jhobson

Yes, and also (sensibly) withdrew from facebook - I miss the doggo photos. I think I promised to let him know when it was finished and it was partly imagining that promise that kept me at it. I've stolen a little from many teachers including that Longmire bloke about tomahawks.

15 years ago I spent 5 days on a sword making class with Don Fogg at Owen's Bushfire Forge. I just finished it. W2. A bit thin, especially at tip - a lot of things to improve. Full on wild hamon - I love it but I can't say it was planned like that! I gave up trying for the subtle polish. Fittings all made under the supervision of Ford Hallam. Saya and handle wrap ... I guessed what to do by looking on internet. Poplar wood and plasticoat spray paint. What is great is that there is so much to improve for sword number 2... if I live that long. And I guess the next can be a bit smaller to make them a pair. Just need to smelt some steel this time. Thanks Don - I think of you every time I see the sword.

Yes. Too much info. I think my old friends at the clock club fell asleep.

I prepared some slides for a talk on strength of materials and basic heat treat of steel. The few pictures of real metal are aimed at the clock making community, so no knives The sequence isn't quite self-explanatory I'm afraid (there is supposed to be some bloke wittering on in the background to make a bit more sense of things) - so Verhoeven is a much better place to go to learn stuff. Maybe some of the pictures are useful if you ever find yourself in a similar position of trying to explain things. I shamelessly used any resources I could find without consideration of copyright. Some of it could be wrong. The conclusion is a bit disappointing as well "just follow the instructions". I like the BCC-FCC transformation slide. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1j9b71f-5yUKNy_tKwtuVOBsst--zZyIm0zp0lj0Y-54/edit?usp=sharing

Re-reading... I would guess that a horizontal quench could increase warping for a fencing blade. Vertical oven would be the way to go but initially the 'tank' can be thick wall steel pipe - just make sure to empty it of salt and check it after each use.

For just starting out experimenting, I think this can be really low tech. The salts are good for: quick quench, thermal mass, reduce oxidisation. I think you can get all these benefits by having a small trough inside an oven... get it up to heat, then quickly open the door and drop the blade into the trough, slam the door shut. For a one-off, I would guess any iron/steel trough would do. You probably only need thick stainless if you are doing this repeatedly. However, I am guessing so do this on a non-organic floor! I have proper 20kg of salt I (well, Owen) bought 10 years ago and I'm still waiting to use them. Back then, it seemed difficult to get nitrate salts in quantity because they make good weapons. Now it seems much easier to buy potassium nitrate (which i think is a key low-temp salt - melting point 334° C so needs mixing with some other salt (mixtures are always lower melting point - something to do with entropy :) )) in reasonable bulk. So take a look at the salt recipes... used to be here https://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?/topic/6375-heat-treating-salt-recipies/&page=2 but all links seem broken. I'd love to see that document again :(

Why would low temp salts would be more dangerous than molten lead? I think low temp salts are a faster quench than lead so you have more time to 'avoid the nose'. Low temp salts would be handy for doing 'Blueing' as well which you might find a use for... and it is easy. Where do you think the extra cost is?

I forgot to confirm - it is very effective at damping the vibrations.

I'm probably not the first to suggest this - sorry if it is a repeat... This stuff is like Plasticine when the packet is first opened, then dries to a soft plastic/ hard rubber consistency I just used it on my brass handled dagger. Even with the pommel nut tight, when you knock the tip you would get an unpleasant vibration. So I tried this stuff to: Rubber washer at pommel: Between handle and guard: It also serves as a loose glue (you can still easily take-down the knife). I stuck the guard on with it. It also tidies up the joint line: And it can be used to bodge/fill. Here the scales have moved away from the blade so I just stuffed Sugru in the crack: I've only just done this.. so cannot comment on longevity.

I've not really understood why BCC is less dense even though I 'lucked' into the explanation with the above post. I found the unit cell sizes of BCC anf FCC (both at 912C) here: http://www.cmse.ed.ac.uk/MSE2/IronStructure.pdf A simple bit of Pythagoras shows that in going from FCC to BCC the FCC unit contracts in one plane but expands in the other 2, resulting in a less dense BCC but the space in between atoms for Carbon to dissolve is now squashed so although more volume, it isn't tall enough. And a single Carbon atom can't squash. I drew it out on a bit of paper...

It is a OK rule of thumb but isn't accurate in all situations. My own rule of thumb: I'd suggest some tempering even if you want ultimate hardness. It depends on the steel composition.

The same topic, pinned in Metallurgy forum, is well worth a read (or re-read: I'd forgotten most of what I wrote, let alone what 'the people who know' wrote).

I don't make many knives. I make even less sheaths. I took this knife, almost finished, to Owen's hammerin last weekend and it got dropped. I had a feeling of doom that it was going on the floor long before it happened. So, to be able to relax at hammerins and save on sharpening I decided to have a go at a scandi sheath - my third sheath in 10 years. I'm amazed that it worked just by following an online tutorial. Maybe making sheaths isn't all that bad after all... but I may just stop while I'm ahead.

How do they get all that Nitrogen in there? 40 hours soak at high temp in a nitrogen atmosphere? How sure are we of the quoted Nitrogen level?

x3