boisdarc Posted October 20, 2016 Share Posted October 20, 2016 Another mower blade chopper. Formerly a john deere mower blade. First heat steel was flattened out. Grinder cut to basic shape, then next heat handle tang was bent. The blade has a bevel on one side only, the right side if you are holding the blade by the handle. It was made for my good friend Josh whom is right handed, and as I understand it the purpose is to leave a cleaner cut in wood with the detritus being cut off to the right side. Much like a carving or carpenters axe.( feel free to correct me if this is wrong). This was my first attempt at a few new things, differential heat treating, and putting in a fuller. The fuller was ground in with a 4 1/2" angle grinder, and a rigged up jig to hold the blade. Honestly, the claying didn't go so well. I used furnace cement(one kind is as good as the other right? NOT) the kind I bought was premixed, and a bit like thick mortar. If you're going to try this, I suggest you do actual good research and do it with the right stuff. SO, this super thick stuff I watered down until it was super thin for the first coat. After that dried, I mixed up some more working in more until it was much thicker-think peanut butter, and applied it to the rear of the blade using a paint mixing stick. I even used an artistic approach thinking "man, this hamon business is going to look super fly". (let me interject here, that I had been watching a bunch of Walter Sorrel and Island Blacksmith videos-whom both make it look soooo easy). Recently I had been given some coal from a fellow(not a blacksmith I might add) who informed me that "this stuff ought to burn great, and woo woo woo", nice fellow and all, but some junky coal. I always start my fire with kindling then add coal in and I've either got the knack for starting coal on fire, or I've been really lucky. After kicking in the air and getting some good fire, "hey now is the time to bring this blade up to heat", so in goes the blade. I start noticing that the fire just doesn't look right. The fire looks like its gluey or sticking together or lava-just not right. So, out comes the blade. Then I started picking out the fire in chunks and dropping them into water-I don't know if it was mineral or what, but not good burning medium. In taking out the blade the clayed section toward the back of the blade started to come off in a few spots. I cleaned out the forge and started over again with charcoal-which was kind of a new thing too. I reclayed the blade with some (kind of) thinned down furnace cement(again the same stuff so it would match). However, and there always is one, during the temper, the blade developed a pretty good bend. I think it was caused by the wonky clay job. I quenched in rain water, no salt, no dishwash soap, just water. No ping no fractures. Sorry, I'm a computer lame and don't know how to post more than one pic per post. I went ahead and checked the blade, the file skated on the blade side and bit slightly on the back side. I was ok with that. No heat treat after that. I hid however have to straighten out the blade somehow, so with a map/pro torch and a lot of patience I straightened the blade. I kept the heat on the backbone and as far away from the edge as I could. It is a lawn mower blade and thick and tall so ...I double checked and the edge didn't seem to be any softer. I cleaned it up on the belt grinder(a 4x36, not a 2x72) with regular dunking in water. I have a real fear of jacking something up with the heat from the belt sander, and it is probably unfounded since my belt sander is fairly slow. I used the bare-hand method, and never let the steel get hot enough that I couldn't comfortably handle it with a bare hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boisdarc Posted October 20, 2016 Author Share Posted October 20, 2016 The handle and the sheath are hard rock maple. I didn't really have any experience with that wood, but it turned out to be a fairly easy wood to work with. There is kind of a back story with the wood. My friend grew up in a large town/small city. And as any one who grew up in a like environment, about high school age, hung out on weekend nights at the local dairy queen after sports games and cruising around town chasing girls. Forward a lot of years, and another good friend whom had grown up in the same town remodeled the restaurant, and ended up with some of the wood from the place. He had given me the maple because he thought I might use it for whatever at the time, and several years later I used it for this project. So, it is a little piece of my buddy's high school years. The handle is one piece, glued together with a one inch piece of copper tubing that I pinched together to get it a little oval shaped. The handle comes off by driving out a pin that is made from hedge, which is probably my favorite wood. The grain of the hedge is lined up to give the most strength to the wood in a lateral direction. Honestly is this any better of a method of putting on a handle, I really don't know, but it is what I did. I hope you like it, and I really hope my friend likes and uses it. I don't know if it will qualify as an heirloom tool(probably not but you never know), it is sharp but not stupid sharp. It is straight,and I think it is a hard edge and a softer backbone. I started to etch it with some boiled down vinegar and lemon juice, but honestly got a little scary and I pulled it out and washed it with baking soda/water, then dried and oiled it. It just didn't feel right. Any comments-even negative ones are welcome. I have really enjoyed this site and thank you very much to the people that are kind enough to take time helping newer members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandfatherForge Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 I like it! The fuller along the top of the blade is a nice touch. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 One thing you can do is to seat a copper plug in the hole and put your touchmark on it. (bevel the outer edges of the hole then rivet in a plug and then file/sand to flat with the steel surface...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boisdarc Posted October 21, 2016 Author Share Posted October 21, 2016 Thanks Thomas that is a great idea, I had never thought of coming up with a touchmark. Or placing a plug in the hole that is a great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackdawg Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 depending on the hole size a brass welch plug for an engine might be a cheap way to come up with a plug. Would be a very effective contrast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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