AZtrapper Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I know next to nothing about smithing, and have only done it a few times. I am learning alot lurking around the web and this forum. During my last smithing experience, I found that I didn't have an issue moving the metal to the desired shape. However, I had a lot of excess material that I needed to cut off somehow. It took alot of bending back and forth and pounding on sharp corners to remove any metal. I'm looking for an easier method for the knife I'm going to try and make over the holidays. Advice appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 A cutoff hardy will work, but I prefer a hot cutter. Some other options: hacksaw, band saw, or angle grinder with cutting disk. A bench grinder can be useful for refining the profile, if you don't have a belt grinder. Edit: Oh, yeah -- files! Can't forget good files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I highly recommend "Wayne Goddard's $50 Knife Shop" available for as little as $12.66". He explains how to make knives with tools that can be usually found in flea markets or a family member's basement. Also, the book "Civil War Blacksmithing" has a chapter on an introduction to making knives and damascus/pattern-welding. If you have the cash, then I highly recommend getting *all* the books by JPH especially, "The Complete Bladesmith: Forging Your Way To Perfection [Paperback] Jim Hrisoulas" available for as little as $18.08, and also *all* the books by David Darom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinityforge Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 AZ said: "During my last smithing experience, I found that I didn't have an issue moving the metal to the desired shape. However, I had a lot of excess material that I needed to cut off somehow. It took alot of bending back and forth and pounding on sharp corners to remove any metal." I don't understand this statement. If you were able to move the metal to your desired shape then what excess materials did you have? I have been bladesmithing for some time now and if I have moved the metal to the desired shape then I really don't have much to be removed. So if you could please explain a bit more I might be able to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinityforge Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Oh, and AZ the others have given you exceptional information. Why don't you fill in your profile info and let us know where you are, there might be an exceptional blade maker in your area more than willing to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Well as mentioned you just *started* with too much metal. We often do that as the excess may be just to have a good place to hold it when working the rest of it; or we wanted a piece long enough that we didn't need tongs; or the design changed as we were forging and so what was perfect for the knife we were going to make---say a full tang now is too much for the stick tang we're making *now* So you got to much, remove the excess! Cold with a hacksaw or cutting disk (or belt grinder with coarse belt!) Hot with a hot cut, hardy or farriers rasp. If you just need to trim the tang a hardy will work fine. If you want to do some shaping as you cut a hot cut and a cutting plate can work wonders---you may even want to forge some curved hot cuts for roughing out clips or the curve near the tip of the typical knife. Remember to remove the sharp edge cause by using a hardy or hot cut so you don't get a cold shut when forging it down to shape. A farrier's rasp and hot rasping can be a fast easy way to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I don't understand this statement. If you were able to move the metal to your desired shape then what excess materials did you have? I took him to be saying that he started with more material than he needed for a blade of the size he wanted, and needed to cut it down to size in order to begin forging -- or perhaps during forging, after he realized he'd started with too big a blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Thomas makes a good point about hot filing or rasping. It works very well. Not as well as a good grinder, but many of us don't have good grinders. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZtrapper Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Yes, I think that a good book would be worth looking for, and now I have recommendations. Excellent. I did start with too much material. I took a horseshoe rasp and just started pounding on it basically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 You want to grind out the teeth on a rasp or file if you're going to forge it. Otherwise they'll want to cause cold shuts. Just a tip, since it doesn't sound like you did that this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Especially when using a solid fuel forge I start students out with too much stock as 90% of them will not pay attention when I warn them about not paying attention to their material and they end up burning it up. (I warn them twice and let them learn the hard way the third time, then we cut off the bad area and suddenly what was too much stock may now be just enough! Cue old joke about the electric fence and methods of learning...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Look up "anvil devil" which is a small triangle block made out of a material like a file. It is cheap to buy and works well for small stock. You can grind one out of a couple inches of a larger triangular file in short order, no need to alter its heat treat or worry about getting blue spots from grinding. You can re-purpose a cold chisel, won't be good for cold work after using it hot though. You can reforge it thin (better), or use it the way it is (works ok) on a cutting plate. Having a curved blade is easier to follow a line. Forging a hot cut can be done in a number of different manners, you can start with a piece of heavy stock, forge it to fit your hardy and upset it in, then forge the blade, you can forge it out of a piece of leaf spring so it is v-shaped on the bottom and sits diagonally in the hardy hole. Choices abound, and there are many threads on this subject alone. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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