Grinding vs. forging

J

Jason Fry

Joined
Jun 5, 2008
Messages
3,224
After grinding three drop point hunter stick tangs out of 3/16 stock, I'm reminded why knives of that shape and construction are usually forged. PITA to grind them from bar stock.

And you thought I was going to say something about edge packing...
 
Other than me just being annoyed at spending so much time grinding, this post doesn't have much real point. Forged vs. stock ends up with equal knives if the heat treat is done right. I don't have a saw, but do have an angle grinder that's pretty helpful.

As far as one better than the other from a materials standpoint, you can save steel by forging. You can start with thicker stock and thin it down. You can draw out the tang and you can forge in distal taper. For me personally I've got a charcoal forge and have forged maybe a dozen blades, whereas I've ground 215 or so. I'm usually alot more efficient on the grinder, just because of practice.

May have to take you up on that, Jason. I've got a few forging projects I've been putting off. Some 1958 Ford leaf spring, a spring off a trailer that I got off the lake bottom in front of my great-grandparents' ranch, and a buggy spring from central Tx, and a tine off a farm implement from my other greatgrandparent's farm. Not as predictable as 1084 from Aldo, but a little more interesting.
 
Here's the "Not Forged Hunter" that resulted in the rant a few weeks ago. I haven't fired up the forge in nearly two years, but I still like to make a stick tang hunter once in a while. This blade is 3/16 1080 carbon steel at 60 RC, shaped by stock removal. The guard is brass (nice fit!) and the contoured handle is some good striped cocololo.

100_5404.jpg


100_5412.jpg


100_5417.jpg


100_5413.jpg


100_5408.jpg
 
Very Nice.. I am getting ready to try my first stick tang hunter just like that. I will be forging it though. Nice clean job !
 
bikermikearchery said:
Its just more fun to beat the hell out of a piece of red hot steel.
Click to expand...

i can see that, id like to get into it... maybe. but when you see all the equipment people have your talking $$$$. it seem more of an art than stock removal. i have a lot of respect for all the forgers out there, and im kinda jealous. i guess you can do it with a fire, anvil and hammer though?? but still, it seems like i never have enough money.
 
I love forging for the artistic freedom it gives me. I am not limited to stock size and there is a lot less wasted steel. Do I forge all the time? No. Does it make a better knife? Not necessarily. Good knifemakers make good knives because they care. There are many ways to get there.
 
Last edited:
For me a small knife is faster to just grind, big blades are just faster to forge.... Doesn't have to be expensive to start forging, you just have to understand that forging on a sledgehammer head in a bucket of concrete isn't as easy as forging on a nice anvil.
 
Will Leavitt said:
For me a small knife is faster to just grind, big blades are just faster to forge.... Doesn't have to be expensive to start forging, you just have to understand that forging on a sledgehammer head in a bucket of concrete isn't as easy as forging on a nice anvil.
Click to expand...

I know that name...great to see you posting here, Will. Too many of the old guard have wandered away the last couple of years and the absence is notable.
 
Rick Marchand said:
I love forging for the artistic freedom it gives me. I am not limited to stock size and there is a lot less wasted steel. Do I forge all the time? No. Does it make a better knife? Not necessarily. Good knifemakers make good knives because they care. There are ways to get there.
Click to expand...

How much steel you waste depends on more than just the method you use to consume it. I wast VERY little steel. What gets cut off of a billet for big knives goes into making miniatures, guards, pommels and the like. It's one of the ways I keep myself insane.
 
I did only stock removal for over 20 years because I could not see why someone would spend the extra time, effort and expense to forge. About 5 years ago I took a week-end blacksmith class at our local arts and crafts school and did I get hooked! Forging is fun and it gives the knife maker a lot more flexibility with design. Here is one I just finished. So try that with stock removal:D

2-2-13_2.jpg2-2-13_4.jpg
 
I like forging but personally have found it to be more useful for making fittings and tooling than for making blades. This is based on both the types of knives I make, and my forging skills, or lack thereof. If I made a lot of curved blades, or had a more free-form style, forging would make a lot more sense for me. If I were better with a hammer, that might change the picture somewhat as well. If I were bent on making my own damascus, it would obviously be a major priority.

For making blades of the more common variety, however, or for achieving a specific design, I find that stock removal is inherently more accurate than forging, and a bandsaw and a 2hp grinder to be more than a match for my arm and a 3lb hammer for speed. Straightening a forged blade is a skill in and of itself and can be a time consuming process that, for me at least, more or less negates any time that forging might save over grinding to shape.

Having said that, it can be marvelously useful for certain things, and it is a lot of fun in it's own right, whether you are making a blade or a guard or a pair of tongs. The flowing tapers and organic curves that forging lends itself to seem intuitive rather than calculated, which is not easy to achieve when your mind is forced to work within rectangular dimensions. Not to mention how hard it would be to do a twist by stock removal-that particular feature belongs to smiths almost exclusively (casting is cheating).
 
I think the big advantage comes when you are set up to do both. Another good point (that Lloyd already made) is that stock removal IS an integral part of bladesmithing, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top