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

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  #1  
Old 02-28-2016, 01:14 AM
geekxx geekxx is offline
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Thumbs up Hello!

Hello Everyone,

I'm a novice knife maker, and have taken a few blacksmithing classes at the Pratt Fine Art Institute in Seattle. My focus is mainly on damascus and historical blades, particularly from the Viking period. I've been working on setting up a shop in my garage, and have acquired most of the basic tools I need. Still looking for a good anvil though. I'm currently using a piece of railroad track.

I'm also a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and for my day job I work in the software industry.

-Jeff
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  #2  
Old 02-28-2016, 08:28 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Welcome Jack! Stop into the Chat Room tonight. You won't be the only new knife maker there, not even the only commercial pilot or IS person....


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Old 02-28-2016, 09:39 AM
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Andrew Garrett Andrew Garrett is offline
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Welcome from a History major who also likes Vikings (the tv show anyway) and a fellow pilot (PP/SEL)!

There was an 85lb Peter Wright anvil on Ebay yesterday.


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  #4  
Old 02-28-2016, 06:48 PM
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Hunter10139 Hunter10139 is offline
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Welcome to the forums, I'm excited to see some of your work.


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Old 02-29-2016, 04:52 AM
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Crex Crex is offline
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Welcome! We need more "smiths" too many Johnson's and Davis's out there......
Show us some of your work when you get a chance.


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  #6  
Old 03-01-2016, 11:50 PM
geekxx geekxx is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Garrett View Post
Welcome from a History major who also likes Vikings (the tv show anyway) and a fellow pilot (PP/SEL)!

There was an 85lb Peter Wright anvil on Ebay yesterday.
I'm also a history major! I was working on my PhD in medieval history before I moved into the tech sector. Frankly I got tired of spending all my time learning French, German, Latin, and Arabic, and when I got a job offer writing software making more than I would make after spending 11 years getting a PhD, I went with the tech job.

I just found a guy here in WA who restores leg vises, and I'm picking one up from him this weekend. He's also going to introduce me to "a guy" who has a barn full of anvils for sale. Apparently he has several Peter Wrights and Hay Buddens for $2 - $3 a pound. Hoping to pick up one this weekend.

-Jeff
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  #7  
Old 03-01-2016, 11:51 PM
geekxx geekxx is offline
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Originally Posted by Ray Rogers View Post
Welcome Jack! Stop into the Chat Room tonight. You won't be the only new knife maker there, not even the only commercial pilot or IS person....
Wasn't able to make the chat on Sunday, but I will try to be there this weekend.

-Jeff
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  #8  
Old 03-02-2016, 11:40 AM
geekxx geekxx is offline
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Here are a couple of blades I'm currently working on. The top one is a damascus bowie/camp knife. It's the first damascus billet I ever made. The bottom one is a broken-back seax out of 1095.



Here's the damascus blade after a little more grinding:



Unfortunately this is what's on the other side. I think some flux got included. I'm not sure if I should cut off the end and make a shorter knife or, as someone suggested to me, drill out the hole and hammer some brass into it.

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  #9  
Old 03-02-2016, 12:21 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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That damascus has an interesting pattern. I love the look of damascus. I'm currently making a couple of damascus blades but using the steel from Alabama Damascus. Realistically I know little about it as far as the blacksmithing skills or metallurgy behind it

That hole...I don't know, depending on the intended use I'd probably just go forward and finish it and see what happens. You can always go back later and shorten it. Unless there's some unseen void behind it I doubt it would ever be an issue. I guess it could hold moisture and cause rust from within.
The case could be made that it just adds to the character as far as cosmetics goes.


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Old 03-02-2016, 12:31 PM
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Andrew Garrett Andrew Garrett is offline
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From what I've heard first hand, Alabama Damascus is good steel for blades and heat treats well.


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  #11  
Old 03-02-2016, 02:45 PM
geekxx geekxx is offline
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Originally Posted by WNC Goater View Post
That hole...I don't know, depending on the intended use I'd probably just go forward and finish it and see what happens. You can always go back later and shorten it. Unless there's some unseen void behind it I doubt it would ever be an issue. I guess it could hold moisture and cause rust from within.
The case could be made that it just adds to the character as far as cosmetics goes.
Interesting thought. The hole actually goes almost completely through the blade.

-Jeff
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  #12  
Old 03-02-2016, 07:45 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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I don't know much about forging but is it a possibility to take a tiny ball of annealed steel, put a tiny piece of silver solder or similar in the hole, then peen that ball of steel into the hole, then heat it to flow the solder and fuse in the ball, then grind smooth?


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  #13  
Old 03-02-2016, 07:52 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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From what I've heard first hand, Alabama Damascus is good steel for blades and heat treats well.
Well thats good to know. I was over at Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Tennessee several weeks ago and they had some pieces as well as some cheap Pakistani damascus. I picked up a few pieces of the Alabama and their pamphlet with heat treating recommendations.
I've got a couple blades ground and treated ready for handles. One warped but I straightened it without too much trouble. Edge deflection test looked good. Anxious to get them finished and try them out.


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  #14  
Old 03-02-2016, 08:41 PM
geekxx geekxx is offline
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Originally Posted by WNC Goater View Post
I don't know much about forging but is it a possibility to take a tiny ball of annealed steel, put a tiny piece of silver solder or similar in the hole, then peen that ball of steel into the hole, then heat it to flow the solder and fuse in the ball, then grind smooth?
Being a rank beginner, I have no idea if that would work or not. I would be concerned that it would be a glaring blemish in the damascus pattern though. The brass inlay idea intrigues me, as I think it could look nicely artistic. I thought about drilling a row of holes along the blade and filling them with brass. I think the way I would do that would be to drill the holes, say 1/4", heat the blade a little bit to expand the metal, then hammer 1/4" brass rod into the hole. When the blade cools I'd think that would firmly hold the brass in place. Am I correct?
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  #15  
Old 03-03-2016, 12:06 AM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Well one thing is that it looks like the spot is surrounded by a dimple that is below the surrounding steel. Probably caused by being stuck too hard or having the face of the hammer come down unevenly. You can really see that on the seax. Another possibility is a high crown on the face of the hammer. I find flat faces work best and rarely use the one with the high crowned face.

You might have also hammered some scale into the surface of the steel that came out later. Maybe when you brushed it up. I guess that if you had a piece of that damascus you could clean up that spot and try to forge weld that piece into the blade and grind it level but the best thing would probably be to cut the blade shorter. I would not try to fix it with an unlike metal.

Doug


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1095, anvil, back, billet, bowie, brass, camp knife, damascus, damascus blade, drill, for sale, forging, german, grinding, hammer, knife, made, make, making, new knife maker, peter wright, sale, show, software, steel


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