How would you make this knife?

[IRon_FOrgerI22]

I was just recently checking out a website with knives on it and I came across this BAD BOY Blacksmithing no. 1

Any ideas on how to start this?? Another thing what do you suggest I make first to start out with?

[Sam Salvati]

Which one?! The maker Son_of_blugrass is on here and will likely answer you personally.

[IRon_FOrgerI22]

I was going to add that the first one on the page it looks really cool looking and it kind of looks like a minature spear;).




Ting Ting Ting OWWWWW...I hit my finger;)!

[ThomasPowers]

So you know how to forge already, how to keep carbon steel within it's comfort zone---not too hot not to cold, how to not inadvertanly quench it with something like a vise or anvil and how to properlly heat treat it; Right?

If you are not a pretty decent smith already; get good at that before going on to knives---just improving your hammer control can save you hours doing grunt work with a file.

My students sometimes make knives pretty early but it is with a trained bladesmith standing at their elbow telling them what to do; and they start with a piece at least twice as big as needed because they have *all* messed it up enought to need to cut most of it off and start over.

(How I would make that knife is to start with a 20 layer billet of BSB&PS and weld it up and fold/weld it at least 4 more times and then hammer out the blade from the billet...)

[IRon_FOrgerI22]

Thomas, I understand what you mean I have not even started blacksmithing yet. I actually am still building my workshop its almost finished. Hell i don't have a forge,anvil,or SKILL. I was only asking that question because I just wanted to know. By the way what does annealed mean?:confused:

[son_of_bluegrass]

I started with a few hooks and simple stuff to figure out what I was doing. My first knife I was never able to take all the hammering artifacts out of because there would be no knife left. The dagger at the top of the page was my 21st completed knife and second go at a semetrical blade (the first was a socket spear), and the first one without a full tang (it has a leather washer handle, the leather came from worn out gloves).

Usually when I go to make something I just start heating and beating. And yes that goes for the folders as well. What questions do you have?

ron

[IRon_FOrgerI22]

My question is what do you think should be my first project that I should make? And what does annealed mean?

[Glenn]

BP0078 The Metallurgy of Heat Treating

Annealing

Annealing is very similar to tempering. The metal is heated and held at a temperature for a period of time and then allowed to cool very slowly. The temperature allows the carbon in the steel to form carbides and then allows the carbides to grow larger. By allowing the carbides to grow large, the steel becomes softer. A full anneal involves heating the steel until it is fully austenitic. As we learned in the discussion about phase diagrams, this temperature will be determined by the carbon content. However, if the carbon content of the steel is not known, heating to a bright red heat will have to do. Holding is difficult to do in a coal forge but any time spent at high heat will achieve more than just heating and slow cooling. By slow cooling, we mean cooling in ashes or vermiculite for 12-24 hours. This gives more time for the carbides to grow and results in a softer steel.

Sub-critical annealing, or heating to a lower temperature, will soften steel but not as much as a full anneal. Sub-critical annealing involves heating to a dull red and slow cooling. This may be sufficient for low carbon steels.

Normalizing

Normalizing is also similar to annealing. It requires the steel to be fully austenitic and this means heating to an orange to yellow heat, depending on the carbon content. Cooling is done in still air rather than slow cooling in ashes or vermiculite. Normalized steel will be harder than annealed steel. Some steels should not be normalized, such as the air-hardening grades of tool steel. They will get almost as hard from normalizing as they would if you intended to fully harden them.

[son_of_bluegrass]

You should start with something that builds hammer control. S hooks, drive-in hooks and screw-eye hooks are good for that. you get practice with pointing and scrolling and bending with those. If you aren't used to swinging a hammer find the hammer you think you can swing all day and get something a bit lighter and don't spend 4 or 5 hours at your first fire.
If you haven't found a local group try the ABANA site looking for an affliate local to you.

ron