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La bala challenge


markyboy07
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Last week La bala said he would like to see a knife forged from a billet, not one to shy away from a challenge i had a go, this is what i have so far and will hopefully finish off next week. I have to say it wasn't easy, i think my main problem was the billet thickness, i started off with 5mm which i think in hindsight is a little thin?? when i was profiling the shape it caused the sides to become dished or concave which resulted in a thin blade whilst grinding.  I have ordered some 8mm thick bar for next time.

i started by marking out the rough shape and chalking some reference marks on the anvil, i then welded a bar to the billet and stuck her in the forge. the original bar was to thin to handle comfortably so i opted for something a little larger which really helped.

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 I started hammering out the t[p first

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As you can see from the next photo i didnt go about this in the right way and i developed a bit of a forked end

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To prevent a cold shut forming I ground off one of the points

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Once the tip was formed i started to rough out the handle shape and start the bevels

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once id formed the rough shape i removed the handle

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and started to grind into shape

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You can see by the remaining scale how the side of the blade is dished

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i wasnt happy with the drop point so ground a clip point like before, not sure why really as looking back at the photos i quite like the original shape.

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next i ground in the bevels and drilled the handle for the scales and this time i thought i'd try a bolster

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I then heat treated the blade and put in the oven for tempering, while i was waiting i had a little practise at some file work on some scrap material, Bit more practise and i might try it on my next knife

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 After the blade had cooled i polished her up

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The brass bar finally arrived a day late and i set about forming the rough shape. i drilled both pieces and pinned together to ensure they were symmetrical and polished the front faces prior to gluing to the handle

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I annealed the pins before assembly as i wanted to peen them into place before the epoxy set.

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Had a bit of trouble with the pins, my drill bit didnt entirely match the pin dimensions it seems or maybe the holes were a fraction off (something i need to work on!)

then glued up

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Well thats it so far, will hopefully finish the handle tomorrow.

 

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Very nice.  With the file work, nice sharp files are a must. Looks like you have the idea anyway.  It puts character on the knife I believe.

I have a couple of slivers of well seasoned yew which would make nice handles for that knife if you want them.  PM

Edited by Walker570
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Thats looking great Markyboy, lots of good pics too. Tell me did you get more satisfaction by forging it. I totally agree about the thickness of billet, I use a much thicker one, but then its much more work on the hammer arm drawing it out and forging it down to thickness. That aside everyone has their way of working. Great job , keep the pics coming.

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On 04/08/2019 at 18:42, la bala said:

Thats looking great Markyboy, lots of good pics too. Tell me did you get more satisfaction by forging it. I totally agree about the thickness of billet, I use a much thicker one, but then its much more work on the hammer arm drawing it out and forging it down to thickness. That aside everyone has their way of working. Great job , keep the pics coming.

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blimey that is tick to start with, might have to try that, what are the starting dimensions and how far can you draw it out?

 

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lovely to see wharts an all............serverly impressed.............................have you got a "planishing hammer".......it will save a lot of grinding 

love to see this type of thread ...as it gets other folk going as well....its no good thinking about DO IT...

 

well done :good:

 

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2 hours ago, markyboy07 said:

 Managed to get this finished Monday, just didn't have time to post until now, went for some Mexican rosewood this time. Quite happy with this one but know i can do better. Ive got some decent drills now so know i can completely loose the pins on the bolsters next time.

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That is a sexy knife 

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2 hours ago, markyboy07 said:

whats a planishing hammer?

once you have beaten the billet to death with  your engineers ball peen hammer....you then spend alot of time grinding out all the dents......

what you could try is to re-heat and use a planishing hammer to smooth out and level all your work.....they generally have a square head and very slightly rounded...and are used to level your work and also to start the bevell off.............there are different weights...............

try one out..:good:

also make sure your anvil is at the right height.......general rule of thumb is to stand up straight with your hammer in hand with the head laying on the anvil...the shaft of the hammer and your body should form a 90Deg right angle..........take it from there,,

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On 11/08/2019 at 16:07, markyboy07 said:

blimey that is tick to start with, might have to try that, what are the starting dimensions and how far can you draw it out?

 

I dont do dimensions with billets MB. I just cut a lump of metal and the knife comes out what ever size, yes i know bit heath robinson but i amuse myself. This particular billet was cut from a piece of Caterpillar earthmover cutting edge, it contains a lot of manganese, it is one mother to draw out, I remember I had my grandson as striker with a 7lb sledge hammer, he is a billy beefcake but it drew some fat out of him.:lol:.    Some nice stuff you are turning out, keep posting the pics.

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20 hours ago, ditchman said:

once you have beaten the billet to death with  your engineers ball peen hammer....you then spend alot of time grinding out all the dents......

what you could try is to re-heat and use a planishing hammer to smooth out and level all your work.....they generally have a square head and very slightly rounded...and are used to level your work and also to start the bevell off.............there are different weights...............

try one out..:good:

also make sure your anvil is at the right height.......general rule of thumb is to stand up straight with your hammer in hand with the head laying on the anvil...the shaft of the hammer and your body should form a 90Deg right angle..........take it from there,,

Or you could maybe get a hammer with a rounded face and use the edge of the anvil 

you only have to polish out dents if you put them in to start with 

good stuff keeping at it is the key 

have you considered a bit of polishing of your anvil face?

also a splash of water on the anvil will help get the scale off the hot metal if you don’t have a wire brush:-) 

keep up the good work 👍😊

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41 minutes ago, Old farrier said:

Or you could maybe get a hammer with a rounded face and use the edge of the anvil 

you only have to polish out dents if you put them in to start with 

good stuff keeping at it is the key 

have you considered a bit of polishing of your anvil face?

also a splash of water on the anvil will help get the scale off the hot metal if you don’t have a wire brush:-) 

keep up the good work 👍😊

what i have done in the past is screw a couple of wooden wire brushes to something solid near the heat sourse ...and as i take it out of the heat ..a qick wipe across the brushes to remove the worst of the scale...

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