AndrewJohnKarow

I'm surprised it moved so easily its normally a very tough metal to work.(I've used 4lb hammers before and it still didn't wanna move.) I will say something about the cracks. They can still appear days after the metal is dead cold. Just keep a careful eye on it, inspect it before each use. (you should do that with all tools) Also a quick question how much did you spend on the tool steel? You get what you pay for, so the quality of the steel could affect the results.

Having just finished my metallurgy course in college, I can pretty much say the you should temper it(always temper unless you know the steel can hold upto stress). S7 while very shock resistant it can crack if its not completely up to temp before cooling. This is because the core of the metal isn't the same temperature as the outside metal, which cools faster. This creates a lot of stress in the metal which pulls the grains apart. I have a 1×2" piece of S7 that I welded on(no preheat) and every single weld had cracks in them. My advice would be to normalize and retreat following the proper procedure. http://www.crucible.com/eselector/ If you need to find the procedure, this site contains a lot of good information on tool steel.(including S7)

Yeah I've done that before I actually knew what I was doing. Lol it scared the living daylights out of me.

Honostly shade 10 is more then overkill. It just wouldn't be all that effective for forgeing. I would recommend a shade 3-4, because you get a brighter flame with an oxy/fuel neutral flame then I have ever seen with forge welding. I would really use some of the recommendations from the previous comments. Good luck,

I'll look into that Alan thanks. Josh im a 2hr drive from Madison near Baraboo and the Dells and I will also look into the class you mentioned.

Are there any bladesmiths that are willing to take on an apprentice, near Madison Wisconsin? I'm asking because I am looking for a mentor that is close to where I live and go to school.

then its great coal it doesn't create much ash at all it just burns away

its mineral coal. (I was lucky to find a deposit in the cliffs near my house!) and the shop vac is a 2.5 hp 1 gallon type with a flow control made from the fire extinguishers leaver. Mine is also bottom blown. I'll post some pics soon.

Hey guys I'm back and I'm wondering how I should build my new coal forge. The one I currently have is a fire extinguisher that I cut in half and attached a shop vac to the bottom. It works but I can only heat blades two to three inches long. So I'm wondering if there's a better way.

Welcome aboard you will learn a lot here.

alright guys thanks guess I'ed better get to work

I want to build a complete metal sheath for a knife I made for a friend. Whats the best way to do it?

I'm amazed the blade actually hardened with no cracks.

Ok thanks guys.