johnrgarland

Cool idea!

Hey Kevin, Don't be too hard on yourself for that 'extra' hole you drilled. I don't have a drill press either so I avoid engineering drilling operations into my knives. Take some pic's of your knife shop today and look back in a year and you'll be surprised at how things will change. Did you forge the blade and/or shape it by hand? I like the brass you incorporated into the handle.

Per Wayne Goddards advice of this thick 'camp knife' style I will test the hardness / temper by hacking through a knot prior to adding the handle. Then I'll see if the edge is still sharp. If so, great. If not then I can quench the edge again and temper it in my toaster oven. If I have to heat the blade up again I will straighten the tang too. :)

Attached is the figure of the knife and the oak handle material. I plan on using a mahogany hand guard at the base of the blade and then simply drill the handle and use two-part epoxy to secure the tang. I figure on having to angle the tang (and the hole into the handle) slightly so the blade edge will be plum with the handle. Does that make sense? As you can see, I have just finished the edge quenching and tempering process. I plan to attache the handle before finishing sanding and final shaping of the oak. Comments welcome.

Thanks for all the good info. I have a few books already including the on mentioned. Regarding heating to non metallic and cooling in wood ash etc. Is that just wood ash or a mixture of the items listed?

Hey Folks, I'm a newbie, using coal to forge a knife blade from round spring steel. This is pretty decent steel - I know it's really hard - but I'm not real sure on the process. Do I pound it into a flat blank and then start shaping it? Am I wasting my time by starting with round stock? I have some flat stock that might be easier to work with. At the very least I'm having a good time heating it up and working it. My first attempt looked an awful lot like a cold chisel when I overheated it and fizzled the steel. Input anyone? John

I'm new to forging. Yesterday I saw a video of about this forge and I built one! I went to a brake shop and got a decent size one from their discard pile. The yahoo at the salvage yard wanted to sell me one for $15 bucks! Parts List is as follows: (hope this isn't posted somewhere further down the list) I credit this guy for all of this - The Brake Drum Forge - YouTube. Blow dryer 2 - 2" x 4" threaded nipples (all black iron as galvanized releases bad gas when heated) 1 - 2" x 1' or 2' threaded pipe 1 - 2" end cap 1 - 2" T 1 - 2" Flange I used concrete blocks as a stand but that is for later. Attach the flange to one of the short nipples to the cross of the T. Attach the other short nipple and to the other cross of the T. Attach the cap to this nipple. It is the catch-all for the ash or clinkers that fall into the T. Only empty it when it is cool or use necessary protection and a lot of caution. Attach the long nipple (pipe) to the leg of the T Attach the flange to the brake from with nuts, bolts and washers. I used 5/16". The holes on the flange may not match many of the holes on the drum. If you can match more than two holes good for you. I couldn't but it still fired up well.

Welcome! Perhaps we can share some tips as I have started with the same book. The one brick forge didn't work too well for me. See my post for more info. There is a local blacksmith club (haven't joined yet myself) that meets monthly. Blacksmiths Organization of Arkansas : ABANA (Artist Blacksmith Association of North America) affiliate.. Are you using coal?

Welcome! We are both new to this site and I trust we will learn much here.

Hey Folks! Yesterday I assembled a brake drum forge. Currently using natural charcoal as fuel but I really want some good coal. I started tinkering with a forge about a year ago and initially used kind of a cobbled together earthen forge with forced air. That didn't work too well so I got a small propane torch based forge with a few firebricks. Again I couldn't reach high enough temps to easily work the chunk of truck spring coil. This new one actually got me to the 'sparkler' temp which is too hot. I need some guidance on judging the temp based on the color. I am using an I beam as an anvil. It's not really as hard as I need and lacks a horn or a honey hole. I don't have any 'cut off' accessories and really needed that yesterday as I need to cut off another chunk of that 7/8" spring to start another knife blank. :)