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I Forge Iron

JPH

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Everything posted by JPH

  1. Geo.. Did you see that 8 pound hammer next to that welded billet?? That is the hammer I use and have used for the last 35 years or so since I worked up to that weight from my 6# one.. As far as wire and tongs vs welding and welding on a "handle"..I use wire as the way I work a handle would only get in the way. By not having a thingy sticking out off of one end I can simply reverse the piece in my forge as continue working section by section.. I am a wee bit old fashioned in a lot of ways... JPH
  2. I know this may not be the answer you are looking for but I have found that I get better results in welding larger sized bundles..I start with 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" by 12" to 18"..(plus I use sheet/shim stock and weld anywhere from 30 to 70 or so pieces the first weld.)...this is a decent amount of material..at least for me and it allows for enough laminate for me to make just about any pattern I wish..plus if I have any excess I simply set it aside for another project..Last time I checked steel usually doesn't go stale.. JPH
  3. Hello: If you are referrig to a blade like he one below I just finished today.. I used a 14" dia serrated wheel on my frankengrinder running at approx 7200 fpm.. Just go slow and work the curve and recurve..Takes a little bit or practice but not all that troublesome once you get the "feel".. JPH
  4. GNM: In answer...I forge the fullers in using my fly press..this does them really spiffy and I can feel the steel move under it as I work..plus it does both sides at the same time.. as for cleaning them up...I use my Foredom flex shaft machine and a lot of those little sleeve sanding bands..it doesn't take more than a few minutes to do if I do my part and get the fuller as even as I can under the fly press dies.. On working that bb material. It is basically some sort of polymer/acrylic and once I get above say 300 grit I start to polish wet up to 3000 then a light buff with black emery and light oil slurry followed by a sewn muslin buff using white tripoli..This brings up the polish glassy smooth and really brings out the colours of the material. Same polish is used for my bovine ivory finishing..here again it gets glassy smooth.. I have been cutting rock since I was like 8 or so...just something I do when I have the time or the need. This way by doing it myself I can tailor the stone to what I require as far as mounting sizes..shape, materials and all that.. Frosty.. THANK YOU for the kind words....those are appreciated.. Well I have a new project I am doing..have to replace that fancy schamancy dagger that just sold..boy that one didn't last..I think this one will be a turkish pattern something..maybe a pillow sword or?? It will be what it wants to be..That I do know...I lay it out tomorrow..I have the 1095, L-6 and the Stainless Steel already on my work bench..just have to cut to size, stack, wire and into the forge it goes..That will be tomorrow.. Back to the salt mines... JPH
  5. Howdy!! Here are four I just finished..two have my infamous bovine ivory, two have some of that bowling ball material that stumbled upon a while back. All are PW and the fancy one is silver mounted and has a 18 ct plus hand cut blue flash labradorite cab set on the sheath throat. Sorted through 10 lbs of rough to find a piece that matches the grip colouration....I think I pretty much nailed it on that. I took my sweet time in cutting it as well....didn't want to mess it up. Not too bad for front yard fancy if ya ask this old man.. JPH
  6. howdy: Here's one of the four I finished today...will post all four under different header.. JPH
  7. Hello.. Well this one started out as a Bowie, honest it did but my feeble old mind started to wander off the path a wee bit..(must be from all the covid infection fiascoes surging around my brains..) and this is what happened....I gotta start to pay better attention to what I am doing.. Forged from 1070 and L-6 with some meteoric iron thrown in just because... 19" long recurved blade in a feather pattern with twin fullers... Doing twin fullers in a recurve is a wee bit nerve wracking.. Forged phosphor bronze mounts and an antelope horn grip,, overall length 25 3/4".. Not too bad for an old man working out in his front yard..Especially when his mind isn't really paying attention to the original task at hand... So what ya all think?? JPH
  8. Hello: Needed to get some hammer time and finish something to get my mind off of the sudden passing of my little brother..So here it is.. More or less a dirk..1095/L-6 mix in my "Solar Storm" pattern.. 15" blade length with twin fullers each side... red bovine ivory grip and phosphor bronze mounts. Turned out petty good considering where my mind was when I was making it.. This one goes up on my website this evening... JPH RKH 1971-2020 Rest in Peace...
  9. Howdy: Just finished this one..It would of gone out to California to that Renaissance Faire in Irwindale....but that is a no-go this year so...Up on the website it goes sometime tomorrow.. This one has a PW blade 22" long in 1095, L-6 and some meteoric iron in my "Hugs and Kisses" pattern with a single full length fuller on each side./ The fittings are forged and file worked phosphor bronze. The fluted grip is some of that bowling ball material I stumbled onto a while back... Interesting stuff to work..Different I will say that... Sheath is mounted in phosphor bronze with a nice carnelian set into the throat. All in all I say this one more or less works.. Hope these photos work.. JPH
  10. Hello: Looks better than my first one...that's for sure...On the RR spikes..According to Union Pacific..the ones marked "HC" means Higher Carbon..(which isn't saying much) and these are used on the curved sections of track due to the toughness that the small amount of additional C imparts..As it is.. spec is about 35 to 39 pts C which is right at the cusp of almost being able to be hardened..however if you are a bit crafty you can get these to do a wee bit of hardening (I do it and they do cut pretty good given what they are made from)..almost to the point of being a semi decent edge but it sure isn't anywhere near a 1050/60 and or even in the realm of my fave.. 1095.. I make mine a bit different from most folks as well... At least yours LOOKS like a knife and for a 1st attempt..that is a very good thing....Keep at it you'll get there... JPH
  11. good idea..establish a skill set that you can use,,and believe me..even then you will constantly be adding to that skill set..I still am and I weld up some really weird materials sometimes. JPH
  12. Hello: Apparently you didn't quite get what I was saying... You are getting in way over your head without knowing basic forging techniques..give yourself at least a good six months of steady forging..What degree of hammer control do you have? Did you learn how to upset, draw, bend, taper. curve..make a bar thicker as well as thinner ???. ..you WILL need these skills (and a few more) when you start welding... You will also need to know the working temp ranges of the materials you plan to use..get too far apart on those and you will be fighting weld shears and worse.. Just take your time and do not rush anything.. That is the kiss of death as far as doing PW work..rushing.....if you want decent results you simply can not ramrod through the process... It requires a good bit of patience sometimes,.,even then..it can be a bit trying... JPH
  13. Hello: As others stated...you can simply wire them in place..I have been doing this for a wee little bit and that is what I have done from the start..I tried even using SS hose clamps but using the techniques that I do they welded to the surface so it's been wires all the way.. I start out with billets 12" to 18" in length 1 1/4" sq and a layer count of between 60 and 75 depending..usually of 1095, L-6 and some ss heat treat foil for colour..gives great contrast by the way.... But I gotta ask...if you don't know really how to make a decent knife as yet (it will happen as you gain experience)..why would you want to make a $10.00 knife out of a piece of $500.00 steel?? Just curious.. JPH
  14. Hello: Well thanks to this idiot stay at home stuff that is going on I am finishing all the higher end stuff I usually send out to my E-Vile minions to sell at the various shows I have them displayed at..and posting them for sale on my site. So here's another one from the Old Man's front yard... Pattern Welded Dagger in my "Hugs and Kisses" pattern (It has a repeated series of X and O running down the centre of the blade) Blade is double edged and is 17 1/4" in length and welded from a mix of 1095, L-6 and some meteoric iron for grins and giggles.. Full length fuller each side. Forged and file worked/roped phosphor bronze fittings.. The grip is some of that bowling ball material I scrounged up a while back and that is hand fluted. The oxblood leather sheath is mounted in phosphor bronze with a 27.91 ct star ruby set on the sheath throat.. This one has an overall length of 24" All in all it didn't turn out half bad for an old man, considering.. Goes up for sale this evening on my site along with the other two fancy ones I did a while back...if all goes as planned that is... Hope the photos work.. JPH
  15. Howdy!! While ya'all got the mostly of what I am talking about as far as the liquid flux..most folks will benefit from the borax and boric acid mix.. Now... I will admit that I add a few other things to mine since I am welding some heavy weight alloy stuff (and that stainless can be a real bugger.)...but the basic idea is the same.. it does get "down in there" and I feel that it makes a difference.. and when you do a surface application of the same basic flux it really does help...but here again..I ain't nobody of any sort of importance..just an old hammer head working in his front yard. All I know is that it works for me.. Hope this helps... JPH
  16. howdy..just a thought ( I do get them every now and then...) have you considered using a liquid flux soak prior to the first welding heat?? I use one and it does help...ALOT.. As I said..just a passing thought.. JPH
  17. FL: I was in NV for some 30 years so....Now I am down here for the remainder...NV was getting to Californicated for me...FL is still a free state..19 April 1775..the day of The Shot Heard Around the World... We are free because of their sacrifices... JPH
  18. Howdy: I gotta ask.....why no flux? I mean, I weld some high alloy stuff that most folks say can't be welded outside of a can but I do it in an open forge....Sure I use some nasty flux but it works.. Just use more than adequate ventilation.. It is rather rough on the forge lining...but that is what happens with these more aggressive chemicals.. but that is me... Now most folks would do quite well with a mix of anhydrous borax and boric acid..Especially when you are using the materials you are..these usually stick quite readily if the surfaces are clean and hot enough... Anyway that's the way I see it anyways.. But then again..I am just one of many so... Back to work for the old man... JPH
  19. Howdy: I have a little experience in this ..so I hope you don't mind... From what you have described I would say two things...dirty weld surfaces and not enough soak time at heat.. Both are easy to correct. I weld some exotic stuff so I use a very aggressive flux and I hold at temp for a good 30 to 45 seconds longer than I think it is ready.. The photo below is the first weld of a bar that is 1 1/4" square and 12 " in length..materials are 1095, L-6 and stainless heat treat foil for colour 50 layers 1095, 45 layers L-6 25 layers SS foil to start..(see below). I tend to stay simple when I work..nothing fancy..I just know what works for me and the materials I use and I run with it. JPH
  20. Howdy! Thanks to the old Corona Virus ALL of my trade shows/faires have been canceled..that means NO INCOME unless I get cracking and stuff posted on my website..So here are several pieces that were destined for RPFS in Irwindale, CA and since that is canceled for this year up they go to the website! So here are three of the latest from an old man's front yard.... The Kard is welded from 1905, L-6 and some meteoric iron and has phosphor bronze mounts and a red bovine ivory grip... The darker gripped dagger is in a Ladder Pattern welded from L-6, 1095 and meteorite. The grip is some pre-WWI Bakelite and the sheath is set with a 14.56 Ct Star ruby. The white griped dagger is 1095, L-6 and meteroic in a Maiden Hair pattern with some white preWWI Bakelite. Looks just like ivory from 3 feet away..NICE stuff... The sheath is set with a 12.78 Ct Star ruby. The fluting on both pieces was done free hand...no layout lines... I just cut the flutes in...Been doing these for so long I can pretty much just do it without much hassles and all... All in all these didn't come out all that bad for an old man working out in the front yard... JPH
  21. Tars Tarkas has expressed interest but he wants three more lust like it... I tell ya ERB had the pre-pubescent boy market cornered with his writing.. All I can say is Tarzan (Tar Mangani) is much darker and nastier as written than as he was portrayed on screen.. JPH
  22. Howdy: Here is something weird from the Old Man's front yard.. I wanted to make a nice long Seax since I am more or less burned out on the Japanese stuff...started out with some 1070, L-6 and some stainless heat treat foil..stacked it up and welded it...drew that out..split off the three bars and made the cores..Welded those all nice and solid then put on the steel edge and cut and formed the trip..This is where it went sideways.. I let my mind wander a bit... Well more than a bit.. so I put in a yelman...then twin fullers..then a recurve and well..this was suppose to be a seax but it didn't quite go that way .. mounted it in forged phosphor bronze and a "fossil" Bos Taurus grip with bronze studs..the blade is just 31 ish inches... Didn't turn out half bad for a mindless old man working in the jungle out in the front yard.. This one is destined for the Gator Cutlery Knife Show next weekend up in Lakeland... that is if it makes it that long.. This thing looks like something from ERB's John Carter series... Hope the photos come out ok...I am no photographer that is for sure. JPH
  23. Hello: Well that particular wood cut wave was what I was after but it didn't quite turn out so "wave like"..but since two folks here have mentioned art piece that I guess I did accomplish this to a certain degree..Still I was hooping for something a bit move wave-ish....Next time may be better for that.. Still have a good deal of writing to do on book IV but I am knocking off the pages pretty good so far.. Presently I am, working on grip/handle materials and making hybrid wood/bone/stag/resin grips from vagarious materials.. If all goes as planned it will be my last book..Four books on one subject is enough if you ask me... JPH
  24. Hello: OK here we go...This is the first sword I finished in 2020...The blade is 1070..and the Hamon.. well, I dunno what to call it... Togari Gunome maybe?? This Hamon didn't turn out like I wanted.. I was going for more of a crashing/breaking ocean wave/surf sort of thing but that isn't what happened.. Like I have said before...Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted to.. It is finished with temple lion motif fittings from my art foundry guys in Taiwan..They do a great job..yes they do!! Much better than an old ham handed reprobate like I could do..... Black samegawa under that black and gold Chevron Tsuka-ito that I adore.. This is another proto for book IV which is coming along splendidly even if I do say so myself.. The siya is black lacquer that I dripped/ "flicked" Testors model airplane paint (metallic gold) on and then sealed with 6 coats of hard, clear lac.. I got the idea from a tanto siya that one of my friends down here showed me a little while back...turned out not too shabby at all really but there is still room to improve on that...I do know I need to find a better price on that stuff..it is horribly $$$ Happy 2020 ya all.. JPH (Oh this one goes up this evening on my website for sale..cheap...self serving plug here)
  25. Howdy again!! Well I just finished another of the "cover swords" for book IV..here it is...didn't turn out half bad if you ask me..especially for a bald barbarian.. This one is a O-Katana in 1070 Electrite (that is 1070 with a small amount of Si..) with a 31" blade...Shinogi Zukuri geometry with two scraped in Bo-Hi the full blade length .. Koshi-sori (most curve in the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the blade up from the habaki) which is an older style of curvature... Choji Hamon that is very frosty and has nice amount of activity the entire blade length.... Dragonfly motif mounts in bronze with gold and silver leaf detailings.. Black samegawa under black and gold chevron pattern silk tsuka-ito.. I think this one came out especially nice.. Hope these pics turn out.. JPH
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