Geoff Keyes Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 A couple of weeks ago I got into a rant about RR spike knives (which I really don't like) and I mentioned that if you wanted an interesting challenge, forge a knife out of a hex crowbar and use the hex stock size as the bolster. Someone asked to see one, so here goes. A crowbar I've been working from because it had a broken end. Yes I could have reforged the end, but I have lots of crowbars, This is the tool I use to set the bolster. About 3 heats in, it's important to keep things as centered as possible, so I work from each side. From here I went to the powerhammer, I could do this by hand, but why should I? I could do this step with the fullering tool, but again, I did it on the hammer. You can see that I need to straighten things up a bit. You could do much of this with a mill, but this was all forged. I left the end long to have something to grab onto and sometimes I will leave it so I can upset the butt end. I clamp it in my post vice and heat the end with a O/A torch. This gives you a nice square inside transition, but means that you probably have to square cut the inside of the middle bolster as well. Questions? Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggwelder Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 if i had a power hammer i`d use it too. like where that project is going. i use octagonal crow bars for hawks. will have to try a knife like that soon when the snow melts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 That shows alot of skill with tools.....I have to wonder wot the carbon content of that crowbar is. I like high carbon steel for my blades...Shop testing when complete may help you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 My experience with this crowbar, and I don't make any claims for other crowbars, is that it sparks like 1060/1075 and it gets hard like a bar of 1075 that I bought. I have tested it though, which is what I always tell people about found steel. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggwelder Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 i always do a break test, heat to red, quench in water, smash with big hammer. if it dents, no good, shatters, its good enough for me to play with. i`ve found some crowbars that were mild steel, that sparked like carbon, but would not harden no matter what i did. and one wrought, which was cool, and saving it for something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gearhartironwerks Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Integral bolsters...I still haven't figured this one out. Sad part is that I probably have most of the tooling to make it work. I need to see it. Can someone please post a wip with the necessary tooling? I mean as in this is how you do it. john Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.