What did you do in your shop today?

[Alex Middleton]

I tried annealing a few blades that way, and had nothing but problems afterwards.  I forget the chemistry of it, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but in certain types of steel it causes carbides to clump together and form super hard spots scattered throughout the blade.  I was burning through a ton of drill bits as I was trying to drill pin holes.  Based on the advice I was given here, now I just normalize the blade before doing any grinding/drilling and I haven't had any issues since.

[Alan Longmire]

What Alex said.  Slow-cooling 5160 forms what's called a lamellar anneal, in which the carbides form in sheets rather than spheres.  This will eat drill bits and belts for lunch.  Just normalize and then overtemper to around 800-900 degrees F and it'll be as soft as it's gonna get with low-tech methods.

[Kreg Whitehead]

4 minutes ago, Alan Longmire said:

What Alex said.  Slow-cooling 5160 forms what's called a lamellar anneal, in which the carbides form in sheets rather than spheres.  This will eat drill bits and belts for lunch.  Just normalize and then overtemper to around 800-900 degrees F and it'll be as soft as it's gonna get with low-tech methods.

It skates a file pretty much just like a fully hardened blade...was like wth. My house oven only goes to 500 or so.

I can give it a go in the forge with a muffle and probe.....is 30 min or so gonna cut it??

[Alan Longmire]

Just normalize as usual, then do what Jerrod says not to and use temper colors.   Shine it up a little and run the colors past blue into gray until they disappear.  You're not aiming at a color that corresponds to a hardness, you're just trying to overtemper it, one instance where the colors are just the sort of rough estimate that's needed.  You can do it in the forge and muffle if you want, it's not that important.  You want it hot, but not hot enough to glow.

[Jerrod Miller]

6 minutes ago, Alan Longmire said:

Just normalize as usual, then do what Jerrod says not to and use temper colors.   Shine it up a little and run the colors past blue into gray until they disappear.  You're not aiming at a color that corresponds to a hardness, you're just trying to overtemper it, one instance where the colors are just the sort of rough estimate that's needed.  You can do it in the forge and muffle if you want, it's not that important.  You want it hot, but not hot enough to glow.

OK, Alan has found an exception to the rule.  Or more precisely, the rule is "Don't use 'temper colors' to judge temperature or effectiveness for tempering martensite."  No martensite here, so you're safe.  

[Joshua States]

I looked into the new garage which will become the new shop area (while we wait for a detached shop to be built) and all I could think of was...….

Someday son, all this will be yours...…...

 

[Brian Dougherty]

A number of things have kept me away from the forge since December.  I've been working on a few blades in progress, but hadn't lit a fire since the week before Christmas.  Today I got started on a new 10" chef's knife.  Only the first weld/draw so it's at 11 layers on its way to 275 for laddering.

[Kreg Whitehead]

Got a handle on a blade I am giving my bff.  I am diggin this blade style/shape.

The one with 4 pins I will probably keep....the pins arent uniform sided to side. I am done with a hand drill.....blew the dust off my ol mans drill press.

I think the brown handle one is going up for sale. I got a bunch of grinding done on the kukri.....but its not done yet.

[Gerhard Gerber]

Frustration 

I spent the best part of Saturday working on a sheath, Kydex covered with leather.

I texted the future owner to make sure he's right-handed, and 4pm the afternoon I was rubbing in my handy work with oil when I realised.....left-handed sheath 

Started a new sheath Sunday afternoon, and the press went very well.....better than the first.

Finished up the sheath yesterday afternoon, only to find that for some strange reason there's room for the blade to move (rattles) and the retention is too good.....he'd pull his pants up to his chin before the knife comes out.

I hate making sheaths, and these have been a complete and utter waste of expensive materials and time........and the guy wants his knife.

[Brian Dougherty]

Just keep punching Gerhard   About a year ago I was just finishing the stitching on a sheath when I realized I accidentally made it left handed.  I'm sort of glad to hear I'm not the only one...

[Kreg Whitehead]

Gotta a couple blades close to handle ready...and ordered some scales today.

Super diggin this birds eye maple.  I must be getting a little faster I knocked this blade out after work the last two days.

My first blade it seemed like it took a month of sundays. lol....probably because it did.

Think I need to do one of those frame handle dealios on my big bowie ...keep breaking handles swinging it like a ape on roids.

 

 

[Vern Wimmer]

On 6/12/2018 at 3:54 AM, Gerhard said:

Frustration 

I spent the best part of Saturday working on a sheath, Kydex covered with leather.

I texted the future owner to make sure he's right-handed, and 4pm the afternoon I was rubbing in my handy work with oil when I realised.....left-handed sheath 

Started a new sheath Sunday afternoon, and the press went very well.....better than the first.

Finished up the sheath yesterday afternoon, only to find that for some strange reason there's room for the blade to move (rattles) and the retention is too good.....he'd pull his pants up to his chin before the knife comes out.

I hate making sheaths, and these have been a complete and utter waste of expensive materials and time........and the guy wants his knife.

The first time I had to make a left-handed sheath, for some reason it rattled me and I over thought it. I already had a pattern so I figured all I had to do was flip the pattern over. Just before I started the cutting some little brain gremlins said, "WAIT VERN, if you're going to cut a sheath backwards your going to have to cut the leather from the OTHER side because everything is reversed." By the time I got done ....

[Joshua States]

It's actually starting to look like there's a smithy here somewhere...….

[MathewKellerKinmond]

On ‎2‎/‎8‎/‎2016 at 10:27 AM, Caleb Harris said:

Today was warm (75+) and sunny, and my brother and I had a craving to go sailing so spent the early part of the afternoon putting together a makeshift tiller, rudder, and daggerboard in my shop, then tried it out on the local lake until dark. No knifemaking (I need more propane and belts), but it was nice all the same

im in the same boat....pun intended lol. as for my shop, currently trying to build up tools ive been neglecting to make due to the unpredictable weather here in Ontario. as well as buying some more professional equipment to get ready to start a business in BC when I move there this winter! which is going to be an amazing background for my new photos of knives and daily forging! yes im buying a house that HAS to have some sort of workshop or barn off of it. wifey approved. im hoping to be well off enough with the black/bladesmithing to be able to employ her part time as an assistant and accountant. maybe with even greater luck get her interested in the craft itself. im very happy to be apart of this forum and see so many new faces since I last logged in here. (took a couple years off moving and schooling)

 

[Joshua States]

5 hours ago, MathewKellerKinmond said:

maybe with even greater luck get her interested in the craft itself.

Careful there Matthew. Sharing a shop with another smith is one thing, sharing a shop with your spouse...…..well, that's something too.

Kidding aside, best of luck with the search and business. 

[Gerhard Gerber]

Well, the knife is done, the sheath is done, and the money should be in the bank later today.

Just a few sales made a nice contribution to my income, nothing spectacular, but it helps.....

Picked up 8 knives from the laser engraving yesterday, their owners dropped them off and I was pleasantly surprised by the performance, just the rust issue  that poked it's nose out again......not sure what to do about that..

I'm inspired by what I see here to up my game, coming right with my grinder and I hope to forge weld something a little special this weekend.......but...

There's a massive cold front hitting on Monday, long overdue since we're past the solstice and we haven't had real Winter....minimum 7C-10C and in the 20C's during the day......

.......and I woke up with a throat on fire 

.......so maybe nothing happens.

[Mike Ward]

 Made a overdue and much needed upgrade.

[Vern Wimmer]

Congrats. What do you plan for the other spindle?

[Mike Ward]

Not a clue, other than to keep things and myself away from it. Really don't want to visit hospitals unexpectedly 

[Joshua States]

This weekend I finished wiring the temporary shop (the garage) and replaced the VFD on my KMG grinder. Just a few more boxes to unpack and I should be able to get back in the saddle.

[Kreg Whitehead]

Finished grinding on the kukri with 36 grit yesterday. Gonna hit it with my  trizacts that arrived today.

Profiled and ground a smaller kitchen blade yesterday. Gonna HT and quench it tonight with any luck at all.

My blade from the sand paper thread turned out pretty good. I am not sure what those lines were from but they buffed right out.

Think I am feeling some carbon fiber scales for the bowie.....if I ever get that far.

[Joël Mercier]

Not much but I fitted a bolster and began the endless handle filing 

[Vern Wimmer]

On 7/1/2018 at 6:08 PM, Mike Ward said:

Not a clue, other than to keep things and myself away from it. Really don't want to visit hospitals unexpectedly 

I'd think about a wire wheel for removing forge scale.

[Zeb Camper]

10 hours ago, Joël Mercier said:

Not much but I fitted a bolster and began the endless handle filing 

Hey, Last time I did a hidden tang I tried something different. 

Marked off my tang on the side of my wood.

Used a drill press vice to clamp the wood at an angle so that the drill bit ran parallel one side of the tang profile I drew. 

Drilled one side, then the other with slightly oversized bit

Took a coping saw and cut the wood between the 2 holes away. 

Fastest hidden tang I ever fitted.

This wouldn't have worked for the base of your handle, but you may have been able to do the top piece of wood that way, then just glued the wood together and ran a drill bit through the perfect top piece and just hogged the bottom out. 

[Gerald Boggs]

I used my forge at ABANA and since I had to reassemble it, I stopped to take a photo of the bed in raw form.  There's several ways to use a side blast, this is the method I learned, fill the box with dirt level to where you want the iron to sit and then scoop out a hollow.  In this photo, I've just started the hollow, when I'm finished, the sides will be sloped.  I try to have the top 3 inches from the center of the tuyere.