MEMBER ITEMS FOR SALE
Custom Knives | Other Knives | General Items
-------------------------------------------
New Posts | New PhotosAll Photos



Go Back   The Knife Network Forums : Knife Making Discussions > Custom Knife Discussion Boards > Knife Making Discussions > The Newbies Arena

The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-16-2007, 10:45 PM
kilo_watt kilo_watt is offline
Registered
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 2
largest stock you'd hammer

basically, question is: what's too large for the hammer generally speaking?

not a TON of forge experience, but have a lot of experience in traditional hand woodworking, including adze hewing and sculpting with an axe. can swing a 2.5lbs hammer for hours with reasonable control (if not tremendous skill-- although one-handed axe-ing will prepare a person well for swinging the smith's hammer), the 4lbs hammer does get pretty tiresome after a bit.

forging on a secure length of railroad track weighing around 200lbs (its all i got, anvils cost a fortune, this was a gift from a friend).

if it were you... what size stock would you just shake your head at and say "nah, gonna take too many heats"?

playing with mild steel, it seems to get annoying at around 3/4" square. is that most cause i suck, and y'all normally are forging down 1 1/2" bar stock by hand, or is there a reasonably accepted size after which a press or power hammer is the only decent way to go?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-17-2007, 01:30 AM
B.Finnigan's Avatar
B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
Living Legend
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Near Rainier WA
Posts: 1,986
I just finished forging some 1 1/8" 1080 round bar and it took three, two hr forging sessions to get it into a knife like shape. A couple weeks ago I tore into some 1 1/4" W-2 but it cracked real bad when I got it down to 1/2" thick.

1 1/2" is about the biggest I would ever try hammer forging unless it was a very important project. If you take your time and are in no rush you can break the forging up into smaller chunks and over a few days without destroying you arms, hands and wrists.

Pain does not always mean gain.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-17-2007, 08:42 AM
Ray Rogers's Avatar
Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
Founding Member / Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
Posts: 9,840
I agree with Finnigan. I would also add that some of the size limitation may depend on your forge and on the type of steel you are working with. If your forge will only barely heat the steel to forging temp the steel will not move easily under the hammer - a little more heat can help.

Some steels don't move easily no matter hot good a forge you have. Also, the shape of your hammer face can make a big difference. A big, wide face on a 2 lb hammer won't move the steel very well. Just a lot of little things that can make the difference between 'able to' and 'not able to' on this kind of question ...


__________________

Your question may already have been answered - try the Search button first!






Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-17-2007, 05:03 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
Hall of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Decatur, IL
Posts: 2,612
Other tools can make drawing out thicker stock easier than it can be done with a hammer alone. I found that a spring fuller can really move metal. I've just about finished a guilotene tool and I'm going to try that on some 0.5" L6 when I can get the necessary funds together to get some L6.

Doug Lester
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-17-2007, 05:28 PM
EdStreet EdStreet is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Columbus, GA
Posts: 1,050
I was watching 'how its made' on discovery recently and they had a section on forged steel. They were using big HUGE forklifts to pick up big billets of steel that was over 6 feet thick and was hammering that. Had some guys with water hoses taking off the outside layers and the forklift would rotate it. Quite impressive.

Ed


__________________
Gold is for the mistress - silver for the maid
Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall
But steel - cold steel is master of them all.
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-19-2007, 12:22 PM
Don Halter's Avatar
Don Halter Don Halter is offline
Guru
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Katy, TX
Posts: 1,261
I've done axeheads from 1.5 x .75 x 4" hunks of 1050, 2" 4140 round and all sorts of tools and such from up to 3" round 1045. The bigger it gets....the more of a pain it is exponentially! For knives, 5/8" W1 and O1 drill rod is my favorite when starting with round stock, with 1.25-1.5" dia being about the limit of my patience and arms these days. That being said...like the others pointed out, I tried forging a Viking sword from a 1/2" x 1.25" x 20" bar of D2. I think it still has the original 10 or so hammer marks in it, and has remained unchanged for 6 years.


__________________
Don "Krag" Halter

Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-19-2007, 01:39 PM
Delbert Ealy Delbert Ealy is offline
Steel Addict
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 145
I once forged out a double-headed axe out of a piece of 1080 1 1/2 x 6 x 18" Almost 60 lbs, In a coal forge. I wouldn't want to do that again. I think that 1" square or round is where I would draw the line my self.
Thanks,
Del


__________________

Delbert Ealy
www.ealyknives.com
custom damascus in high carbon tool steels
www.mokume-jewelry.com
gold, silver, and palladium mokume rings for under $1000
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-19-2007, 01:49 PM
AwP AwP is offline
Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 774
What alloy you're using plays a part too, some are more "red hard" then others. With mild steel I could probably do 1 1/2" without breaking a sweat. I use O1 the most, which is mildly red hard, harder then a 10xx but not like D2. For me 1/2" is slightly annoying and I wouldn't really want to do thicker then 1" without a friend acting as a sledge striker for me.


__________________
~Andrew W. "NT Cough'n Monkey" Petkus
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
forge, forging, knife, knives


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:00 AM.




KNIFENETWORK.COM
Copyright © 2000
? CKK Industries, Inc. ? All Rights Reserved
Powered by ...

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
The Knife Network : All Rights Reserved