermont. I think it may be a New England-ism.

FYI, it's "Ridgid". I'm normally happy to give Charles's creative spelling a pass, but we don't want to misdirect our neophyte.

That could lead to some suspicious deaths, I'm sure!

It's better than it was!

And put your shoes on!

1. "Smithing" comes from the same root as the verb "to smite" -- that is, to hit. "Forging" comes from the Latin "fabricare" by way of the Old French "forgier", to make. Both have long histories in English -- early 13th and late 14th centuries, respectively -- and they are, as ThomasPowers notes, essentially interchangeable. (It should be noted, however, that some modern smiths use "forge" to denote actual deformation of the cross-section of the metal, as opposed to bending or twisting.) 2. What ThomasPowers said. If you have a chance to get yourself some classes, DO IT. If they teach forge welding, so much the better. Forge welding is one of those things that is easy to mess up, and having an experienced smith who can see your mistakes and help you correct them is well worth the investment in time and cash. 3. You are limited to what you can forge with your particular degree of skill and muscle. Exceeding either will cause you an injury. If you're not getting a power hammer and you don't have access to a striker, consider either building yourself a treadle hammer or figuring out some way to hold your work while you yourself use a sledgehammer on it.

Yes, but the rotary quern certainly dates to late prehistory. The Romans later took it to extremes (as they did with so many things, really), enlarging it to the point that turning it four men walking around it and pushing on wooden bars like a capstan.

Conversely, a nice smooth surface with no deep hammer marks makes drawfiling a LOT easier!

I modified a 3lb. double jack into a very nice rounding hammer that was my go-to before I started making my own. Whatever you do to modify yours, make sure you grind slowly, so as not to build up heat and ruin the temper.

It didn't follow me home, but on the way to work this morning, I passed a truck with two pieces of steel on the back that were about 12" in diameter and about forty feet long. Little big for my treadle hammer, so I did not attempt to waylay the truck.

I've got a bad feeling about this....

If the metal has enough carbon to harden, any quenching can create stresses. Stresses lead to stress cracks. Stress cracks lead to failure. Mmmm, yes. The path to the Dark Side, unnecessary quenching is.

Making a knife is like playing a solo Bach partita on the violin: it all seems so simple, but there are so many things that can go horribly wrong. There are challenges at every step of the way. The metal behaves differently than mild or A36, you have to be a lot more careful about your working temperatures, what seems like a simple shape is actually extremely complex and sophisticated, heat treatment is a minefield, etc, etc. I've only made a handful of knives at this point, but each one has been an exercise in pushing my skills a little bit more. The one thing I'm constantly learning is how much more I have to learn.

On a JABOD, the tuyere should be considered a consumable. Make it longer than it needs to be with the excess sticking out the back, and feed more in as needed. The only times I've had major problems with the tuyere overheating were when I was using pipe that was too thin or when I didn't have enough dirt around it for insulation.

Well, I’m barely good enough to have a go myself, so we’ll see how this works out. The stock is 5/8” coil spring (probably 5160), so a lot of this was an exercise in using the cross peen to get some decent width. I did my best to forge in the basic levels and distal taper, but left the edge and tip pretty thick to allow for grinding and filing. “If a good blade you would win, you must first forge thick and then grind thin.“

As promised: Total length: 11-1/4”. Blade length: a hair over 6”. Still lots of filing and grinding to do. Bit of a bend in the blade, but should be fixable. Also knocked out a little bottle opener from some piece of automotive scrap, as a thank-you to the guys at the wrecking yard who promised to look out for a truck axle for me.

Forged the blade for my first hidden tang knife. No photos yet, as it’s still annealing. I’ll post some after it comes out of the hot box. The inside is 1-1/4” square, so I’m guessing about 6” or so of 1-1/2” (or a bit more) round.