Avise La Fin

[Joshua States 1,661]

It looks good to me you big bolshy bas....

I'm hoping @Matthew Parkinson shows up here. He's made at least one of these that I know of.

[Brian Dougherty 1,094]

Looking good Rob.  Amazingly straight to my eyes!

 

As I visualize (fantasize?) the quench operation on long blades, one thing that seems like it will be difficult is the transition from horizontal to vertical without letting the balde bend under its own weight. 

 

I assume you grabbed the tang with some tongs and supported the middle with a stick somehow?  How did it go?

[Alan Longmire 2,639]

That'll do!  The bigger the blade the less hard it should ideally be.  If you can file the edge with some difficulty that's a decent indicator.  File on an as-is leaf spring, that's what you're looking for.

[Rob Toneguzzo 774]

7 hours ago, Brian Dougherty said:

Looking good Rob.  Amazingly straight to my eyes!

 

As I visualize (fantasize?) the quench operation on long blades, one thing that seems like it will be difficult is the transition from horizontal to vertical without letting the balde bend under its own weight. 

 

I assume you grabbed the tang with some tongs and supported the middle with a stick somehow?  How did it go?

Hi Brian, I was worried about this too but it turned out to not be a problem.
 

As the floor of the forge was full length flat firebricks and long enough for the whole blade I was able to lay it flat and flip it without bending it to get an even heat throughout.

 

I only slid it back and forth about an inch to avoid hotspots directly under the burners.

when the time came to take it out to normalise x3 then quench I just flipped it on its edge and slid it out using a pair of tongs for mid support as you suggested. 
 

I think a horizontal forge that was shorter than the blade and that you had to be constantly working in and out to get up to heat would be harder to keep straight.
 

I suppose if you had a shorter horizontal forge you could slide a piece of box the length of your blade through the forge and wait for the middle of the box to come up to heat. Even though the ends of the box sticking out of the forge would be colder it would give the flat support as you were sliding the long blade in and out getting the blade up to heat and perhaps stop the sag. If that makes sense.

 

4 hours ago, Alan Longmire said:

That'll do!  The bigger the blade the less hard it should ideally be.  If you can file the edge with some difficulty that's a decent indicator.  File on an as-is leaf spring, that's what you're looking for.

Thanks Alan I think it is just a fraction harder than the spring.
 

19 hours ago, Joshua States said:

It looks good to me you big bolshy bas....

Thanks Josh not only are you a wonderful bladesmith you are a true wordsmith as well.

Edited January 13 by Rob Toneguzzo