Need some forging tips (See pic)

Whit

Whit

Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
729
I forged this one yesterday. Although crude for some of you, it's probably my best effort yet.

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the slight hump on the spine at the ricasso? (Other than, "grind it off") If I set it on the edge of the anvil and hit the spine, I no longer have a flat ricasso. So I re-flatten it. Went through that sequence about 10 times by the way!

I didn't get the tip quite how I wanted it either. My approach to this one was get it close enough and stop screwing with it, maybe that's the right answer till I can get some more quality instruction.

If anyone else has any comments, please feel free. Hopefully this one will be a knife before too long.
Thanks for the help.

Ryan
 
My grinders are set up right next to my forge. There's a time to forge and there's a time to grind. Use what you have. The blade looks pretty darn good to me.....
 
Honestly I'd grind it, but if you'd rather not it will take some back and forth effort. Do like you said and put the spine down and hit the ricasso, that'll remove the hump but make the ricasso not flat. Instead of just straight flattening the ricasso again, which will just put the hump back, either grind it flat (I know, you don't want to do that) or use a cross/straight peen and hit it so the grooves go spine to edge as opposed to ricasso to point. It'll only get the edges since the edges will be thicker then the middle from the edge hammering, but that's what you want. Then pound the grooves flat. You'll probably need to go back and forth and repeat that, but at least it'll make progress then just going back to the exact same flaw every time you flatten. Your ricasso will end up longer then it is, hope that's ok for you, and I hope this makes sense and helps.
 
OK, if this is close enough to grind, that's great! I always end up with that little hump! I always wonder when people say they forge "90%" to shape. That hardly seems possible! Thanks for the feedback.
 
My approach to this one was get it close enough and stop screwing with it
Click to expand...
Correct. What you've got looks very good. As Kenny Rogers said, you've got to "know when to walk away" (or something like that) :)
 
My forging looks the same. I get it to that point and grind. The guy teaching me said to practice more.

Kim Breed is awesome with the forge, and is a member here. Maybe emailing him will help.

David
 
Whit,

Looking good, hows the new job treating you, I am trying like hell to get back but it ain't happening...yet. Frank
 
By the way, did you go to the Blade show in Hotlanta, I kick myself in the ass, I lived there 10 yrs. Now when I would love to go, I am lightyears away. Frank
 
The new job is great. Very knifemaker friendly hours. My wife had a baby on Thursday of last week, so I only made it up to Blade for a couple of hours on Sunday. You think needing to be near Atlanta and the Blade Show is grounds for a compassionate reassignment???

I assume you probably know more people in 3d Bn than I do, but if you need to contact the CSM or anything, let me know.
 
I think your knife looks good. I think make another and go for broke. Keep that one and grind it to the correct profile but before you finish it all the way make another blade or 3 or 4 blades. Half the problem with learning to forge is waiting weeks or months to have another go. You forget how the metal moves under the hammer.

Making a couple of blades at once gives you the opertunity to experiment. Keep the best blade and use the others to practice heat treating and destruction testing. Try to get away from the idea that everything you forge has to be finished into a perfect blade. Making some throw away blades can give you the confidence to experiment and actually learn.

Also as the others have said when its close sometimes it is just as easy to grind a bit off. There is a bit of argument about how much you need to trim to get rid of the de carbonized metal at the edge. That will depend on howmany times heated and how hot. Again make a few rough ones and experiment with heat treating.

The best way is go to an experienced smith who can show you in a day what it may take weeks to learn by yourself. How steel moves under the hammer can be a frustrating lesson but worth it in the end.

If you make a few getting the ricasso bump sorted out and they are a bit rough forge a loop handle on them instead of a tang, leave the hammer marks in clean only the cutting edge, call them frontier forged garden knives.

I have a couple my wife uses to cut out weeds. Naturally I told her I made them specially for her and her mum. She probably knows I am a lying swine but she liked a little something from me.
Just another set of ideas for you.
 
Pretty good forging, you've got everything there, blade bevels, ricasso, tang, ect. You can eigther grind or use a piece of wood, wood mallet, baseball bat, ect to pound the edge of the blade while the back is on the anvil. The wood will not deform the edge nearly as much as a hammer and will bend the back straight.

All it takes is practice, and knowing when to hit the grinder! :D Me, since it's aready cold I'd hit the grinder. I normaly don't forge extreamly close to shape simply because I normaly work large stock and want to leave a grinding alowance for decarb.
 
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