my knife forge

[Peter_t]

got my home made forge going today and am fairly pleased with it. its made out of two iron frying pans bolted together with holes in the top pan and a pipe coming off the bottom to a air bed foot pump. i got the blade glowing a bright yellow colour, hotter than in the pic, not sure how hot that is lol. i should have done the magnet test. i was softening the blade by heeting it then cooling it slowly. it was almost inposable to work with without an angle grinder and its still cooling down now a cuple of hours later so hopefully it will be workable with a file.

any comments are welcome

i managed to get a free bag of charcoal from college (well i made it! lol)

thanks for looking
pete

 

[korvin karbon]

nice, what do you have in mind for the handle?

have you thought about using a hair dryer instead of a foot pump? im sure i ahve seen member using one on his own forge

 

[Hedgehog]

Nice one, if I had the space I'd build one myself too.

 

[Hedgehog]

...I rather like the foot pump idea, no plugs & no bills.

 

[Peter_t]

nice, what do you have in mind for the handle?

have you thought about using a hair dryer instead of a foot pump? im sure i ahve seen member using one on his own forge

iv got some nice bits of oak (also from college ) that im gona use for a handle. im going to soak them in linseed oil and keep the black oxide layer underneeth the handle to prevent the oak coroding the tang. its probably more sensable to use liners but im not a big fan of them.

i did have a hair dryer set up but the pipe i used its too restrictive and it overheated. i also tried useing an airline but it would run out of air too quickly. i saw someone else useing a footpump and it works reely well

its all made out of recycled bits exept for the bolts and the metal for the legs. i got 3 cast iron pans for £1 (only used two), and the steel for the knife was from a file which i bort with an axe for £4 (also at a car boot sale).

pete

 

[Hedgehog]

If you are using epoxy of some sot I imagine that will protect the metal from the Oak tannins.

I'm wondering if the black oxide layer might be a possible weak link between the glue & the metal?

 

[Peter_t]

maby but the handle is prety rough and the pins should help.

pete

 

[SOAR]

Nice forge you have there Peter, the epoxy should protect the blade, or you could try and use some sort of natural material like Birch bark?.
Looks like it will be a nice knife keep us posted fella.

All the best.

 

[Matt.S]

Nice work Peter!

For the record, the magnet test only indicates one particular temperature, which is usually close to the eutectic point for a high-carbon steel. Everyone sees colours differently but a good yellow outside of direct light is usually a little over 1000 degrees C. Here is a good guide: http://www.westyorkssteel.com/steel_hardening_temperatures.html

 

[Pang]

nice setup, like the foot pump!

 

[robin wood]

The reason folk use the magnet is that if you take it too hot (and yellow outside is too hot) then you blow the grain structure, that is the steel changes from one form with small crystals to another form with big crystals. Once the grain is blown ideally you need to go through 2 normalising cycles taking it up just to non magnetic (but not much above) and cooling slowly to get the small crystals back. Here is a pic

I am a bit confused about what you are using the forge for, are you just annealing a pre-made blade blank to make it easier to file?

I do like the simple forge, I have forged tools with a foot punp and charcoal just like that. In fact for a while I used to forge tools in the fireplace hearth with a footpump blower and a tent pole to get the air into the fire, the tent pole burnt away slowly but it did the job.

 

[JohnC]

That looks great, the frying pan idea is very good. I use the same style foot pump in mine. I have an old bin lid to shield the set-up and helpt to gauge the colours of the metal as well as the magnet test.. (I'd read somewhere that smithies were dark places to allow the colour check, but don't know that for certain)

 

[Nightwalker]

Great work Peter, looks like its coming along nicely.

have you thought about using a hair dryer instead of a foot pump? im sure i ahve seen member using one on his own forge

I think you may be refering to my first little forge that I built, you can see it here: www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/making-my-first-knife#The%20Forge

Nice one, if I had the space I'd build one myself too.

I didn't have the space either!.. thats why I built my own small homemade forge, it comes apart quite happily and fits into a carrierbag and lives in the cuboard when not in use. Making my knife I only had the space of the balcony to work on!

 

[Peter_t]

I am a bit confused about what you are using the forge for, are you just annealing a pre-made blade blank to make it easier to file?

i made the knife from an old file which i tried to anneal in a fire but it didnt work because it cooled too quickly. i shaped it with an angle grinder which just about cut it but it was way too hard to shape with hand tools (i destroyed one of my dads files trying )

now im in a bit of trouble because the blade has warped and is bent in the middle. any ideas how i can straiten it? i was thinking of maby heating it then clamping it between two bricks or bits of metal.

thanks for the info guys

pete