Dan_the_DJ

Thanks, Ill try my best the next time I get the chance. Id work in the night no problem, since I cant sleep anyways, but the neighbors wouldnt find that quite polite of me

Im having a tough time finding time to work in the forge. And the weather is not giving me a pass either

There are some of course, but those are all mystery steels. I need plain HC of known compositions to minimize the variables of HT. I buy some old files and leaf springs on occasion, but Id like to be able to buy new stuff too

Thanks guys. Im downloading the app and am actively searching the forums to find someone with a similar problem to mine.

Pnut: This is just a test piece to see if the stock was large enough for what I had in mind. I will try to carburize this edge but in the future I will weld in a steel bit. As I said, I have access onoy to 4mm 1075. I dont know if thats too thin but I suspect it might be...

Ill certainly try that sometime, thanks. But the problem is that I live in a very small town with only a few locations where steel is sold, but its only construction grade steel. Nothing hardenable. Well, not if you dont count some rebar which can be quenched and hardened to some degree, but its definitely subpar. The only places I can buy proper steel is a few places in the capital. There might be a lot more, but they have no presence online so I have no means of finding them. I have contacted blade makers from my country a number of times, some either outright refuse to tell me where they buy their steel and some that do either order from abroad or simply buy in bulk. None of this is an option for me really. Id have to start doing this as my livelihood to be able to justify spending the sort of money Id need to equip myself. There are some indications that the company I got my first commercial 1075 from will adjust its selling capacity towards small knifemakers and blacksmith shops in the area, so I will wait for that to get up and running as it is my best bet to date. I dont know the prices you guys pay for 1075 for example, but I paid somewhere around 3.5$ per kilo, which doesnt seem to bad for me

I still have to learn forge welding, but it seems easier since I started using coal. I just have to be mindful of clinkers :)

I use either an axe or a machete for nearly aything if I have them at hand, but if I dont, well... The knives are perfectly fine for almost anything save chopping and splitting large trunks. But theyre are still lacking in some ways. Maybe Ill get better over time, I should hope! I used to avoid files because theyre usually too thick and narrow for knives. Now that I started forging, its a different story altogether

I ought to do just that... I reckon it would be easier with commercial 1075 I have. I cant be 100% sure with unknown files or springs that they would be the same every time. Europe has and my country in particular have more variety of different makers from all around the western and old eastern block xD You cant tell which is which so its less reliable to just assume each time that leaf spring are 5160. I mean maybe, but I doubt the soviets used the same exact alloy as the rest of Europe

I didnt understand normalizing at first, for no good reason. Since I started normalizing, things have improved, but I still get some damage if I contact steel. Regarding the containers, its some type of steel for sure. Its magnetic and not stainless per say. Ive seen the same cans rust after a long while... Id ideally like my knife, labeled survival knife in the albums, to be able to do almost anything I might require of it, which it does. But there is that little problem of having an easy to "break" edge if Im not careful. I have whacked my knifes into rocks numerous times. When there is a flood, paricles of sand and larger rocks get wedged in trees close to the rivers and after it grows for a while, the tree owergrows it and then I come along and chop a branch hitting the rock and ruining my edge... I have also found pieces of metal in this way... Not to mention splitting pallet wood for example, on a camping trip or something like that. I always can find a nail it seems Edit: yes, I warm up the oil with a scrap piece of mild steel each time. The steel always gets hardmartensite formation is clearly visible in some of the pictures Thanks! Could it also be that Im over or undershooting with my tempering? I swear, my small survival knife seems to always chip while my other large survival knife tends to roll, other than a direct rock hit. Then it chips as well. Either way, Im really sensing some kind of weakness/brittleness in all my edged tools. And Im not really sure is it simple geometry or grains being somewhat enlarged. It they were outright massive, I guess my machete would be the first to break in half. But Im not lighty using any of my knives as well. I chopped more wood with those three than with an axe in all my life. True, my small survival knife lost its tip, but thats because it got used as a throwing knife a bit too vigorously. I can vaguely remember the grain on the break site. It wasnt perfect, but it was a long time ago. Back when I didnt really understand the meaning of that... Ill try my best to fine tune my HT as much as thats possible with my methods, might even try sending a couple of pieces for HT amd then finish it my way and do a comparison.

Hello everyone, Didnt know how to frame this exactly, but Im interested to hear your experienced opinions on what a knife can and cant do. What is sort of expected of a knife? Let me explain: Obviously, the first thing would be that it doesnt bend or break easily or at all, but what about edge retention? Can you cut regular mild steel nails with a knife and expect it to still shave afterward? Im mainly asking because Im insecure about my heat treatment... I can get my knives shaving sharp and do bushcraft or skin animals, even shave without any problems. The edge dulls after a while, of course. But nothing really serious that a few passes on a clean leather belt wont fix. But trying to open a can of beans for example, the edge will get visibly dull immediately and will require sharpening. Touching any type of steel, be it food containers, nails, what have you, there is always visible damage and some rolling, sometimes little micro chips of the edge and considerable dulling. Im constantly seeing people using their freshly HTed blades to chop nails in half and shoving no edge damage at all! Is that even possible or do they leave their edges beefy on purpose as to pass the steel nail test? They usually shave to show all is well, but Im doubtfull to what degree is that "shaving" edge ground... Imma tell you, whacking a nail (or a rock, which happened more than once,when trimming weeds) with my knives, its not pretty... I have to mention that the edge is a relatively fine full flat with a slight convex without a micro bevel, usually shaving sharp. I get that there are tools that are made to cut other, softer steels, but those have a way different geometry and shape in general. Knifes are not dedicated tools for that obviously, but sometimes you really need to get that can opened or there is a nail stuck in a log youre splitting and Id like to not ruin my edge after an encounter like that every time. Im just afraid my knifes are not good enough... Im actually terrified to even give a knife to my friends because of this. I dont actuaoly mind any of this for my sake, Im used to it and I take care of my knives, but giving it a s a gift or some day selling a knife like that? It just doesnt seem like a kind thing to do... Im using old files and leaf springs mostly and I HT with a magnet, wait a couple dozen seconds past magnetic and quench in regular cooking oil. No problems with warps or cracks whatsoever, nor getting the steel hard. I temper to straw in the forge or in a kitchen oven. Maybe its large grain, but Id have to do a separate test on that to confirm. Im basically following any guide you can find for beginner knife makers and using the very same steels and methods. I bought a piece of 1075 to try and see if the problem lies with my HT or those mystery steels. If thats not the case, can the problem actually lie in my bevel and edge geometry? Ive never owned a knife made by a renowned blacksmith or some high end company to be able to see what a properly made knife can do. So to sum up, Im asking can a knife that is made for firemaking, general camping stuff and skinning/shaving if needs be, so a relatively sharp blade with a thinner edge be expected to get in contact with other steels like I mentioned above, albeit not hardened, and survive? By survive I mean that it will not suffer any noticeable edge damage so you can continue to do what you were doing... Sorry for the long post, Im just trying to understand what seems to be the problem with my knives. Am I simply expecting too much of a knife or is there really some sort of a problem? I dont expect much help without you all being able to inspect my work or actually watching me work in person, but the best I can do is show you what I have done in photos. Maybe some of it can help? Thank you all for your time and help. P.S. Ill be posting an imgur link to my albums so you can see some of the stuff I made so far. http://imgur.com/gallery/r7KHcRT http://imgur.com/gallery/hSunljh http://imgur.com/gallery/QJioC4h http://imgur.com/gallery/9fIWCMy http://imgur.com/gallery/NpBuxMf Here are the albums. Im always having trouble with imgur, hope they all work this time.

To date, Ive only found one place that sells 1075, but only as a sheet 4mm thick, which is a little bit limiting. To clarify, there are more places of course, but they either dont sell to individuals, companies only or they sell to individuals, but either in sizes/quantities that dont make sense for a beginner. There are some people who can afford to buy the whole sheet which is two square meters and then cut and resell it, but the prices are too high in that case. Regarding making high carbon steel... Im not, Im just following a recipe that has worked for me in the past and for some other people too. Im messing around because I still dont know forge welding

I only have 1075, so nothing fancy there... I was only curious what would happen to it after welding temps Thanks yall.

So basically, forge weld successfully > forge some more and grind to final shape > normalize and HT as you would any other axe ?

Hello everyone, After reading for quite a while and learning that better preparedness is key, Im going to try forge welding for a second time very soon. Now armed with coal instead of charcoal, which makes managing heat higher and for longer easier, for me, I think Ill have better success than last time... I have just one question regarding the whole thing: Lets say I succeed to forge weld a 1075 bit to mild steel axe body, but what then? As far as I understand, the grain will be very large and otherwise unsuitable for an edge, so should I just do regular normalizing cycles and proceed with HT as usual or are there some more steps in between Im not aware of? Sorry if this is a stupid question to ask, but I couldnt find any information regarding my particular concern. Im just trying to better understand the process and maximize my chances of success. Thank you all for you help, cheers.