Forging advise needed

B

bullet101

Joined
Dec 1, 2003
Messages
267
After seeing some pics of Danbo's new pieces on the custom knife forum today, I got a little enthusiastic and wanted to try my hand at forging again.

It was my fourth try after getting my making my forge and getting the anvil and stuff. My first three efforts were quite discouraging as the "blades" (if you can call those odd shaped things) just didn't wanted to look like the way I wanted them to do. Although there were improvements from blade to blade I was quite surprised how the fourth one today turned out.

All of my 5 or 6 forging experiences, were done on my own ( except two times were I had the help of two more experienced bladesmiths), and were spread across the last one and a half years. So now I'm quite happy that I already able to produce a blade like this.

But I still have some problems in shaping certain things on the blade.
Reading Hrisoulas and others books didn't help me to deal with these specific matters.

So here are the pics:

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Nr.1: At the blade ricasso transition I want a more "immediate" change from the ricasso to the cutting edge. How can I shape it more like "a closer to 90 degree angle" ? Is it because of the used and rounded edges on my anvil, or is it because of the wrong technique?

Just like on Matt's blade in this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=327769

I hope you get the problem, it's a bit diffcult to describe even in my own language :).

Nr.2: How can I forge a clip into one third of the back that is at an angle to the spine, just as the same as on Matt's in the above thread.
Everything I tried leaves me with a lowered point, which is good, but a curved and not angled transition, which is not that good :D.

Nr.3: How do I get out small bents in the back? I got one on this blade near the ricasso. When I forged the bevels, the blade naturally curved towards the back. So afterwards I put the back on the anvil and hammered on the edge. That got out most of the bent, but that little area remained. If I would have hit the edge harde I would have deformed it way too much. So what could I do about it?

Thanks a lot for your answers, I really appreciate your help.

Best regards Marcus

edited to add: In the last pic, the knife looks much smaller in comparison to my fingers then it really is, must be the angle.
 
Marcus,

Here's my forging procedure.

First thing I do is forge a very pointy point on the end of the bar. The point is even with the "edge" side of the bar ___\ like that, except angled farther back. As I draw the material out I continually refine the point. Don't be afraid to really smack the spine, this will "smash" the edge, just alternate between forming the spine and reforming the edge. I also put the clip on the anvil and hit the edge, this also helps shaping the clip.

Dropping the edge is a little tricky, but with some practice you'll get the hang of it. Actually, that bowie wasn't a very good forging for me... I use a 2000 gram French pattern hammer, I put what will be the plunge line on the edge of the anvil, then I "drop" the hammer on the bar. I really don't hit the steel very hard at this point, I don't have enough control. As the forging progresses I will go back and clean up the plunge lines at a very low heat. I take the plunge and butt it up against the edge of the anvil, then I LIGHTLY tap the ricasso.

For cleaning up the spine get a wooden mallet, I use an old axe handle. Put the spine flat on the anvil and smack the edge. You'll definitely have to clean up the edge some, but it will give you a nice straight spine and clip.

Hope that helps, I'll be doing a forging tutorial in a few weeks. Maybe that will clear up some issues.

Matt
 
A few tips to help with the spine problems.Forge the point in first,as Matt said.Curve the whole bar DOWNWARD to allow for it to straighten up as you forge the edge bevel.Keep a 2X4 next to the anvil and when you need to smack the spine do it on the wood,this saves the edge.To hammer from the edge,place the spine on the anvil and smack the edge with a cut off baseball bat ,wooden mallet,or a 2X4.This will flatten the spine nicely.(All of these things are done at forging heat)Square the drop and ricasso as good as you can on the anvil edge,but don't worry about fine detail or perfect 90 degree corners.The shoulders,ricasso,and clip bevels are easiest to do on the grinder.To get a more defined and larger drop at the ricasso,forge back at a 45 degree angle toward the choil.This pushes the steel down and back at the same time.Then go to forging the edge bevel.This takes some practice,but when mastered,allows for massive steel movement without thinning down the ricasso.
 
just a hint,(im not sure if someone already told you this) your blade will look better and forging and clean up will be ALOT easier if you try to grind of all of the file teeth before you start forging. i realize this is a practice blade, but this info is just for future use.
 
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