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I Forge Iron

Leaf Bladed daggers


youngsmith

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How is it that a leaf bladed dagger is made?:confused:

I cant ever seem to get it right. Near the tip is almost always bent at some weird angle.:(
The strage thing is that i dont have any problems as long as I don't make the blade leafed?
if anyone has some advice it would be much appreciated.

Josh

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Josh,

Without being able to watch you work or see an example of the problem I can't determine exactly the cause of your problem.

However, here are some general tips that I find helpful when I do double edged blades.

Firstly, (I always work from the tip back, some smiths do the opposite) when drawing out the stock, always try to work each of the sides and edges uniformly, don't favor one over the other, this can cause the blade to become bent/ curved as you draw it out, and requires more work and adjusting to correct the problem. It can also cause one edge of the blade to become thicker than the other, which will cause problems with the beveling.

Secondly, after you drop below proper working temperature and can no longer move lots of metal, make light adjustments and straighten the blade before the next heat.

Thirdly, try and establish the exact profile shape (or get it really close) before beveling (granted it will be smaller all around), make sure that both edges are of the same thickness (not flared out or stacked up on one side). When hammering in the beveling I usually work in sections, starting at the tip. Work both sides of the bevel and both bevels evenly and the blade should remain straight. Also, try and finish the beveling on the section you are working before moving on to the next section, this will also help keep things straight as well.

Finally, you can always (and it is a really good idea) oversize your edge out past your desired profile, that way if there is any unconformity or problem areas you should (hopefully) have enough material there to fix the problems up on the grinder (or file by hand, depending on your equipment).

And specifically on leaf shaped blades, when you start working on the section of the blade where it begins to taper back in towards the tang (after the flared out section of the point, if that makes any sense), make sure you work the side of the edge at the same position along the length of the blade as the other. Make sure your hammer blows connect exactly across from the section of the anvil where the other edge is in contact. Otherwise you could have mishapen curvature in the blade. And again, work both edges evenly and gradually. Dont try to completly hammer in the profile of one edge and go back and work the other, work them both the same and keep eveything even and straight. And always make fine adjustments at the low heat before the next heat (straighten everything out, true up any edges, true up any off blows, etc).

Hope this helps some. If you have any more questions I will try my best to help out, and if you run into the same problem, try to determine where it is occuring durring the forging process.

Graham

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