pike3e

it is one percentage point lower in chromium in order to be labeled stainless, however for all intents and purposes of a blade, it is pretty much interchangeable in my experience.

I would recommend starting with .25 inch stock that is one inch wide to start for stock removal. Thanks John

Mine is on a metal rolling cart with regular bricks under the forge. I wont like to run the forge inside so I just wheel it out when it is time to forge and back into the garage once it has cooled off.

Razors are really difficult to get right and have some design aspects that are critical to actually function to shave someones face. First the bevel basically has to be hollow in geometry. There are razors that are called wedges but they too are hollow ground, just with a larger diameter wheel. I can't tell if your first one is hollow or not. The reason for this is that the razor acts as its own sharpening jig. The spine and the edge both lay on the stone as it is honed. A flat will have the whole bevel on the stone and will be nearly impossible to hone correctly. Second the thickness of the spine is determined buy the width of the razor. So determine how wide you want the razor then research the proper spine thickness to provide the bevel angles necessary for the edge. You are off to a great start, keep it up.

I would advise ordering online and ask for it to be shipped USPS flat rate box. 12 bucks shipping will get plenty of satanite for a lining and a few relining.

I heat treat high carbon steel at 120 grit then go back to 60 after ht to grind to the final geometry.

Where are you getting 15n20 in round stock? I have never heard of that, although that does not mean anything. Be sure of your materials because it would be a shame to weld two steels that are so similar that there is little or any contrast in the etch. Good luck, looking forward to pics.

I make hammers out of 1045. The main reason is that I can find it local for a few bucks a pound and I like to only quench the first third of the head (dogs head hammer). I oil quench all of my knives but oil flares up a lot for a partial quench. Water works best for 1045 and I prefer to deal with steam than burning oil.

One thing to add is to stop when the billet drops below welding heat.If you start twisting at welding heat and keep twisting until you are too cold, the the billet will still fail. It usually takes many heats to twist a billet unless you have a twisting machine. I know you are using coal but in my propane forge, I clamp the billet to the edge of the forge and pass it though to back hole. When at temp I keep it in the forge, attach a wrench and twist while it is still in the forge. This only works for long billets though.

I payed for it and loved it! Well worth whatever you can afford to support this group of very skilled smiths doing passionate work. I am happy to be able to contribute to such a project. Keep it up!

I have a 130ish lb fisher style anvil. Many times I thought about laying out the dough for a bigger one but am happy I spent some of that cash on a power hammer and press instead. It really depends on what you want to do. I would rather work the big stock on a press or power hammer than my anvil by hand.

I make some hammers and (I have seen this post before) this looks like a great tool to me. Some of my drifts are larger than my hardy hole and can get stuck if I am not careful. With this tool you simply use a large enough hole plate and can drive the drift all the way through, with the help of a smaller diameter drift, and it falls out the bottom. Sure there are other ways to do it but this seems pretty simple, easy and cheap to me.

That looks great!

I can run all day during normal temps, my forge is the economy forge from Diamondback Iron works. I average 12 psi for forging and 15 for forge welding. The thing is, I dont feel comfortable forging, from a safety standpoint, in my garage and obviously I dont store tanks in there. So It was a low of -8 Fahrenheit overnight and I fired the forge up first thing in the morning and the forge could not get to the pressure I usually use, so putting the tank in some warm water did the trick and quick. Are there any safety concerns with this practice?

my 40lb tank, not full, was only pushing 8psi this morning in zero degree weather when I started it. I had to use warm water just to get to forging temps in the forge, glad I only needed a hand full of heats to finish the project and get back inside.

I am in Bangor, and willing to help you out. Call or email me from my website www.jmjonesknives.com if you are interested

If you are going to do much hand sanding, purchasing some EDM stones is a great way to go. They outlast sandpaper by a huge margin, are cheap, and are much easier to use to get out deep scratches. I use the EDM up to 320 or 400 then drop a grit when I go to sandpaper and it only takes a few minutes with the paper to get the finish I am after.

Carved handles on a knife that is used in the kitchen alot, leaves many places for bacteria and other stuff to get trapped. At worst, cross contamination of food at best a pain to keep clean. For sanitation reasons, I personally would not carve them.

For me in my shop, like Owen, smoking borax when pulled from the forge is the best indicator. If it is smoking heavily, I don't question it and make the weld. This is with high carbon steel to make Damascus. I have successfully welded wrought iron/ high carbon san mai using the same method.

I have a 55lb striker hammer that is very similar to the anyang. I forge in my garage with the garage door open and have a friend who lives 500 yards through the wood and he can hear it from his house. I have neighbors that are close like yours will be but I am friendly and have invited them into the garage shop to see what I am doing and I have not had one compaint in the two years of having the hammer. Also another consideration, the self contained hammers always make noise when they are on, not just when you are hammering. The ones that use a separate air compressor are completely quiet while idle, except for the noise of the compressor filling.

Satinite works very well.

It will work but is waaay over priced. Walmart, home depot and lowes all have lump charcoal for less than half the price of big green egg charcoal.

Any steel that will work for a knife, will work for a razor, that is where the similarity of the two tools ends. A straight razor has one purpose, to shave the hairs off your face, using it for anything else will damage the edge you will work so hard to get correct. The edge has to be very thin and honed to a high degree of polish, usually 8, 000 to 10,000. The spine of a razor acts like a built in sharpening guide on the stones, thus the final edge will actually be a flat grind, trying to convex the edge or leaving extra meat at the edge for some measure of safety is a sure way to get a razor that does not work. I have made a few and shave with one I made regularly, i still had someone more experianced than me do the final hone in order to get the best out of the razor. there is a ton of info on straight razor place and badger and blade forums. Good luck.

I like the copper tube from the forge to the regulator, good idea!

it is missing the face plate, how much of an issue is that?