Gaznazdiak

Well, in my search for a simple way to blacken a blade I discovered something even better. How to achieve the same effect as ferric chloride with simple white vinegar. Xxxx I love ewe-choob. https://youtu.be/DRtEPDzCa2A

I've had as much fun building the tools I need as I have experimenting with the forge and my new 2x82" grinder. I built myself a little blade and edge scriber this week as well, out of some scrap square tube, brass rod, a broken drill bit and, believe it or not, a T shaped piece of bronze that was apparently part of a WW2 torpedo, works like a charm. It's too wet and windy here to shoot at the moment (my other hobby is murdering ferals at long range) so all the tinkering helps keep the dreaded boredom at bay.

Chris The mains 240V 10A AC is "stepped down" to 12V 1A AC by a store bought transformer before it enters the machine, then a 3 position switch sends it to my marking leads from one side and via a bridge rectifier to my etching leads from the other. I deliberately built it with the lowest current that will still do the job, for safety reasons, what I'm wondering is whether 1A is too low for immersion to work. I have tried using a bigger pad on the anode, but that leaves an inconsistent finish, hence the question. It's looking like I need to build another rig, something stand-alone that I can set the blade into so that the process is "hands off". Thanks for the tip about protecting the edge, density was something I hadn't considered. Frosty I will do that today. I've done more reading and watching than actual knife making since I decided try to make a go of it last year. No point wasting time and materials buggering about in ignorance, plus, once you stop learning, it's time for the dirt nap. Thanks guys.

I have just finished the surprisingly simple job of building my own AC/DC etcher/marker machine (gotta love that ewe-choob). The ease with which this and some saturated saline can put a deep black, permanent mark on steel leads me to the question, can this AC/Saline method be used, on a larger scale, to blacken an entire blade? My thought was, if it works on small scale to blacken an etched logo, would submerging the whole blade in the saline work with my 12V 1A AC power source? Anyone tried this? I have searched here and the web to no avail.

I used hydrochloric acid to "wash" a large copper and bronze rain gauge, about 25 years ago. When I had finished I had several litres of pale green HCL. I dropped a small piece of mild steel into this solution and left it for 2 days. When I removed it, instead of the shiny clean steel I expected, I had a pinkish beige piece, that when rubbed, came up looking like fresh copper. I used that on several items including a commercial hunting knife, all of which still have their copper coating today.

Thanks for getting back to me so promptly Dave. No mate, my contact wheel and shaft are solid as a rock. Then standing there looking at it I had a sudden rush of blood to the head. The belt seemed a little loose so I pulled the idler down, moved the platen out a bit and let the idler piston push the belt up and Robert's your mother's brother. Cheers Mick

G'day onotoman, I had been considering a fixed speed model of that same grinder, after reading your post I decided to go for it. Great machine, very massive, well built, but I can't for the life of me get the belt sorted. No matter what I seem to do with the crown wheel I can't get it to stay centered. I know this is most likely operator error, did you have similar difficulty? If so, how did you remedy it. If not, do you have any advice? The latter question is for everyone, I am graduating from a small Ryobi model so I'm still on the steep end of the learning curve. Regards

Thanks 671 and Thomas, The more I learn, the more it seems I have to learn. All info welcome, thanks guys.

Hi 671, That's quite a difference. Possibly a silly newbie question, but as a shooter I found the only silly question when dealing with things that go bang is the one you didn't bother asking: is that scale from the extra oxygen?

Sorry old mate, didn't intend to offend your sensibilities, or start a fight with you. Your attitude to what the far right believes are unreliable sources of fake news tells me all I need to know. Best we leave it there, eh? This isn't the place for that "discussion". The only reason I mentioned social media was that my nieces have been getting all manner of false information from there, ranging from the 80% arson foolishness to WW3 has started in Iran, and it's a disturbing trend. My apologies to everyone else for digressing from the spirit of this well intentioned thread.

Thanks for the input guys. Mikey, I have a new regulator and such on the way, when it arrives I'll do as suggested and give it a try and photograph the results and post them.

Firstly, thanks to all for your kind thoughts and eternal thanks to our American brothers and all the others who have volunteered to join the fight here. Secondly, Marc1, please mate, don't get your news from social media like fakebook. It's the biggest source of fake news, silly rumours and malicious lies on the planet. The various fire services, the CSIRO and the parks services have all have soundly debunked that as nonsense. The vast majority of the fires have been started by dry lightning, ember attack from existing fires, accidents or stupidity. Yes, some have been deliberate, according to those in the business about 1%, not 50% and certainly not the 80% some are claiming. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/australias-fires-reveal-arson-not-a-major-cause/11855022

G'day all I've been lurking about and reading all I can here for a while and thought it was time to introduce myself and do some brain picking. I'm living on a grazing property in south eastern NSW, Australia, been fascinated by all manner of edged weapons since I was a sprout and have been dabbling with with making my own knives on and off for decades, primarily cold grinding. I have recently decided to get serious with it, now I'm old and retired, and build a gas forge. Like many, I'd love to make my own Damascus, but being a realist I know it's probably beyond what I'll be able to achieve with the limited setup budget, and more importantly, the skills I have. Like Harry Callahan says, "A man's got to know his limitations". Instead of building my own burner I bought one from fleabay. The various bits are all good quality, stainless steel T, flare and nipple(8"). However after looking at Frosty's illustration in the PDF instructions, it seems that the jet is has been welded into place about 10-12mm too low in the T. Before I grind off the welds and reset it to the centre, I decided to ask some newby questions: How critical is the jet placement? Is it worth trying where it is? Is the aperture in the jet suitable at 0.05 inch? I have been a little confused by some of the discussions on flare size and shape, is the one in the pic suitable? I would greatly appreciate any help or guidance anyone may have to offer. Regards Gaz