Forging my first knife

S

stefanj

Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
748
I am working on a railroad spike that I picked up at Camp Shelby.
The forge is a home made contraption which works ok for forging (I really have nothing to compare it to). The anvil is a Star aka American Star which I picked up for $65. Most of the work is done by hand with a file, I did some grinding with a benchgrinder (stone) which doesn't work so well with the old stone on it. I also used a belt sander which I flipped upside down! It is slightly anoying holding down the button while trying to do some grinding! The majority of the work was with a couple of files (I reallize how much of a lack of patience I have/how much time I don't have as the resultof my work).
The knife with the handle was a stock removal, its design is not very good (thanks DOS XX's). Either way it is my first knife and the railroad spike is my first forged knife (not complete). I plan on doing a hidden tang and am looking for a stag handle.
Yes, my stuff is not comparable to anything any of you have made or make but this is mine:D
So newb's with NO patience like me here you go!:D
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I need to actualy make a stand for my anvil!! OH MY how my forearms felt after beating that spike with the anvil on the gound like that (I was hammering a spike cold the day prior just to see what I could do cold for ignorance sake (SP?)which really made for a good forearm workout).
 
Looks like you got a fair amount of patience to me. Definitely get your anvil and forge off the ground and at an appropriate working height. Just by doing that simple step you'll improve your work by over 100% the very first time you use them setup properly.

There are kind of easy anvil bases you can make out of framing lumber that don't require welding.

Here's one from 2x4's.
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Here's another from 2x12's. I've made two of these and just used 2x2 to frame it so could hang hammers in the spaces.
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I applaud your knives and smithing efforts. You might want to refrain from cold forging on your anvil. Anvils often dent that way. The surface of your's looks already beat up some, better not add any more. Good score, by-the-way. From the tone of your post I thought you were older and bigger than you are in the photo holding the knife?! Keep it up, be safe and let us know how it goes.
 
Good luck and welcome to the world of forging! A hint - railroad spikes can, according to some folks, actually be hardened in a brine (do a search for Super Quench). Easy to make from household kitchen items. Whatever you do with it, remember to have fun:D
 
The link posted by Sharp Newbie is one of those Don't Believe Everything You Read On The Internet" subjects. I would like to see Kevin's take on the article.


Make and anvil stand, ASAP.
Make a wedge of wood to lock the sander in the on position. Use a foot switch (Harbor Freight) to turn it on and off. Grinding one handed may end up making you one handed.

Have Fun !
Stacy
 
Thanks everybody!
My sander (bought it to finish the deck on my old house up at Fort Campbell) is soooooo slow that the dwarf you see in the pictures could safely handle it (no, I'm still not going to let him do it).

Good idea for an anvil stand and looks easy to make (thanks for the easy button).
 
and my second knife! I burned up most of the propane in my tank this evening just messing around! This is the rail road spike that you see in the very first picture with the curve in it.
I think I'll get a grinder (maybe one from Sears or HF since I am on a budget).
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I still need to make a mount for my anvil and forge.
I have a lot of hammer marks to grind out! The other blade I forged I did a little more hammering on (after filing and sanding) which left some hammer marks so I need to file and sand all over again! Reason why I did it was that I noticed that it looked a little crooked (it was).
 
All I have to say is that hand filing and hand sanding sucks!!!
I obviously am lacking in time available(Army keeps me busy) and patience.
A bunch of file work and sand paper later (and its still not looking good) is a big improvement!
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I have some more sanding work to do but other then that the knife fits in the hand nicely!
I ordered some W2 so I need to get a grinder since filing thatstuff like I did this spike would really suck!
I finaly made a stand for my anvil (a little late). I hope you enjoymy second knifeb(still haven't finished my first).

Thanks
 
Good stuff Stefan :)

Forging is extremely addictive... so is getting the tools to do it more/faster/better/bigger etc. :D

Keep it up!!! :D :cool:
 
Looking good! If anything you'll have the only kurki (however you spell it) letter opener on post :D Concentrate on keeping the hammer face flat, a lot of the extra work you're having to do is from the edge of the hammer biting into the steel. Either hit it a little easier so you have better control, go to a smaller hammer or choke up and put your thumb on the back of the hammer handle (can cause some wrist injuries though.)

I love forging and getting better tools to forge with, working on getting the high end hammers now :D
 
I finaly made a stand for my anvil! I orderd some W2 so shortly I should be testing it out! I polished the blade some more with the last grit being 2000 (yes 2000). As I wrote before sanding and filing as much as I had done is not soooooo much fun. I think investing in a grinder might be worth my while especially since I'm looking at working some W2.
Here are some pictures which didn't turn out so well. To get some better pictures I needed to not use the flash and use a tripod which I didn't do so of course some of my pictures turned out blury.
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The dwarf didn't like the flash!
 
Good start. I have not seen a forward curve knife like the cookrey (spelling) made from a spike before. If your looking for spikes also look for the modern spring clips. The older ones that replaced the spikes a like a hair clip but made from 20 x 8 mm flat bar they make a nice little knife as it is spring steel. The more modern still clips look more like a paper clip but 20mm rod also spring. I just made myself a 300mm long by 32 spear point bowie.

Just in case I hope you are annealing (making the metal soft) after forging before you sand or file. To anneal when you have finished forging let the spike become red hot and soak the heat for a couple of minutes then shut off the heat. and let the spike slowly cool down with the forge. When cold it should be soft enough to file or hack saw. That is a rough as guts way to do it but do-able with your level of equipment. Remember the fire scale on the surface is very hard and will blunt your files quickley. try to get the fire scale off before you use the liles.
 
Reg ELLERY said:
Good start. I have not seen a forward curve knife like the cookrey (spelling) made from a spike before. If your looking for spikes also look for the modern spring clips. The older ones that replaced the spikes a like a hair clip but made from 20 x 8 mm flat bar they make a nice little knife as it is spring steel. The more modern still clips look more like a paper clip but 20mm rod also spring. I just made myself a 300mm long by 32 spear point bowie.

Just in case I hope you are annealing (making the metal soft) after forging before you sand or file. To anneal when you have finished forging let the spike become red hot and soak the heat for a couple of minutes then shut off the heat. and let the spike slowly cool down with the forge. When cold it should be soft enough to file or hack saw. That is a rough as guts way to do it but do-able with your level of equipment. Remember the fire scale on the surface is very hard and will blunt your files quickley. try to get the fire scale off before you use the liles.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about trying out some springs from a car or truck sometime.
I haven't tried annealing. I think I'll have a go at it next time around! Thanks for the info!


Stefan
 
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