Hi
Ok this was like several projects in one. Firstly it was and is my first and only integral I have ever made to date so it was very new to me. Also it was all done in one day from about 12 noon to dinner time and I was really pooped at the end.
I tried to photograph as I went along but not all the photos are that good as my arms got the shakes as I am not as strong as I used to be.
In the forging pictures I have tried to show the hammers I was using at the time it starts at a 4lbs sledge then drops to a 3lbs smiths hammer then to a 2lbs smiths/cutlers hammer then finally some odd hammer I use for flattening, I think its a cobblers hammer of something, it does the job just fine for flattening as it has a big flat face.
The steel of choice was one of my favourites, good old truck springs I am pretty sure it s 1095 as it shows a hamon pretty well unlike some spring steels.
I cut off a small section of the spring about 4.5inch long.
I fried up the forge and in went the steel, first things first and I straitened it out ready for bashing (note 4lbs hammer)
I then flattened out one end as I really dont like to hold the steel with the round tongs so I flattened one end about half way along so i can hold it with my flat bit tongs.
Next up I drew the tang out (on the other side of the bar) with a 4lbs then 3lbs hammers and tidied it up with a 2lbs one.
I continued to work on the blade part with the cutlers/smiths hammer and drew more of a blade shape
After that I used the odd cobblers hammer to flatten the blade and tidy up the tang and shape the blade some more. I had not decided how I wanted the blade so I left to rough and I thought I would let the grinding decide.
I ground the blade only on a 4inchx30 belt sander for this one using a 36grit belt. This is what it looked like after the initial grinding
I thought I would go for a hamon on this one as I am quite fond of hamons so on with the KOS refractory clay
I dried the wet clay in the warming forge and edge quenched it in oil that I had not warmed as the weather is kind of warm. This is the blade from the quench.
Remove clay and a scrub with washing up liquid later. (Oil and etchant dont mix)
Back to the grinder for some investigation and a hardening line can easily be seen.
After some more finer grinding a quick dip in some ferric to see what the hamon look like. Looks good so far.
I continued to polish the blade and this is the blade and hamon I was satisfied with.
For the handle I decided to use some buffalo horn and some burl I got from Brisa a while back. I cant remember what its called at the moment.
The finished knife. Done to 400 grit paper with a little oil to bring out the yummy wood.
The hamon.
The other side.
The wood figure
Thanks for looking.
Ok this was like several projects in one. Firstly it was and is my first and only integral I have ever made to date so it was very new to me. Also it was all done in one day from about 12 noon to dinner time and I was really pooped at the end.
I tried to photograph as I went along but not all the photos are that good as my arms got the shakes as I am not as strong as I used to be.
In the forging pictures I have tried to show the hammers I was using at the time it starts at a 4lbs sledge then drops to a 3lbs smiths hammer then to a 2lbs smiths/cutlers hammer then finally some odd hammer I use for flattening, I think its a cobblers hammer of something, it does the job just fine for flattening as it has a big flat face.
The steel of choice was one of my favourites, good old truck springs I am pretty sure it s 1095 as it shows a hamon pretty well unlike some spring steels.
I cut off a small section of the spring about 4.5inch long.
I fried up the forge and in went the steel, first things first and I straitened it out ready for bashing (note 4lbs hammer)
I then flattened out one end as I really dont like to hold the steel with the round tongs so I flattened one end about half way along so i can hold it with my flat bit tongs.
Next up I drew the tang out (on the other side of the bar) with a 4lbs then 3lbs hammers and tidied it up with a 2lbs one.
I continued to work on the blade part with the cutlers/smiths hammer and drew more of a blade shape
After that I used the odd cobblers hammer to flatten the blade and tidy up the tang and shape the blade some more. I had not decided how I wanted the blade so I left to rough and I thought I would let the grinding decide.
I ground the blade only on a 4inchx30 belt sander for this one using a 36grit belt. This is what it looked like after the initial grinding
I thought I would go for a hamon on this one as I am quite fond of hamons so on with the KOS refractory clay
I dried the wet clay in the warming forge and edge quenched it in oil that I had not warmed as the weather is kind of warm. This is the blade from the quench.
Remove clay and a scrub with washing up liquid later. (Oil and etchant dont mix)
Back to the grinder for some investigation and a hardening line can easily be seen.
After some more finer grinding a quick dip in some ferric to see what the hamon look like. Looks good so far.
I continued to polish the blade and this is the blade and hamon I was satisfied with.
For the handle I decided to use some buffalo horn and some burl I got from Brisa a while back. I cant remember what its called at the moment.
The finished knife. Done to 400 grit paper with a little oil to bring out the yummy wood.
The hamon.
The other side.
The wood figure
Thanks for looking.
