Welcome Jeb. You will enjoy the hammer in. Let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer them.

Brion

Welcome Jeb! Wish I could make the hammer in, you'll have a great time.

Welcome on board! Jeb, hammer ins are the best fun! Tons to learn and everyone is friendly. Be sure to try your hand in the green forging area. Lots of folks willing to answer any questions you may have. I'm not able to make this one but, maybe we can meet in March for the next one.

Welcome Jeb,

Let me share that I started out making knives using the stock removal method. That was 1978. By 1981 I was forging everything and I have never gone back. My grinding skills were in pretty good shape from the stock removal blades I made. I also got a chance later to compare to a quality steel forged and heat treated in my own shop. I still believe that a forged blade is better when all the functional factors are brought into the argument. Regardless, of the fact that I think they perform better, I love the process. I love the smells, the physical act of forging with hammer and hot steel, the knowledge and care that must be taken to do a quality job. I love that I am in control of the process. I love that it takes more skill to make a quality forged knife.

You will find lots of teachers and lots of support here on the ABS website. It is nice having you.

Dan L. Petersen

Jeb,

Welcome to the forum. Like many, I too started with stock removal but do all forged blades now. There is a definate satisfaction to forging that just isn't found in other methods. It will by necessity, teach you more about steel and how to get the most out of it. I truly believe that I have learned more about metallurgy since beginning forging than I ever knew before.

This is a great resource for any questions that you may have. If you make it to the hammer-in pay particular attention to the tools used. This will help you a lot in setting up your own forging shop.

All my best,

Gary