M. Cochran

Sorry for the delay, Aiden, I appreciate the tip on drilling. That's a good looking knife and isn't too terribly far from the direction I'm going. So far all I've managed to do is we have come to an agreement that a two blade knife similar to the Barlow style is a good knife. Things have been kind of crazy lately so I haven't managed to do any design for it yet but hope to get this moving soon. The biggest hold up on this project is trying to get my belt grinder running. I got everything I needed just to go to put it together and find out I need more parts.

I would love to be able to use a surface grinder but I don't know of any I could use. Hopefully in the next week I'll be able to finish my 2x72 and finish up a few of the knives I have laying around. I think I will give this project a shot and see what comes of it. Thank you for the help, Geoff and Joshua.

I just got some in my last steel order that was 1/8" thick. I know that's not thick enough for me to forge it well but it's plenty thick enough for a pocket knife if I don't mess it up. I just knew I don't see much about using it anywhere except for pattern welding. I don't know how stain resistant it really is, I just assumed (shame on me) that the higher nickel content would make a difference as compared to the other steels I have on hand.

I may be misremembering this but I want to say I've read that 15N20 is good knife steel since you don't want to use a steel for pattern welding that is less than ideal by itself. That said I have done some searching for more information about using 15N20 for knives but I'm not seeing much that isn't people talking in circles. My curiosity stems from a guy at work that said he might be interested in a knife but only if it's a folder. I know I could use some of the 1084 I use but think that the 15N20 would be a little more corrosion resistant which I imagine would be great for a knife that's in your pocket all day. I know I could use stainless if I'm that worried about corrosion but don't feel like it would be a wise investment to buy a piece of stainless for a single pocket knife. Feel free to tell me I'm just being a little crazy and that I should be less worried or whatever else you think I need to hear.

I have like to check mine on occasion for dirt dauber nests since they seem to love the burner tubes. As far as rust goes, my burners have some surface rust on the inside and they've been that way since I bought the forge used so I can't say what difference that'll make.

Ross, please don't be offended but I have to ask just to be more clear. Are you running the forge outside or in an area where there is a breeze of some other air movement? I've had an issue in the past with a breeze blowing through my shop and interrupting the proper burn on my little gasser before.

I like the design but have to agree with Austin. While it looks like it would be difficult to get your fingers in the way, it never hurts to have a little extra assurance by having a guard.

Brian you might want to check out water purification items. Some of those will have potassium permanganate in them.

Just loaded up for me on my iPhone.

I welded up about 9 inches to a handle and have it relatively clean and I'm waiting for a good time to light a fire. It'll probably be a couple weeks since I had to work today and Thanksgiving next week means that weekend will be busy. I'll post some pictures when I get something done.

I searched 'open hearth furnace' and found this video on YouTube. The drama of steel https://youtu.be/CpZmu5ynKa8

So you're saying most of that junk will find its way out on it own during the process? Don't think I'm ignoring your input but I think I'm still going to knock some of that off just to be sure. I'd hate to waste a chunk that big just because I didn't get it clean enough. I cut a small piece off from one of the outer bundles just to see how easily this is going to work for me. I felt I got a good weld and proceeded to forge out a rather small blade. I cleaned it up some and decided to try to see the pattern so I'm attempting an etch I've heard about using mustard. Unfortunately at this time I don't have any distilled white vinegar (which I have used in the past with decent results) nor do I have any ferric or any other strong acids. If this one turns out to my liking I'll post a couple pictures. I really need to start showing some of my amateur work so I can get feedback for improvement. If only I can get past the embarrassment of it lol.

Well I cut a piece off to take to work and weld the ends up. I took the opportunity to look at the insides and it's nasty, greasy dirty and gritty. I'm not sure how much of that will disappear at heat. I'll take your suggestion, Alan, after all you have more experience. I'm used to welding up clean bars not nasty cable lol.

My plan is to cut off a couple sections about a foot long and weld the ends together at work. I'll then soak one in vinegar just to see how much it'll do and how long it takes to get decent results. The other one I planned on doing a run with electrolysis and see how long it takes. I'm also thinking it might be a good idea to heat it up in the forge enough to untwist a little so that the inside can get exposed to the vinegar and electrolyte. I'm going to take notes and pictures from several angles before during and after noting when each picture was taken. Then after all is said and done I'll have a good idea which way to go on the rest of it. I don't see a need right now for a degreaser but when I cut it to get pieces I think I'll know better then if I can skip that step or not.

Thank you again for the quick reply earlier, Alan. Thank you for clearing up the rough alloy as well. That saves me lots of wasted time and fuel trying to figure that out. Thanks, I finally manage to be in the right place at the right time instead of a day late as usual.