My 1st Fully Forged Knife

Greg Covington

Greg Covington

Joined
Oct 28, 1999
Messages
1,563
Hey guys,

After 10 years of stock removal and some "semi-forging" I finally bought a gas forge and started in.

I forged this knife yesterday morning out of a bar of 1084. I forged it to about 75% of the shape and then ground it to within 1/16 of finished.

For the heat treat, I brought it up slowly to non magnetic in the forge and quenched in a "Goodard's Goop" quenchant. I performed this three times. It was edge quenched only.

I then tempered it for three 1 hour cycles at 375F.

I did the finish grind today and then gave it a flex test and a brass rod test....it passed both.

All the rest went pretty quick.

Observation: Forging to shape saved me about 60% less time at the grinder. I also think the edge is much nicer that the stock removal knives I have made. I chopped thru two old 2X4's and it did not affect it at all.

<img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1188191&a=8751727&p=51204305&Sequence=0&res=high>
 
Beautiful knife. I've forged a number of them now but to be honest, none have come out as nice as yours.
 
Oooooh, that's pretty :) :) :)

I like that!!! Great lines and overall aesthetics...and beautiful stag to boot. Thanks for sharing.



Nick
 
WOW:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
That is awesome...Plain simple elegance can be so pretty sometimes. What are the specs on this one...What kind of steel did you use ?
It sounds like we have another Hammer Man Hooked on the fire and anvil now.
Bruce
 
Nice work! There is something sexy about a newly finished forged knife. Love that style.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys!

The blade length is just a hair under 7" and it is 1/4" thick.

I don't know if the triple quench is necessary but it was so easy to do that it was no problem at all.

Sure cuts good though.
 
Here is a pic of it after it came out of the multiple edge quench...prior to tempering. Note how the scale flaked off the area that was hardened.

I thought it might be of interest to someone here to see.

<img src=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1188191&a=8751727&p=51234648&Sequence=0&res=high>
 
It's a real beauty alright! Nice stag and great lines. When you've done 1084 by the stock removal method has the heat treat been as effective?
 
Very Nice Xrayed :eek:

Is that a swedge on the back or is it light in the photo. Nice Very clean blade !! Your a part time maker !?!?!?

Look at Pj tomes and his knives have a similar simplicity that is stunning.

If I had to be a critic ..... goodness dont you hate those ..... I have little use for 1/4 in steel. The clean straight forward blade and heat treat that you describe screams for a thinner more flexible feel.

Disclaimer
This is my most humble opinion and is based on photo and description.

Beautiful work
Alex
 
Boriqua:

Yes it is a swedge....very slight one.

My use of 1/4 and 5/16 stock comes from having made so many knives for military friends. They all wanted to have a knife that would be a chopper but also do light chores. I have almost always added a few extra "taters" to the thickness.

Since I am relatively new to forging I have yet to experiment with thinner stock. I want to make small smaller utility knives of 5160 and 1084 at about 5/32 thickness.

Fountainman: This is the first time I have used 1084. I have used O1, 5160, and L6 pretty regularly. Any forged blade that I have owned has had a tangible feel to the actual cutting edge. I know that this is open to all kinds of argument but it is my observation. The edge seems finer and "stickier". I noticed this on the Bagwell's and Caldwell's that I own...when compared to the stock removal blade of my own. This forged knife now has that "feel"....maybe it is just my imagination, but I have heard it from others too. Regardless, this blade cuts so nice that I hope they all come out this way!

I forged this first one with a combo of advice from Bagwell, Fowler, Goddard, Hrisoulas, and Tai Goo. This was either from personal conversation or the books.

Thanks for the compliments!
 
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