J.Leon_Szesny

I'm probably going to ask this again next year so.. Only asking for charcoal-forges Price of charcoal is mad right now. are there any new, viable, cheaper, alternative "fuel things"?

So we're going to assume the K-type temperature readout, is the correct temperature, yes?

I got a K type rod on this, So I set my thermometer to type K But I read that type K and type J both work to measure high temps. Problem is that if I switch the type, the displayed temperature drastically changes. So I'm a bit uncertain which is the true reading, if that makes sense...

No need my beautiful bearded fellow! Haha, Feast thy eyes! On a forge corrected sanmai core! It works after all But this is just a theory, Now I need to further proof it. Prob by Intentionally off centering a core and beating it into the center

So basically once it goes off center, it's just game over? I refuse to believe that it can't be manipulated somehow, to nudge it back. If you can hammer it off center, then it should also be possible to hammer it back, center. Right? Has to be.

@billyO I tried to thin the side out that had more iron by laying the thinner side on the anvil and only forging on the side with more iron. In theory, that should prevent the thinner side on the anvil from getting thinner faster than the side I'm hammering on But in practice The exact opposite happened, Twice!

I've been making some san-mai kitchen knives and the core keeps going off center. Material butter iron and shirogami 2. Method, hand hammering. I start out with the core being centered, even measured it but... So I tried to see what happens, if I only forge on the side that has more iron, thinking if I displace it more than the anvil would the thinner side, I could thin it and the core would be centered. That thinking seemed very incorrect, it made it so much worse. So I'll try the opposite now. Anyone know for certain how to beat the sides so the core keeps being in center?

I thought about that but I dont know if the quench would play nicely with it, during the quench the white metals would get annealed while the hard steel(shirogami1 1.35%c) would bend like crazy? and that is ok to an extend, Japanese forgings usually get hammer corrected on the final stages anyway but, I fear it might be too extrem with just white metals and itll tear itself loose? especially on something like a single sided laminate kiridashi

so glad someone ackonwledged that it's BRAZING! I had a heated convo about this with a guy once hahaha but I dont know maybe it's another case of the dreadful "forge thick grind, thin philosphy" this is a screenshot of baker forge and tools copper/brassmascus pieces and the ratio seem to be equal on them(ecept for the core steel)

naah, I've seen some knifemakers using it, they got a source somewhere. hmmh oh! "baker forge and tools" was it hmm but it aint quite right.. what he's looking for is more like this:

Sup, I was wondering if anyone knew where to buy this stuff, asking for a friend, he's looking for a copper and brass mix, without core, prefferably made with low carbon steel or iron. for a two layer kiridashi.

@Tim Cook I am using the standard hoses that came with the roxy set, so it should be a propane hose? @Aiden CChm not sure about grease, the oily liquid is pretty much like sewing machine oil, very runny and thin and maybe a bit less oily. I shouldve tried to light it on fire! but prior to fully noticing it, I think I did fiddle with the torch, just running the propane and there was no residual flame after shutting off the propane valve, soo im guessing it's maaaaybe, not a very flammable oil? I have it drained out now and its doesn't seem to be back. Yet.

Not at all, I have it mounted in a stand, so it's always stand-ing upright. I let the hose hang off a shelf to drip it all out overnight, by now I have atleast a full pint worth that's come out of it and it doesn't even look like it's all drained yet.

I noticed there's some clear oily liquid dripping out of the nozzle and it's preventing the propane from properly burning so the oxygen just blows out the flame. I'm not sure if it's my fault or if it's the cold weather or if this is normal?

I'm pretty sure, I can measure just the steel, especially for testing purposes I could even use larger steel sheet/plate. I wont be trying to aim at the steel lying inside my forge, rather pulling it out maybe above the anvil and then, seeing what the gismo says and it wont be more than 3-5 inches away, if distance is a problem and aiming the thing, it should work out? and emissivity can be adjusted on most of these(to an extend?)

my set up is a japanese style charcoal toolsmith forge, I dont think I'll ever bother trying to measure the forges heat. I was thinking of using it as a crutch to learn the temperature of my steel, with different daytime lighting and be somewhat exact with it within 40-60C atleast.

Are they viable/affordable, yet? because I have tried to use a thermocoupler to test and dokument temperatures and those tend to be waay to slow with their readings, Im looking for something that takes about 1-2 seconds to tell me the temperature of the metal, touch and go style or point and shoot. so I'm seeing some that are about 30-50 moneybucks and rated for 800+ to 1200+ celsius. what do I need to know? how do/dont these work for steel? are the affordable ones even usable for quick valid readings? anyone got a cheap one that fits my bill? this is what im looking at, no idea if its good or thrown out money. https://www.ebay.de/itm/154389108174?epid=6030203708&hash=item23f24ed5ce:g:ug8AAOSw~x9iTAqk

@Alan LongmireI got them at 3.5x and the focal lenght seems to be around 40cm(3.5x is advertised to have 42cm Focal length) tho I havent measured it with a ruler, compared to my optivisor lenses, definitely much better. I'd even consider going with 4x magnification, I think those will still have enough focal length, not to strain my neck or interefere with my face in the work, lol. the only drawback I can see, is that they give you a smaller field of view but I dont think thats a problem for engraving where youre working slowly along. I think optivisors seem better for getting a big magnified picture...like, reading? theyre great for reading! how bout this? https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B07XCTDWML/ref=sr_1_7?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=MVFET5K41F30&keywords=Levin+Dental+3.5x&qid=1654081782&sprefix=levin+dental+3.5x%2Caps%2C844&sr=8-7 these are the ones I got, basically the same thing https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B012M3IV80/ref=sr_1_6?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=VGTJG23RYJ1W&keywords=dental+loupe+3.5x&qid=1654082110&sprefix=dental+loup+3.5x%2Caps%2C225&sr=8-6 as I understand it, with the insane pricing for these that professional(doctors) use, is due to medical equipment tax(making it extremely expensive, because they can) and due to special fine tune adjustments to the operators specific visiual abilities but from reading up stuff, it seems like for most people, theres not much of a difference between the 1500-5000$ and 30-100$ ones a lot of medical students get told to buy the thousand dollar ones and later give reviews about the cheap ones saying "if I had known...." so that probably says alot?

Have you tried Galilean loupes before? they have become quite affordable, I got one for 50€ with lamp and nice coffer. The focal length is incredible, compared to optivisors. Really High magnification without having to stick your nose into the chisel

So far was all on woodworking tools. Now I got some blades to post here too ^^ this texturing is achieved by using the Sen completely incorrectly, while holding the workpiece incorrectly and its painful to do. Literally. My arms feel beaten, haha... Crosshatch and zigzag pattern. The big one is for my own kitchen, so only did a little on it. Butter iron and shirogami core

I've looked around, the cheapest I can get would be a bosch, without battery and charger. good sawblades for it are sold out of the UK, thanks to brexit the shipping costs more than the sawblade on some listings! so thats a total of atleast 400euro... yikes, definitely not affordable right now. btw, I've seen a couple of these types of shears :https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/blechschere-schlagschere-ddr/2004628525-234-4173 any idea what mechanism is hidden in there? and by the look of the blade, I wonder if the blade comes down like a guillotine, instead of the regular scissor action cut?

so I'm getting into making kitchen knives! and I really need a benchshear, no way about it, so far I've been hacksawing but that is very...bad in many ways. Im trying to cut through 2-3mm iron+carbon steel so whats more powerful, a shear with lever action or one with gears?

I got a link to a blurry zoomed out recording... I'll dig it up later but yes I think the steel might've been 300-400 C. it definitely wasn't red hot

I can't find reference examples to marks and Brian's shears but the japanese style I'm going for ain't got a pivot(and probably not for lack of them being able to make it), besides most blacksmith shears I've seen can only cut 2-3mm thick things. the japanese setup can cut 6-8mm thick in 1-3 strikes. and it's a clean straight cut along an entire 7-10cm long piece

In japanese toolsmithing they got a type of cold shear setup but as usual details are lacking. All I know is, the smith places a small plate on the anvil and his helper positions a flat looking punch over the edge of the plate, then the punch is struck, it makes a "plunk" sound and the steel placed between is sheared off clean. I got 4 ideas how the details might look and considering that the force comes straight from the top, I'd be leaning to number 4 being "it" But will appreciate a second opinion on steel shearing.