First steps - forging knives

[no2gates]

More progress. I'm working on getting a feel for the bevels - my belt grinder doesn't really have a way to set up a platform to work from or use a jig on, so I'm learning to grind the bevels by hand. Right now they're cleaner than before, and at a better angle, but mistakes are still clearly visible. But...this is why I made test pieces.

As you can also see, one logo is gone and the other has a good bite out of it. That's a lesson: get the bevel started before stamping the touchmark, and put the touchmark behind the plunge line, not above the bevel.

Still, though, both knives are "slicing paper" sharp. I believe torture testing will begin tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Ans yes, there will be video. Unless I manage to hurt myself.

View attachment 345535

Looks like they will "keel".

 

[General Zod]

That sounds like fun. If they survive are you going to put handles on them to replace the wrap?


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To quote Isaac Hayes..."You daaaaaamn right!"

And, in fact, they survived. I just came in from the workshop, video is downloading so I can get it cleaned up and posted. I batonned both knives into a 2x8 piece of lumber, then batonned them both into a broken cinder block, then used both to hack at and shave bits off a piece of aluminum tubing, and then I split an end of a 2x6 just because it was fun.

The forged knife picked up some minor chips in the cutting edge. No rolls, no serious damage.

The stock removal knife picked up...no discernible damage at all.

I spent about 10 minutes cleaning up both edges just to be sure, and now I have two sharp, pretty (if somewhat plain) knives again. So yeah, I'll be putting handle scales on them and doing a little more polishing on their surfaces, and they'll be my knives. And this weekend, I'll begin work on my first commissioned knife for my friend, who started the knife making ball rolling for me a month or two early.

Video to come. Here's a beauty shot, post-testing - with the lumber and the cinder block they cut.

 

[General Zod]

Torture testing video:

 

[jrbfishn]

Very nice. Touch them up and use them.

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[General Zod]

Very nice. Touch them up and use them.

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Restoring the edge on the forged knife took all of five minutes. I'll be working on handle scales next, while I start my first blade for someone else. And then sheaths. My goal is to have my first customer knife in the mail in three weeks (I mostly forge on weekends), and by that time both of these should be done as well, since they'll be my test pieces for each step of the process.

 

[no2gates]

That was a hell of a test ! Damn good job.

 

[General Zod]

That was a hell of a test ! Damn good job.

Well, you know how it is. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

 

[paknheat]

Glad to hear they survived the ultimate test.

Now on to bigger & better things.


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[General Zod]

So, I hit a snag of my own making where the next knife (a large Bowie) is concerned. I need to make tongs that are better sized for grabbing the 1/4" steel I'm forging the knives out of (it winds up around 3/8" thick when I'm done with it). To make the tongs I need, I needed to mount a larger bench vise than I've been using...which meant building a little bench for the nice vise that's been sitting on a shelf patiently waiting for most of a year.

So...I lost a day. After not making it out to the forge on Saturday.

Sigh. My goal is now to have the knife made in three weeks...starting this coming Saturday. If I can't get it done by then, I won't be able to ship it to my friend in time.

 

[lightflyer1]

If you miss the deadline you can always ship it to me instead. I have no deadlines concerning knives.

 

[General Zod]

If you miss the deadline you can always ship it to me instead. I have no deadlines concerning knives.

Yeah, but you also haven't been my friend for 30 years... The deadline involves her giving it as a gift before she leaves the country she's stationed in.

 

[deemus]

Wow. You got an anvil. You must be rich!!

I tried to buy one a few years ago and it was $800.

Wish almost every day I could have had my grandpa’s anvil.

 

[General Zod]

Wow. You got an anvil. You must be rich!!

I tried to buy one a few years ago and it was $800.

Wish almost every day I could have had my grandpa’s anvil.

66 lb, $126 on Amazon. And I searched out a LOT of reviews on it to make sure it wasn't a piece of crap before I bought it because yeah, I'm aware of the prices on "real" anvils. This one will get me through a few years of use, at least. I also put several hours into fixing issues with it when it arrived - every part of it except for the face has a pebbly texture and it was slathered in a sticky blue "powder coat" that never dried. Getting rid of that crap and refinishing the horn of the anvil became the first major use of my angle grinder - completely wore out a flap disk fixing it, too.

 

[deemus]

I settled for a 14” strip of rail.

 

[General Zod]

I settled for a 14” strip of rail.

My granddad had a rail anvil. It and four or five ball peen hammers that had been his were in the storage shed at my parents' house and I was going to claim them for myself.

Then one day some stuff mysteriously disappeared from that shed, including the rail anvil and the hammers, and various old wrenches and tools. I suspect one of my former sisters, but there's no proof.

 

[lightflyer1]

I settled for a 14” strip of rail.

I also have a strip of rail and a bigger one I picked up along the way. I have never used the big one. If you are in the Austin area you would be welcome to it. Just let me know. I don't think it has ever been used. Not anything high grade or anything.

 

[General Zod]

I also have a strip of rail and a bigger one I picked up along the way. I have never used the big one. If you are in the Austin area you would be welcome to it. Just let me know. I don't think it has ever been used. Not anything high grade or anything.

Rail anvils can be really good - far better than the crappy anvil Harbor Freight carries. The rail is at least hardened steel and isn't hard to grind into a good anvil shape.

 

[deemus]

Its not something I use often but it works pretty well. I just wish it was heavier. That's my only complaint.

 

[Vaquero]

Its not something I use often but it works pretty well. I just wish it was heavier. That's my only complaint.

OOC

 

[deemus]

I also have a strip of rail and a bigger one I picked up along the way. I have never used the big one. If you are in the Austin area you would be welcome to it. Just let me know. I don't think it has ever been used. Not anything high grade or anything.

I just might take you up on that.