Joshua States

This morning Liz had some forging to do before the sun hit the shop/garage doors. Here she is working the LG. Then she went to delivery two more pieces to the Flagstaff Arboretum. She has sold 4 pieces already at this show. Then I finished stripping the work trailer down to the frame in preparation for making it into a flatbed. I probably picked the wrong day for this, but it's not getting any cooler anytime soon. This is inside the shop door in the shade.

Worst case scenario, is you put it in your yard as a piece of art and sell it in a couple of years.........

It is also why one particular thread above this one is pinned. tripple quenching vs tripple normalising - Metallurgy and other enigmas - Bladesmith's Forum Board (bladesmithsforum.com) The Verhoven study referenced in the final post is readily available online too: http://hybridburners.com/documents/verhoeven.pdf

All good advice here. It's been a few years since I forged nickel-silver, but I do remember that it will crumble if you forge it hotter than a black heat. When I used it in Mokume, it was heat, quench (anneal), reheat, cool, forge. I would grab the piece with tongs and hold it inside a steel tube until I couldn't see any glow before forging. Always heat and anneal after forging. The pickling idea is sound advice.

My advice is buy the etcher system. The unit is the biggest expense. A quart of etching solution will last years. The stencils are fairly cheap and good ones are reusable. Buy once, cry once.

This could also go in the Fiery Beards humor thread, but I figured I would post it here in case anyone starts thinking about doing this. So there I was sitting at my table at Blade when this couple comes up and he starts talking knife making. I always entertain discussions about the art, especially with younger makers, but this guy really set me off. He wants to show me his work and share his processes. OK. I'm game. Then he starts telling me about multiple quenching cycles for 1095 and I'm like, huh? Didn't we go through that 15 years ago? So I ask him why he does this and h

Pretty. Really strong work right there.

All he knows how to play is the opening chords to Stairway to Heaven........

Does this guy know you will be giving him heat treated high carbon steel?

For those makers out there who do not use their names in their mark, this is why you are doing it wrong.

$50 ?!?!?!?! OMG......Can I get bulk pricing? Maybe send me a dozen. I'm having a field day at the swap meet.

Does your anvil have a horn?

I just went through the album and I cannot thank you enough for putting that together. It answered soooo many questions I had about the construction process.

The guard is the last thing I make on this style of knife. I get everything else done and fit together first. The guard is much easier to figure out once everything else is shaped.