First Forged Blade

J.McDonald Knives

J.McDonald Knives

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Jan 28, 2007
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since i was off of work today (dont ask) i decided to pound on some hot steel. so i grabbed a stick of 3.8" rebar and started pounding away. first started pounding it flat and then i decided to make it into a blade. the curve in it is the curve i got from pounding on it. i decided to work on making the bevels for it. then i heated it up one more time and quenched it and cut it off the rebar. took it to the belt grinder to clean it up and as you see in the pics i need to work on my hammering. hows it look. i included a zippo in the pic so that yall can basically see the size of it.

ForgedBlade1.jpg

ForgedBlade2.jpg

ForgedBlade3.jpg


without even sharpening it i check the balance and its just behind the ricasso on the handle. i can take more off the handle to make it more balanced but i decided to see how well it was as is. i held it by the blade and then aimed it at my pile of logs and gracefully threw it only once it i got it in blade first. i couldnt stop laughing. it went in about half an inch. swede2207 (Luke) has seen me throwing knives. hes pretty decent himself. im not good but im decent as well. can someone offer me some tips on making my next one better? i think all my throwing knives will be forged from now on. its so freaking fun forging.
 
maybe after a few lessons from my buddy in town. no noe showed me how to do this. i just read up a little on it and then started pounding away. quick question for yall. what type of face do you want on your hammers when forging a blade? flat? round? what?
 
Not bad for a first try! I burnt the $*it out of my first one! Time spent with a more experienced smith would benefit you greatly for a variety of forging skills. -Matt-
 
which first knife of mine came out better so far? my first stock removal or my first forged blade? HEHEHE!!!
 
Jacob,

Good start dude! You might want some steel with a little more carbon. If you use the green colored rebar I'm told it will harden pretty well.
 
i was just messing around to see what i could do with my knowledge and lack of skills. i still need to find someone to teach me how to forge better.
 
Looks fine. It appears that your hammer face is a little sharp, but those marks could be from the ridges on the rebar. Hard to tell.

When you start forging your next one, try this; once you get the bar flat, or if you start with a flat bar, place the bar on the anvil, knife edge down, spine up.
hammer the top corner round as if you are creating an edge for your knife, except it will actually be the spine.

Once you see the shape you want, start hammering your bevels (which are touching the anvil)


This will stretch the edge portion, causing the curve you just put in the spine to start going away. Keep in mind, when you forge, the steel molecules are moving away from the hammer. As you hammer your bevels, the edge side will become longer than the spine side, so you need to compensate for that by pre-curving your spine.
Now, your bevels are in, and your spine should have straightened out mostly.

I like to use a more rounded edge hammer for the overall shaping, and a more square hammer for finalizing the bevels.

Also, holding your blade at a slight angle on the anvil will allow you to create both bevels at the same time. The anvil acts like a hammer from the other side, so hammer the bevel on this side, and hold the blade at an angle that will allow the anvil itself to form the bevel on the other side at the same time.

Hope I didn't confuse you too much. I've never had to put this into words before. lol

One last tid-bit. Take the extra time to sand out those marks. You know how to make a knife. just do the sanding part longer, until those marks go away, and you have a mirror finish. The difference between a blade and a beautiful blade, is effort. (and skill, but mostly effort.)
Keep up the good work man.
 
Your first forged makes mine look...well...like a big bag of burning dog turd. I'm getting better, but not good enough to show to anyone. Well you have to start off somewhere right?

-Mike Sheffield
 
Looking good Jacob, get some real steel to forge so the next one you can turn into a good knife. Come to Knoxville and I'll teach you how to forge, open invitation, anytime you can make it. :)

-Darren
 
What hammer? lol

I learned from lurking forums that the serious makers post pics of thier treasured racks of 50-100, lol
Just bought myself a series of ball piens...

4oz 8oz 12oz 16oz 20oz 24oz 28oz & 32oz .. all hickory..damned store assistants trying to sell me fiberglass ones, everywhere I looked.

I love the 4oz thing, so cute, suits my 'harper' tinsmiths anvil to the bone, should be usefull for ol' skool engraving too..gotta be precise aint ya.

I would try find a hammer with a slightly!!! bulbous face..wont leave harsh signatures if you're striking inaccurately.....assuming you want flawless 5000 grit finishes... lol
 
Oh, and damned nice first forged.... Looks like a trade style butcher ... always space for more of them in this world
 
i forgot to mention that on that same day i sharpened it and then cut with it and then did a bend test on it. the test didnt go so well but it didnt cost me a thing but the gas used to forge it. i made it in about an hour and a half including grinding on it.
 
Heck Jacob youll be coming to my place to teach me before too long. Good first effort..my forge is still sitting in the same place it was when you last saw it..figures..good job anyway
 
Luke, when you get it fired up and i have had more training, ill show you what i was taught. have you found an anvil yet?

stingray4540, when i get some freetime ill start working on another one but i really want to wait til i get my tax return to work on another so i can buy some barstock.
 
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