Found a smithy, now I need literature

[87seph]

Hey all,

I recently found a blacksmithing guild in my area. The group is great, and I'm sure I'll learn all the basics I need, however I would like to focus on bladesmithing. Are there any books or kits that provide stock-to-polish instructions?

Thanks for the help, this forum is wealth of info.

V/r,
-Mike

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Start by filling out your profile. It would help immensely knowing where you are and your age.

There are many good books on forging knives.....most are listed in the stickys.

Not cheap, but "The Complete Bladesmith" is one of the best.

Here is a beginners tutorial I wrote a good while back:
I use hammers from 1.5# to 4# for general forging. The two you will use most are a 2.5# to 3# general blacksmiths hammer, and a 2# cross pein. Don't start too heavy. Shorten the handles to about 12-14 if they are long.Sand the butt to a smooth edge.The handle should have a good feel in the hand. If the handle is not comfortable, you will never control it. While a general purpose hammer (ball pein,engineers, etc.) will work to start with, remember that blacksmith hammers are designed to do the job precisely.A good forging hammer will cost less than $50. So a pair of hammers and a box jaw tongs will set you back about $150 total. Centaur Forge ( http://www.centaurforge.com/ ),and Tom Clark at Ozark School ( http://www.ozarkschool.com/ ) are good suppliers. I like the Tom Tongs. When you get some hammer experience, and are ready to purchase a couple of new hammers, the Hoffi hammers, designed by Uri Hoffi, are superb ( but a bit pricey).
Make sure the metal is at the right temperature. Just "getting it red" is not necessarily hot enough. It should be at a forging temperature, which for "Carbon Steel", is probably between 1600F and 2100F.That is between a reddish -orange and an orangish-yellow (here is a visual chart, http://www.beautifuliron.com/usingthe.htm ) Don't "push" the hammer hard. Let it be guided and controlled by the arm , not propelled by the shoulder. Set the work area (anvil, forge, hammers ,etc.) so you can stand comfortably on a firm, level, and uncluttered surface. You should not be bending or hunching to forge. The hammer should hit the steel so the shock does not transfer to your body. The anvil surface should be about at knuckle to wrist height when you stand next to it (this varies from smith to smith somewhat, but is a good starting guideline). Tongs are great ( necessary for some jobs) to do a lot of forging, but when learning, use an 18" to 24" bar of steel and a leather glove on the work hand ( the one holding the bar).I will save you a lesson that we all learn soon - Never get the work glove wet. It will conduct the heat directly to your hand and burn you!!! To start with, don't use a forging hand glove. You will need to learn the feel of the hammer and build up some control technique (the callouses will come on their own).I use a forging glove, somewhat like a batting glove. It covers my palm and supports the wrist a bit. Learn without one first, then decide if you want one later.
Practice for control and process.In masons terms - Don't try to build a house in one day, lay a few bricks at a time, checking with the square and level as you go. To a smith that means to do a forging session, take a look at the work done and see what went well and what didn't. A good training technique I use to teach is this:

Take four bars of 24X1X1/4" steel.
1) Take the first bar and hammer it with the forging hammer till it is 1/8" thick, starting from one end and going to the middle.It should have become wider and longer. Look at how the bar is shaped. Is it all twisted and bumpy? Or is it smooth and fairly straight. Study it for at least 15-30 minutes.Maybe run a file over the surface to see how deep some of those dings are ( do this on each of the four exercises).Now do the other half and try to correct the problems encountered on the first end. Improved? Maybe???
2) Next, take another bar and ,using the cross pein, draw it out from the center to one end, making it 1/8" thick by 1" wide. It should be longer, but not much wider. How does it look? See where you have room to improve and do the other half.
3) Take a new bar and, starting at the end and stopping at the center, bevel the bar until it is a 2" wide wedge. It should be a fairly smooth flat taper from spine to edge. Evaluate it.Now do the other end.
4) Take the last bar and taper it from the center toward the end making it longer and being 1/4" at the center and an edge at the end. (This is called a distal taper, BTW). It should end up a long 1" wide chisel. After examination, do the other end.

What you have learned here is the four processes that are involved in making a knife,.......without trying to make a knife.

Now you are ready to take a new bar of the same steel. Cut the end at a 45 degree angle to pre-form the point ( You will need to learn about fish lips later, but for now cut the point). Start at the point and round off the general tip shape. Now set the bar edge on the anvil edge, about 3" back from the tip. The blade edge part should be off the anvil with the handle part above the face, with the bar at a 30 degree angle to the face. Strike the spine area to make a big dent on the edge area .Straighten and smooth things up a bit. This will mark the end of the blade edge. Now, using the horn, curve the "blade" DOWN into the reverse of a skinning knife. This is to allow the blade to straighten back up as you forge the bevels and tapers in. - believe me, it will straighten.) Starting about an inch forward of the notch, draw the edge out wider to start the bevel. As you go toward the tip, taper the blade ,too. This will make it longer and wider. The end result should be a blade about 1.25" wide and 4" long. You will move the bevel back toward the notch a bit as you go, which is why you started an inch away - to allow for the ricasso getting smaller as you reforged and refined the bevel. The ricasso should end up about 1/2 to 3/4".Clean up the shape of the blade until you like the general look. You aren't looking for a finished blade yet, just a finished shape.
Cut the knife from the bar about four inches from the blade notch. Shape up the tang ( This is where you will need tongs), keeping it as smooth and flat as possible ( Tapered tangs are a thing you will learn about later, but avoid now), and clean up the blade . You can always grind/ file the details later, so as said before, "Quit while you still have a knife." If the knife looks something like a hunting knife, you have done all right. Grind and file it to smooth the surfaces and refine the profile....How much more did you have to remove?? A lot??? Next time make the hammering smoother and the surfaces flatter.

Make three more (each on a different day - yes a different day!) ,and see how each one improves. Heat treat the best one and finish the knife. Take the others, drill one small hole in the tang, and nail them over the shop door. Every time you finish a blade and are leaving the shop, look up at those and see where you have improved.

BTW, all forging steps were at forging heat, never cold or just red.

 

[12345678910]

I agree the Jim H books are the best bladesmith books I know of.

There are videos too.
I have links to book previews and lots of basic info here.





I've put this together to answer most of a new maker’s questions. I'm sure it will help you too.

The Standard Reply to New Knifemakers V18

The answer to a 13 year old student is different than to a 40 year old engineer.
We may recommend a local supplier, you may have a helpful neighbour, or local Hammerin; but that depends on where you are. We have members worldwide.
Please fill out your profile with your location (Country, State, City), age, education, employment, hobbies.

Look at the threads stickied at the top; many are expired, but not all.

The basic process in the simplest terms
Absolute Cheapskate Way to Start Making Knives-Printable PDF-Right Click and Save
Absolute Cheapskate Way to Start Making Knives-Website


Web Tutorials
Detailed instructions by Stacy E. Apelt

The Things I Advise New Knife Makers Against-Printable PDF

Handle Tutorial - Nick Wheeler-PDF

http://www.engnath.com/manframe.htm

Books
A list of books and videos

BladeForums - E-books or Google books


I like:
David Boye-Step by Step Knifemaking
Tim McCreight-Custom Knifemaking: 10 Projects from a Master Craftsman
These are clear, well organized, widely available and inexpensive too.

Knife Design:

Think thin. A paring knife slices, an axe splits.
Forget swords, Saw-tooth spines, guthooks, crazy grinds and folders for your first knife.

Start with a drawing.
Show it to us, we love to see and comment on photos.
Then make a cardboard cutout template & draw in handles, pins and such
Then make it in wood, paint sticks are free & close to the right size.
Play with that and see if it “feels right”. If it feels right it usually “looks right“

See the Google books thread for Lloyd Harding drawings, the Loveless book & Bob Engnath Patterns. Google books thread

Bob Engnath Patterns compiled into a PDF


Forging Books:
Lorelei Sims-The Backyard Blacksmith
An excellent modern book with colour photos for forging in general - no knifemaking.

Jim Hrisoulas- has 3 books on forging knives. Check for the cheaper paperback editions.
The Complete Bladesmith: Forging Your Way to Perfection
The Pattern-Welded Blade: Artistry in Iron
The Master Bladesmith: Advanced Studies in Steel

Machine Shop Basics -Books:
Elementary Machine Shop Practice-Printable PDF

The Complete Practical Machinist-Printable -1885-PDF
Right Click and save link as.
It’s being reprinted now; you can get it for $20 ish

The $50 knife Shop
It confused me for a long time.
Forging is NOT necessary; you can just file and grind to create a knife (stock removal)

Forget the Goop Quench.
Use commercial quench oil & match oil speed to the steel type; even grocery store canola oil works much better.

Junkyard steels require skill and experience to identify the steel and heat treat it properly.
You can buy proper steel like 1084FG from Aldo very cheaply.

I like cable damascus, but that advanced project has no place in a beginner’s book.

The grinders are the best thing about this book, but there is a huge amount of info for 2x72” belt grinders on the web, including free plans.

Forget about Lawnmower blades and start with a new known steel type.
Good heat treating needs accurate temperature control and full quench.

Videos

Heat Treating Basics Video-downloadable
Right click and save this. Watch it once a day for 10 days.

Safety-video
Right click and save this. Watch it once a day for 10 days.

Many specific how to knifemaking videos are available, some are better than others.

The best overall Knifemaking video I have seen is
“Steve Johnson-Making a Sub-Hilt Fighter”

Basic Bladesmithing
"Ed Caffrey - Basic Bladesmithing-Full DVD-ISO"

The best video on leather sheath making for beginners that I have seen is
“Custom Knife Sheaths -Chuck Burrows - Wild Rose”
-(Paul Long has 2 videos, his sheath work & videos are fantastic, but more advanced-with machine stitchers..)

Green Pete's Free Video
Making a Mora bushcraft knife, stock removal, hand tools, neo tribal / unplugged heat treat.
"Green Pete" posted it free using torrent files.
Be sure to look at the other titles too-The account index has disappeared, but search for LOTS of info. Use the keywords “LurkerLurker torrent” “knifemakerC torrent” and others
Greenpete Knifemaking Basics-on TPB

How to download that video
http://www.utorrent.com/help/guides/beginners-guide

You can see a list of videos and reviews at this rental company; some are worth buying, some renting…
http://smartflix.com/store/category/9/Knifemaking

Draw Filing Demonstration
YouTube video -Draw Filing-for a flat finish

Steel
The “welding steel” at Home Depot / Lowes… is useless for knives.

If you send out for heat treating, you can use
Oil quenched O1, A2,
Or air quenched CM154, ATS34, CPM154, 440C, plus many others.

If you want to heat treat yourself with minimal equipment, find some Eutectoid steel.
1084FG sold by Aldo Bruno is formulated for Knifemaking, Cheapest & made for DIY heat-treat.
http://njsteelbaron.com/
Phone # 862-203-8160

1095 is a good carbon steel, but a bad choice for a beginner with limited equipment.
1095 needs very precise temperature control and proper fast quench oil Like Parks 50 or Houghton K Kevin Cashen - 1095 - hypereutectoid steel


You can find a list of suppliers here

Heat Treating
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9143684&postcount=7

You can send blades out for heat treating at $10 or $15 per blade for perfect results, and avoid buying the equipment.

Air Hardening Stainless Steel Only
Buck Pau Bos -Be sure to check the Shipping and Price tabs.
http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?event=bio.paulBos#
http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/privacy.php#services

Oil Hardening Carbon Steels and Air Hardening Stainless Steel
http://www.petersheattreat.com/cutlery.html
http://www.knifemaker.ca/ (Canadian)


Grinder / Tools

In my opinion, variable speed and a small wheel attachment are essential .
You can almost always improve tracking with more belt tension. It needs to be way tighter than youfirst think.

Hand Tools
You can do it all by hand with files and abrasive cloth like the Green Pete video.
Photo of a nice bevel filing jig

Entry Level Grinders
Many makers start with the Sears Craftsman 2x42 belt grinder

Low Speed Modification Craftsman 2x42 belt grinder


Commercial Production 2 x 72” Belt Grinder Reviews
http://www.prometheanknives.com/shop-techniques-3/grinders
http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCKnifeMakingGrinders.htm

Mapp arm – Grinder Toolrest


DIY 2 x 72” Belt Grinders

KMG Clone Free Plans
http://www.dfoggknives.com/PDF/GrinderPlans.pdf

NWG No Weld Grinder
http://www.usaknifemaker.com/plans-for-the-no-weld-grinder-sander-nearly-50-pages-p-723.html

EERF Grinder (EERF =“Free” backwards)
http://wilmontgrinders.com/EERFGrinder.aspx
http://blindhogg.com/blueprints.html

Buy the kit
http://polarbearforge.com/grinder_kit.html

What Belts to buy?
http://www.usaknifemaker.com/abrasive-belt-basics-what-kind-should-i-buy-p-1393.html


Safety Equipment
Protect your -Eyes, Ears, Fingers, and Lungs – remove jewellery and put on safety gear.

Respirators
Chronic lung disease and cancer really suck the joy out of life.
The minimum I would consider are the 3M 7500 and North 7700 silicone half masks with a P100 Filter.
Use a VOC & P100 combo cartridge for protection against acetone and solvents.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=788837
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=726309



Searching
Search works for ALL users, even unpaid users.
Try it, I’ll bet you’re not the first to ask the question here

This is a special Google page that searches BF only.
http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra

V18 Edited links August 25, 2011.