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I Forge Iron

Fantasy-ish Bowie Knife WIP


steamingiron

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  • 3 weeks later...

Looking good, Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Just a tip for your drawing. When I print a drawing out that I want to use to compare my work with, I glue it onto a piece of thin sheet metal then cut it out with tinsnips, centre punch any reference lines on it. That way I don't have to worry about it burning or blowing away. Then you can put a hole through it & hang it up to use again.

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I really like the profile of your blade so far. I am surprised at how thin it is already. It amazes me that it only "slightly" warped. This can easily be fixed according to what I've read on IFI. StormCrow wrote a detailed post on correcting such a warp. I don't recall the post it was contained in, but maybe he will pop in and direct you to the appropriate URL. Using his description of the methods involved, I did succeed in correcting a warped blade.

 

I'll try to explain it as simply as I can remember it. If I flub the details, I apologize in advance. Disclaimer: I am a novice, I do this for fun and the joy of forging. And have no intention of becoming a professional Bladesmith. 

 

Take a bar of steel, could be mild steel, sufficiently long enough for you to clamp your blade to. You also need two metal shims between the blade and the bar stock. The curve of the blade should be facing away from the bar stock. Place the shims far enough from the warp so that when you clamp the center of the warp, it will reverse the direction of the warp towards the bar stock. How much to reverse the curve I don't recall. I wouldn't place a shim near the hidden tang(unless that is the location of the warp), but near the ricasso and the other closer to the tip. To me, it was about trial and error. I had to temper it several times until I got it right. Temper the blade as normal. I used my kitchen oven when my wife was away. :lol: Good thing too, because the paint on my HF C-clamp produced some awful fumes.

 

I look forward to seeing your completed knife. How are you going to do the Runic symbols? Etching maybe?  

 

Robert

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I really like the profile of your blade so far. I am surprised at how thin it is already. It amazes me that it only "slightly" warped. This can easily be fixed according to what I've read on IFI. StormCrow wrote a detailed post on correcting such a warp. I don't recall the post it was contained in, but maybe he will pop in and direct you to the appropriate URL. Using his description of the methods involved, I did succeed in correcting a warped blade.

 

I'll try to explain it as simply as I can remember it. If I flub the details, I apologize in advance. Disclaimer: I am a novice, I do this for fun and the joy of forging. And have no intention of becoming a professional Bladesmith. 

 

Take a bar of steel, could be mild steel, sufficiently long enough for you to clamp your blade to. You also need two metal shims between the blade and the bar stock. The curve of the blade should be facing away from the bar stock. Place the shims far enough from the warp so that when you clamp the center of the warp, it will reverse the direction of the warp towards the bar stock. How much to reverse the curve I don't recall. I wouldn't place a shim near the hidden tang(unless that is the location of the warp), but near the ricasso and the other closer to the tip. To me, it was about trial and error. I had to temper it several times until I got it right. Temper the blade as normal. I used my kitchen oven when my wife was away. :lol: Good thing too, because the paint on my HF C-clamp produced some awful fumes.

 

I look forward to seeing your completed knife. How are you going to do the Runic symbols? Etching maybe?  

 

Robert

I did a method similar to that while tempering, but i did not do it correctly and the blade was still slightly warped. I've fixed it now though. Here it is in its current state, getting close to being done. I'm thinking about leaving rest black and only polishing the bevels, what do you think? Or should i just polish the whole blade? Thanks for the feedback and advice. ^_^

post-35923-0-77433700-1375734328_thumb.j

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It's looking good. You are staying true to your concept drawing. On the second image of your drawing, you indicated what appears to be a basket weave pattern or something similar, that will be carved into the handle. Is that correct, or am I misinterpreting your sketch? 

 

Personally, I like the blackness that results from the quench. I think your knife will look good either way. 

 

Robert

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice knife. When I have a blade bend during HT'ing (only on hardening stage) I normalize and straighten it in a vise, then re-harden. At least that's worked for me, I check for straightness after each step. That even worked on a straight razor I made.

I have templates of all the knives I've done and liked on cereal board or cardboard. Then I trace the outline on the anvil using a permanent marker and re-do every 4-6 heats when it comes off.

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  • 3 weeks later...

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