more womble forging

[forginhill]

Occasionally I like to stop along the highway and see what goodies have flown off passing vehicles. Recently I found two large ball bearing sets. Immediately I'm seeing knives. I cut off the outer races, obvious blade material. But when I saw the balls, I thought, why not try them. I decided to leave them in their little bracket for ease of forging, and that worked well. I found out this steel (52100) doesn't like to be hammered after it loses a good heat... So I ended up with some blades from several of the balls. Heat treating went well. Next I'll start putting handles on them.

 

[Kepis]

look forward to seeing the finished articles.

 

[Muddypaws]

Nice bit of recycling! Roadsides are a rich source of raw materials for inventive types.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Looking good.

 

[forginhill]

Here's the first one done. Designed for carving. For the handle I cut up a mesquite stump I had sitting around. The grain is wild and unusual.

 

[Mesquite]

That's a great bit of repurposing and that handle is simply wonderful

 

[Kepis]

That's beautiful

 

[snappingturtle]

Odd find! great blades tho!

 

[Janne]

Makes you wonder what happened to the vehicle!

Were the ballbearings marked SKF?

 

[Lithril]

That's a nice carving knife, love the handle.

 

[Muddypaws]

That mesqite handle is superb!! Nice work.

 

[forginhill]

Thanks for the comments.

Here's the second one....Handle is some mystery tropical hardwood my friend gave me.

 

[forginhill]

Janne, there were two of them, one was still in the package brand new. Here's the only print I was able to find. Sorry that last pic is a little blurry....

 

[Kepis]

Thanks for the comments.

Here's the second one....Handle is some mystery tropical hardwood my friend gave me.

Wow

 

[Wayne]

That’s lovely. I’m suitably impressed not only by the finished carvers but more by the vision to see them within a bearing found at the side of the road.

 

[Janne]

Interesting.
The result is incredible.

And you forged them from the balls?

When you come around forging blades from the races PM me.

 

[forginhill]

Thanks, guys....Janne, will do....

 

[Dreadhead]

Oh I like those!

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

 

[forginhill]

Thanks, Dreadhead....

One more to complete the three piece set....handle is another mystery tropical hardwood, from Brazil.