She isn't pretty, but I'm proud..

 

Made from 3/8 Rebar

 

not sure what style I was going for, just let the magic happen 

Doing this on my phone.. Don't have the time to link the "FIRST ANVIL" page.. However if you'd like to see more anvil pictures go to that thread 

 

thanks for looking, CRITICISM APPRECIATED 

what sort of tongs are you using?

 

surgery pliers 

Ok, here goes.  Rebar isn't your friend here.  It is a crap shoot in composition.  You don't know if the piece you have will harden until you try, and it may not be the same throughout the same piece of rebar.  If you just want to make something knife shaped and aren't worried about it holding an edge then mild steel would be a better option. 

I learned the hard way and pretty early on that it pays to have a design drawn out on paper or at least well thought out in your head before you start a blade.  The idea is to make the steel move how *you* want it to move.  As silly as this sounds, another thing I had to keep in mind is what I wanted to accomplish with each heat.  Know where and how you want to strike before you remove the piece from the fire.   Otherwise you end up wasting time and the steel cools off while you're trying to figure out what you want to do.

Having said that, you did make a blade shaped object that will at least look like a knife with just a little refinement.  It may not function like a good knife because of the unknown quality of the steel you used.  If you are going to put a handle on it then should probably thin out the tang area for balance purposes.  Also be careful about putting sharp angles in transitions between widths.  These create spots where your blade is likely to crack and break during use.  Even if you have to round the corners with something like a chainsaw file after you complete the forging that will help avoid cracks.

Assuming you've been bitten by the blade making bug I hope you'll take the time to read through at least the stickies in the knife making section.  There's a lot of good info in there that can help point you in the right direction and save you a fair amount of trial and error on your journey.  You've got a good first step in there, but if you're like me and you have limited time for forging you'll want to make all of it count.

On 2/26/2016 at 2:31 AM, Buzzkill said:

Ok, here goes.  Rebar isn't your friend here.  It is a crap shoot in composition.

 

That will be a great cheese or butter knife. After polishing and sharpening pop it in your oven around 450F for two hours to create a (somewhat) protective patina.

Welcome to the world of knifemaking, looks like you'll do fine here. I want to reiterate the importance of the stickies for a first timer, would have saved me so much time if I had known about them when I first started.

Read the knife making classes in this section . Lot of years of experience put them together.