Forge construction... and W1 and 2 hamons.

[anvilring]

I''ve not been on here for a long, long time... but I need a hotter forge (or so I think) and wonder if anyone knows of a webpage or design online for a really good venturi design. Currently this is the one I made years ago and it's still a good forge; just not welding hot:

http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/forge.tutorial.htm

Second question is for the resist/clay used to produce a hamon, what are people using now? Satinite? what? I see rick Barrett's knives and they are just beautiful. I've produce hamons before but always on steel other than W series steels; I'd like to try W1 or 2 and see what I can produce hamon wise. I take it these steels are best quenched in brine? And if so does anyone have a link to what ration of salt to water one might use? Lastly who has a good source for W1 and 2 stock?

tia, mitch

 

[samuraistuart]

I'm afraid to be of no help with the venturi designs, however, question 2 I might can offer some input.

As far as the clay, yes, Satanite is very popular. Hightemptools, I think is where I got mine. Also you may try Rutland's black furnace cement found in hardware stores. Works well, and some prefer it over satanite due to it's consistency, kinda thicker paste, if you will.

W1 and W2 need a fast quench. Brine works well, but you do risk cracking a blade with brine quench. If you go that route, a general rule is a cup of salt per gallon of water, and as the Waterboy would say, "My mo.., my mo.., my mom says to use high quality H2O, because it isn't ornery with all them impurities." Best quench for W1/W2 is fast oil....like Parks 50 or DT-48. Canola oil warmed to 130°F works very well, in a pinch. If canola is used, knife should be no thicker than about 1/8". Full hardening on shallow hardening steels requires a very fast quench.

The only W1 I know of is in drill rod. You'd have to forge it down. Aldo Bruno, the New Jersey Steel Baron, carries W2, and last I checked he still had some, in bar stock. I would try him, and also try Tracy at USAKnifemaker.

 

[coldsteelburns]

I've not been on here for a long, long time... but I need a hotter forge (or so I think) and wonder if anyone knows of a webpage or design online for a really good venturi design. Currently this is the one I made years ago and it's still a good forge; just not welding hot:

http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/forge.tutorial.htm

tia, mitch

Hmm, I've used that design on 3 seperate forges since I started making knives 5 or so years ago, and they've all been able to reach welding heat just fine. However the first 2 forges were made from paint cans and the one I currently use is made from a mail box (not a very large one). Maybe you have "too much forge" per burner, or it needs better lining, and/or the burner needs to be tuned.

I know the T-Rex burner from Hybrid Burners ( http://www.hybridburners.com/products.html ) should deffinitely get ya hot enough to weld no problem (at least from what I've read) if you are looking to buy a burner.

Just my quick 2 cents.

ETA: I know that Fastenal sells some good reliable quality W1 drill rod, so you shouldn't have to worry about the actual carbon % in the steel and other alloys etc...

Link below:

https://www.fastenal.com/products/raw-materials/bar-stock/drill-rod?r=~|categoryl1:"600930 Raw Materials"|~ ~|categoryl2:"600932 Bar Stock"|~ ~|categoryl3:"600942 Drill Rod"|~ ~|sattr04:^W1$|~

...as the Waterboy would say, "My mo.., my mo.., my mom says to use high quality H2O...

^ That made me laugh lol

~Paul

---

My YT Channel Lsubslimed
... (It's been quite a while since I've posted any new vids)

 

[Fred.Rowe]

I like the PBC anti scale compound from Brownell's Supply. It paints on the metal with a lot of control. I'm using Parks 50 to quench.

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

It has been a while since I've seen you around. You might want to check out my Graham burner. It's a rock solid, simple design that will easily put out 100k BTU. A slight adjustment of the orifice and it scales up to 170k with no problem.

 

[timgunn1962]

I''ve not been on here for a long, long time... but I need a hotter forge (or so I think) and wonder if anyone knows of a webpage or design online for a really good venturi design. Currently this is the one I made years ago and it's still a good forge; just not welding hot:

http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/forge.tutorial.htm

What size are the gas jets in your burners? And do you get much dragons breath with the chokes fully open?

If you are getting a lot of dragons breath, it's a sign of a gas-rich (reducing) flame and going one size smaller on the gas jets will usually get the temperature up (I know it's counter-intuitive, but it's true).

If there's little or no dragons breath, there's usually nothing to be gained by going smaller, but if there's no DB at all, going one size bigger might pick up some temperature.

 

[anvilring]

Thanks for the comments folks...

Fred: those are really nice hamons!

And timgunn, I'll do a quick vid of my forge at full throttle and post it in this thread for assessment.

thanks and regards,
mitch