made a sword yesterday (not forged though)

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Go for it! Don't let anyone stop you from making what you want to, and hey, it's not like you're not going to learn from the projects that you make. I bet you learned a lot from this one, and if you like it, that's the important thing.
 
if it was a single piece of steel, I'd love it, but the welded pieces make me too nervous. Next time you make one, try to get a piece of steel stock large enough that you don't have to weld it and you'll have a very nice blade
 
BePrepared said:
if it was a single piece of steel, I'd love it, but the welded pieces make me too nervous. Next time you make one, try to get a piece of steel stock large enough that you don't have to weld it and you'll have a very nice blade
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buy me one and heat treat it for me and ill do that. everyone is still missing the point of this project. i didnt make it for you and im not trying to sell this to you. 1095 is almost free, a 72 inch strip thats 2 inches wide and 3/16ths thick is 17-21 bucks. if i had two pennies to rub together i could get some. but i currently am using stuff i already have so i dont have to spend money.

and again, a proper weld doesnt break, the other steel will. i didnt perfectly weld this one because i am just a hobbyist learn by doing it welder so there are some small pockets i didnt hit, but all i gotta do is go back and weld them.

i also get nervous about a weld holding or not but thats another purpose of this project is so i can go use it and it holds together showing its strong enough. the only structure problem with this sword is the steel is too hard. that is it.
 
Regarding the welding: with mild steel, the weld Is stronger than the steel. With alloyed steel, there will be problems with grain growth in the welded areas, inconsistent temper, and this steel is air hardening, so the welded areas will have areas of full hardness surrounded by overannealed boundaries. I'm not saying don't play with the steel you have, but be mindful of the limitations. Inspect the blade frequently, and I would be cautious re: letting anyone else use it. BTW, what filler rod did you use? I have been trying to learn more about alloy steel welding.
 
Since the budget is low, a dirt cheap way to temper the blade back a bit is to take 2 pieces of steel, mild is fine, heat them up to a dull red in a fire or with a torch. Sandwich your blade between the two pieces once they get just below red in a fire or with a torch. The slow cool will heat your blade and hold the temp for a while as the sandwich cools. Repeat until no longer chippy.

Option 2, make a tray with sand in it. Heat it with a fire pit and bury the blade in sand. Repeat as needed.
 
Still pretty darn cool. I wish I could do that. I could almost hear the opening theme to Conan as I looked through your pics. :D
 
Also, I almost forgot, that flex you demonstrated with it, for a blade of that length and size I wouldn't personally WANT much more than that! you wouldn't want to be wielding it, look down the blade and have a "droopy tip".
 
M.FREEZE said:
POSTS:2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 22....
Rough crowd.

Sword snobs?
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i know right? im just trying to share my hobby, i mean...Maybe i should make the top all "this is a katana forged from the black sand of japans greatest mountain heated with dragons breath fire forged by mjolnir and thor and then stabbed into the chest of the emporer for final quench, and i want a ton of money for it" and then the critiques would seem milder
 
Wire feed? I changed my mind..........that thing could break at any time!
 
Derek Bergstrom said:
i know right? im just trying to share my hobby, i mean...Maybe i should make the top all "this is a katana forged from the black sand of japans greatest mountain heated with dragons breath fire forged by mjolnir and thor and then stabbed into the chest of the emporer for final quench, and i want a ton of money for it" and then the critiques would seem milder
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Don't get me wrong man. I get that you made it for yourself. If you are happy with it, that's all that matters. I am simply commenting on my own preferences. I like some things, and some things i don't. The shape, the rough utility, the length, the handle... i like those things. I have trouble trusting a blade that's welded, but that's MY opinion based on what little I know of heat treating and blade flex.
 
I have watched this thread with interest and started to post a couple times, but held off.
Rough Crowd - Not really. Just people wanting to keep you healthy and help you learn about knife/sword making.


This project may have been fun, and it probably cost you nothing, but that is what it is worth, too.

Learning more about welding is a must if you plan on welding things like knives.
Learning a lot more about what happens in steel when it is heated and welded is equally important.

While some may have posted that it was a cool sword and a good job, I can't join them. It could break unpredictably, and could severely injure you or someone else. The metallurgy of welding fully hardened D-2 is pretty complex, but suffice to say that without a full re-doing of the HT it is severely zoned and dangerous. If you chop on stuff harder than cardboard with that sword you are really being foolish.
This project if made from a bar of 1060-1095 and properly heat treated would have been perfectly fine.


I am not being a sword snob, or trying to ruin your thread...just being realistic .... and hoping you stay safe. That should be what all the folks on Bladeforums want for the new members.
 
You are all missing the entire point of why i did this. seriously. am i demoing it as tough and awesome and functional? NO. its something i wanted to just make and make it i did so i sensed a now robbed feeling of accomplishment. Why dont you go to a flintknapper and tell him"thats brittle and needs to be a solid piece of 1060-1095"? tell me why? its not art, its not for the fun of it, its not functional within a limited boundries of common sense just JUST LIKE EVERY PHYSICAL OBJECT EVER MADE. so tell them not to enjoy it or look at it because flint or stone or bone is inferior to steel and screw why they orignally made it.

i thought bladeforums was a place for hobbyists to experiment but as usual you hypocrites are demanding perfection out of everything for an impossibly low price and its all about you and your opinions.thread closed.
 
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