CKillgore Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Hey guys, I've been blacksmithing for about a year now and one of the things that got me into it was the idea that I could make my own knives. So after my first year of blacksmithing I'm wanting to really get going on knifemaking. I've been making a knife here and there in my coal forge every once in a while, but now I'm wanting to kick it into overdrive. So the last couple months I've been sort of setting up another shop inside the storage building outside my house. My "blacksmith" shop is outside under a roof and it has a coal forge and a #9 Ridgid-Peddinghaus anvil with a couple post vices and tools I've acquired over the last year. I like using coal for my blacksmithing because it is much more versatile and I'm able to fit odd-shaped objects in it. The coal forge does give some uneven heats and can be troublesome when dealing with damascus or laminated blades such as what I've been trying to make. So I've been creating a "bladesmith" shop inside for the last month or so. I had built the "no-weld" belt grinder from usaknifemaker sometime last year and have been using it since. I had also purchased an Evenheat oven for heat treating my blacksmith tools made from s7 and h13 as well as knives. I also just built a propane forge based on Ed Caffrey's design and it has been working wonderfully. Unfortunately, moving my 165# anvil back and forth was getting quite painful, not to mention I found that the horn and tail end of the anvil wasn't really doing anything for me when bladesmithing except getting in my way. After having seen the bladesmithing anvil from Sea Robin Forge I immediately inquired about it as I wanted to get one. Unfortunately he said he ran out of material to make them a few years ago so I was out of luck there. I went into my local welding supply which is where I buy my steel and the guy was telling me how he had someone order a piece of 6" round 4130 1 foot long from him the other day. Everytime I had asked him about special ordering something he told me I had to order a full 20' so I had ruled that out until he told me that. I asked him to get me a price on a piece of 5" square heat treated 4140 1' long and ordered it from him. It was not particularly cheap and the factory heat treat only gets it up to around 30 Rockwell, but I'm very pleased with my new anvil nonetheless. The piece of steel had the lines from the bandsaw but I polished those out and now I just need to build a stand for it. Anyways, just thought I would share what I've been working on. Cody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tantofolder Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 It looks as though you have a very nice setup.Looking forward to seeing your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Howdy from EAST TEXAS!! I would stronly suggest that you get yourself to the ABS school just north of Hope ARK. 2 weeks in their class will knock off YEARS of trial and error on your own. Good luck. BTW, nice looking set up. Where in N. LA are you located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKillgore Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 Howdy from EAST TEXAS!! I would stronly suggest that you get yourself to the ABS school just north of Hope ARK. 2 weeks in their class will knock off YEARS of trial and error on your own. Good luck. BTW, nice looking set up. Where in N. LA are you located? Hey there =). Yeah I've really been wanting to take a class. So far, I have just been leeching everything from the forums and various books. I'm in Ruston, Louisiana which is about 70 miles east of Shreveport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKillgore Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 It looks as though you have a very nice setup.Looking forward to seeing your work. Thanks! I'll definitely post some pics when I have something worthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 in the logs for our knife chats,,,listed in knifemaking in the forums...We have shown a lot of tools used in blade making,,both stock removal and forging,,,,, If you do as most bladesmiths do and draw material,,,Like if you use round stock for blades,,,you will learn fast to use that anvil horn. that is also in the lessons. A quick google shows that 4130 will harden to 52 RC scale,,,I know at least one Anvil maker I spoke with in the past treated his anvils to that number. Mention it just in case that steel turns out a little softer than you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKillgore Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 in the logs for our knife chats,,,listed in knifemaking in the forums...We have shown a lot of tools used in blade making,,both stock removal and forging,,,,, If you do as most bladesmiths do and draw material,,,Like if you use round stock for blades,,,you will learn fast to use that anvil horn. that is also in the lessons. A quick google shows that 4130 will harden to 52 RC scale,,,I know at least one Anvil maker I spoke with in the past treated his anvils to that number. Mention it just in case that steel turns out a little softer than you wish. Yeah it is a bit softer than I had hoped. I'm not sure I could heat treat something that big. I don't think I would have a fast enough quench for it. I'll probably see if there is a heat treater nearby that could do it if it is reasonably inexpensive. I know it is quick to draw on the horn but I just haven't gotten used to that. Most of the time when I'm trying to draw something quick I use the edge of my hammer face at an angle. I dress my edges really rounded for that reason. I have read through several of the logs and I am still processing through them =P. They are a great resource. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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