Gundog48 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 This is the very first thing I made after getting my forge. I had read a load of books about bladesmithing, but I thought the best way to really understand what they were talking about in the books would be to actually try making one, because as we all know, things that seem simple in theory are often hardest in practise! I started off with a section of starter motor ring gear. The main part of it is about half and inch square, with notches all the way along. I cut it out with an angle grinder, straightened it out and flattened it to about an inch wide and 2/8" thick. That took some serious work with a 1lb hammer! Apart from the bench grinder, these are the only tools I had. A 1lb ball-pein and mole grips as tongs. I was very happy with the final forged shape and cleaned it up on the bench grinder. I forgot to take a picture of my rig for the bevels. Basically it's a camera tripod mounted in a vice with two hard drive (incredibly strong) magnets attached to the head. Using that I can control the bevel angle and move the piece along the side of the grinding wheel. Works very well! It's far from perfect. The tang is way too short and the blade is narrower than I would have liked and there is a nasty chip along the top. But for the very first product of my forge, I'm pretty impressed! We'll see if it pays off when I heat treat it next weekend. Then I'll make up a crossguard and look into making a handle. My granddad is a carpenter so I'm sure he'll be happy to help out! I'll post some more pictures after the final grind and polish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnewberry Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 That is a credible job given the tools you used and the material you started with. How did the heat treating go? On edit: You could gain a bit of tang by grinding the ricasso area down a bit to square up the shoulders. You will need to do that anyway to seat the guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 You could gain even more tang by re heating that end and forging down more of the riccaso... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete46 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 Any idea as to the type of steel in the ring gear? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 I'd suggest draw filing the bevel area to clean it up more too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 weld a slip of Mild steel to make a longer tang. thats what I do for pattern welded blades... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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