Photos Forging in the Backyard

S

stwm

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May 6, 2016
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Not bad for my first blade, made completely in the dark, with improvised everything and a dremel. Hoping to finish forging out the handle and heat treat Saturday.
 
Very cool. Let the saga continue. What did that start out as? I thought file but it looks like it was round.
 
Ahhhhhhh. A man after my own heart and obviously from the Land of Make-do. Yes, indeedy. Keep up with the photos. I'll be in my own smithy tomorrow and'll be thinking of you.
 
Thanks a lot Bookie! I might be building a box of dirt forge tomorrow. It was a round file Joe. I felt bad sacrificing it but so be it!
 
Dog ate half my bacon/coconut quench oil ... I didn't thermal cycle or anneal to fix the grains before the quench...and I have a kiln/oven but I didn't use it, I just went above magnetic, let it cool a little, brought it back up, and edge quenched in grease.

It skated a file really well and the tang was still soft.
Tempering 2 or 3 times, 380/400.
 
Do be careful with those files. They are notoriously made unequal (all different kinds of steel) and can easily shatter under a hammer blow if your heat has not been monitored close enough, shatter upon dropping it on concrete if your heat treat is inadequate for the material, and snap during use from overloading it's stability. They're hard to sharpen, but will stay sharp for a long time. Wear an apron at the anvil when pounding. When they shatter, blue jeans or bibs ain't much protection for ye legs! I studied under the smith at Plymouth Colony 30 some years ago and still have problems ever now and then. To da forge! Later.
 
STWM, not to steal your thread, but wanted to share a couple of pics with you from my day at the forge. The wifey said she wanted the garage cleaned up or ELSE. She Who Must Be Obeyed, probably a sister to Ndog's wife, cousins at any rate, gets her way. I needed some "coat hooks" for the garage to hang up things like weed eaters, chain saws, gold prospecting thingies, and the like. All important toys, you understand. So I hopped to it. Rained like cats & dogs, so it was a great time at the forge. Musta burned 60 pound of coal on all my projects. Then I look up and a couple of wandering Missionaries came back to the smithy. They smelled coal burning and the younger one just happens to be studying black smithing, so I let them play in the fire, too. Ended up giving him a DVD of the War Department's blacksmithing TM, dated 1939. It's a pdf file and something every beginner needs to read. SOOPER , sooper, good instruction manual. Any way, here's a pic of what my hooks look like. Made a dozen or so. Coated them with bees wax while they were still warm. Look pretty uniform. Then we let the two youngsters have a go. Told'em I didn't have fire insurance on their bodies, so they was on their own. Had'em each hammer out a colonial meat fork. Actually, they done pretty good. Took'em about an hour and a half to make one. Nice guys, but they didn't git me converted. You ever git close to Corn Patch, stop in and we'll crank up the forge and get dirty. I got a piece of iron with your name on it. Bawanna can come, too. Let him drive. P.S. The large, blackish round thingy in the first pic is a wrought iron rifle barrel been welded from a wagon wheel rim.
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Hey that isn't too bad! I was starting out all 100% knifemaker but now that I've been bit by the blacksmithing bug....it's anybody's game.

I was actually thinking that I wanted to make some hooks. Actually, it would be a -great- idea. I need to get my bikes off the ground and clean up the shop too.

I think I could get a few bucks for some coat hooks, if I could make em! Be just the ticket to finance an angle grinder....

Let me tell you though, yesterday was a score at the estate sale! 1/2 hp craftsman bench grinder from 1975 with a stand! hot dog!
no more dremeling for me!


Bookie can you tell me about what to use for stock? what did you make those hooks out of?

I'm trying to figure out how to make those forks hmm...

Off to google that TM! Thank you War Dept!
 
Man hats off to ya, looking pretty good so far, I will be following this thread man. Cant wait to see more.
 
You gentlemen are my idols, I wish I had more room(and money) to learn how to work steel. It's so cool to see new blades/tools as they take shape!
 
Thanks for posting that link, Steve! That book is worth it's weight in gold.

STWM, I'm pretty much burnt out on knives for while and do get more enjoyment from plain black smithing. Did a "Frankenbowie" for Alan here on the forum a while back. It turned out fairly well, but sure hope he still is happy with it. Think this one was 154 layers. The hooks are made from scraps of hot rolled or cold rolled round stock about 6-7 inches long. Made a tool to sit in the Hardy hole to facilitate making the radii instead of using the horn/bick on the anvil. Saves a lot of hammering. 2 pound ball peen hammer is great for this task. My personal hammer is a 3 lb. straight peen and I let no one use it. It fits me well and is a natural extension of my arm, so I "protect" it. Click on the pics.
Frank Bowie.JPG Next pic is a dagger I gave to Bawanna. !cid_D87DAFA4B72841648823AEB2498E4039@StevenBookout.jpg !cid_23A516143B5A40D0A8817C99C0AC8AA9@StevenBookout.jpg Hirsoulas' book will tell you how to do this and more patterns. Did get me a piece of modern blacksmithing equipment a while back because Bawanna said I needed to catch up with the times. Great hammer, but ain't figured out just what that cord hanging from it is for yet. Boss Hammer .jpg
 
I saw both the Frankenbowie for Alan and of course the dagger that was sent me. Claims it was just sitting in his junk drawer???? Pictures don't do either of them justice.
Both are absolutely breath taking. The dagger was deliberately never sharpened and I will never sharpen it either, I don't want to mess it up.
It hangs proudly in a place of honor on the knife rack and gets lots of comments from everyone that looks.

If I ever get to Corn Patch, I ain't leaving till I get at least one swing with that magical 3lb hammer.
That hammer with the cord does look like something I might think up. My harbor is usually pretty dim for lack of brightness.
 
Seamusgates22 said:
You gentlemen are my idols, I wish I had more room(and money) to learn how to work steel. It's so cool to see new blades/tools as they take shape!
Click to expand...
I appreciate this good will! keep in mind my forge is literally a hole in the ground so don't worry too much about the money!
I stopped myself from getting started for years thinking I needed more equipment. I finally realized you can forge steel with a trash fire in your yard and a strong fan!
 
I appreciate the reference to Hirsoulas book! Might be a bit before I get to do any damascus but I really have the bug for it! Maiden hair and merongivian (sp?) twist really light my fire! A properly etched san-mai like Burt Foster does makes my heart all pitter-patter.... forge welding in my future, for now basic shaping. I hope to make some basic knick-knacky housewares soon to help out the Mrs.! If she is behind the smithing, I truly can't fail! I'm unsure about the proper supplier for the steel for these items. I'm going to look for some larger sized "Bright" nails at the hardware store to try and mess with to make hooks out of.

I'm off to the shop to try out my grinder. my goals are to thin out the profile of the blade and make it cut better. also the clean up the tang. I think my intent is to thin it out and taper it to facilitate insetting into a handle of a hidden tang. It's hard to say if I'll do this or keep it as a naked integral blade, the handle actually is reasonably comfortable.
 
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