hand forging

N

nebben838

Joined
Sep 20, 2020
Messages
6
Hi all,
The names ben and im new to the forum, all the way from Australia. Im wandering if there is any benefit to hand forging (from flat stock) the shape of the knife and the distal taper as apposed to stock removal? Something like taking 1/8 x 2 inch flat bar then drawing out the length, shape and distal taper. I was thinking that if i did it that way then i could keep the forged/blackened look on the top half of the blade which i normally loose when grinding in the distal taper post heat treat. Does it help with grain refinement or anything like that?

Thanks in advance,
Ben.
 
Ben,
Welcome to Shop Talk. Fill out your profile so we know a bit about you and others will know where you live. It will help with better answers in many cases.

Forging's advantage is being able to take a thick and narrow piece of metal and shape it into a thinner and wider blade. Other than that, sock removal is just as good (or better). If you start with 1/8"X2" metal, forging would be a poor choice, unless you just want to put the hammer marks on the upper bevels.

If you want a black/rough forge finish You can grind the blade to shape, put in some distal taper, add a basic bevel (leave the edge thick) and then do the HT. After HT. grind in the bevels to the edge leaving the upper bevels dark and unground. This is often called a Brute-de-Forge finish. On a Japanese style blade, it is called Kuro-uchi.

If you want to put the hammer marks on the blades upper surface, then you can forge them in at a red heat after making the basic profile and then do the HT.

Soaking the blade in sodium bi-sulfate solution (ph-down) will remove the scale but leave the rough metal surface. When the blade bevels are shaped partway, soak in ferric chloride solution for a while to get a good dark color and then finish the bevels so they are bright steel.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Ben,
Welcome to Shop Talk. Fill out your profile so we know a bit about you and others will know where you live. It will help with better answers in many cases.

Forging's advantage is being able to take a thick and narrow piece of metal and shape it into a thinner and wider blade. Other than that, sock removal is just as good (or better). If you start with 1/8"X2" metal, forging would be a poor choice, unless you just want to put the hammer marks on the upper bevels.

If you want a black/rough forge finish You can grind the blade to shape, put in some distal taper, add a basic bevel (leave the edge thick) and then do the HT. After HT. grind in the bevels to the edge leaving the upper bevels dark and unground. This is often called a Brute-de-Forge finish. On a Japanese style blade, it is called Kuro-uchi.

If you want to put the hammer marks on the blades upper surface, then you can forge them in at a red heat after making the basic profile and then do the HT.

Soaking the blade in sodium bi-sulfate solution (ph-down) will remove the scale but leave the rough metal surface. When the blade bevels are shaped partway, soak in ferric chloride solution for a while to get a good dark color and then finish the bevels so they are bright steel.
Click to expand...

Very informative. Thank you. This might seem like a stupid question but can you darken stainless steel in Ferric chloride?
 
Yes, a little bit. However, the whole point of stainless is that it does not stain/oxidize. Muriatic acid will give it a dark grayish look that works better.
 
Muriatic acid then follow that up with a ferric chloride soak and that should get you darker. That’s a process you see on stainless Damascus.
 
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