Last seen: Jan 21, 2022
Brion, One hates to admit their early mistakes, but I had many. Back when I was learning to bladesmith I would go visit or call Don Hastings. On...
Sorry the chart got squished when I posted this. Still, I think you can follow it with the description.
I thought I might share some data from a reliable source (Some data from ASTM Tempering If you go to this site you can find a rather long pdf file tha...
I pretty much do the same thing that Karl does. Once the billet starts to look round I go to half round swages, top and bottom, and get a fairly even ...
All, Thanks to any who have responded. Why do we do what we do? What do we really know? I think we all know that if you have a martensite blad...
Kelly, When I used a trip hammer, the dies were relatively flat but had slight taper from the middle of the die to the edge of the die in all fou...
Danny, I do see a problem with the heat treat. You say "I take the forge to 1650 to give myself a little more heat than critical to compensate f...
Brian is correct in suggesting not to use aluminum. There is an oxidation process between steel and aluminum, galvanic corrosion, where the aluminum c...
This left me a bit confused. It is my understanding that austenite cannot form below 1333 F (A1). It was also my understanding that at that tempera...
Appreciate the compliment, Gary. Still, on any day it could have gone the other way. I would add that most of my edges are forged down to about a ni...
Maybe the question is how close to finish should we forge. Remember that forging or the placing of steel into the forge at high heats can pull carbon...
I am really a proponent of using safety glasses. However, I also encourage you to consider looking at glasses that are designed for kiln/forge operat...
I guess I want to reinforce the reasons I started this post. It was to get bladesmiths to share their views on who we are when we describe ourselves ...
I have and use three cut off hardies. I have a hardie clamp (holds a piece tight on the anvil), bottom swage, several fullering pieces (4 x 2 inches a...