JohnK

I use a oil forge and gasoline for preheat and thinning. It doesn't pose an explosion hazard with any size chamber (3" pipe to 16"tank) at most a moderate to annoying blowback that'll ruin your fan and give you a 2month surprised look before exploding. It takes quite a bit to burst a pipe like that. It'll never happen with standard fuel.

@Gary Mulkey indeed. Still beautiful! I'm partial to the forest idea

Curious me but how would it work forged out? A beginners assumption that it would squish the tree shape. If it was cut into wafers and laid/welded onto another thin billet it would resemble a forest. Im probably quite wrong but either way its very beautiful.

Oh do I try Branick. Be surprised just how fast any tool is gone. My dad usually gets up around 5 on Saturday mornings for that particular reason. Haha I just can't compete after 60+ hour work weeks.

Im a beginner myself(for like 10 years). I pretty religiously watch FIF but i certainly didnt get into it for that. It certainly did revive my ancient interest but originally i got into it because of... well.....Anime. Ya know alot of different blades on BLEACH so i wanted to make my own zanpakuto, which i did, and stupidly gave it to an ex. I do feel like FIF has caused alot of influence be it good or bad it shouldnt matter. If theres good then maybe therell be a new gen of great makers and if bad then the ones that are bad or cant handle the sheer amount of work involved will quit and well it just doesnt matter. @Conner Michauxi know the feeling of getting silly requests because of FIF. I want damascus, i want a katana, i want a set of throwing knives, i want this from a show i just watched, i want, i want, i want. yea well i want a million dollars to make it so how bad you really want it??? lol. Im not a master so i stay in my lane. If you can make it then of course do it. if you think maybe i can, then certainly try. if youre sure you cant then you better master it!! Overall though there is some merit to the show. My local HF now sells 20lb, 50lb and 75lb anvils now. ran out of 75s though .

Where yall keep finding all these old files? I can barely find new ones big enough for a knife

Indeed I shall @JenniferP Im not sure of the specific name but I wanted to make one of those axes with the edge to the side that are meant for shaping logs into square beams. Got plenty of white and yellow pine to build me a log cabin style forging shop one day (attempt)

Here I am struggling to make knives when the only thing I don't own is a hatchet and axe. Beautifully simplistic and my dumb dumb butt hasn't even tried to make one. Awesome work

The one I sacrificed for KITH is similar to this but 4" shorter. My work tools are mostly makita but personal are all dewalt. I could care less what data sheets say. Makita batteries hands down last much longer but charge longer, for sheer power I prefer dewalt. Batteries don't last but they charge in 15 or so minutes and mine is a 5yr old base 20v model and can drive 1/2" x 12" lags in 10s or less. My makita can't do half. I can say for sure Dewalt can handle more abuse.

@Garry Keown I prefer their flatbars/prybars. Hammers are top notch but for my needs they aren't quite heavy enough. I went for the Dewalt demo since I usually do a lot of remodels. It's a beast to swing all day but can drive a nail in one whop. I had 2 flatbars but one is enough. Besides it was pretty old. I'm a bit of a Dewalt fanboy. I just wish they'd put a little more effort into their tape measures

Only good steel I had available on short notice necessary sacrifice I'm partial to them myself.

Pretty

A new one is underway. Unrelated but i hope nobody is a lover or hater of Eastwing.

Due to a severe cold, and an equally potent coughing spell, I get to redesign my Christmas KITH.

Suppose I won't be doing them. Got home to late to even do one. Guess once they're unusable they'd make an OK knife

Thanks for the info alan. Though I did only intend on hardening the last half inch or less. What ever temper they do have I can't afford to lose in the shank(mushrooming/stuck in bosses 1100$ hammer drill). I have run the basics by him that even if they harden they can deform or chip. In this situation I don't think chipping will be an issue or the shank losing temper. I plan on wrapping it up and using my forge as a torch to only heat the edge. Also I might add what is left in the photos is at most half of what was originally there.

Haha @alan. I don't think I can get away with 50$ each. They are 40$ new. I figured 10$ or maybe 15$ each, I have 5 now. Several sites do reference them as being 1045 or 's series but the 's series are claimed to be rare on chipping hammer bits these days. But I guess I'll find out tonight. Really worried they aren't mono-steel. I was thinking oil first but doing water up to the shank and slowly drawing it out when it sizzles instead of boiling?

Thanks friend! Although I'm actually doing this for work since they are over 40$ each my boss wants me to "fix" them. To which I replied haha. Was not amused. They seem to think since I have a forge and do minor smithing that I can magically fix them. I suppose I mean to ask Can they be heat treated again without ruining the steel? I only plan on doing the edge. Also I did grind one down earlier and kept cool but the edge seemed soft impacted against the shank of another.

So I now have 4 overly used Bosch chipping hammer bits. Curious if they can be sharpened and reheat treated or if they were likely bi-metal and the tip was the only hardenable steel? Information on their possible makeup seems nonexistent.

1. Alex Middleton 2. Conner Michaux 3. Will Wilcox 4. Chad Scott 5. John King

Final profiling and cleaning before quench. Ugly like a pug.

Light cleaning and profiling

Thanks for the spec sheet alan. I'll probably tinker with my rebar some. If it doesn't hold up how I want it then to scrap it goes. Tool steel I get since I'm commercial and well we really don't baby our tools. Flat bars/pry bars, chisels, hammers, and punches are our most common victims. If I ever get around to it I have pounds of mason nails and bolts/screws from 1/2in to 3in length and 4in to 8in. Might try to make Damascus one day but man premade mono steel billet is so much easier to deal with. Wonder if carbon can be added during a smelt?

One day I'll be able to afford that. For now I'll have to settle with what I can get. Pretty sure I can get a life time supply of leaf spring and tool steel though.

Shatter like glass: a few when I first started forging were 1"wide roughly 3/16" thick and 10 to 14" long. I dropped one on my anvil and it shattered into 4 pieces. Another broke in half with multiple chips when quenched.