dickb

Hands on blacksmithing with an experienced blacksmith is a good way to learn, but .... The internet is a great source of information. You can find hundreds of articles/tutorials on Google and on Youtube. There are two books which should be required reading of new blacksmiths : 1 New Edge of the Anvil: A Resource Book for the Blacksmith by Jack Andrews 2 The Art of Blacksmithing by Ales Bealer Working six days and school three nights doesn't leave you a lot of free time, but reading and internet can be shoe horned in at your won convenience. Good Luck P.S. Blacksmithing words of wisdom. "Hold the black end and hammer on the red end"

I have a few pounds of kitty litter left over from patching my forge. I mixed the kitty litter with course sand and the patches held up well. I would like to use differential heating some knife blades (1084 and/or 1095 steel) to get a hard cutting edge and a soft spine. I know Satinite and/or various brands of furnace cement and/or refractory mortars are available, but I would like to try some home brewed material. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Solved similar problem. I wanted to forge a short piece of 1095 steel but didn't have a suitable pair of tongs so I took a piece of 1/2 inch square bar about 18 inches long and flattened about 3 inches on one end. Then I punched 2 holes about 2 inches apart on the flattened end and a pair of matching holes in the work piece. Finally I riveted the handle to the work piece. When I was finished forging I cut the work off and cleaned up the handle so I could use it at another time. You may have to modify this a little because you will be working at much hotter temperatures. I suggest riveting instead of bolting the handle, More secure hold and you can easily tighten them up when they get loose. We have no power tools in the forge, hence punching instead of drilling.

I have forged and heat treated a few knifes (1084 and/or 1095 steel) and now want to step up to an eight or ten inch chef's knife or maybe a Gyuto style. knife. Consider three factors (a) the profile, (b) the distal taper and (c) the bevel, Forging any one of these factors has an effect on the other two, The question is , how to I balance the forging process ? The stock removal process of knife making does not appeal to me, I prefer to work at the anvil as much as possible and minimize the amount of grinding. Thanks for any advice.

No, your recipe forgot the eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and bat and tongue of dog.

With or without tongs you should never forge the number one rule of blacksmithing,

I would go along with the "old vice grips theory", or maybe check out Harbor Freight and buy a big pair or pliers. The prices you quote are too high to begin with and do not include shipping. Count on another ten dollars for shipping. For a beginner, it's easier to work with a long piece of stock held in your hand than it is to work with short pieces of stock held with tongs, My suggestion would be to make the jaws and the pivot on the end of one long piece of stock and then make a second identical one. I suggest you drill the hole for the rivet and put off learning how to punch holes or later. It's easy to mess up punching a hole and then the entire piece is lost. While you're at Harbor Freight check out their hammers. They are a much cheaper than anyplace else and they will be good enough for now. Just double check the handles. Some professional blacksmiths with money to burn may scoff at this.

This is a question for a blacksmith/chemist. When I forge mild steel a lot of scale piles up around the anvil. Is this scale chemically similar to magnetite (Fe2 3O4). I meed a couple of ounces of powdered magnetite for some hand made electrical inductors. Powdered magnetite is available commercially but I only need a couple of ounces and I have a lifetime's worth of scale around the anvil. Thanks

They are also called rail anchors. They are used along with tie plates to stabilize the rail with respect to the road bed. Ditto on similar to spring steel. Judging from the shape, they are pretty old, made in the United States. and usually excellent quality. good for knifes, tomahawks, punches, chisels, nail headers.

Car/truck coil springs versus axels. I think I would just use the one that tales the least forging. As long as you are using the tools on properly heated stock it doesn't make much difference. Crow bars and/or digger bars made in the United States are also excellent I found a couple or old rusty digger bars and made hot chisels, cold chisels. and all kinds of punches, hardy cutoff tools. I don't harden anything that's used on hot iron. They work fine and a quick lick with a file is all you ever need to dress them.

Prices vary all over the ball park, depending on the condition, the location, and of course the buyer's budget

be careful if you're hammering to disassemble these old post vices. . some of them use hardened steel wedges that might be brittle

Thanks Tim. What I have been using is a Klein Tools Multimeter MM200 . It has a with a type K thermocouple probe with a range of -4 to about 1800 degrees fahrenheit Plus or minus 3 percent. Long braided fiberglass leads, etc. per the manufacturer's spec. I just did a preliminary test and found the 3 percent figure is way off, not even close enough for government work. Probably closer to 10 percent. I enclosed the last 6 inches of the probe in a plastic baggie and dipped the tip into 212 degree water and got an indicated temperature of 180. Out of curiosity I'm going to order a TM902C and double check everything,

I posted this question yesterday, but it seems to have up in smoke, don't know what happened. I forged a couple of knifes of 1084 steel. Dimensions 3/16 inch at the spine , one inch wide and 6 inches excluding the spike tang. Fully hardened them at the forge and then brought them home to temper in my gas oven. I set the oven temperature to 450 degrees and put a thermocouple next to the blades. (Klein tools multimeter MM200) . I noticed the temperature swing plus and minus about 50 degrees so I lowered the oven temperature control to 400 degrees and let it swing from about 350 to 450. I figured I could retemper it if it came out too hard. The gas oven is about 50 years old so maybe that's why the temperature swings so much. They seem to have come out okay, takes a good razor sharp, durable edge and keeps the edde very well But I would like a little more precision. I would like to bury the next one I forge in a two inch layer of sand and also bury the thermocouple alongside. My thinking is the large thermal mass will prevent the large temperature swings and I can monitor the temperature of the sand and the steel will follow along. Has anyone used this method ? Any suggestions would be appreciated If you look through this web site, you would notice we have an entire section for knife making, and your post, being about blade work, was relocated there.

I forged a couple of knifes from 1084 steel and hardened them at the forge. The dimensions are 1/8 th of and inch at the spine, about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long excluding the stick tang. I brought them home to temper them in my gas oven. I was aiming at 450 degrees. I put them on a rack in the middle of the stove and put a thermocouple probe next to them. (Klein tools multimeter MM200) I set the oven to 450 degrees and monitored the temperature as indicated on the multimeter. I found the oven temperature varying by plus and minus about 50 degrees around the 450 degree setting so I reset the oven to about 400 degrees and let it cycle up and down for about a half hour. As far as I can tell It tempered okay, Holds an razor edge and hasn't chipped or broken under heavy usage. Now the problem is, I am using a precision hammer (Harbor Freight 3 lb engineers hammer $7/50) and some unknown brand of smithing coal and an anvil of unknown origin, and I would like a more precise way of heat treating at home. I am thinking next time I will bury the blade and the thermocouple in a two inch thick layer of clean sand and use the temperature indicated by the meter to adjust the oven temperature control. Hopefully the thermal mass of the sand will prevent the large temperature swings. Any comments would be appreciated. P.S. Maybe that's why my roast chicken always turns out burned to a crisp. P. P. S. The blades seem to be pretty rust resistant.

What kind of image is this, I can't open it

Try shaping the handle to the point that you can use a rubber mallet to drive it in. Then remove the head and lubricate it liberally with full strength boiled linseed oil and then drive the handle in again. The lubed handle will go in further than it did when it was dry Lube the wedge with linseed oil and drive it in. A wedge made from some scrap hickory works better than the one that came with the handle. If the steel wedge looks flimsy then make one yourself. Once the linseed oil has set up nothing will come loose, ever. A little like a double hung window with the frame painted over two or three times with oil paint. While you have the can of linseed oil open you can apply some to any other hammerheads and they will remain waterproof and humidity proof. P.S. When you cut off the excess handle, dab a little linseed oil on the exposed raw wood.

I came across some old tongs, something like V Groove. they are unusual in that each half is completely different from the other. They're made of wrought iron from two of three pieces welded together. They give a super grip on a range and variety of shapes and sizes. The length of the V shaped portion (measured along the axis of the tongs) is about 5/8 inch. When you grip a piece of iron the V shape forces the iron flat against the opposite jaw. No wiggle, rotation or anything else. I don't want to mess these up so I'm making similar pair. Don't know if anyone has seen similar tongs. See attached images

I am switching from mystery metal to carbon steel to make a few knives. What are the pros and cons of 1040 steel versus something higher (1060, 1095, etc). The attached image is a knife I forged from a crowbar. It takes a good sharp edge and holds it very well. Details. 9 inches overall length. Coal fired forge. Water hardened and then tempered at 400 degrees for an hour. Thanks PS I tried to post a similar message yesterday, but must have done something wrong because it never showed up. repeat post merged with the existing thread.

Every blacksmith makes a few knifes at some time. This my first effort, forged from a 3/4 inch crowbar. A few details, coal fired forge, water hardened and tempered at 400 degrees for an hour. Length 9 inches. Came out ok and holds an edge very well. I'd like to use some less mystery metal for the next few knifes. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of using 1040 , 1050,...... 1095 for this type of project. I think these may be easier to find than others. Thanks

I use an Otto Canedy Royal Western Chief Forge Blower. It has not been lubricated in over a year, maybe two. There is a brass air cock near the bottom and there is a small iron square bolt head near the letter Y in Royal. I think the small square bold head is a plug that was supposed to be used to add oil, but it's frozen and I don't want to use a lot of force and take chance breaking it. . Two questions : 1 Can I open the air cock and add oil using a rubber bulb ear syringe or maybe a turkey baster. 2 What kind of oil should I use. Thanks Oops. I didn't look far enough, the question about what kind of lubrication has been asked and answered. The second question remains, about how to get fresh oil in.

If it's only rusted it place then I'd suggest using vinegar to break it free. I had a cast iron clinker breaker with a steel screw firmly rusted in. After soaking it in vinegar for a couple of days, I was able to unscrew it with my fingers. You may have to cork the underneath side of the prichell hole to keep the vinegar from leaking out. and of course it seems like a good idea to try to drive it out from the bottom side. Pros and cons: Pros.. it worked for me. it won't make it worse. Cons .. Vinegar plus rust comes up with a hellac1ous stink.

The idea of reducing the size of the handle works real good for me. I find that a cross section of 7/8 inch by 1 1/4 inches in the area where you hold the handle is just right. I prefer a rectangular cross section best but rounding off the sharp corners makes it still more comfortable, and you won't need a gorilla's grip to hold it securely. Might be a good idea to try this on cheap Harbor Freight hammer before carving up a more expensive hammer.

This is a reply to why not just forge it down to a smaller size. Without a power hammer, it's just too much work to forge it down to the size I need. That's why I am trying to swap it for some lighter bars. An offer to buy came in and since I have more wrought iron than I will need, I decided to ask about the prices. If anyone near Suffern, NY has some smaller bars and would like to swap, then drop me an email at dickb24@gmail.com thanks

Can anyone give me a idea of the price of Genuine Wrought Iron. I have some 3/4 inch square bars each 5 feet long. They are all in good condition. I would prefer to trade a few for some 1/2 inch wrought iron round or square bars. But I got a call from someone who wanted to buy a few bars. I'm located in Suffern , NY