First forge weld and I made something useful

[toolish]

Been having issues with forge welding for a while, either not hot enough or I melt it off, finally worked out i needed a deeper fire pt and which layer on the fire to forge weld in. Used a coke forge to do it in with some borax as flux.

Started with a nice used chunky motorcycle chain, cut about 15cm off, heated and  flattened it. Folded it 3 times and then drew it out into a small blade.

Used a good 15-20 welding heats to do it in a a pile of flux, was hard to get out all of the air gaps in the billet, but I think I did alright, only one little crack from a small bit of failed weld in the whole blade, so once again i am happy for a first go.

Had a little play with etching it up,only had lemon juice and vinegar to play with, few hours in the juice seemed to go alright, not the pattern I was expecting.

Unfortunately the picture really doesn't show the pattern at all.

Been hunting ferric chloride, but most people over here stopped selling it due to environmental issues.

All in all it was a good learning experience and I ended up with something functional. Ill prob just slam a small wooden handle onto the end of it and keep in my "reference section" of things I have made .

Looking to try some cable next, just waiting to see if the supplier still has any left.

 

 

 

[Stephen Olivo]

I use muriatic acid for the etchant.  Sold in a good number of stores.  Keep at it. Congrats on your first.  :D

[toolish]

thanks I might give it a go sounds easier to obtain, do you use it straight or water it down. can't imagine it would take long.
think ill try stacking 3 layers up and crushing it all in one for better pattern.

[Stephen Olivo]

I use mine straight.  Did some knives lately.  Took about....30 minutes to get a pretty decent etch from it. 

[BCROB]

great job toolish !!  you've come this far , would love to see it finished !!

[toolish]

Thanks for the comments, Went and got some Hydrochloric Acid (Muriatic acid) cheap stuff at least.

Rather strong stuff, gives off some gas that's not cool, But it done a better etch in around 10-15 Min.

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I have a tendency to not finish a knife most of the time as I find something I would change or am not happy with. This particular piece I was not expecting to make anything useful so there was no plan for it. now I know I can forge weld Ill actually plan something (like a full metal letter opener or bottle opener)

I am also rather poor at wood work. never really know what to do with rat tails that would work for a handle, thinking ill extend the tail more next time and curl it into a handle. 

On to my next knife which I intend on finishing as it is to be a working knife, Ill put it up in a few weeks when closer to being done. 

[Rich Hale]

Handle work is covered in the knife making lessons on this site...

[toolish]

I have had a look through most of the lessons and they are good.

I should do more handle work, however I am usually not 100% happy with the blade and usually move onto another project before I get to doing a nice handle.

I ended up sticking a knob kind of bit of wood on the end of it so it had some sort of handle, far from flash though.

Handle making is an aspect that I do not gain much enjoyment from and try to avoid it as much as possible with different designs