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I Forge Iron

Intro to bladesmithing.


nerdsmith

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Hello everyone, just like many of you I came here for knowledge on this magical art form. After seeing how viable it was for me to get started into blacksmithing I just jumped in and started doing it and loving every second of it. Anyway to the point, here is my first finished blade, "Dogsbane", dedicated for my hatred towards the barking dogs that seem to pollute my neighborhood. (Dont worry I have no intention of making using this knife as the name suggests). I have learned a lot in the construction of this blade, and even though i still need practice with hardening and tempering as well as proper sharpening methods, I like how it turned out. Let me know what you think.

This was made from recycled materials from my backyard, The blade is made from the angle piece of Rail road track that I had sawed off from my little RR anvil like object. From the machinist handbook it says that these are made from 1080 steel but this is a newer track that might of come from the newer light rail system they built in my city I believe. i purchased from a local scrapyard, so im not sure exactly what it is. The handle has bee salvaged from a wooden pineapple figure from hawaii so im not sure the exact type of wood, it might be Teak. One big mistake that i have learned is not to use a bench grinder when shaping.. I got a little lazy and all it did is mess up my blade so I now just rely on old fashion hand tools to get the job done. I intend to use this knife as a personal utility knife when I go camping or do outdoor activities. I love the forge scale look as it is a reminder that the steel came from something rough and then refined. The handle is engraved (poorly) with my initials in Runic to honor my Anglo-Saxon heritage.



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This is where the piece of steel came from...

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Koa wood was used for a lot of Hawaiian wood objects. Small angle grinders can be used to remove scale---which is hard on files and quickly rough out blades.

Did you save a piece to try out your proposed heat treat on before doing it?

Looks like a fine campknife---now go use it and start deciding how you want the next one to work!

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Thnx for the feedback, The scaling was left on by choice, only for aesthetics.. but I do realize now that It is not the best for a blade.  I think I might have properly harden this blade because the file was skating off like glass,  But i think i messed up the tempering at one point.  Anyway yes i do have a few things in the works.  The next is little chef chopper made from the other piece of the track.  As well as a full tang blade I am working on made out of a Jackhammer bit.   Any tips or insight on hardening the jackhammer bit will be greatly appreciated.

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No I haven't tried to do a distal taper yet. I do all the shaping and descaling with hand tools so it is hard to get details like that. Only way i can think of doing it is by forging but I lack the skill atm. Still learning about forging from the ground up with no mentor, and with limited resources, other than the most richest resource (Internet). Haven't been doing much lately, as from forging 12 hours a day left my hands in a tender state hehe, but next project I will take that into consideration thnx!

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Not sure where you are in CA, In March in Pasadena there is a wonderful knife show, the Southern CA Blade Expo 2012, You could see alot of blades from makers all over the world and if Youi are interested they have several knifemaking supply verdors there. They usually have a blade forging demonstration each day. If you do attend stop by my table for a visit.

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