Cracks

J

Jim L.

Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Messages
281
I'm trying to teach myself how to forge, and having to improvise with a lot of things. I haven't been able to go the "purest" route yet and forge the blade to smoothness as I've seen others do. I still have to do a lot of grinding.

Well, as happened with my last attempt, I noticed a lot of cracks in the flat of the blade. Could this be a result of not getting a hot enough fire? My "forge pit" is wood fired with forced air from a compressor.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jim L.
 
Jim,
There's several things that it could be. 2 most common would be:

Forging at too cold a temp
Pre-existing stress cracks in the metal if it's not "store-bought" steel

Why are you forging in wood (you can do it, I've done it after seeing Tai Goo do it) Buy lump charcoal, not the briquette chunk.

I usually have grinding to do after I forge too :p
 
most likely forging to cold. An over-simplified rule is never touch the metal with a hammer if the metal is duller than orange.
Warm the face of your anvil with a piece of scrap steel helps. (you'll also learn to not tough the top of the anvil:eek:)
 
Jim L. said:
My "forge pit" is wood fired with forced air from a compressor.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jim L.
Click to expand...

A compressor will have WAY to much velocity, get a bathroom fan at Home Depot / Lowes (the kind that are installed in the ceiling) hook it up to your Tyuere and go
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top