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I Forge Iron

First Blade


K. Bryan Morgan

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My first foray into the world of knives. I got a piece of 52100 from a friend and gave it a go. Other than chisels this is my first bladed anything. No, wait, I was working on a hatchet but that project has been side lined because of a drift issue. I flattened out the round, its about 3/4", and drew it to a point. I'm going for a drop point type of hunting knife. I don't know if I'll succeed but I will have fun in the attempt and thats all that matters anyway. If it isn't fun, why would you do it?

I was able to refine the tip and get the spine straightened out. Finished up the hilt. I decided to go with a full hilt design. I worked on the flats alittle more and I worked on the bevels just a little bit to even them out. Now its time to get the scale off of it. What do you think? Vinager? That would be the easy way wouldn't it? Then I need to get it filed and sanded ect ready to finish. I have some wrought iron I was given, I think I'll use that for the furniture. The hand guard and the pommel. Or not. I don't know. I don't want to get too ambitious with my first knife and mess it up. On the other hand I want it to look real good too. So, I am still kind of up in the air on that.

Oh ya, I did a leaf key fob out of some of the wought iron just for the fun of it.

Some of our Shetland Sheep Dogs and Whippets in the background.

Enjoy!

Dang it. Pics won't upload.. I'll try again later.

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hey bryan that looks really cool! i really cant pretend to know anything about it - but i like the shape of the blade. what is a drop point type of knife - i keep seeing that word? also LOVE your dawgs, are those two shelties? your lurcher is a sweetie!!! names?

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The knife is fine but you have a Whippet! Now that is hot!!! I've got two of the feisty little beasts, brother and sister, chase down a rabbit in no time at all. Really need to watch them around the feral cats, now that really upsets the wife, besides the cats fight back something terrible. Bad way for a dog to loose an eye or an ear.

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The two shelties, we have eight, are Molly and Duncan. The Whippet is Jazelle. We have 4 whippets. Thats right we have twelve in total. Its a handfull but we love them all and wouldn't change a thing.


A drop point knife, as i understand it, is a point thats closer to the centerline of the blade. This one isn't a drop point. More of a hunter style.

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That is a really nice first blade. The profile is a nice look. If I could make a suggestion: remember to forge thick and grind thin. Wot that will mean in this blade is that as you smooth it out with abrasives of some sort you may find that the tip part is really thin, That may lead to problems with heat treat as at times they tend to warp off of straight. A good thickness for folks new to heat treating is about the thickness of a nickel along the edge and at the tip. And that is after sanding or grinding. When that works well you can thin down to about the thickness of a dime in the same areas when finished and ready for heat treat.

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I understand what your saying Rich, thank you. I can upset the tip and make it more blunt untill I grind it down. The blade edge is about a nickle thick already. This is 52100, would that be good enough after grinding? I have no idea how to heat treat as yet. But, I'll make sure I know what I'm doing before I heat treat. I havn't normalized as yet either. I kinda thought that wouuld happen after grinding. Was that correct?


Thank you Rhyfelwr. Ya its going to be a general purpose/hunter for me.

Yes, Bentiron they are a handfull when out and about. We do some lure coursing with them from time to time. When they are going full speed they can hit 35 miles per hour. Its a beautiful thing to watch.

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Ok so here's an update on the knife. I ground it to an 80 grit using my woefully under powered Sears 2x42 belt sander. Its a nice unit but at 1/6th horse power, bogs down easily. That does however make you slow down and take your time. Not a bad thing when this is your first time doing something and you want to do at least a passable job of it.

I worked on the bevels and flats, smoothed out the hilt and worked on the ricasso with a file. I did alittle draw filling and found its really easy to do. I need alot of practice thought to get it right. Things aren't square or flat yet. But I am getting close. I will continue to refine things as I go up in grits. After 120 grit, I'll have to start doing all the sanding by hand. I plan to go to 220 before I harden it.

Thanks for looking

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post-9027-0-09207200-1315009091_thumb.jp

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Draw filing is a good way to remove metal in hurry but with control also. I have a hunk of mild steel that I have been using as an anvil for my jewelry endeavors this past year and it had become severely dented by the many hammer blows. I took a double cut mill b a s t a r d file and went to town draw filing the surface and had it all square and ship shape in about two hours. Yes, I could have use a 4" angle grinder and had it done in about 5 minuets but it wouldn't have necessarily been square to the sides and while I was at it I also got to dress up the "horn" top side too.
Right now I have eighteen dogs, all from broken homes, the Whippets were going to be put down because they didn't meet the breed standard and the owner didn't want to breed them, I had them sterilized and they are great lovers of attention and petting. The male is somewhat aggressive toward other males which isn't good considering how thin his skin is and delicate his bones are. It's like the owner had never thought to have them sterilized, just kill them out of hand, he said that was such a good idea but only if I paid for it. It was a no brainer for me. Having had a couple of old Whippets before.

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Right on man, we have 12 right now. Four Whippets and eight Shelties. They are our babies to be sure. I think its outstanding that your involved with dog rescue. We don't have any rescue animals right now but may in the future. I understand what you mean about the male being aggressive, our boy Whippet, boy thats a laugh he's 12 years old, and as crotchety as any old man on earth. But he's good with the pack. Its outside animals that get him going. So when someone is walking a dog near we have to make sure he's inside. He's big and strong and can easily clear the seven foot fence we have on the dog run. And there would be no catching him at the speeds they run. We need to get him neutered.

I have one of those 4 inch grinders too. I don't know I would use it on a knife though. My 2x42 belt sander is from Sears. Its 1/6 hp, so not a lot of power. It bogs down easily if your on the belt. On the drive wheel I've noticed you can use more pressure with out to much ill effect. Its a good starter unit but belts of smaller grits are difficult to come by. Sears only carries down to 120 grit. I did see on Supergrit.com you can get up to 220 grit in ceramic and 600 grit in Black S.C. I should make a small order from them. Prices are certainly reasonable. I've never gotten anything from them so I don't know how good they are on shipping. But, getting to 600 grit on a belt sander would be faster than doing it by hand. Which is what I'll be doing now.

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