Yesterday I had my first experience in forging a knife. Big fun and the end result makes feel kind of proud Here's some pics taken during the process, a bit out of focus but it tells the story. Started with a rough shaped piece of O2 steel welded to a long rod to hold it comfortably during the forging. This is where it all begins... massive amounts of heat Start making a rounded tip And heat it up again Making the angles constant was hard by yourself, so it became a 2 man job More heat After forging worked up the contours a bit on a belt sander And also started the edge on the belt sander before hardening Hardening (in oil) and tempering My first forged steel tools : Leather lace handle and sheath make it complete For size reference Love the mirror edge contrasting against the forge marks This was great fun to do! I need to go out now and give the knife a good workout
I envy you. That is really a cool thing to get to do. Where did you do this? Friend? Take a class? ??
Thanks guys. It was a 1 day workshop. 8 people (all firsttimers) and 1 experience blacksmith that explained the proces, showed the techniques and gave us plenty of tips.
You might as well. The lessons learned in the first workshop will help in the second, but not if you wait a year or three and things fade. Learning from someone that's been down the road will save you a lot of time and frustration since you don't have to constantly reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
Thanks for all the positive comments and feedback guys! If you ever get the chance to do a workshop like this, don't hesitate. Yes, I know I shouldn't wait to long before a follow up class. The feeling for deforming the steel you get after one day won't last very long I imagine Yes, but it's kind of coming along as you work, not something I'd sketched out before. And the blacksmith had brought some examples to get us going and all of our work looked a bit like the examples, but each a little different. We got some tips on how the tip would sweep up when modeeling the bevels so you could decide to make a drop point or something else. Our start was a square slab with a narrower (handle) and wider part prepared. Everything else came along as we worked on it.