Noah Tasker

That is a very slick tool. Gonna have to make myself one of those.

Thanks. Loved the NOVA special that you were in by the way. That was what got me thinking about smelting.

I wasn't sure whether to post this in the Bloomers and Buttons section or not. I have several pieces of steel laying around including some broken files and such. My question is could I put those into a crucible with some mild steel to get a larger piece with a more reasonable carbon content? I'm not asking for practicality, just curiousity. Thanks

Thank you all for the feed back. I think that instead of trying to build a new forge I will revamp my current forge. I'll put a liner in and change the burner to forced air, and for forging swords I'll put a door in the back. Thanks again for the help.

I was going to make the liner about an inch thick.

I guess I should have been more specific in my question. My main question was to see if anyone had experience with using perlite as an insulator on a forge. I chicked online and found that it is only used for industrial purposes at temps up to 2000 degrees but I didn't know if the high temp mortar and the mizzou liner would make up for that. I am also planning to change the burner layout. My current forge is an atmospheric forge that I made based on the Zoeller forge plans. If I make this new one I plan to make it a forced air burner and to put in another burner as well as making the chamber longer so that I can forge longer blades. Sorry for being so vague, just wanted to get a feel for this refractory recipe.

I am wanting to make a new forge. I have used the wool blanket insulation and it has proved too fragile. And also the forge doesn't get hot enough to forge weld which I am dying to try! Anyway, my idea is to make a cast forge but I don't want to have to sell a kidney to have castable refractory shipped to me. I found a recipe online that was used for aluminum casting. It consists of four quarts perlite and one quart of 3000 degree furnace mortar. I planned to buy a small amount of mizzou castable refractory for a liner and to use the homemade stuff for a secondary layer. Any ideas?

so nobody knows about the function of the ears?

what type of wood would you use for the handle, this looks like a fun project

The hope of one day making something like that is the reason I started doing this. What are you making your handle and scabbard out of?

Here are the pictures. You can't see the crack, but it is slightly closer to the plunge.

Thanks for the advice guys. I was going to post a picture but my internet is acting up. I think I'm just going to use the knife until it breaks and then trash it. I have alot more of these teath so the next one is going to be oil quenched. Thanks again, I'll post a picture as soon as I can.

Does the shape of the pommel have a practical purpose or is the style just for aesthetic purposes? Great looking knife in any case!

Sorry, imprecise language. My knives break when I try to staighten any warping after the quench.

So I forged a skinning knife out of the tooth of an old Harrow and after HT it has a crack. I used differential HT so only the cutting edge is cracked. How big of a deal is this? Does it make the knife worthless? Need an expert opinion.