"I want to start blacksmithing"

[ausfire]

Just about every kid that comes by my demos asks if I can make a knife (or swords or daggers or spears). What is it about boys and weapons? Anyway, I say yes, I do make swords and show them a lovely little scimitar made from a three-inch formwork nail from a bunch sent to me by Vaughn T some time ago. That's as big as they get!

[ThomasPowers]

Stainless steel rebar would not be good for a knife---just as regular rebar is not good for a knife.

Also; back in 1703; but probably written earlier, Moxon stated in "Mechanicks Exercises" "If a good blade you would win; you must forge thick and grind thin!"  still good advice for folks getting started. (The better you git the thinner and closer to final shape you can usually forge with no issues.)  A big issue with large cooking blades is heat treating without them warping or cracking.

 

[Dax Hewitt]

I am not talking a good knife, I'm talking about a knife and form to eat my tea with. The ones we currently use have a cutting edge that is about a 64th thick and works just fine. I like the look of stainless rebar but if it doesn't work then no harm done and I will have learned a bit more about moving metal. 

[ThomasPowers]

Oh a "table knife"; why didn't you say so?  Not a problem; I have a eating set I forged from Titanium for camping as you can boil it with impunity.  Really impresses the yokels until I show them where I cut a curl of Ti off the spine of the blade with a belt knife made from an old file.

Note that stainless is a pain to work and finish.

[jlpservicesinc]

ausfire: in my area I get asked by more girls than boys about knives and swords now.. 

Wonderful turn of events.

Stainless is a big pain to finish vs carbon steels

[SLAG]

Ausfire,

Stated "what is it about boys and weapons …"'

I wondered about that observation  for years and finally read an answer in the science press .

The connection between the two,  (and also wheels),  is the small amount of testosterone in their blood stream.

Preadolescent boys still have some of that chemical .  It increases upon puberty.

The same phenomenon also applies for little girls, with dolls and things maternal.  The mothering instinct can be seen in some infants very early on.

That can be attributed to the slightly elevated levels of female hormones.  (estrogen, estradiol, progesterone, etc. etc.).

Very small amounts,  to be sure,  but they still have an effect.

Indeed,  flirting behavior has been reliably observed in female infants younger than one year of age.  (for males).

SLAG.

[Dax Hewitt]

1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

Oh a "table knife"; why didn't you say so?  

I thought I did when I put knife and fork to use at home. It's easy for misunderstandings posting stuff on line though. 

A titanium set sounds cool but I will stick to my rebar. Your not wrong about stainless being a pain to work. I took 4 inch of it and made the worlds shonkiest belt buckle and it didn't half take some hammering.  Drawing the tang down from the parent metal took a while

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

That belt buckle is not shonky at all, I like it even if it's made from rebar.

[Marc1]

I like the buckle too. Would appeal to a concreter for sure!

Get some plain steel from a scrap yard, or offcuts from a steel merchant. I buy my steel from a mob called Edcon Steel and they have always a big box with offcuts they sell cheap. Sometimes if I buy some big stuff the guys chuck some offcuts on my trailer for free. Saves them dragging it to the bin.

 

[Dax Hewitt]

Unfortunately due to work I can't get to the local scrap yards and there isn't any steel producers near me. But I can find all sorts of scrap on site, I changed a blower today and the guard from the old one is 3/32nds thick sheet metal so that's in my van now.