White Nomad

Thanks for the advice. I use a Rhiobi Bench sander grinder combo, and I've been using the top wheel the get the curve ground down.

Looks pretty cool. I'm looking at building one myself

Will do

I use a cheap inflatable bed inflator. So I may be giving it a bit too much, though I plan to add a throttle to the motor speed.

As the title suggests, I need advice on how to grind the bevel into a recurve style blade. Any tips or tricks?

So, I currently run a charcoal side blast forge. I basically filled it with clay and then the actual firebox has a cob lining made of refined earth clay, grass clippings, grob and a small amount of lime to act as a plasticizer (less water required to make the mixture wet). I get very good heat from it, some would say a little too good, So much so that the clay actually melts. like not little particles and clinkers but actual viscous, honey like liquid slag at the bottom of my forge. This doesn't overly affect the forging too much, as the tuyere is above the slag, but I don't like having to rebuild it every 2-3 forging sessions. Does anyone know a good liner or recipe, whether it be store bought or made (like my cob mixture) that could work better and melt less? Bonus points if it is refractory and doesn't draw heat away from the work piece. Thanks in advance

So the thought came from hearing about how glassworkers would sit their work in fiberglass insulation or something like that to slow down the cooling process to prevent the work from cracking from uneven cooling. I don't know how true this is but that's how I had the idea to use kaowool. I think I'll just make a wood ash and lime powder bend to anneal my work pieces in.

At the moment I use a bucket of clay, but I also have powdered lime so I might use that.

So my question is, if I were to heat a piece of steel to a glowing yellow and then stick it in kaowool so that the whole piece is covered, would that slow down the cooling enough for the steel to be properly annealed?

Thanks for the suggestion. I've looked into the hot bluing and I think I might give it a try. Does soaking in strong black tea work the same as soaking in coffee?

I see, I'll try that out. Do you know of any other finishing compounds and etchs that can be made from raw materials/plants?

I've used Vinegar before but how does lemon juice (citric acid) show up?

In my experience, those sort of finishes are accomplished by using a ballpein hammer and forging in each of the dimples yourself. This is done after the tang and general blade shape had been formed. After patterning both sides, use a wooden or leather face hammer to straighten the blade while it's hot. After that, etch, wire brush, sand or do any other finish on the blade. This method can be time consuming, but its the most reliable.

I can, kind of. You see, I work with a lot of scrap steels due to all the illegal dumping that happens around where I live. There are a few individual pieces of steel I have ordered but outside of that all I can tell you is high carbon, low carbon, mild, wrought or rebar. Do you know of any finishes that would make high carbon show up as a black/dark grey?

So I've read through here a few times but I can't seem to find the answer to my question, so, what sort of etch/finish should I use for blades and knives that will prevent rusting but also not ruin the heat treatment? Also, if anyone can tell me how to blacken blades that would be appreciated, as well as if anyone has any information on russeting. Thanks in advance.

It may seem a bit unrealistic, but you could theoretically create a carbon neutral forge by using algae bioreactors. It's a pretty experimental technology at the moment, but we've figured out that when you press algae in an oil press, it produces a substance similar to crude oil. You could build a battery of bioreactors to grow algae in and then use the pressed oil as fuel in an oil forge. Algae absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere very quickly and anyone who has had an outdoor pond or fish tank will know that it grows everywhere and fast too. I do realize that it seems very out there, but it is food for thought.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll find two steel plates and fix them a set distance apart and use that as my drifting station, persay.

So I recently got a new anvil. Nothing special, just a $80-90 10Kg anvil. I also bought myself some hexagonal high carbon steel with a diameter of around 3-4, maybe 5cm. I had no trouble punching the hole and widening it a bit, but my hardy hole is too small for me to effectively drift the eye to a good size. Has anyone made a specific punching and drifting anvil or jig that they use for punching eye holes, or know how I could find a way to drift my eye? Thanks for the help.

All good

Yeah fair point. I might experiment around with this idea this weekend. If I find anything interesting I'll post it on here somewhere

Yes, I understand what case hardening is. The method I was modifying is the one ClickSpring used in his file making video on youtube. The idea is that will industrial steel production is that the alloy metals are added to the molten steel and mixed around, thus causing the other metals to join into the crystal structure of the final steel billet. My idea is to seal a bar of iron in a container that won't allow for the alloy metals to run out and away from the iron, and the lightly melt the surface of the iron, causing only the outer layer of iron to alloy, as it's in a semi liquid state. Would that not be the case?

Ok, so most of you would be familiar with the process of case hardening mild steel/iron to form high carbon steel. I had a thought (and we all know how dangerous that is) to use the case hardening technique to adjust the levels of alloying elements in steel. So here's my rough outline of the process that I'm thinking of: 1) Let a piece of steel (any kind, preferably scrap. would be easiest in bar form) sit in a normal camp fire for a good few hours, possibly repeat the process multiple times. I've found that when I have done that, a lot of scale is formed on the surface which when chipped and scraped away, leaves a very black, malleable piece of what I'm assuming is wrought iron. This is used to remove any pre-existing carbon and alloying elements in the steel. (This step can be skipped by just starting with wrought iron bars). 2) Use rough sand paper to scratch the surface of the bar. This increases the surface area of the metal which in theory should allow for a faster reaction (My grade 11 chemistry coming into play) 3) Collect the alloying elements you desire to use, if you're unsure of what you need to make a certain type of steel, you can google the steel composition and elements for the respective steel online. 4) Sand down the alloying elements and collect the filings. You will need the small particles to increase the surface area of the mixture. Depending on the size of the iron bar, you will need quite a lot of filings. This step can be skipped by buying the alloying elements in granulated form, generally pottery stores and firework supply stores will sell metal powders for glazing and firework stars. 5) Measure out the alloying powders by weight for the respective steel you wish to make, then mix the powders with non-raising flour, salt and water. This will create a gooey slurry. 6) Cover the iron bar with the mixture and let it dry. Then once the paste is dry, cover with clay and let that dry. 7) Place in your furnace/forge to heat up. I'm not sure for how long, maybe a few hours once it's red hot. You want the iron bar in the core to heat up a lot. 8) Take the clay pod out once it's finished heating and break out the iron. Quench the new bar in either water or oil or brine, whichever you want. The theory behind this idea is that as the clay pod heats up, the iron will heat to a white/bright orange and the alloy metals will melt and mix onto the semi liquid iron bar. However, this process would only affect the outer layer of the iron bar, so you would either need to use a thinner piece to get full penetration, or you could draw out the bar, fold it over itself and then forge weld it together, like making a Damascus billet. This would result in the alloyed outer layer being mixed in throughout the final bar. So what do you guys think? Would this work, or is it a pipe dream? Also if anyone has a similar process mentioned in the past please feel free to direct me to it to read over. Thanks for your time - White Nomad

Thanks for both of your replies. I'll look into it more. Thanks for your time

So I live in Queensland, Australia, and I'm wondering what sort of formal blacksmithing qualifications there are and where I can find them, both links to website and places. If you know of any, please do share. Thanks for your time - White Nomad

I think that I'm going to go with the propane furnace, just because I feel like I'd be able to get more heat from it, and I could also use it to heat hammer blanks as well.