DavidF

I would scour your rental agreement prior to forging, just so you have the details and understand the implications. Also, I would verify your renter’s insurance to see if there are clauses for these types of activities. Just know what you are getting into before you commence

Good feedback Shady. I read the FAQ for the rasp knife website and the cleaning and care were identical to your feedback. Use a brush to clean them. It also stated the remnants for the rasp can be used for grating items like garlic or nutmeg. I am not sure that I am sold on the cleaning aspect, I have three kids that don’t clean smooth plates and bowls well enough and the high carbon knife I put in the kitchen was put away wet after it’s second use. Guess who ended up removing the rust and building up a new patina.  I am happy to hear about your experience because I have wanted to dabble in textures for my blades. Knowing that others do this without issues gives me some comfort. But maybe I will only do this for hunting and camping knives at first and see how it goes. Thanks again for taking the time to provide your thoughts. I highly value the input I get from the collective brain power of this forum

That is a lovely beast!

Any idea on the breed of dog? Congrats on the new addition. I am sure he will provide years and years of love and devotion!

I personally would not want any texture or pockets on a blade I used for food handling. I have seen an artist that is in the eastern US that produces professional kitchen knives from rasps and she leaves the signature of the rasps on the blades. She seems to do very well selling these for high hundreds to low thousands of US dollars. But like Steve mentioned almost immediately, my first thought was that the texture would be a huge concern for bacterial growth. MastaStan: already indicated in this thread that the intended use would not be for food prep and handling. The intended use is for producing kindling. But I wanted to circle back and ask about the rasp design. I didn’t post a link to the examples of these blades, but they can be found easy enough by Googling “rasp kitchen knives”. The rasp knives are targeted for professionals, but wouldn’t there be a concern for the texture leading to a burden for cleaning and hygiene? Does anyone use rasps with the texture left for kitchen knives? 

It is the ying and yang. Worn and hardened blade with mosaic pins. It is creative. I like the way the blade looks. Good work!

Lol! Mikey made it one replybefore he broke his commitment! Maybe it has been a long day, but that seriously cracked me up. Read the last three posts and tell me if I am just looney from today... I won’t give him too hard of a time, because he is one of the best resources (if not primary) for helping on this. It just reminds me of the part in the movie “Fargo” when Steve Buscemi is stating that he is going to give some9ne the silent treatment, but he goes on and on about not saying another word. That was classic. Thanks @Mikey98118. It may have not been intentional, but you made my day 

Great pics! Sorry you had the work snap on you. I need to try my hand at a set of tongs. We just got blanketed by 18” of snow today. Hoping by the end of this week all the white stuff is gone and the weather is warm enough to roll the forge out back. I am probably being a baby as I see people fro Alaska, MN, etc on here and it seems like they are always working. Maybe they have heated shops or something. I just can’t take the cold. But give it two months and I will be complaining about the heat! Lol

I want to hear updates on this. And request pics. This has a a high coolness factor for me

Thanks Steve. I agree. Although I found the information in a titanium article, it used the process of working with steel as an example. What I actually ended up caring about was the details for high speed drilling causing steel (not Ti) to work harden. So that is what I am actually asking about. I probably confused my point and question by mentioning the origin where I read this information. The writer was actually working with 1084 if I recall correctly

And I think I will only decorate the titanium for my project and not attempt drilling. But if I do, I will consult the non-ferrous section you cited

I was looking at drilling titanium this week and one of the things I ran across was a mention of the work hardening for steel (although it was titanium research, it was used as a comparison) that @BeaverNZ is describing. I was so happy to see this resurrected because as I read that background, I recalled this post. I have ran into the issue of being able to easily drill through one part of,the handle and then not be able to dent a point 1” away. Even when switching to a brand new drill bit, it wouldn’t bite. My press has five speeds, but it requires opening the top and moving the belt. So my question becomes, if I don’t want to have multiple presses since I am a hobbyist, would the best setup be to set the press at the slowest speed? I use the same press for both the metal and wood work and I can use a handheld drill to start holes in the metal for pins, but now that I am getting some experience I realize that others have probably gone through this and have feedback. An important piece of background, when I describe having difficulty drilling the holes, it is after annealing and before hardening. And the stock indicates that it is shipped as annealed and ready to work, these are standard 1095 12” bars from the factory. So it isn’t a case where I don’t know the alloy or it is mystery steel from springs or files. I have experienced the same issue trying to drill it right out of the gate or after I have fired it up and let it cool in Perlite. It could be that 1095 is difficult, it work hardens, my drill speed is too high, etc. I feel like I may be onto something with drill speed, but I am new to working with steel, so feel free to assume I am missing the basics. I would rather figure out how to do it right and I am open to any ideas that help, including steel, drill speed, process, etc. and also recommendations for press setup, starting with a variable speed handheld before moving to the press, etc.

Texas tongs? Or Texas Frog Legs? Throwing out some suggestions. I agree with Frosty, I want to see pics. I haven’t attempted a set of tongs yet and I am looking at others’ work for inspiration. Welcome aboard!

Silly me. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together until now and realize that you have a YouTube channel. I subscribed today. I think I know what my weekend’s night viewing will be.

Great video! Love this technique.

Beautiful. I love the sheath matching. Great work

Ok. Just finished watching. Ended going back a couple times to see the process better after understanding the end result. You have incredible talent. And thank you for sharing. I know I will use this in the annart project for my wife. You make it look so effortless, but I expect to run into some challenges. It is so great that you show a start to finish process because it gives me the whole process to use to try and replicate with an expected result, yet also knowing how it will look along the way. Being new to this and not having someone nearby to show me, this is the next best thing. Great work on the heart and the video. The other thing I wanted to mention was the two angles at the same time help me see and understand what you are doing, much better than a single angle. That is probably the biggest reason an hour video takes me 50% to 100% longer. I often go back through a series of your work and end up watching both angles to better understand how and why you do things.

The only question I have is at the first of the video you seem to be building up the metal in the area where the top “v” will be. Can you describe if that is what you were doing and why you were doing it?

Just started watching this video. Be back in an hour with comments.

That is sooooo true! War time manufacture, you would probably be lucky to get a handle! LOL!

Love that chandelier design. Post updates when you get the nipples and the work done. 

Thomas is just feeling under the weather which produces a multiplier for the crumudgeonry. Those aren’t smith’s Hammer strikes, they are deflections from a war hammer. And this isn’t a hedge trimmer, it’s an instrument of battle forged in Helm’s Deep (which coincidentally has a portal to NM/El Paso. Get feeling better Thomas

Using a setup similar to what Wayne describes, with ceramic wool, Kastolite, and mertikote, all from Wayne, I can get my forge temp up to yellow steel in under ten mins and leave it there. I would follow his forge design and use two of Frosty’s t burner designs. You will definitely reach the level needed with tha set up

I concur on Canola oil. I pick up big gallon jugs for $6. I have used motor oil, and I ‘now some guys use it, but after reading the threads about motor oil that Glenn mentioned, I felt a six dollar investment was worthwhile. I have been happy so far

They look incredible Dave. Have you ever been accused of being a bit of a perfectionist? Looking at the symmetry, I know how much effort, time, and pride those take. Also, did you round all of the tube pieces? They look very nice. Last question, I love the calligraphy style numbers and letters. Did you cut those out and did you texture them? They looks like you put a texture on them and polished them to a high level. They really standout well against the sconces. Now I can’t wait to see the chandelier. 

I love the last two blades. They look like they are nakiri. I have those on my short list to attempt. You are very talented. I would be proud of those blades and when you mentioned you are in high school... I think you found your calling. I see a bright future for you in the craft! 

I love it! I thought about doing one of these and planned to pound a hardened blade into it before HT to make it look like it had seen some battle and had some scars. It looks like it is was crafted in the underworld. Good job and I bet it was a blast to make!