Forged seax

H

hawkwind

Joined
Oct 26, 2004
Messages
298
While ago Daniel told me : "...go and make yours, it aint that difficult" , well as nobody tells me that kind of thing without me act, I went to a buddy of mine which is swordsmith by trade and asked him for a blade.
As I came to his place it was clear that its not the best idea to want something just about now, because season is running and he is making numbers of swords for stage combat.
He told me :"...hell I m bussy, fire the other forge godam and do it by yourself!" - what I also did.

This is forged and cleaned blade, its 35 cm long, 5 cm wide and 6 mm thick - almost 14´´ long, 2´´ wide and 1/4´´ thick at the spine.

Its roughly cleaned and I m going to heat treat it at my friends place next time.

Daniel - imagine that one with hand rubbed finish and simple wooden, yet carved handle! (No fittings)

Anyway, I want to try diferential hardening on that one - its spring steel. As I cant have satanite - do you guys have any good receipe for clay?

http://sweb.cz/hawkwind/forgedseax.JPG
http://sweb.cz/hawkwind/forgedseax1.JPG

Jaroslav
 
That's great Hawkwind, thanks for sharing. Definitely post pics of the finished product.


~ b
 
Very nice! Dan can confirm this, but I don't think you would need clay to differentially harden this one. Just heat it to the proper temperature, and quench only the edge, moving it forward and back in the quench like you are sawing. After the spine has cooled below the critical temperature, quench the whole thing. Then temper immediately.

What do you think Dan?

Steve
 
Hawkwind, this is very nice indeed! What steel did you use? If you aren't looking for a fancy or wavy transition between the hard and soft you don't need to use clay or satanite. You can do just as ferguson suggests. If it is a deep hardening steel like 5160 or O-1 it is hard to get fancy hamons anyway (not that it can't be done).

Again, very nice and thanks for sharing!

stevo
 
Thanks for kind comments folks.
Its just a kind of springsteel. I have only a czech name which is 14260. Means its carbon and can have as much as 0.6 C.

My friend makes battle ready swords out of it. His pieces are indestructible by means, yet a little heavy. He quenches and heat treat only by collors, using oil.
I saw him to test 3 blades on a piece of chunk 3 inch pipe welded roughly on a piece of steel and fitted on anwil. He just takes finished blade and gives it bad realy bad rap several times. If it holds he considers it good blade.

So I think its good material, simple to work, simple to heat treat and it does its share of work.

Jaroslav
 
So the steel is
C Cr Mo Vn Mn Si Co Cu P Ni W

0,5 0,6 - - 0,7 1,5 - 0,3 0,04 0,5 -

I dont know what kind of is in AISI.

Suppose that hamon would be nice, but if the quench line will be easy achieve, as the kamis do them I ll try this one.

Jaroslav
 
5160 is:
Carbon Chromium Manganese Phosphorus Silicon Sulfur
.55/.65% .60/1.00% .65/1.10% .035 Max% .15/.35% .04 Max%

So yours is very similar. It should make a fine blade. :)

Steve
 
How did you forge in the "sword of shiva" (or whatever you call it)? It looks remarkably straight, as if you used some sort of press.

If you don't care about having a hamon, it would be best to harden the entire blade and then spring temper the spine using a torch. I think this is least likely to cause distortion.

I used to use a generic refractory mortar for doing clay coatings. The "problem" with some high-temperature mortars or clays is just that they don't stay on the blade after you quench it. But this can be solved by wrapping the whole thing with iron wire, to keep the mortar from cracking off. Also, differentially hardening using the clay method will introduce a definite upward or downward curve into the blade, which you may not want.
 
I just used the hammer. I used to smithy some time ago, but as I dont have the place for my forge and anvil, I dont do it anymore. I m also more interested in working with wood than with metal these days. My buddy here was kind enough to let me in his shop and shown me the forging color, so I didnt burned the steel.
The annealing of the spine with torch was actually the method my friend adviced, since he is using it for some items like spearheads and axes, but I would really like to see the line on the blade. :)

Jaroslav
 
This is simple reenactor working blade, good enough for a poor man of almost any epoque. I did it while ago from the same steel. The handle is simpliest piece of hornbeam. He wanted something sturdy and wanted to pry and cut with that piece of steel. It actually came out rather thick, but surprisingly its sharp that it shaves. :)

http://www.sweb.cz/hawkwind/peasantknife.JPG

This is the end of the handle buttcap.

http://www.sweb.cz/hawkwind/peasantknifecap.JPG
 
There are more alloys in it compared to 5160 and other spring steels. Are you sure it's not just a tool steel, or sawblade steel?

Either way, it won't change the fact that higher-alloyed steels have a more faded quench line.

Yours seems to be somewhere between O-1 and L-6. Both are good steels and both will show a quench line with etching. I just finished grinding a few blades today that show the quench line without etching - they are all 10xx series steels (low alloy, high carbon).



The forging work is excellent, by the way. You clearly know your way around the anvil. ;)



He told me :"...hell I m bussy, fire the other forge godam and do it by yourself!" - what I also did.
Click to expand...
I like this guy already.....:D



As Ferguson stated, you don't need the clay. The clay is there for control-freaks (like myself) :p.

Just edge quench it in a long tub filled with oil. Hold it until the flame goes out. You'll need to grab it with tongs perpendicular to the tang to quench this way. Here's a lil' drawing:


attachment.php



When you quench, try your best to hold it still vertically, but move it to-and-fro (slicing motion). This will circulate fresh oil past the blade and help cool it quickly.

Temper it at 375-400 degrees F
 
hawkwind said:
You flatter me. :) Lets wait how it will comes out. I think I might get it done next week.
Click to expand...
Hawk, you deserve flattering!!!! Very, very, nice work! :D
I'd definitely say you have some skill at the godam forge!!!! :D :cool: :D ;)
And with the godam drawknife as well! Your bows are outstanding!!!! :D :cool: :D
 
hawkwind said:
He told me :"...hell I m bussy, fire the other forge godam and do it by yourself!" - what I also did.
Click to expand...

If you make another one and decide that you do not want it, you can send it to me. :)

Very nice and straight, Hawkwind. I can't wait to see the handle.
 
just for giggles...I made a video to show what I mean...


Here ya go:


Hamon Vid (.wmv file ~ 350 Kb)



It's still kind of faint and has to be seen in a reflective light. But it's definitely there. With some more sanding and a light etching, it outta pop out. I used satanite to get the shape I wanted.

Do you have access to any refractory cement? What about pottery clay?

For this blade, I just slapped it on there only a few minutes before I started to heat treat it. Worked fine...better actually (vs. waiting overnight to dry). Less cracking. I'm not a fan of the wire-wrap idea.....(sorry)
 
Aha, its already visible very good! I have pottery clay at hand. The r. cement I can have is prone to cracking, so I rather not use that one.
Thanks for the picture with edge quench, I think that method sounds easiest to me.

Thanks all for kind comments and hints. When this comes out good, I ll try another one. I have permission now to go at my friends place and smithy at will.

He is also interesting character, he gets sometimes into "swordmaking frenzy" and works 36 hours a row. Its definitelly better when I ll go there and stop him time from time, as the psychical condition in which he is after such session isnt very good. He sees things, youll see ...... :)
 
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