Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith
ilmarinen - MODERATOR
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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Aug 20, 2004
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I did a day long demo at a Fall Festival yesterday, then I spent today cleaning up the forge after Church. ( Another thread about the Festival later)
The task of putting all the equipment back in place went quickly, so I decided to tidy up the of supplies and such. Thins get placed here and placed there, and often never put away or organized. (I am sure I am the only one who does this
)
That is where I ran into the realization that I am a steel junkie. As I put tools and equipment away, I noticed steel in the storage shed, steel in the equipment and supply building, in the garage, in the shop with the band saw, steel leaning against the smithy wall, and in several other places. I pulled it all out, and set it on the back deck. I re-marked all of it with the white paint type metal markers. They are the best for this because it stays on forever (even through HT). Some of the old marks in magic marker were really hard to read, especially through the light surface rust. As I marked and inventoried it all, the sheer volume became clear. I am not posting this to brag, just to show how buying steel all the time gets to be a habit. I just came back from Ashokan with at least six bars of steel and a fist full of damascus. I tallied all the metals up and below is a rough count ( probably on the low side after I find more steel in places I haven't looked yet). Most of it came from Aldo:
5 pounds of tamahagane bloom pieces to compact, draw out, and fold into tamahagane bars.
W-1 - 36"X.75"X.75"
W-2 (Hanson) - ten 48" 2"X.25"+
W-2 - (Moran) four 48" bars of 2X1/4
W-2 - (Aldo and Crucible)ten assorted bars 36"-48" by 2", 1.5", and 1" wide, and .125-.25" thick
9260 ( Moran) - six assorted bars 48" by 1" and 2" wide, and .165 and .25" thick
5160 - 4 bars 36"X1.5"X.25"
Cruforge V - two 48" bars 2X.25"
15N20 - 36" and 48" of 1.5"X.25"
1075 - 36" 1"X1"
1080 - 36" 1"X1" and 48" X 1.5"X .25"
1084 - 20+ assorted bars - mostly 48"X2"X1/4", with the rest smaller width/thickness 36" bars
1095 - six bars 48"X2"X.25"
Hitachi Blue steel (Aldo) - three sheets of 40" by 7" by .125"
Hitachi assorted billets (Hitachi) - about twenty assorted size bars from 10" to 20" long. Ao-gami, shiro-gami, suminagashi, san-mai, and others.
CPM-S35VN - two sheets of 12"X24" by .065 and one sheet in .090"
CPM-154 - three 24" bars in 1.5X.125"
AEBL- six bars 48"X1.5"X.065"
6Al4V - two 36" bars of 1.5"X.25" ( titanium sword project)
6Al4V - two plates 12"X12"X.25" ( hardware for above swords)
6Al4V - five assorted sheets of thin stock for liners and such.... probably 8 sq/ft total
I didn't inventory the damascus bin, but it has to be over 20 bars. Everything from Alabama to Delbert, to stainless, to Timascus.
There are probably 50 or more cut out blades in the "ready to grind" bin
The post-HT bin has at least 100 blades
The ready to handle bins have probably 200 knives to finish pout. (Not as bad as that sounds, since over 100 are oyster knives and many of the rest are small kitchen blades or sgian dubh.)
There may be another 50# of material and blades in boxes and bins scattered around the house and in the upstairs workrooms.
All this shows that I need to get out in the shop more, grind or forge a few hundred blanks, and get busy this winter .... and I really, really have to get the new shop built!
The task of putting all the equipment back in place went quickly, so I decided to tidy up the of supplies and such. Thins get placed here and placed there, and often never put away or organized. (I am sure I am the only one who does this
) That is where I ran into the realization that I am a steel junkie. As I put tools and equipment away, I noticed steel in the storage shed, steel in the equipment and supply building, in the garage, in the shop with the band saw, steel leaning against the smithy wall, and in several other places. I pulled it all out, and set it on the back deck. I re-marked all of it with the white paint type metal markers. They are the best for this because it stays on forever (even through HT). Some of the old marks in magic marker were really hard to read, especially through the light surface rust. As I marked and inventoried it all, the sheer volume became clear. I am not posting this to brag, just to show how buying steel all the time gets to be a habit. I just came back from Ashokan with at least six bars of steel and a fist full of damascus. I tallied all the metals up and below is a rough count ( probably on the low side after I find more steel in places I haven't looked yet). Most of it came from Aldo:
5 pounds of tamahagane bloom pieces to compact, draw out, and fold into tamahagane bars.
W-1 - 36"X.75"X.75"
W-2 (Hanson) - ten 48" 2"X.25"+
W-2 - (Moran) four 48" bars of 2X1/4
W-2 - (Aldo and Crucible)ten assorted bars 36"-48" by 2", 1.5", and 1" wide, and .125-.25" thick
9260 ( Moran) - six assorted bars 48" by 1" and 2" wide, and .165 and .25" thick
5160 - 4 bars 36"X1.5"X.25"
Cruforge V - two 48" bars 2X.25"
15N20 - 36" and 48" of 1.5"X.25"
1075 - 36" 1"X1"
1080 - 36" 1"X1" and 48" X 1.5"X .25"
1084 - 20+ assorted bars - mostly 48"X2"X1/4", with the rest smaller width/thickness 36" bars
1095 - six bars 48"X2"X.25"
Hitachi Blue steel (Aldo) - three sheets of 40" by 7" by .125"
Hitachi assorted billets (Hitachi) - about twenty assorted size bars from 10" to 20" long. Ao-gami, shiro-gami, suminagashi, san-mai, and others.
CPM-S35VN - two sheets of 12"X24" by .065 and one sheet in .090"
CPM-154 - three 24" bars in 1.5X.125"
AEBL- six bars 48"X1.5"X.065"
6Al4V - two 36" bars of 1.5"X.25" ( titanium sword project)
6Al4V - two plates 12"X12"X.25" ( hardware for above swords)
6Al4V - five assorted sheets of thin stock for liners and such.... probably 8 sq/ft total
I didn't inventory the damascus bin, but it has to be over 20 bars. Everything from Alabama to Delbert, to stainless, to Timascus.
There are probably 50 or more cut out blades in the "ready to grind" bin
The post-HT bin has at least 100 blades
The ready to handle bins have probably 200 knives to finish pout. (Not as bad as that sounds, since over 100 are oyster knives and many of the rest are small kitchen blades or sgian dubh.)
There may be another 50# of material and blades in boxes and bins scattered around the house and in the upstairs workrooms.
All this shows that I need to get out in the shop more, grind or forge a few hundred blanks, and get busy this winter .... and I really, really have to get the new shop built!
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