Drako11 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Hello Everyone, I'm new here, and well totally new to blacksmithing as well. My brother and I made our own forge and confiscated an anvil and hammers from our Grandpa. Anyways we have been playing around with it and finally came out with a decent looking rough blade. It was made out of a section from a large Alan Wrench. The blade formed out well although there was a little melting on the tip. However when we were pounding out the tang it began to crack really badly, we tried heating it up really hot and pounding it back together but really only succeeded in making it a little better if not worse. What caused this to happen was the metal just bad, did we heat it to much, did we heat it to hot??? :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonjic Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 This wont be a lot of help but you might have over-heated it, worked it to cold, or heated it to many times (which burns all the carbon out of the steel), (if your just starting out it could be a combination of all three Its tricky when you use steel that you dont know the composition of, It will most likely be a tool steel for an allen wrench, and all tool steels like to be worked in different ways, at different temperatures! Sure someone will have some advice on helping with your next one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecart Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 If you go to your user cp and give a general idea of where you are, there could be an accomplished smith in your area to help you first hand. You're using what we all call mystery steel. I've used it until I'm about to take it all to the scrap yard for lack of success. If you get the chance to get your hands on some good steel - 1095 or something you can identify - then any number of people on here that can tell you exactly how to work it. Don't know if this helps, but I hope so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokshasa Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 if you see sparks comming of the metal when you pul it out then thats way to hot (especially when maiking knives) your just burning it and you wont get any use out of it, if you hit it at this point it may just "split" , or if its to cold when you hit it it may just "tare". i've messed up a few things i was working on at first and the 2 main reasons was this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Welcome aboard Drako, glad to have you. Good for you for building a fire and getting to hammering. Too many folk think they have to have all the "right" tools to do a job. The only way to learn a draft is by DOING it. As to what went wrong . . . I'm afraid to say you tried to run a race before you learned to crawl. There is a lot to know and be practiced up on to do general forging and once you've become proficient at those then there is a trickier set of skills to develop for blade forging. This doesn't even touch on the skills sets needed to finish a blade. Forging a blade is a seriously tough first forging project that, without hands on help, isn't likely to succeed. In spite of what SOME folk tell you, learning to forge BEFORE taking up blade smithing is a much faster way to get results. There are a LOT of very accomplished knife makers here and I have yet to hear one of them recommend knife making as a first forge project. Learning to ID unknown steel is another even more specialized skills set and no matter how good you get at it, without some very specialized equipment the best you can do is make educated guesses. I'm not a bladesmith by any stretch of the imagination, just an old guy who's been playing with fire and hitting things a while. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drako11 Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 Thanks for all the help guys. glad to know there are people willing to help! : ) What rokshasa said hit true. I remember a couple points when we pulled it out were were like OH IT'S A SPARLKER!! XD We probably hammered it to cold at some points as well. Oh well we aren't to discouraged, just trying to figure out a little bit of what happened so we can try to do better next time. Your probably right Frosty, I should try and find some easier projects and such before we attempt to many more blades. Any suggestions of a good beginners project? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 S hooks are good. My students spent the first couple lessons squaring up round stock. Drawing a point ,Making the point back to round. Cutting off the finished point and starting all over. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucegodlesky Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 You have overcome the biggest obstacle. You got out there, found some tools, made a fire and beat the snot outta some metal. You found it was fun. The next step is to aquire some knowledge. You come to the right place for that :-) You can't imagine how many come here, ask a million questions and haven't even yet found a hammer or tongs or a fire. Some guys just want to want to. Good on you and yer bro. Now get another fire built and beat on some more metal :-) bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drako11 Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 Squaring up round stock sounds pretty easy.... How do you draw a point?? Just hold it at an angle on the anvil and hammer it into a cone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keykeeper Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Try the library, search the catalog for "blacksmith", "blacksmithing", etc. There is a multitude of books that will help you on your way. There is even loads of information available on the net if you look for it.http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/free-blacksmithing-books-web-2032/ IFI even has a book review section here that lists what the good books are Book Reviews - Blacksmith Forum Enjoy your quest for knowledge, young Skywalker....;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 A really good place to get started is in the "getting started" section of this site, "Lessons in metalworking and the blueprints" sections are more good reading. Getting started and lessons will give you step by step projects to build knowledge and skills. The blueprints will give you many everyday tools, tips and projects from working blacksmiths. Posting questions to the forum won't hurt either. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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