pre6422hornet Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Hey everyone. Pat here... Dad to four amazing daughters ( all under the age of 13) and besides being a full time Automotive Executive for the past 19 years ( 28 years total in auto), and owner of two clothing boutiques with my wife, I decided two years ago to start making knives but not because of forged in fire. My grandpa was a machinist for 50 years and taught all of us grandkids how to build stuff, use a micrometer, etc... He made his own filet knives and tools naturally and I have always been good with my hands ( make rifle stocks too). I decided to give knife making a try when looking for a cleaver for kitchen use. I used some old 8670 sawmill blades and crafted one with some Brazilian cherry I had laying around. It worked well, looked okay, and the edge held up so when a friends wife asked for one as a gift, I had no idea that one cleaver would start a side business/hobby that would consume all my free time at night and cause me to dump $$ into belt grinders, steel, wood, drill press, wood band saw, metal band saw, clumsy brick forge, etc... 30 knives sold later and I purchased my first anvil ( 100 year old Trenton) and now I am upgrading my forge. I have all the materials and I have been reading on this site for the past year while I learned stock removal ( still a TON to learn). IF I could quit my job and afford insurance and do this full time I would but unfortunately our two youngest have Epilepsy so the med bills are pretty intense. Thanks in advance for all the great info I have read or will read and yes if you are into old Winchester boltaction rifles.... I have a thing for Pre 64's... Oh yeah.. building 250 ish cu inch forge with a Frosty T burner. Thanks Frosty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 I like you already---anyone who actually *knows* the alloy they were using for their first knife is welcome around me. (I also have a daughter with 4 sons all under 13...) I'm a bit further west of Chicago and a heap of south too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pre6422hornet Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Thank you Thomas! We actually lived in Rio Rancho back in 2014-1015. Gorgeous weather and scenery.. We loved the mountains and I grew pretty fond of Green Chile. To this day I still ask for Enchiladas Christmas and everyone back here looks at me funny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Plenty of room out here if you want to move back! (And the green Chile from Lemitar NM just north of Socorro is considered some of the best in the state! Give me a yell if you get back this way and we can go eat at a "local" restaurant, run by locals for locals! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Welcome aboard Pat, glad to have you. I'm not sure what to say, you're actually building a reasonably small first propane forge! Then you tell us you started making blades by learning stock removal before taking up forging, I'm marking the day on my calendar! Give me a shout if you need a hand tuning the T burner. I wonder what kind of look I'll get at the local Taco Bell if I order Enchiladas Christmas? Ah, nevermind they specialize in blank stares for anything more complicated than "want the special?" Maybe when we can eat at Chepos again. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pre6422hornet Posted July 8, 2020 Author Share Posted July 8, 2020 Thanks Frosty! Yeah I figured small is better. I do not have a welder yet so I am going to be using the drill press and bolting together (4) 12"x9" pieces of 11 gauge steel using 1" square steel tubing for corner supports. Then two 1" layers of 8# Kaowool and Santanite finish to form a ovalish shape and unless my calcs are off it should be between 235-275. 12x5 is roughly the size. I figured I would not be going over the 350 mark so one 3/4 " T burner would be good. No plans at forge welding in the near future, just hammering out railroad spikes learning. Maybe I am thinking it wrong, but wrote everything down cause I am old school ( gramps ways of doing things rubbed off on me) and hope my math was correct. Please tell me if I am way out in left field on this. Just waiting on the Kaowool and rigidizer to get here but I have everything else here ready to drill/tap/assemble. thanks again guys! Learning all this cool stuff that steel does when heated is fascinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 You're welcome Pat, it's my pleasure. 11 ga. is a little heavier than necessary, I used 14ga and wish I'd used 16. I had the 14 though so . . . Angle iron makes much better corners than sq tubing ad it's easy to notch and bend for corners, the shell will hold the bent corners just fine. I highly recommend using a hole saw to make the burner ports, I LOVE my hole saws. 12" x 5" chamber is what's known as a NOT mono dimensional chamber, it's long and narrow. A single 3/4" will probably turn down enough to stay lit but the forge temp will be very uneven. If you want to make blades you want even temps in the forge. Soooooo, I suggest you use two 1/2" T burners evenly spaced and aligned at an angle to promote a horizontal vortice / swirl. 1/2" Ts have a lower turn down range so they won't be fighting back pressure like a single 3/4" will. They also produce a bit higher velocity flame which will promote more even heat distribution in the forge. I think that's it for now, it's Baxter's dinner time and he's looking at me. Polite but LOOKING. Could you say not now? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pre6422hornet Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Thanks Frosty. I have been so busy with my day job and finishing 4 knives for orders I haven't had an opportunity to even start to assemble the forge. I have everything I need except some Kastolite 30 and a kiln wash, but I plan on contacting Glenn for some of both. Since I had everything to make the 3/4" Burner I did and lit it ( yeah outside the forge).. Holy xxxx that was amazing. I had my two oldest daughters in the shop, one holding the extinguisher in case dad blew himself up, and they were grinning ear to ear. I am gathering everything for two 1/2" burners and will go that route and I appreciate the insight and once you said it, the light bulb went off in my head. I will let you know how it goes. I did take an opportunity when I had the brick pile forge running on Monday during the normalizing/quench sequence to heat up some rebar and for the first time I was able to hit some hot steel on my 120 year old Trenton. That made me grin from ear to ear. What a feeling. I need to get this forge done and caught up so I can play some more. thanks again, Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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