OT: Return of the Po' Boy Puukko

Sylvrfalcn

Sylvrfalcn

Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Messages
3,930
Yup, still made from a Nicholson mill bastard file, but this one's going to be "old school". Did the blade yesterday, and I'm sort of proud of it, reflects another step up in my ongoing "learning curve". Blade is 4 inches long, hand forged, distal tapered, and differentially hardened, with a traditional full length bevel (no ricasso). Got the temper dead on, "soft" enough that it was no problem to hone it up hair popping sharp with a good Arkansas stone and a strop, but still hard enough to pass my standard test of cutting shavings from a six penny nail without edge deformation or dulling.

But, you ask, does it still meet "Po' Boy" parameters? Well, considering my "forge" is a 10,000 btu single burner propane stove (Coleman, 18 bucks at K-Mart), the anvil used to work for the railroad (section of track), the hammer was a genuine two dollar special, proudly "Made In China", and the quenchant tank holding the tepid water a discarded piece of Tupperware. Uh, yeah, I'd say we're still in the range of "dirty deeds done dirt cheap". ;) :D

Sarge
 

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Looking good Sarge. What are you planning on using for the handle material?

mike
 
A vet, a talented smith, AND he quotes AC/DC. What's not to like about ol' Sarge:)

Jake
 
That seems like a fun project. How do you use a coleman stove for a forge? What is the process to hammer out the blade?

Andy
 
Astrodada said:
Wow Sarge nice . Did you hammer the curve by expanding steel on edge side ?
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Good eye, and absolutely right Astro. I'm getting better at not winding up with a blade that curves like a banana, but for now all my forged blades end up with a gentle upsweep toward the tip. I kind of like it that way. Here's another sample I did the other day, just a rough little patch knife, but sharp as the dickens.

Sarge
 

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Steely_Gunz said:
AND he quotes AC/DC. Jake
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Our fight song during the air war portion of Desert Storm was AC/DC's "Thunderstruck", still get a tingle when I hear it. :thumbup: :)

sarge
 
aproy1101 said:
That seems like a fun project. How do you use a coleman stove for a forge? What is the process to hammer out the blade?

Andy
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Light the burner and stick the steel in it, when the steel glows red hot lay it on the anvil and smack it with the hammer. When your done banging, file or grind an edge on prior to hardening. Reheat to cherry red, and dunk edge first into tepid (room temperature, cold water will crack the steel) water. If you did it right, you should notice some slight heat blistering of surface oxidation, and blade will have the "pearl gray" color of a brand new file (which is also brittle hard). Polish blade clean and shiny so that oxidation color change that occurs during tempering can be closely observed. For uniform temper, place in electric oven (same one you bake biscuits in) and gradually bring up heat until you get a dark straw yellow or even light bronze (around 415 to 425 degrees) turn off heat and allow blade to air cool (do not quench). For differential tempering, I use a torch and carefully heat the blade's spine, watching for the color changes, will usually get a good purple color along spine before edge areas reach dark straw.

No black magic or rocket science necessary. Try it, you'll like it. ;)

Sarge
 
Looking pretty good Sarge. Your grind looks great and so does your forging. Sounds like you're getting pretty good performance too.

Here's a little tip on profiling at the forge. Let the knife curve, don't worry about it until you are about 75% done. When you're ready to bring the curve down place the edge on the anvil and hammer on the spine. You're not trying to forge the knife thinner, just adjust the profile, so don't hit it too hard. This is a really quick and easy method.

I just forged out a big bowie using this mehtod-- I'll post a pic as soon as it's done annealing.

Matt
 
Sylvrfalcn said:
Don't know just yet, the voices in my head ain't told me. ;)
Sarge
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Holler if you run out. I've got some purpleheart, ironwood, apple, chenchan (sp?), ...
 
I,ve got a few things to do then the colemans coming out . You are having just way too much fun . I don,t think I,LL TRY A CURVED BLADE JUST YET .
 
LongRifle said:
Looking pretty good Sarge. Your grind looks great and so does your forging. Sounds like you're getting pretty good performance too.

Here's a little tip on profiling at the forge. Let the knife curve, don't worry about it until you are about 75% done. When you're ready to bring the curve down place the edge on the anvil and hammer on the spine. You're not trying to forge the knife thinner, just adjust the profile, so don't hit it too hard. This is a really quick and easy method.

I just forged out a big bowie using this mehtod-- I'll post a pic as soon as it's done annealing.

Matt
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip Matt, I'll give it a try.:D

Sarge
 
Just bookmarked for future reference. Didn't think I could get steel hot enough with propane- guess I wasn't patient. Was making a Roman pilum, and the point is bar steel heated and hammered into a blob shape, the ground to a point to make a barb. Was going to try MAPP gas next. Just how long til it's cherry red? 10 min? 20? Wondering.


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