Medic8126 Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 So here are the results of my first couple days of having a forge. These are the first 3 knives I made. I'm having quite a bit of trouble with the grinding as all I have is an angle grinder right now. Even having only done this a few times over the last couple days I have learned a ton and realized there is so much more I need to learn. Criticism is welcome as I believe it's the best way to improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 First knives are first knives. They aren't bad as first knives go. Prettier than mine, certainly. Angle grinder is a bit rough to use at first, and could easily overheat things after heat treat. You might want to get it close while soft prior to heat treating with a set of files. Make sure you leave at least about the thickness of a dime on the edge prior to heat treating or it may overheat, and will also tend to warp. Finishing after heat treating is a pain without power tools, but doable. File then sand. Hope you had fun. I don't see any pins, how are your handles held on? Carry on, enjoy forging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic8126 Posted July 13, 2018 Author Share Posted July 13, 2018 8 minutes ago, Nobody Special said: I don't see any pins, how are your handles held on? Carry on, enjoy forging! For the top one I split a piece of wood and carved out the inside to fit the tang then epoxied the two halves together with the tang inside. For the bottom one I drilled a guide hole in a block and burned in the tang then added epoxy to make sure it couldn't come out. For the middle one I'm still trying to decide how I want to do it. I may go with pinned scales but I'm not sure yet. Anyone have any suggestions on what I should do for the handle on the middle one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jclonts82 Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 I would get a (eventually many) good file. It is amazing how much work you can get done with a file, also some C-clamps, small cheapos are fine. Clamp the piece to a piece of wood, a bench etc... if you dont have a vice. The good thing about using files is you can get a pretty straight bevel/flatness to the work, and its more controllable than an angle grinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Files rule. Forge to close, anneal, file to closer, harden, temper, grind to finish, sharpen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS3900 Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 They don't look bad for first knives. As experience is gained things will improve. My suggestion would be this, forge your blades to shape and normalize and anneal the metal. Then, to take the file comments from above one step further, build yourself an Aaron Gough style bevel jig and make or buy a file guide. Use whatever grinding apparatus you have and rough the blades to shape then use the file guide and the bevel jig to finish the bevels. This will let you learn and visualize blade geometry and get cleaner "grinds". When you move back to a grinder, the file guide helps a lot; and armed with the knowledge from the bevel jig you know how to achieve what you want. For the middle one, a piece of antler I think would look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Soaking an as forged blade overnight in vinegar and then washing it will remove the scale and make your files last longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windancer Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 +2 on the vinegar- saves a lot of sanding/filing. Good job for first attempts! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medic8126 Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 On 7/13/2018 at 12:45 AM, Jclonts82 said: I would get a (eventually many) good file. What would you recommend as a good file to buy. The only ones I have now are just harbor freight junk that I use for wood. I've heard that Nicholson files aren't so great since they started producing in Mexico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joël Mercier Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Old stock new files from Nicholson if you can find them. Otherwise, Simonds USA or Nicholson Brazil are ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 I think a lot of the Nicholson debate is that they make different grades of files; machinist files for metal, and files for woodworkers. They are not the same alloy. Their materials guy told me that they used the same alloys ( he would not give me the specific series) for the entire time he had been with them - 46 years. They also pack harden some to add more carbon in the teeth - Black Diamond possibly. He said the alloy used for wood and hooves is a lesser grade because they are not as hard as metal. As to heat treating the machinist files he said treating it as W-1 would be a good choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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