Rich Hale

First let me say that files befuddle me. That is the basis for why I like to use new metal for knives. I used a lot of knives in the far past and had a pretty good handle on how to anneal, harden and temper,,really consistant material...get an old file work it over into a knife and repeat as often as I could. In the last four or five years the files have changed,,for a lot of them I have tried some do not act like what I am used to. The same methods that worked only work part time now. I have always oil hardened. With ones that failed I have tried air,,then oil (again) then water. Never did get to brine. just tossed them into learning pile and made mental notes. All this to say that what I might suggest might not work! I use vermiculite to anneal carbon steels. Keep in mind that it will suck the water out of a jet contrail passing over your shop at 32,000 feet. I use a metal bucket with a lid and seal it when not in use. Heat until a magnet does not stick and put it in the bucket, cover with lid and check the next day. This works everytime for me on HC steels,,,and sometimes on files, Enjoy

For the folks that have been working hot metal for a long time and are moving into blades I believe the books listed above are right at the tops. However if you aer new to forgeing and that is how you wish to make knives, maybe the very best book on knives is not a book on knives. Maybe it is a basic blacksmithing book. Think about that..You have a bar of steel in the fire and hammer in hand, When you bring it to the anvil it should be a clear well trained move that shapes the metal. Your work should be done in a trained muscle memory action. When you put the keys in a door do you really think aboit it? You might glance to see which key but the rest is muscle memory and practice. Forgeing can be like that. Any kind of forgeing can be like that. Students I have worked with as beginners have trouble holding items with tongs. They also need work on body position and mechanics. It takes some time to learn these skills. Do you know how high your anvil should be? how to hold a hammer? which hammer does what to metal when you strike it? do you know how to position your body for most effective and injury free work? These will let you know if you are ready for a knife book.....enjoy

If you are interested there is a knife making class in Northern CAl in July go to the coming events section of this forum

Yes it is too soft,,,however yo umay have on out if you want to do it right. Send it soemwhere that stabilizes woods....call them first and speak with them about bamboo. it will have to be really dry for them to do it...that will leave you with a workable hollow piece,,should fill that hollow solid methinks,,,epoxy would do it...good luck...

For those of you going to Jims that want some productive practice on billets without spending alot..203e and mild steel weld up real nice, K and G lists 1/4" thick 203e at .25 cents a sq inch. Weld some of it up,,,and try what I think is the most basic pattern, a twist,,I square the bar up and then knock the corners down a bit,,get it to welding heat and twist it up tight. AS many layers as you like,,I prefer at least 100. when it is all done you have some really fine materials for spurs, guards butt caps or whatever. I will etch real nice and you will continue the infection Jim has started.

I just posted a notice in the coming events section. If you have an interest in knife making you might check it out.

Ellen I cannot find your e mail address anywhere. E me and I will send you some info. rjhale@ix.netcom.com Thanks Rich

My youngest g'son has almost finished his long time project. he still has to make a sheath and sign and sharpen this knife. He did a lot of the metal work with as little help from me as I could get by with,,Hand forged 1084 steel blade with masseur birch, african blackwood and nickel spacers for handle, damascus guard.

I use the browning and you put it on a layeere at a time until it is evenly covered,,a rich brown like and old black powder gun. I haev an old kitchen knief thatg expect is 1095 and it has been in the dishwasher and left wet a ton of times. It has a great patina,,not even and not neglected looking but just an old look. I supect if you experiment with the brown,,and maybe some vinegar,,,or even some diluted salt water with a steel wool and oil rub you will find something you like...let us know what works.

I make smaller blades and for them I believe in more carbon...if you layered with 50% mild and 50% 5160 you have cut the carbon content in half. For larger blades such as yours that may work and it seems you have worked around the hardening problem...My choice would be to start out with more carbon content but that is just me. If you want more contrast when you etch you may want to consider L-6 for a mate to your 5160, it is a fine blade steel on its own and would likely raise the overall carbon content of your billet. It has nickel in it and will contrast nicely I bet.

CArbon sttel like you have is not sheap if you buy it new...Maybe you could savve it and practice on some layers of mild steel for a bit until you get good at forge welding,,,then all willl become so easy and you can do a blade with the good stuff,,,when you can weld mild to mild you can make any nimber of ornamentl things with it. If yo have a problem with the carbon welding it will surely be scrap,,,Use boraz laundry soap and give some mild a try,,,good luck

The note about borax caught my eye,,,,,My guess is he wants to forge weld the metals,,,,What little I know about forge welding SS is that it takes an aggresive flux that may indeen be a health hazard...I do not need that,,,,I stick to Carbon steel for forge welding ,,,at least until I know more about it.

With your 1095,,both of the suggestions are excellent,,L-6 Is used for the big band saw blades in saw mills for lumber, It is selected for that because it does not wear alot and keeps a good edge and also has flexibility. 15n-20 is so close that a couple of references I have checked show the data as L-6/15N20. One other steel that is sometime used with 1095 is 203 e I believe that is mild steel with nickel added,,,really shows great contrast with high carbon. But then both of the earlier mentioned steels have the nickel content for contrast also,,, When I do 1095 and L-6 or 15N20 I use about the same amount of each and I ;like to end up with aroung 200 layer billet for a blade...Enjoy

Leave us not forget,"I walk the line:"

You dug back into the files a bit for that demo on the troll, the early demos that Bill shared with us are gold. It really seems like a turning point on knowledgeable smiths sharing with those of us ttrying to figure things out on our own. Those files sete amrk, and luckily that high mark continues, Now with IForgeIron files (Blueprints) there are many that continue to share,,,thanks to those that help years ago and to those that continue....

A bit about SS blades,,,I can understand how lots of folks are not happy with the sorry ss blades you see alot of,,,but remember ther are a lot of sorry carbon steel blades also. SS blades have to first be made of good knife making steel,,,Something like 440C,,ATS-34..154CM...There are more but I am familiar with these,,,then they have to be heat treated correctly,,Atmospheric contolled oven for the correct time at the proper temps,,then for finishers a crygenic treatment. The whole of that takes ab out 24 hours...Some folks have had succes doing 440C at home but I send it out also,,,,,Then the blade has to be edged correctly, it just does not work with the Apple seed shape that some makers like on a HC steel blade. When all is correct SS has a respected following of hunters and collectors...If you still feel all SS knives are sorry,,,give it another thought ...

Dont worry about the carbon content,,,,make a handful of them and call the letter openers,,,For those shoeing horses,,,make one right from your clients horse for holiday present,, My thoughts on knives are simple,,if you want to make a knife use good steel,,,

I have a whisper Daddy NC forge and have use several of the whisper mommas. They are not easy to change the air fuel mix and I have never found a reason to change any of them. They are designed to use with the door closed until ready to remove the steel when it is hot. If you have the pressure set real low it may take a long time to get up to heat and that may increase scale. One thing I see is that if steel is heated to forgeing temp and not taken out the scale starts to build up. I wire brush each time before forgeing. Remember them ore heats you take the more scale you get. Not sure any of the above suits your situation...but fits my work...good luck.

Pitting and scaling is a tough case. Here are a few things that may help you sort it out; Anytime you heat metal until it starts to show color it scales on the surface. Unless of course you use an atmosheric controlled furnace,,In which case it will not scale while heating,,,but will when you take it out at heat. Gas forges can develop more scale, and especially if they are not tuned for the proper air/fuel mixture. The more times you heat the steel the moer scale it develops. When you hit steel with hammer and it has scale on the surface...or on the surface it is on,,,you drive the scale into the metal...when it falls out or you mechanically remove it you have a pit. Some things to try: Develop your hammering technique to get the very most out of moving hot metal before it is not hot enough to be working. Take a heavy wire brush and quickly brush the steel as soon as you take it from the forge and before hitting..Clean your anvil with same brush. Just prior to taking hot steel from forge. Check your forge for proper air/fual mix. Forge everything oversize so you can clean up all surfaces with a grinder,file etc. Make sure you know what steel you are using and make sure that it is proper for its intended useage. Remember this is fun.

Both knife and sheath are really nice,,,,keep it up!

In one of the files in here on found steels it lists lawn mower blades and carbon content.

I have not tried a billet of A-2 given a windfall like you have I would give it a go,,,I do not remember the carbon content of A-2 look that up,,I like a carbon knife to have 80 points of carbon or more,,,,if you mix 1% carbon steel with the same amount of mild steel you will roughly dilute the carbon content of the A-2 by half, use this as a guide when you pick steel to mix into the billet,,,A-2 alone makes real nice blades....A-2 is air hardening, if you mix oil hardening with it it will take a bit if playing to find the right medium for hardening Good luck

Anvil devil is a small triangular piece of hardened steel it is used for cutting steel the steel is heated and layed on top of the tool and hit with a hammer. It also can be used with a holder that keeps it from jumping off of the anvil and hiding in the shop somewhere.

Jerry the D2 you have should work just fine,,,My first choice would be an impact stell like one of the S series,,,But if I had the D-2 it would soon become my favorite. It may well get hard at the welds, you may be able to minimize that by welding short sections and letting it cool a bit...Check the steel with a good file before you weld and after. When I heat treat D-2 for blades it gets really hard,,,file will slip off without a bite,,takes along anneal to bring it down a bit. Blade blank about 2 hours in oven at 400f and then maybe more time dpending on file test. Would be quite a task for a small shop to anneal the welded assembly and not sure how many places could do it...Quenchcrack may have more techinical info.

The extinguisher you need not only has to be matched to the size of the fire, but what is actually burning. Normal combustibles like paper wood etc are what is called class A fires. If your read the labels almost all fire extinguisher will put out class A fires. Also remember that water is really good for class a fires. and does not fill the air with dry powder that can be harmfull to your lungs. Slack tub should be kept full and if not small enough to lift and splash,,,should have a small pail really close dedicated to that task. Electical fires..like from a motor call for a different agent,,unless you unplug them and likely what is burning can be handled by water. Do not even think about water for liquid fires. That is when your preplanning for a good extinguisher will pay off,, direct at the base of the flames from a distance so you do not splash and move in if you need to. Again what was said earlier. If you attack the fire and it gets away from you,,,the finest sound in the world is sirens, unless you forgot to call them.