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I Forge Iron

Blademithing series on History channel


Frosty

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30 minutes ago, Adun Clebr said:

Is there a way to watch this show if you don't pay for cable or the History channel? (Edit - so far,  I have  3,145 one dollar bills as a reason why I don't get cable)

 

Agree with all but the money aspect.

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I only added the running $ tally because 1) people always axe why I haven't seen the show, and 2) we just didn't have the money & had to cut somewhere. Cable was low hanging fruit, in essence.

It looked like the history channel website required a subscriber/cable login, so my question still stands.

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Congrats Theo. You represented well with your skill at blacksmithing and puns!

I've been watching A LOT of Walter Sorrells videos as I try to teach myself this craft, so it was very cool that you and he were on the same episode. I would have been star struck of him, now I'll be star struck of you ;) Your work came out awesome.

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49 minutes ago, TheoRockNazz said:

Thanks guys! Honestly, I never would have thought they'd use all the footage with me cursing under my breath in it, but what the xxxx, why not?

I am lucky I didn't have to face Walter in the final challenge

Man, those were some awful jokes. I loved 'em. 

Seriously, though, great job. Even if you did get lucky with other people's blades breaking, you still made some impressive blades and did us all proud. We've not met in person, but I'm glad to have the chance to interact on IFI with a craftsman of your skill and enthusiasm. Thank you for being a class act.

Oh, and the integral guard was awesome, although I admit I was disappointed not to see any 3-D printing.

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20 minutes ago, TheoRockNazz said:

Haha, yeah, there was no time to 3D print and cast any parts, would have loved a menuki. 

"Beat" Walter, sure, I'll take it ;P

My wife's comment was, "Did his blade pass the tests that the others failed? Then he beat them."

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I really enjoy Forged in Fire and Tuesday's episode was especially fine having two competitors I actually know of. Congrats on the win Theo! Very cool!

What would you have done if you'd ended up with the canister Damascus set of material that Sorrell picked? Or the higher carbon steel folded inside the milder steel (don't know the terminology). From my inexperienced eye, that canister just looks like difficult stuff to do. Not that any of the others were easy by any means.

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5 hours ago, TheoRockNazz said:

Haha, yeah, there was no time to 3D print and cast any parts, would have loved a menuki. 

Great job Theo.  I was also quite disappointed that you didn't get to show us the whole 3-D printing and casting process, or at least part of it.  Sure would have been a shoe-in for the directive to show something that only you could do in your own shop.  I was really hoping for one of your cool "twisted wire" printouts for a guard on that Naginata, or at least a butt cap for the wood section.  Too bad you couldn't use a program you already wrote and just churn something out.  I know that there is a lot of upfront programming required for 3 D printing, but couldn't you just adapt something you already had made up?

After all the 3D stuff is just another tool.  I'm sure they don't force the other contestants to make new press or power hammer dies, fullering tools or the like in the time allowed.

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Theo would've made a high end chopper no matter what they assigned him. Had Walter dried the "Whiteout" before adding the bearings and powder the canister would've come off much more easily. Seriously just 20 seconds in the forge would've done it.

The example of the trench is a perfect one of getting your head stuck on something that isn't working. Had he just flattened the mild and folded it lengthwise it would've been a done deal quickly. However he got stuck on slitting the mild and it did for him.

Please note that when Theo ran into something that wasn't working he dropped it and went with a monosteel blade. This is what Walter should've done. If IT  isn't working do something else, don't keep driving down a dead end expecting to get somewhere else. Frankly I was more than a little surprised.

There were a number of good decisions Theo made, first good strategic choice of profile. The strength test was as a chopper and the material was indeterminate so he chose a very robust chopper design. Long term action planning is strategy. Then down the road his choice of billet wasn't working so he changed, adapted and overcame. Modifications in a plan once it's underway is tactics.

I don't know what all the tests were going to be as a catastrophic fail ended the contest. Sure we'd all like to win after a long hard fight but when the contest is called for lack of competition it's won.

you can say, "you'll take it." It's a nice bit of self deprecation an admirable trait. Say what you will Theo you won fair and square. The better blade came out of your shop.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Agree that Theo made some very good design choices for his chopper.  The shape clearly fit the test format, and the choice of full tang worked well for both strength and speed of handle assembly.  Though it gave him some trouble down the road, I also think that he was particularly clever in claying the spine of his blade, though not necessarily to create any kind of hamon.  If you consider the mode of failure for Walt's blade you will understand why I feel that way.

I certainly agree with you Frosty as regards the San Mai blade.  I sat there the whole time marveling out loud why that experienced bladesmith didn't go for the folding operation to get his "dog in a blanket" construction.  Guess when you get into a rut under pressure it can be hard to see the forest for the trees (to mix metaphors....).

The one blade making technique that I wasn't completely familiar with was the last one (canister Damascus, straight Damascus, San Mai, and <some Japanese term I can't remember to look up>).  Can anyone help clarify this for me?

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They called it hada, but my understanding of hada (purely from reading and not practical) is the Japanese technique of folding the steel and forge welding it to itself many times. What they gave Theo looked like a stack of bars of the same type of steel that he tacked then forge welded. I guess if they have him five pieces it was essentially the same as if it had been one bar that was folded five times. Maybe having multiple pieces made it more visually obvious forge welding was required rather than giving one piece and saying fold it?

I also didn't get why the other gent kept trying to slit that little piece of mild. I expected either draw it wide and make a taco or draw it long and fold around. I shouldn't say too much though as I've learned this all sooo much easier in theory than practice.

I was also a little surprised Theo and the other guy clayed their blades but Walter didn't. Given his background is Japanese swords and he did traditional Japanese technique otherwise it would have seemed logical (and maybe prevented his failure by giving a softer spine).

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Theo, there's something else I'm wondering: we see all the blades getting hardened, but not tempered. Do they get a session in a tempering oven or something between the first and second rounds?

please read the rest of this thread for your answer

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Well said Lanternnate. It's easy to sit here and write after watching the program about how it "should've" been done. Hindsight is easy especially when we've seen the results. I wouldn't have made the cut to audition. 

In hindsight I have to think that getting that canister off the billet would've given enough time to fold that baby over and weld it again and minimize the kind of stress risers such different steels caused. Of course that's just me muddling about it I could be even more wrong than I think. :ph34r:

Frosty The Lucky.

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