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Forge time


la bala
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Got me a billet of cutting edge material of uknown origon, if it was Caterpillar i would know it was Manganese steel. It was hard on my 9 inch grinder to cut but I would have liked to have seen the sparks a bit whiter, hopefully there will be enough carbon in it for a knife. Will weld a handle on the workpiece as these wrists are by there sell by date.

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Well what a disaster, did that billet want to draw out did it heck. I think after four or five heats i had gained about 5mm in length. Let me just say i no longer have an anvil and smiths hammers, thats half an excuse :lol: . I had that billet white starring almost at burning point but it didnt want to draw out, god knows whats in it. Anyway moving on, one of my grandsons came round, he,s built like a you know what and waitng to go in the paras. Right young man says I, you can be my striker, pointing to some chalk marks i had put on the makeshift anvil i instructed him to strike that spot and that spot only. Whats this he said, and i introduced him to a 7lb sledge hammer. :lol: . Off we go, him striking, me moving the billet, well after several heats and a few choice words from me when he hit the handle i was holding we had drawn it out about 45mm longer.. I just couldnt believe the 7 pounder was struggling on it. Ok i thought we will increase the width a litte, maybe that will help. I welded a piece of round bar to the makeshift anvil to act as as a fuller and off we went again. This operation went a little smoother but nothing as it should have done. Well after much thought lads i am sorry to say i am going to cheat, well i call it cheating, I am going for a shorter knife blank, and i am going to reduce material by grinding. I much prefer shaping by hammering, but with this material i could put a lot of hours in for not much return. Well the grinding isnt going any better, why should it you may ask, you are trying to grind a abrasive resistent material :lol: . I have almost reduced the thickness to 6mm, when i have an even 6mm i will attempt to heat treat and oil quench. As you can see in the pic i have picked up a warp and have a couple of hammer marks. After heat treat i will grind ageain, hoping for a spine around 3-3.5 mm. Dont know about handle yet.

 


The warp.

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Had a bit of time on the belt sander today, not my idea of knife making but may aswell try and finish it. I need to reduce the width of the tang and draw it out an inch longer, I will do this when i crack the forge up for heat treatment. I am still puzzled about this bit of metal, its such a problem working it hot, yet if you run a file across it, the hardness isnt anything like you would expect, just hoping the heat and quench will sort it out without problems.

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I'll wager that there's a high %of stainless in it

 

Try heating it slow

As you know stainless is surface heat first and takes a lot of time to get the centre of the work hot and you won't move it until it is

Just a thought

Always a problem when working with unknown materials

 

Anyway looking good even with too much hard work 🤣your almost inspiring me to crack out a couple of bits I've stashed away a bit of progon tool steel and a few other bits I've had put by

Looking forward to seeing the finished product

 

All the best

Of

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I'll wager that there's a high %of stainless in it

 

Try heating it slow

As you know stainless is surface heat first and takes a lot of time to get the centre of the work hot and you won't move it until it is

Just a thought

Always a problem when working with unknown materials

 

Anyway looking good even with too much hard work your almost inspiring me to crack out a couple of bits I've stashed away a bit of progon tool steel and a few other bits I've had put by

Looking forward to seeing the finished product

 

All the best

Of

Thanks Old farrier, its certainly acting like you describe stainless, but on saying that, its got a fair pull on the magnet. I will see it out anyway. Hope to get you going on your projects and look forward to seeing them. I think a lot of my problem is, these 74 year old arms and wrists just dont work like they used too. :lol::lol:

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Well hotmail is up and running so i have the pics i emailed myself. Todays job was to draw out the tang a bit longer, and to heat treat and quench. Now the material is much thinner its so different to work with, and the extra length on the tang came easy. One more heat and the quench went well, i actually lost the tiny warp i had. Running a file over the cooled blank sounded good and no cut. After a bit of a cleanup it looks a bit like a knife blank again. Next the grind and edge work, fingers crossed.

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