2K_Kid

I didn't mean to imply that stock removal is any less valid than forging/smithing a blade, but I would be even more impressed with the blade if it is a forged blade. The skill shown by the bladesmith is tremendous, but if it is stock removal, then he started with a flat piece of steel. If otoh, he started with a piece of square or round bar, and forged it down to the right shape/size and then mostly polished it, that would be another order of magnitude of skill, at least in my opinion.

@ Thomas Dean: What did you mean when you say: Is the guy on the YouTube video Hofi? And what does "BP" stand for? Sorry for the ignorance. Thanks.

I absolutely love the look of this blade, but I was wondering do you think it was forged or did the bladesmith take a piece of bar stock and just use stock removal techniques to make this blade? The description of the blade below the picture on his website says: Here is the link to the blade/website: Khukris, Fine Combat, Custom Knives Based upon my review of his website, reading the "About Him" stuff and looking at all the pics I can find I would guess stock removal since I don't see any blacksmithing related tools nor does he say anything about forging/blacksmithing.

Pretty amazing. I think the only thing I could get "white hot" would be my finger after I hit it with the hammer on the anvil lol.

Hit It Red As a total new guy with very little hammer control, I started reading the article above eager to learn some techniques to gain control. However, the more I read the more I felt disbelief. I'm not trying to imply anything negative about the auther, but I'll be amazed if someone can take a piece of iron that isn't glowing and hit it with the hammer hard enough and often enough to make it glow red. Is this guy pulling my leg or can an experienced smith really do that? I've watched youtube videos of power hammers and the glowing orange iron cools down while the hammer is banging the heck outta it. Thanks, 2K

I was watching a YouTube video posted in another thread here on IForge, and ran across some videos of induction heating similar to this one (there are several): YouTube - DIY 600W induction heater So it occurred to me, would it be practical to use induction heating to heat metal for blacksmithing? I know it isn't the least bit traditional, but it might be a clean, low cost (in terms of electricity versus coal) way to heat up stock for a bladesmith. Heck, if it would work, you could even run it in a garage or something where you couldn't run a regular forge. Sorry, I made the mistake of not looking/searching the forum first. There's a thread already on this topic: IForge Thread

My son and I are getting into blacksmithing as a hobby. We just bought a used portable coal forge and have a couple of buckets of coal we bought from a local smith. The other day, I bought some Royal Oak natural wood charcoal and based upon the youtube videos I've seen thought that we could use the charcoal instead of coal since we can buy a 10lb bag of this at WallyWorld for about $5. So I did a search here about charcoal and found 3 pertinent threads. Next I did a google search on charcoal and found the following link which might be a nice resource for anyone thinking about using charcoal instead of coal. The Lump Charcoal Database Reviews They review natural wood charcoals for cooking and rate them. I was fairly happy to see that the Royal Oak Natural Wood (American source) is pretty highly rated. So, it seems that for $5/10lb bag, it is fairly equivalent to the $22-$25 per 50lb bag of coal, plus I don't have to worry about breathing coal smoke (portable forge without flue/chimney). At WallyWorld I'll have to pay 8% tax but the coal would require shipping so that may be a wash depending upon shipping costs. Any comments? Thanks, 2K

Hello everyone. I was intending to just lurk since I am totally new to blacksmithing I won't have anything substantive to contribute, however everytime I log on I get a little notice at the top saying: "Hello 2K_Kid, Our records indicate that you have never posted to our site before! Why not make your first post today by saying hello to our community in our Introductions forum. Why not start with your first post today and become an active part of I Forge Iron now! " So, in the interests of not having to see that everytime I want to read a post, here I am! Anyhow, this looks like a great forum and a superb resource for a guy like me trying to learn about blacksmithing and if I want to get deeply into it. Thanks for the knowledge in advance.