First steps - forging knives

[oldag]

Go for it!

I'll even offer advice, good or bad!

Have a nice piece of D2 bar that has been gathering dust forever.

 

[Axxe55]

Have a nice piece of D2 bar that has been gathering dust forever.

You could make a nice knife out of that!

 

[General Zod]

Have a nice piece of D2 bar that has been gathering dust forever.

Sounds like it's time to give it a purpose.

 

[General Zod]

A shout out to @General Zod! Y'all subscribe to his channel and support him.

Man, now I'm gonna have to sit my ass down and edit the last video I shot...

Like, four months ago...

 

[paknheat]

A shout out to @General Zod! Y'all subscribe to his channel and support him.

Done. Gave it a like & subscribed.


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[General Zod]

Done. Gave it a like & subscribed.


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I appreciate it. Gonna try to edit and post the "next" video (from May...sigh...) in the next week or so.

 

[Axxe55]

Done. Gave it a like & subscribed.


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I have had the opportunity to meet @General Zod in person twice. Totally cool dude. One of these days, when I finally get my forge up and running, I hope he and I can get together and do some forging and learn from each other.

Forging knives is different than just forging mild steel into usable items, but there are a lot of similarities between the two before you get to the hardening and heat-treating parts. My main focus on making knives is using the "stock removal" method, and so my main reasons for a forge are hardening and heat-treatin blades. But, I would still like to learn how to forge a blade, just for the learning of how to do it.

 

[General Zod]

I have had the opportunity to meet @General Zod in person twice. Totally cool dude. One of these days, when I finally get my forge up and running, I hope he and I can get together and do some forging and learn from each other.

Forging knives is different than just forging mild steel into usable items, but there are a lot of similarities between the two before you get to the hardening and heat-treating parts. My main focus on making knives is using the "stock removal" method, and so my main reasons for a forge are hardening and heat-treatin blades. But, I would still like to learn how to forge a blade, just for the learning of how to do it.

I appreciate the compliment, and yeah we definitely need to get together some time and forge some steel. My anvil is even portable!

 

[Axxe55]

I appreciate the compliment, and yeah we definitely need to get together some time and forge some steel. My anvil is even portable!

It would be sort of cool in a family historical perspective for me. My great grandfather had his first blacksmith's shop on the other side of my property when he bought this farm.

 

[General Zod]

It would be sort of cool in a family historical perspective for me. My great grandfather had his first blacksmith's shop on the other side of my property when he bought this farm.

I found out recently (thanks to my wife's research) that my great-great-great grandfather was a blacksmith. He's also the direct ancestor in my dad's paternal line that left Ireland. In 1840 he had a blacksmith shop in Savannah, GA.

I actually learned this over a year after I started blacksmithing.

 

[General Zod]

It would be sort of cool in a family historical perspective for me. My great grandfather had his first blacksmith's shop on the other side of my property when he bought this farm.

Do you know the exact spot where the shop was? You might find interesting stuff there if you dig down a little bit - misplaced tools, half-finished pieces maybe.

 

[Axxe55]

Do you know the exact spot where the shop was? You might find interesting stuff there if you dig down a little bit - misplaced tools, half-finished pieces maybe.

I have a general idea of the area, but not an exact location. Even my father can't remember exactly where their house and the shop use to be.

 

[General Zod]

I have a general idea of the area, but not an exact location. Even my father can't remember exactly where their house and the shop use to be.

I'll bet a metal detector could turn up some interesting stuff there.

 

[Axxe55]

I'll bet a metal detector could turn up some interesting stuff there.

Wife wants to get one, but right now, with money being kind of tight with my health issues, it's going to have to wait till a later date.

 

[General Zod]

Wife wants to get one, but right now, with money being kind of tight with my health issues, it's going to have to wait till a later date.

Yeah, understandable.

 

[Brojon]

So, I've taken the plunge. I was going to wait till the weather was a little cooler, but...nah. So I've made two knives today that I'll be heat treating and tempering tomorrow, and then...I'm gonna test them to destruction. Since these first two pieces are only to learn to heat treat, I only forged one of them. The other I made through stock removal. I had planned to do both that way, but...well, my anvil was giving me that puppy-dog eyes look, and I just couldn't not forge something today.

So the plan is to touch up the finish and drill pin holes in the handles (in case one or both knives survive their testing, so I can finish 'em!) tomorrow, then heat treat the knives one at a time. I'll have to figure out how to regulate the temperature in my forge to within 50-100 degrees, so that's going to be an interesting process. I'm going to heat the knives up to about 1500 degrees for fifteen minutes, then quench them in oil. Once they've cooled down from that, they'll each go into the oven at 400 degrees for two hours, twice - with a cool-down in between. Afterward they'll each get a simple leather wrap on the handles for comfort while I'm doing horrible things to them like hacking at cinder blocks, chopping 2x4s, and testing if they'll bend and return to true.

If the testing is successful, then knife forging will be something of a recurring habit with me. There's a bit of gunk from the grinder sticking to the blades here - I'll be refining the finish a bit in the morning. The forged blade is on the right, the chonky stock-removal blade is on the left.

View attachment 343846

Go by color in low light. Should be a cherry red when ready to quench but not going white.

 

[General Zod]

Go by color in low light. Should be a cherry red when ready to quench but not going white.

I have too many different lighting conditions in my forge (and not enough experience judging the color of hot steel) - but I also have a magnet on my anvil, and when the steel is at critical temperature it becomes non-magnetic. And I have a digital thermometer I can shoot it with to be sure.

 

[Axxe55]

Go by color in low light. Should be a cherry red when ready to quench but not going white.

That's fine if you have lots of experience in heat-treating metal, and know by the color that it's at the critical temperature for quenching. Testing with a magnet is much more a reliable and tested method that isn't dependent on the lighting conditions in the shop.

 

[General Zod]

That's fine if you have lots of experience in heat-treating metal, and know by the color that it's at the critical temperature for quenching. Testing with a magnet is much more a reliable and tested method that isn't dependent on the lighting conditions in the shop.

Eventually I'll get there. But even then, I'll probably still test it with a magnet just in case.

 

[Axxe55]

Eventually I'll get there. But even then, I'll probably still test it with a magnet just in case.

A lot of established knife-makers use the magnet method.