AndrewB Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Okay so I made a metal order this morning and I should have that at least by the end of the week so I can do some forging. I was wanting to try something a little bit different I'm wondering 2 inches should be about plenty for the width of some kitchen knives? Right? Anyhow I wanted to try it to it was only about a dollar difference in the size. I also order some more of the 1/4 inch thick material that I normally use. But if I wanted to say like I said make a kitchen knife for someone that should be perfectly fine right? Yes I did order from NJ Steel Baron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 I can make a 2" wide kitchen knife from 3/4" round bar or 1" x 1/4" flat bar, so that's not really a good question. How thick is your 2" wide stock? How thick do you want the finished blade to be? Forging is a constant volume process (minus loss to scale), you just change the shape of the steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 I think it's .70 thick and I wasn't exactly sure on that one. I guess I just haven't quite gotten down the movement of metal that well yet so I just wind up with a Bleh knife you know @Alan Longmire. I can change the steel but I also wanted to see what I was able to accomplish with a bit wider material. Since I seem to have issues using the anvil getting some things right when forging out the blade. But I mean at least I'll have more than enough material for a few knives at least. I did get the other stuff as well the 1/4 thick by 1 1/4 wide by 48 as well. I just wasnt sure if it would be better to get a wider chunk and use less material every time or get a narrower piece and use more or less either way. Seems like I go through quite a bit of metal by learning. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeb Camper Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 So, you bought .70" thick x 2" wide? So between around 5/8-3/4"? I dont think you did. I hope you didn't... you'll be in for a real workout! I like to try and make what I call a preform. Not sure if that's the right term, but it's pretty much a shape you have before beveling. If I'm after a blade with a width of 2", a 3/16" thick spine at the tang end, and a distal taper down to 1/8" before the tip, I'll forge it down to 1 3/4" wide by 1/4" thick before forging in the tip, and then the distal, and then the bevels. Keep in mind the steel will stretch out in both directions, and the whole blade will arch upward. I realize these dementions would make a terrible kitchen knife, but I dont make kitchen knives and can't really say I know the right size preform fo have before beveling. One big mistake newbs can make is beating in a tip, beveling the blade and then trying to correct the profile of the blade after forging, undoing what you did on the anvil with the grinder. You need to follow an order of operations. Its especially important on multibar damascus to forge a preform before beveling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 I strongly suspect he meant 0.070" rather than 7/10". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel James Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 routinely can get an 8" chef 2" wide blade from a 6" section of 1.5" wide by 1/4" thick bar stock. Any thinner than that and you arent drawing the heel out very much at all. Its a bit easier to start with wider stock and grind it back to what you need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hertzson Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 (edited) Strongly recommend you review Nick Rossi's videos on the NESM Youtube site. He has a couple of very good ones on forging kitchen knives showing all the pertinent steps and indicating the stock size he works from. Note that he forges very thin and clean, so you may want a bit more material, or a smaller blade, for your first couple. Also note that a lot depends on whether you are making a full tang blade or a hidden tang. 2" width should be plenty for most kitchen knives, IMHO, provided you are thick enough. 0.07" is under 1/8" (closer to 1/16"), so I wouldn't expect you to have any material for doing actual forging, but you could make a reasonable kitchen knife by stock removal. Unless you are very patient, even forging in the tip on a 2" x 0.07" stock will be a bit of a nightmare. Edited May 20, 2019 by Dan Hertzson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Higson Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I see all you responsible adults managed to avoid making the very obvious joke that goes with this thread title 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerhard Gerber Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 GO JAMES!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 I think I ooofed on the steel thickness LOL. I got the steel this morning. How ever its 2 inches width by .70 thick which I would have thought would have been a 1/4 thickness but I'm assuming what I bought was more for grinding blades out on the grinder and then going in for the heat treating. Am I correct on this or am I just a doof and got the thickness wrong. I think I can make a decent kitchen knife out of that thickness I don't have to do much to it LOL. If I want to forge weld it all together I know I can do that too. Dang shoulda ordered some more 15n20 in that bat LOL this is SO not the steel thickness I'm use to. I don't want to waist it I'm open to comments and suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Weller Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 4 minutes ago, AndrewB said: How ever its 2 inches width by .70 thick which I would have thought would have been a 1/4 thickness I guess I'm still not sure what you have... if it is 0.70 inches thick then it is 7/10ths or closer to 3/4 inch thick which will take a while to forge down to the thickness of a kitchen knife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 1/4" is .25". Time to forge it down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody Killgore Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 From what he's saying... I'm thinking he means. 0.070" and not 0.70". Hopefully anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 That's what I thought, but no, it's 0.7". Big hunk of steel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 I'm thinking its the .070 its pretty thin I could bend it by hand if I needed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Longmire Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Then what's the problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 nothing I wasnt sure if I got metal that was too thin or if thats the stuff for basically grinding out blades. I'm gonna get some more eventually but it seems like that stuff I don't even actually have to put in the forge to thin out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Middleton Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Definitely not too thin for the right knife. It would be a good starting thickness for a fillet knife, paring knife, or a general use slicer, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 Okay I am gonna be ordering some thicker stuff as wel but that will be next month, but at least with that steel I can grind it to shape soly on the grinder if I didn't feel like forging it. I mean I could forge weld it together to get it thicker in theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveShimanek Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Anything over 2 inches is just bragging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 13 hours ago, SteveShimanek said: Anything over 2 inches is just bragging! Facepalm LMFAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joël Mercier Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 You can do 2" wide chefs with 0.070" thick stock no prob. You'll just have to do partial flat grinds around 1" high. Of course it's going to be stock removal only and the blade will be very light weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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