newbie needs info

ttoney83

ttoney83

Joined
Sep 17, 2007
Messages
4,551
Hello,
I'm really new here and MUCH newer to the idea of trying to make my own blades. It's something I've wanted to do for many years but couldn't do till now, after I've bought a place "in the boonies".

CMD has already answered one of my questions and so it looks like I'll have to try to build a gas fired forge.

So I guess I'll ask these questions.
1. About how long do you guys take to forge the rough blade?
2. What size hammer/hammers do you typically use? 2lb. 4lb. bigger?
Does the size of the hammer depend on the stage you are at in the
forging process?
3. Are any of you able, or is it even possible to make a blade without doing a
shaping on a grinder? Aside from sharpening.
4 Is number 3 a REEEEALLY stupid question?:o

Sorry if the above are silly questions but I really know absolutely nothing about blacksmithing or blade making. I'm trying to read everything I can get my hands on via the Internet, but any good material you guys know of would be greatly appreciated too.

Thanks,
ttoney83 NEEEEEWbie:D
 
Rough blade single bar 01, maybe 1 hour, finished knife0 5-30 hours
rough blade 160 layer damascus, 10-20 hours, add another 5-30 hours for finished knife
rough blade, crowbar integral with twist handle1 hour, finished knife, 2 hours.

Hammers, 2 lb, 2.5 lb, 6.6 lb (when I really want to move metal!)

It is possible to make a knife without using a grinder, but the amount of metal you will want to take off to get a good looking blade and get through your decarb layer you want to have a motor doing the work!

I started my first knife using a file for shaping, I don't recommend it. I was 14, when I was 19 I was introduced to a Bader grinder, and finished the knife

http://www.sunshadowdesign.com/knife/knife596.html

after that i bought a Kalamazoo 2x48 grinder. It is a piece of crap, but I rebuilt it so it works, and it has been what I've used for 18 years.

BTW from your other thread, Coal forges are great for a lot of heat cheaply, but after getting frustrated with bad coal I got my first gas forge.

There are no stupid questions. If you ask for information about something you don't understand that is smart, you will save years of doing things wrong trying to figure it out on your own (how do I know this?I wish I had had a resource like this available 20 years ago)
The stupid thing is not asking questions.

-Page
 
Wow!

Page, you gave a reasonable answer to hammer size! Maybe you're just showing off for new guys like me at Ashokan, but it has been my impression that you really like the big hammers!

Nonetheless, I am impressed at your restraint in answering honestly!

I, too, cannot reccomend going grinderless. Unfortunately, I don't own a grinder! You only need to do one or two blades to know that drawfiling is for the birds! Sure, I'll probably do SOME hand filing and quite a lot of hand finishing on just about every knife I make, but I'm getting right sick of doing EVERYTHING by hand...

I generally use the same hammer beginning to end. It's a 2 1/2 lb cheapo special from Home Depot with a plastic and fiberglass handle. Interestingly enough, the only guy who laughed at it at Ashokan was Burt Foster, and he only laughed because he uses the same bloody hammer from the same place!

Sure, it's be nice to have something a bit bigger for the heavy moving operations, especially when hitting stubborn round bar, and it's be nice to have a slightly smaller hammer for finishing up in the bevels, when all I'm doing is making sure the lined of the blade are straight and true (well, as nearly so as is reasonable). Neither are, however, neccessary.

From a 1/2" round of W-2 I get about 2 hours or thereabouts into it to have a small skinner type blade. I can make a very similar blade from 1/4" flat bar of 1084 in about half that time.

And Page is right, no such thing as a stupid question... Keep asking and you'll be inundated with so much information your head will explode. I love the internet!
 
that big hammer at Ashokan was 6.6 pounds (3 kilos) yes I really do use it, a lot, 10 years ago I could get about 8 swings with it and I would have to switch to a smaller hammer ;) it took a while to build up to being able to use it for a couple of hours. I use it to make big movement, things like flattening crowbars, or damascus then I do my fine work with the 2 pounders.

-Page
 
Thanks to both of you for you help. The question about the amount of time is to sort of guage my progress as I start off on this new, hobby? Just to be modest though, I'll probably stick with a four pounder for my heavy for now. One thing is for sure, pounding with the light ball peen on a "flat" rock was not very productive, as I was only able to bang my lil piece of rebar into a crude poker!:o It felt good though. It was kinda stress relieving to pound something:D
Thanks again guys. I'm also very appreciative of not being lit up like that guy who posted about wanting a short shortsword which would CERTAINLY be used for combat....I think he went by Ultra or some such.....My friend told me about that thread. That was FUUUUNY!
 
get yourself an anvil. Flat rocks don't reflect impact back into your piece, nor are they flat. put an ad in the classifieds looking for an anvil, get a piece of discarded railroad rail, get a heavy cheap one from harbor freight, get a nice one from Centaur Forge, whatever, get yourself a big heavy one, bolt it to a stump so its level and touches your knuckle when you stand next to it.

Have fun.

-Page
 
the harbor freight anvils are okay - leastwise until I get my railroad pieces cut up. The stand is a big deal, I lucked out on a valley oak stump in my backyard. :)

I've done a few knives strictly by hand, the filing process isn't so bad with a worktable jig (I have a sit down bench that look like that greenpete guy has on youtooooob), and I only use a grinder for profiling and lacking a good belt grinder I only do some roughing on my 1x30.

Do a lot by hand, for a while. You'll still have to get a feel for the power tools, but your "eye" develops - I think- in the hand work.

I'm just barely starting actual forging, everything I've done has been stock removal with a bit of hammering to remove bends and such. Personally, I think I've developed faster on getting blade shapes and fitting not doing the forging, but that could just be inverse sour grapes!
 
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