1st forged knife pic

[hillbillychuck]

Hey Y'all,

Here is a pic of my first forged knife blade. Forged from the end of a 3 ft piece of 1095. Couldn't get the tongs to hold shorter steel so I used a long piece and just held the end with a oven mitt. It looks sorta banana like and has some hammer marks that I can't seem to get out, but I am pretty proud of it nonetheless.

HillbillyChuck

 

[NickWheeler]

Chuck-

Looks good, a heck of a lot better than my first forged blade!

You can easily get that bow out of it by laying it spine down on the anvil lengthwise and lightly tapping the cutting edge with a hammer. If you're not comfortable hitting the edge with a hammer, you can whack it real hard with a wood club (an oak beater works well) and it will straighten out just was well. As a matter of fact, you could run it around into a big U with a wood club and not affect the edge much.

Keep it up, you'll love it!
Nick

 

[Mark Williams]

Looks a heck of a lot better than most first attempts that I have seen. I like for a knife to have some character dings a dents.It makes them look like they have a little age and experience. Keep it up and finish that thing.
Mark

 

[ddavelarsen]

"Nonetheless" my fat jeans! That looks just fine to me. Hope I can do as well when I screw up my courage to hammer some steel. I probably won't show you.

Thanks for sharing, be sure to let us see the finished product.

Dave

 

[peter nap]

Looks better than my first one Chuck. Matter of fact since I hold the ugly knife title, it looks better than most of mine. Nick's right about the bow. Everybody does it the first time and most for a few times after that (we just claim they are skinners )

Now you know why forgeing is called work. To get a perfect blade you still have to grind a fair amount. On the other hand if you are after a rustic look, clean it up and mount a handle. Some of the most beautiful knives I've ever seen were made by Bruce Evans and Max the knife and were forged with very little done afterward.

I spend a lot of time making "Blacksmiths Knives" with nothing but a forged handle. Matter of fact I carry one almost every day for a work knife. Give yourself a big pat on the back, throw away that 1095, get some 5160 and have at it again.

 

[hillbillychuck]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! This is some fun stuff, though it is a lot of work. I just went to the junkyard today and got some leaf and big coil springs to play with and I've drafted my teenage stepsons into doing some hammer duty this evening on one of them leaf springs. They seemed to enjoy it a good bit. Love this knifemaking!!! Really enjoy this community of knifemakers as well, I have learned a hell of a lot around here and the other forums out there. Thanks

HillbillyChuck

 

[Bruce Evans]

That looks really fantastic for your first attempt at forging.Getting the kids involved is a great thing also,Funny how boys like to hit on hot steel (guess we are all still boys)Don't let them know its supposed to be work though or they may run away on ya
You can always use the old say of "I like to let the steel go were it wants and then make the knife from it,I used to say this all the time.I was told one day that I would want to learn to make the steel do what I wanted so I could do a design that was drawn or else I would have to forge forever to get the correct shape.Just keep beaten on the steel and you will get it.
To correct the deep pits make sure you wipe the scale off the anvil after you hammer and put the steel back in the fire,if you are building up to much scale in the fire then run a wire brush aross the blade before you start hitting it also.There are other tricks to use like having the anvil wet and the hammer wet when you forge.This is fun as it blows the scale off the steel as you forge,sounds like firecrackers,this gives the best of finishes when coming from the forge.These are just tricks you will learn as you go,have fun as you learn..Definately get yourself a wood club I use a piece of 4X6 that I cut a handle onto one end and use all the time for straightening the sides of the knife and it is a must for straightening out back edges.the wood doesn't mar the cutting edge you forged in like a hammer will,it can wrinkle the edge some but that will straighten back out with a hammer..
Thanks for the compliment Peter.
Bruce

 

[Reg ELLERY]

Great job with the blade. There is a web site Iforge it has some
easy to make tongs you can get 2 lenghts of inch by 1/4 flat bar
and put a twist in them with a pin through the middle takes less than 5 min to make a set. Lots of other projects aswell.

There is step by step photos.