Forging close to finished shape

[nc_cooter]

Earlier this week someone asked how close I forged to finished shape. My answer was that I try to get pretty close. He replied " close as in hand grenades or atomic bombs". I had never really thought about it that much.
I forged a full tang blade to day and decided to measure it in a few places. I wanted about a 4" blade with 9"oal and about 1 1/8" wide. Started with a 1/4"x3/4"x6" piece of Aldo"s 1084.
I ended up with a 9 1/4"oal and a 4 1/4" blade that was 1 1/4" at it's widest.
I forged a distal taper on the blade and a taper on the handle.
The first pic shows the thickness as indicated. The second pic is a shot of the top, showing the taper.
I'll post more pics with measurements after grinding.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

I am more fond of forging than I am of grinding, which inspires me to make the most of my time spent on the anvil, with hammer.

Grinding is work where forging is a fun filled challenge.

I can see you enjoy your time spent there also.

Fred

 

[redneckswami]

I agree with Fred - forging is, for me at least, the funnest part of making knives. I also forge my blades to shape, and minimize the amount of grinding that needs to be done - I try to keep it limited to cleanup only. Nice looking forging, by the way:thumbup:

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The grinding bench is stacked with blades I forged, and have yet to make myself grind. The forge will get lit even when the temp is 98F outside.

Forging to shape is the skill, art, and enjoyment of knife making to me. I taper the bar, shape the blade, and try and refine the basic shapes and areas to the proportions that will be required. I do not get OCD over it, though. I leave enough to grind the blade smooth and shape it cleanly.

Stacy

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Mike, that seems like it's going to be a mighty thin blade when you get through with cleaning it up. No? What about decarb?

 

[JTknives]

The grinding bench is stacked with blades I forged, and have yet to make myself grind. The forge will get lit even when the temp is 98F outside.

Forging to shape is the skill, art, and enjoyment of knife making to me. I taper the bar, shape the blade, and try and refine the basic shapes and areas to the proportions that will be required. I do not get OCD over it, though. I leave enough to grind the blade smooth and shape it cleanly.

Stacy

I am with stacy on this one, the forging part is the fun part. not that the other stuff is not fun its just forging is more funner if thats a word .

 

[nc_cooter]

Here's a pic after grinding, HT and tempering. I did a short soak in vinegar and scrub with steel wool. Blade is 4 1/4" , 9"oal and 1"wide.
Farmer Phil mentioned decarb. I use a muffle pipe in the forge for HT and there is almost no scale or decarb. The pipe gives a more even heat to the blade and I put a couple of small pieces of hard wood in the pipe to eliminate the 02.