lyuv

COLORS! Well, sort of. I realized that I can't tell the different colors of HOT iron - red, orange, yellow and white. It all look the same - orange, but at slight different degrees of brightness. However - I"m NOT color blind. I DO see all these colors when printed or displayed on screens. I was also thoroughly tested for color blindness. The problem is only when looking at HOT item. Maybe (just a guess), I get blinded by the strong IR radiation. Does anyone know about this phenomenon? Heard of someone with this condition? It's a real problem for a blacksmith

Lucky guy, your brother. Beautiful knives. How did you get that finish on the blade's sides? I realy like it (at least as it apears in the photos).

I forged a gyuto blade (210mm-8") out of O1 steel. After quenching, and mid tempering (200c), it was straight. But - by the end of the tempering, after cooling, it was warped - banana style. about 3-4mm off center. Please advise how to fix that. I read about counter-bending the blade (3 points) and holding it at tempering temperature. Is it any good for O1 at this stage? How much can I bend? I fear the TING of death... (cant upload pictures at the moment. will do later)

Some info on that coffee etching please. First I hear of it.

I have great difficulty getting ANY good steel. So I was happy to find a large piece of 1070. But is it good for knifes? I usualy see bladesmiths use higher carbon steels used, like 1085 and 1095. So far I"m mainly into kitchen knifes, so I"d like to know how useful it is for that. But I"m open to other uses. If I have the steel, why not put it to good use? While we"re on it - any pointers on forging 1070? specifically on heat treatment. Thanks,

This guy CAN say if someone will go professional. I know several experienced people who make such predictions and judgments about various thing. I myself can say at what age a man will die +/- 2 years. Thing is, it will be many years till the first death I predicted, and no one will remember me. Also- if the man dies sooner, it's probably because of an external cause, like sickness. If later - He heard my warning and took care of himself. Anyone can SAY something and be confident about it. It doesn"t mean he's right.

Hi all, The wife has a small collection of gecko figurines on the wall. If I want to keep getting "idling" (smithing) time, I need to prove my worth. Ergo, I need to forge a gecko. So far, I didn"t mennage to devise a plan. Please help. My material is flat bars and rods. I would like most/all the work to be "traditional" forging - hammer, chissel ect. I do have an angle grinder, but I feel that shaping with it is a little cheating. So this is a last resort. Also - Preferably without welding, as I suck at it.

Half way through the story, I started sweating. By the end I was exhausted . What an ordeal! You have my full simpathy, as this is what my usual day at the smithy looks like. I think I should name it "The Murphy Smithy". I wish you a belt grinder.

Actualy, cars here do have springs. But I found out that the cars owners have guns or big dogs and that I"m alergic to both. Beside, used springs are sort of "mystery steel". They ARE good as general hardenable steel. But not if I want a KNOWN steel. I consider buying NEW car leaf spring from a local manufacturer, but I never heard of the steels he uses (sae9260, sae6150) in blacksmithing/bladesmithing context.

The other day I got hungry while working in the smithy. And then it hit me - There is a lot of unused heat in the forge, for a long time. It can be used for cooking during the forging session. Like - with a duch oven. Or argentinian style slow roast ("Asado"). What do you say? Any good? Did I re-invent the wheel?

That's true, and I forge weld by hand as well. I was reffering to my difficulty with O1. I read somewhere that the chromium in it creates oxidation that is tougher on the flux than the "regular" iron oxide. Therefore I wonder if it takes greater measures to weld O1 than a hammer.

Thanks guys. First, good to know I"m not crazy, and there IS an issue with heat treatment and air hardening. Lesson learned. I would love to have simpler steel, but around here, O1 is the only steel available to the consumer (other than rebars...). I can get other steels only by mail from abroad. VERY expensive. I still cant weld it. When substituting with other steel the weld takes. Had this in several attempts. Could it be that using manual hammer is the problem? I guess press or power hammer (which I dont have) provides more preasure/time.

I thought it was simple steel to work with. Good for beginners. I found that if I heat my piece (6-7mm bar) to welding temperature, it will AIR harden. But at regular forging temp it will not. And I always "knew" it needed oil quench to harden. Worse yet - as that air hardened piece cooled slowly in the air, it developed multiple cracks along the edges. This has happened with several pieces, from 2 different batches. Thoughts? suggestions? (I realy want to work with this steel, including forge welding it).

There is also the tempering, which requires several long cycles at about 500c. All this is not possible in a simple smithy with a coal forge. I wonder if the forging proccess itself will suffice for the hardening phase? And is the tempering that important in the specific aplication? Or - is there a reasonable and practical alternative? Thanks,

I read that H13 steel is great for blacksmithing tools, because it's heat resistant. So I got some. But now I wonder how do I deal with it? Especialy regarding heat treatment. Found some information on line, but the proccess seems difficult. Don"t know what I realy need for smithing purposes.

It is "known" (...) that you must never hit two hardened hammers together, for they might shatter violently. BUT - anvils are hardened, and we do hit them with hammers. At least I do, when I miss a blow. So ? Is that only a myth, or are we playing with bombs?

In the smithy, I had 2 fires, from the hot flux squirting during forge welding. Helped 3 cars that cought on fire. Last but not least - One of my hobbies is experimental rocketry - where you make not only the rocket's body, but also the motor and fuel. "Experimental" also means the rockets tend to fly sideways, motors tend to explode, and bushes tend to catch fire. Well, Moses made a career off it...

me liky! How to you produce that semi-rough surface finish? It's not exactly hammered, and it looks more "uniform" than I usualy get just from scale.

I know Hofi. Shortly after I got into smithing, I took a 5 days class with him, and I get my coal from him. He does have a rough manner, but that is typical for israelies of his generation - a generation that survived the worst of wars, and had to continue fighting rough land and rough neighbourhood. In Hebrew, we call a man who grew in Israel "Prickly pear" (the cactus), which means thorny outside, but sweet and soft inside. Hofi is a definitely a prickly pear. Anyway, knowing him doen"t meen he's at my disposal. He's a very busy guy, teaching and making. In his smithy there's a constant flow of "pilgrims" - acquaintances who drop by just to say hi and chat. Even during classes. So I can't realy take hours of his time. Let alone proper advanced tutoring. But at least I was lucky to get great basic training.

First - an appology. Obviously I"m still rubbish at this type of work, having a single crippled half-success. So I thought it would be clear I"m making fun of myself, declaring my "masterhood". It being so silly. But it seems you have experienced enough of the human race, that you cant dismiss any level of stupidity. My bad. I guess language and culture differences also contribute to the difficulty of conveing cynicism. A point has been made (and again) to my inexperience. Just to clarify - I have been forging for 6 months now, and this is not my first knife. That been said, I AM a newbie, and this IS my first welded steel blade. Can anyone get into new ground without making a first step? So I took that first step and now get criticized for it. The only guideness I can get are "the internet" and my own mistakes. I can"t tell right/wrong/too fast until I go ahead and do it.

Not a master? HOW can you say that? I spent HOURS on it. Even Theo sais it's nice, and this guy doesn"t kid. So please... The picture misleads a bit- the blade is only 10cm (4") so it's not realy a chopper or a cleaver. Just a little wannabe knife (Forgot to reply that I use coal forge)

Thank you all for the input. The reason I jumped the skill steps is because I have a very limited time at the forge, and want to get to the interesting and challenging stuff before I"m too old. Beside - it looked so easy on all those fake youtube videos. Frosty is probably right about pitting and loosing metal in a prolonged heating. This forge weld was my first successful, and it did take very long. I did think of another possible factor - I started with a rather thin stack - 12mm (1/2") total. Perhaps it cools too fast (especialy the outer layer), making the weld difficult? What do you think? I don"t have treatment data for these steels, so I went with the basic proccess I know, and tempered 1 hour at 220c. It's hard, and unfortunatly also brittle. The blade was forged as a gyuto, but the tip broke trying to fix a warp (one of MANY lessons I learned). Anyhew, now that I mastered forge welding, damascus, san-mai and knife making, looking for the next chalange.

Industrial engeneer by education. Doing my thing in a large health organization (second largest in the world). Mainly managing, designing and improving work proccesses. BUT- The day job is the least significant part of my life. It's a necessity to feed the family and enable me to engage my many interests - mainly blacksmithing. THAT'S my life. I work to live, and do not live to work.

I thought that anvil prices, here in Israel, are insane at $500-$1000. But it translates to $5/lb. More or less like the sensible world. HOWEVER - do tell me this: A lathe of roughly the same weight, costs roughly the same. But is obviously WAY more complicated and expensive to make. How comes?