First Forged Blade....

[lannyman8]

I have been waiting to do this for a while now, and OH MY GOD has it been good, infact AWESOME...

I started of by getting the kit out and laying it out ready to use...I used fire cement in an old cake tin with a length of pipe with slots cut into it at even lengths so the whole of the fire gets the air flow....



I used a heat gun for the air flow because thats what ive got.........the weather was a bit pants though......

all i did was heat up the metal and hammer it into the shape that i wanted (sort of...lol...)

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got some wood and put it in the bottom of the forge then put coal on top... i used normal house coal from Tesco...... i find its to big as it is so break it up into smaller bits so i get a better bed of coals..... its the first time i have used coal, i normaly use home made charcoal........when the fire gets going the coal will turn into coak, this is what charcoal is to wood and its what you want to use.....


after a bit of grinding the blade is just about there now....bit more grinding and sanding then heat treat and sharpen....job done....

 

[ex-member Raikey]

Keep it coming Chris,...

this is good stuff man,..

PS, i put the SS pipe in the post today

 

[lannyman8]

some more pic.......

 

[lannyman8]

awesome, thanks Raikey......i realy realy realy like this forging thing.....dont get me wrong its not the best blade ever, but for my first one its ok........

the kit i used made it harder due to the small hammer area (claw hammer).......the make shift anvil worked a treat realy, so no probs there.....my forge is a bit small for this though, will be making a bigger one SOOOOOONNNnnnnnnnnnn.....

 

[ex-member Raikey]

yeah but you made a blade!!!

in your back garden,..out of a bit of metal, a few tools and some fire!!

i reckon thats the reason it feels good,....

 

[lannyman8]

ye very true.....it was also good to batter hell out of it.....lol......

 

[Miyagi]

Well done Chris.

It's a thing I've still to get around to trying.

All the best,

Liam

 

[lannyman8]

Liam, just go for it, its so much fun and on your 3rd or 4th blade im sure they would look realy good......

i made a good few mistakes but now i know what not to do next time.......realy easy to get the bits too, car boot and a £ shop should do it........the forge is easy to build and even if you but the fire cement intead of cley its till cheap........

go on mate go for it, even if you just batter a bit of old mild steel to start with its realy realy realy fun to do......

regards...

chris........................................................

 

[stinger]

looks good buddy!

 

[hairyhippy]

I used a bbq out of a skip and a £4 hair dryer from Tescos to do mine. I'm looking forward to doing the next ones

 

[lannyman8]

sounds good to me, i may invest in a hair dryer as it will be cheaper to run than a heat gun (less electric)..........im also going to upgrade the forge to a bigger one, this will make more coke for the ashes causing a better bed to heat quicker and more easily heated metal........

keep up the good work all........

chris.........................................................................................

 

[GordonM]

Nice setup, Chris! I am now going to have to research a homemade forge and start putting together the stuff to make one. In the middle of a successful muzzleloader deer season right now, so after hunting is over. I wait with interest to see your project progress.

Gordy

 

[lannyman8]

thanks mate, all the best with the deer......i should get round to finish it of the forgeing and heat treatment next week, and then put a handle on after that.........

forges are easy to build and i may do a how to some time soon, i need a biggeer one for when i try making damascus steel.......

regards...

chris..............................................................................................................