Richard Furrer Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Hello All, Earlier this week I had a visit from Robert Rossdeutscher from Illinois and he wanted to make up some Blister and Shear Steel for his reproduction work of Colonial Trade Knives. He has done a tremendous amount of research in this time period and the only remaining item to get to a true re-production was the steel for the blades. To that end I nudged Bob in the right direction as he did all the steps to get the final steel. http://www.doorcountyforgeworks.com/Steel_Making.html Enjoy and Learn, Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Ric, Concerning the blister steel... What is Robert packing into the canister along with the iron? Is it just charcoal? About what temp do you hold it at, and for how long? I have tried to avoid the whole "making steel" bug... buttons, blooms, blister, shear, etc., etc., but I love the Colonial stuff, and this is absolutely facinating. I can almost envision trying this in a period setting, with a ton of charcoal for fuel and a bunch of energetic kids to swap out on bellows duty. Thanks a lot for taking the time to film and post this information. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Furrer Posted July 8, 2010 Author Share Posted July 8, 2010 Ric, Concerning the blister steel... What is Robert packing into the canister along with the iron? Is it just charcoal? About what temp do you hold it at, and for how long? I have tried to avoid the whole "making steel" bug... buttons, blooms, blister, shear, etc., etc., but I love the Colonial stuff, and this is absolutely facinating. I can almost envision trying this in a period setting, with a ton of charcoal for fuel and a bunch of energetic kids to swap out on bellows duty. Thanks a lot for taking the time to film and post this information. Don Hello Don, The reason the videos are so scant on information is because I will be producing a "how-to" soon...these are for general information on the gross steps involved in the process and a tease for the full-length video. In the next video I will have comparison tests of many carborizing compounds so you will be able to adapt the process to what you have available in your shop/area. Cooking times and temps will be shown as to their effect on the carbon penetration as well. How to repair the grain growth from the carborizing and equalize the carbon as well as how to gage the heat treatment to the new material you have just made to yield a good edge. That said, You can use just charcoal and a mud "can" around the metal/charcoal...this was done in parts of Africa. The lower the temp the longer the soak must be...minimum temps are about 1500F. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 "Steelmaking Before Bessemer, vol I Blister Steel" has quite a bit of information on period practices. (Ric first showed me these books at a Quad-State and when I got home I ordered both volumes (Vol II crucible steel) *before* I had taken my jacket off!) Theophilus, "Divers Arts" 1120 A.D., mentions case hardening, sort of, in his coating a file in grease and then wrapping it in leather and then covering it with well kneaded clay and heating in the forge. My latest experiments have been using plain charcoal and real wrought iron placed in sturdy pipe sections and the ends crimped and then placing them in my propane forge along the side. I chalk the hours at temp on the forge to keep track. The last one I went too far and ended up with cast iron with 30 hours at "temp". BTW bonemeal sold at garden centers makes a fairly easy method of getting bone to use...Horn shavings and leather scraps are mentioned in places. About time to do another run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golgotha forge & anvil Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 great videos!!! Gene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Messerist Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Thanks for posting! What a great gift to share with us. You work with helping to preserve the earlier methods of steel making are laudable. I am looking forward to more of your videos. Thanks again. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazyassforge Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Thomas, One thing about using bone meal from the garden supply for case hardening. The last time I tried it they were not using cow bones(mad cow disease?), it was ground up pig bones can you say stinky smoke? I noticed when I opened the package that it was "pink" looking but didn't think about it. Bill D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Nice stuff Ric, Always fun to watch your show and tell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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