Virusds Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Yes sir. And it felt amazing. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Haha good, sounds like a job well done, any plans to make a sheath for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Well done for a first knife and a more difficult type to attempt too! (Much more prone to warping.) Perhaps an "urban survival knife"? Having gone camping with both a Bowie and a Fairbairn-Sykes; I can say that the single edge design is much better for "field use". (As an amusing aside; I have a copy of "Knives & Scabbards, Museum of London" that has over 300 medieval knife blades documented in it and *none* that I recall were double edged---though several were folding knives...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Virusds, nice looking blade. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 5 hours ago, Frazer said: Pardon my terrible drawing prowess. Is this what you are describing? If so I think it's a much better solution than what i did, where each tine was a single piece. Not quite, you're thinking of the loose ends as ready made tines but as you've discovered it's very hard to get the weld where they join even. This is one of those things that makes sense but doesn't work so well in practice. Oh sure if you have enough experience getting the connecting point of the tines evenly blended isn't so hard but when you're starting out there are easier ways. What I described welds the free ends solid to make the finial scroll on the end of the handle. The rake or fork tines are the bent/folded ends. Being one piece keeps them even while you weld and shape the transition to neck and handle. The last thing you do is cut them in the fold making two folds four equal length tines. A good general rule is to work the heavier parts first. If you forge the thin parts first it really increases the probability of burning them off working the thicker sections. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Ahhhhh, ok. Makes sense. I'll give that a try on the next one and let you know how it goes. Even just on paper it seems like a much more efficient way than what I decided to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) Made this for a guy i work with. Started as the leaf spring from a 69' Camaro (5160 i am thinking). 10 3/4" long 2" wide. Zebra wood handle 6 pins with a stainless lanyard eye. The mosaic pin is stainless tube with brass and copper inlayed. Handle is 5". Full tang, the swell on the end i filled the gap in the wood with rawhide. The guard is aluminum sandwiched between brass sheets. 3 screws and epoxy holds them together. Ground the heads and ends off the screws so they look like stainless pins now. I do not do many knives and this is by far my best i think. There are some places i could improve but it is tight, comfortable, and will cut clean through a 1" tree branch. Edit: forgot to add the blade has been blued. Edited June 18, 2020 by BillyBones forgot something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 That's not a knife.... this is a knife! That looks like quite the chopper. If I were a small tree, I'd be shaking in my roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virusds Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 57 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Well done for a first knife. This is not my first knife. If u look at my profile I have made lots of them. Did I misunderstand what u meant by that? 57 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Perhaps an "urban survival knife"? Lol. I would agree with u that a Bowie is much more effective than a dagger. But I dont have any large Bowie knife as I have sold the only one I have ever made so I thought I would try something different this time as I realy love to make daggers. I don't live in a place where I am at much of risk of having to use it as a "urban survival knife". But u never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Sorry I confused "The handle is not the best but I think it is acceptable for my first try." with the first try at a blade not just a wire wrapped handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virusds Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Oh okay makes since. No problem. Have a good rest of your day ThomasPowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 On 6/17/2020 at 8:26 AM, Latticino said: Only you would ask for this . Nice work.. While the side view is eye candy for most.. Seeing the weld seam for me both top and bottom is where the candy is at. thank you.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Forged this viking camp axe with a friend from O1 tool steel. He is going to do all the heat treat and finish work and give it to is dad for father's day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Very nice, I assume punch and drift? Must have been tough without a hardy hole. Do you have a swage block or portable hole hiding somewhere? So nice to have a friend working with you to strike forging axes. I was really pushing it forging mine alone. The extra time it took certainly took a toll on me regarding scaling away the surface. 2 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said: Seeing the weld seam for me both top and bottom is where the candy is at Thanks, that is quite a compliment coming from you. The extra heat I'm getting from my forge was why I decided to go for a larger axe and challenge myself with a bigger mild steel forge weld. I'm quite pleased with the results there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Yes it was punched and drifted but not with a striker. 80% or more of the work was done with the power hammer. I was walking him through the process because he didnt wanna do all the heavy work himself. Like you said it really takes a toll on the body working this much steel by yourself. I've had 3 back surgeries and I'm only 33 years old. I know the feeling. That's the reason I built a power hammer and now have a self contained hammer. I tried talking him out of using the O1 and use 4140 but he insisted on the O1. He started another smaller axe to try and follow suit but he hot shorted it and it just crumbled. It was the first time actually seeing it for myself and it is interesting to say the least. It looked like cast iron when its "forged" Oh yeah. And I have a 250 lb swage block and a 66 lb holland anvil swage block. This anvil is the one I let friends use when there forging so they dont mess up my nice anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Well, you are certainly a better man than I with a power hammer. I'm no where near ready to do anything but pretty simple tapers. I forged mine with wrap and weld, only using my hand hammer and treadle hammer. Eventually need to learn to use my little baby Anyang 33 to take some of the effort off as I'm into my 60's now. O1 wouldn't have been my choice either. Going to be a lot of fun to heat treat, and an expensive option for an end effect that may end up not taking advantage of the better properties of O1 (who needs a razor edge on an axe?). The mono steel axes I've forged have all been 4140 or 1045. I experienced the crumbling steel effect with 52100 and H13, and it is devastating. A couple of extra seconds in the coal fire and smooth sailing goes to cottage cheese. I was able to save the 52100 after I cut away the worst section by careful thermocycling and a cutoff from even the worst section showed good grain structure after treatment and a break test. Ended up with a nice dirk from what was left, so perhaps you can save your O1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Latticino, if you have an anyang I'd devote a little time to develop tooling.. It would cut down your forging time by 1/2 on the second or third one and you can even do better time wise once you get your rhythm down.. I know you were saying about large items and the tong hand, so a power hammer would be an advantage all the way around and from the work I have seen you produce the power hammer is just another tool which can lessen your burden and increase production. ( you can custom tune your tongs for reverb on the hammer).. I like doing the larger axes by hand but even with this.. Using a power hammer can make you a better hand forger because you can see the steps and forging mistakes (process short cuts) faster.. I could make 2 axes in the same time on a power hammer at a super, super relaxed pace. Or if production was the only thing, you make 5 or 6 in a row it's amazing how fast it can get especially if you have someone running the forge. No matter the size a wrapped American style axe takes me between 5-8hrs.. by hand by myself.. My Oldest buddy is up for a visit he was my sledge guy for years.. Maybe we will have a chance to connect and forge something and shoot video.. I haven't worked with 01 in 30 years.. My steel of choice these days seems to revolve around 5160.. 15n20 and a small amount of 4140. Benona: I'm with you and saving the cherished (My anvil) so keep others for people to work on to.. I'm always amazed when a newer smith shows up and I move my anvil out of the way for them to use.. they are like.. What I don't get to use that one.. Hello.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awrksmokey Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Yesterday I forged this small texturing crosspein. It's 4.7 ounces! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HojPoj Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Awrksmokey, looks like it'd make a decent small top fuller, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Re protecting anvils: I was teaching up at the Uni once and a new student was having tremendous hammer control issues. I finally stopped him and asked if he was using his dominant hand for the hammer. he told me; no he was trying to learn how to hammer with his off hand! I told him he wasn't paying enough to get to damage my tools! I use my heelless anvil and a french crosspeen that was annealed in a WWII factory fire for people with bad hammer control now---and sent ALL people needing to sledge over to the terribly abused bridge anvil I found in the desert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benona blacksmith Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 13 hours ago, Latticino said: So nice to have a friend working with you to strike forging axes. Now that I think of it I did have him swing the sledge to hot cut the blade back and make it more uniform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Thomas that was really great of you observing he was using the wrong hand.. 2018 I was at one of the NEB meets working at the Green coal tent helping people and demonstrating making a nail header.. All of a sudden I hear that all to familiar no metal between anvil and hammer and look over an there is some young kid with a father and the kid (13 or 14) hitting that anvil with about a 3lbs hammer from full strike overhead down to a bear face.. He got in 3 or 4 hits before I yelled at him to cut that out.. I go over to explain the reason why it's not such a good idea, and the father speaks up telling me He told the kid to do it.. I then explained the reasons why never to do it.. And they both kinda sheeped it. I did get yelled at by management for reacting the way I did with the " Hey, stop hitting that anvil with that hammer".. There were others around that said nothing.. It was one of those.. Someone is going to lose and eye ball when the hammer or anvil chips. Awrksmokey.. Very much like a scythe hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Awrksmokey, I like that little hammer. I have a couple of small hammers I use for detail work. No one is allowed to even breathe in the direction of my anvil. Ok, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. My RR track anvil or the little Vulcan is what will get used if and when someone else is working in my smithy unless maybe they are someone with higher skills than me. Got a friend that may want to learn in the near future and I'll try to help him out as much as I can. The Vulcan will fit the bill for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus_Aurelius Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 -Awrksmokey, liking the hammer, I hoping to forge my first in the coming weeks. I also can get protective of my anvil, and my hammers, and well frankly my tongs as well . Over the last couple of weeks I have been starting to make tools, to make a tool, to make a tool, to make a hammer. The first where a couple of tongs, to grab both 1" and 1.5" round stock. The first one was supposed to be a pair of bolt tongs, unfortunately I chiseled of to the side on one of the sections, so I ground of the mess and cut a slit down the middle, I then rounded this on the 1" section. A little improvised and funky, but hey it works. The 1.5" section was forged from 2 pieces of 1" by 3/8" by 7". It took bloody forever to forge out the reins, but its pretty strong and will hold up nicely. Also forged out some scrolling tongs - Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 4 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said: It was one of those.. Someone is going to lose and eye ball when the hammer or anvil chips. Better to be yelled at before the accident than everyone being yelled at for not saying something after the accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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