erik5387 Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 howdy all, im erik and i got bit by the bladesmithing bug a couple of months ago. i have been lurking on these forums for a bit and figured i would say hi. im originally from south carolina but live up in va pretty close to dc. anybody out there in the northern va area that is looking for an apprentice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted November 20, 2008 Share Posted November 20, 2008 Howdy from East TEXAS!! and welcome to IFI! Can't answer your ? for an apperntiship but there are several fine blacksmith groups in VA. Hook up with on of them and you'd be suprised as to how much you can learn from them. I'm sure some of them will respond to this post if they see it. Once again, welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik5387 Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Thanks for the advice--I have been looking into blacksmith groups here but all of them seem to be way south of me, hopefully I will find one in my area soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Welcome aboard Erik. Stick around and you'll get hooked up before you know it. There are lots of fine bladesmiths and organizations in your general area and they're represented by someone here. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik5387 Posted November 21, 2008 Author Share Posted November 21, 2008 Welcome aboard Erik. Stick around and you'll get hooked up before you know it. There are lots of fine bladesmiths and organizations in your general area and they're represented by someone here. Frosty Thanks Frosty! Look below and you will see I am well on my way to being hooked. I snapped some pictures of the blades I have been working on last night and figured I would show yall. I have only been at this a few short weeks so any advice/criticism, throw it my way! Here is the most recent one, I beat the shape out of a railroad spike and then started the finish work with a combo of files and my 2x72 sander. I am not even sure what kind of steel the railroad spikes are made out of but the guy I got them from says they are "high carbon". So we will see...all I know is they are cheap and I have about 50 of them so I can practice forging, grinding, quenching, heat treating, etc. Here is everything else I have been working on, from left to right: another railroad spike knife, the one above, the very first knife I ever made (a kit that came with the unground blade and scales), and last but not least my attempt at a pearing knife. As you can see, none of them are finished yet. Ive been working on them as I go along so I always have something to do (i.e. one in the forge, another one getting ground, etc.) Let me know what yall think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 21, 2008 Share Posted November 21, 2008 Not bad at all Erik. RR spikes don't have enough carbon in them to be heat treatable, the RR wants tough not brittle. HC spikes by spec have 30pts or less C. Spring clips on the other hand are in the 1040-1045 range and are good for really tough tools, pry bars and such. Once you have the forging techniques down using spring steel, coil 9260 or leaf 5160 is a good steel to learn with. It's very forgiving in heat treat which is where you're most likely to make catastrophic mistakes learning. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik5387 Posted November 22, 2008 Author Share Posted November 22, 2008 My other hobby is Jeeps--and becuase of that I have 4 leaf springs at my disposal--replacing them with new. Thanks for the info on the spikes, Im sure am glad I didnt make a ton of knives out of them and give them away. I guess itl still be good practice anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 22, 2008 Share Posted November 22, 2008 Spikes make nice letter openers, shoe horns, heavy duty coat hooks and the like though. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgtwister Posted November 23, 2008 Share Posted November 23, 2008 welcome nice job on the knives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Waldon Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I'm new also and I'm From central NC. I know what it feels like not to have a group but I just did and internet search and behold there are several organizations in my area. Just look around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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