blacksmithing work station
- Thread starter gofast
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Now I'm a big fan of Forged in Fire, this stuff is much more interesting.
Very cool ability to do this kind of thing.
Very cool ability to do this kind of thing.
I designed a machete a long time ago. I should come over and show you one day. Be cool to have a sharp
machete. I've always been interested in the hardening of the edges and the sharpening
machete. I've always been interested in the hardening of the edges and the sharpening
Very neat, hard to beat the satisfaction of hand made....
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A great update! Thanks John, your talents are very cool! By the way, love the FJ40 bib artwork! 
Wandered through the Fort for Canada Day and was thinking of this thread, any new projects?
gofast
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #73
I twisted the cable together as it heated and I also flattened the work into a square bar. Borax is used between heats to act as flux and it flows into the cable. The flux acts as a barrier for oxidation.
Forge welding is done at a sunny yellow colour. Small sparks come off the metal (its actually burning). When the metal is compressed through hammer blows - light tapping to get things to set- the pressure causes the metal to turn molten at the join and the weld occurs. Too hot and the metal looks like a kid's sparkler on a birthday cake. The metal actually combusts and any piece you save is riddled with gas pockets - a cross section looks like the inside of an aerobar.
Forging the cable into a bar requires working at a very high heat without burning the metal (I got proximity burns from radiating metal that day) You need the high heat to have all the strands weld together as a too cold temperature will cause a shock to go through the cable strands and force your welds apart every time you hit it with a hammer. When that happens the metal will oxidize and you will not be able to weld them together again. The work piece becomes scrap.
This photo shows a bar and my piece midway. You can still see the cable pattern in the bar.
After the bar is made from the cable, its flattened and then turned into a taco shape. That taco is then forged over top of another piece of steel . I used 1095 as it can hold an edge when quenched. The lower bar in the picture above is made of three pieces of steel. The Damascus taco, the 1095 and the mild steel handle
Forge welding is done at a sunny yellow colour. Small sparks come off the metal (its actually burning). When the metal is compressed through hammer blows - light tapping to get things to set- the pressure causes the metal to turn molten at the join and the weld occurs. Too hot and the metal looks like a kid's sparkler on a birthday cake. The metal actually combusts and any piece you save is riddled with gas pockets - a cross section looks like the inside of an aerobar.
Forging the cable into a bar requires working at a very high heat without burning the metal (I got proximity burns from radiating metal that day) You need the high heat to have all the strands weld together as a too cold temperature will cause a shock to go through the cable strands and force your welds apart every time you hit it with a hammer. When that happens the metal will oxidize and you will not be able to weld them together again. The work piece becomes scrap.
This photo shows a bar and my piece midway. You can still see the cable pattern in the bar.
After the bar is made from the cable, its flattened and then turned into a taco shape. That taco is then forged over top of another piece of steel . I used 1095 as it can hold an edge when quenched. The lower bar in the picture above is made of three pieces of steel. The Damascus taco, the 1095 and the mild steel handle
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gofast
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #74
Forge welding completed
Borax sitting on the floor behind it
Picture below shows the blade being heated and ready for quench
Lots of sand paper later - my instructor is European old school and everything is done by hand - we brought out the pattern using a hydrochloric etch
Borax sitting on the floor behind it
Picture below shows the blade being heated and ready for quench
Lots of sand paper later - my instructor is European old school and everything is done by hand - we brought out the pattern using a hydrochloric etch
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gofast
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #75
Finished pieces and ready for final assembly and sharpening
From the top:
bar
heat treated blank
my piece- you can see the edge of the taco - to be ground out
the fellow that burnt his tip off
one where you can see the inclusions in the metal near the handle - not a structural issue
The instructors finished piece
From the top:
bar
heat treated blank
my piece- you can see the edge of the taco - to be ground out
the fellow that burnt his tip off
one where you can see the inclusions in the metal near the handle - not a structural issue
The instructors finished piece
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Lots of work! Very cool too, one of a kind hand made art.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
Now that’s an anvil! Very impressive. I have a question about hardening steel in the modern age.
To deflect fuel theft I though of a hardened thin steel skid plate under my long range tank, might not
completely stop a drill bit but if it was noisy and slow? Do you think this is feasible?
Also, hardened thin skid plate like factory for other areas?
To deflect fuel theft I though of a hardened thin steel skid plate under my long range tank, might not
completely stop a drill bit but if it was noisy and slow? Do you think this is feasible?
Also, hardened thin skid plate like factory for other areas?
gofast
SILVER Star
- Thread starter
- #80
Its possible - the main limitation is heating such a large surface area and quenching it. If you get the heating and quenching just right your skid will be hard to drill.
Logistics in the heating and quench are your limitations. The easiest high carbon steel to work for your application would be 1095. 52100 loses heat too fast so your quench would be spotty - hard in some areas and not in others. I'm not certain you can buy it in plate. 5160 is what leaf springs are made of. Also easy to work. You could try welding some scrap leaf to your skid and then do the heating I suggest below.
Without a forge you would need access to an acetylene torch with rose bud tip and use it to heat the area you want to quench. I've tried using propane torch for heating and it doesn't get hot enough - takes for ever. You could even use a charcoal hibachi and move your skid around on it to build up a uniform heat in the area you wish to harden.
You only need to heat the area you want to harden to prevent the drilling. If you're doing it in a shop turn out the lights as you want to be able to see your colours. Try to get the metal to this colour:
Then quench your skid in oil -- use a metal container that is big enough to allow you to submerge the heated area. The oil might catch fire and rubber maid tubs just wont do (disclaimer - this is dangerous and take precautions - I claim no responsibility for what you do, your health, what gets burned or catches on fire, your hospital bills, or your success - do so at you own risk).
Oil is not as shocking as water and will not stress the metal. Sometimes water quenching can cause steel to crack depending on the steel type. I use canola oil. Keep it in for no more than 20 seconds. Longer than that and the oil may heat up enough to anneal your quench and you'll have lost your hardening
You will get warping- the areas that are not at quench temperature cool at a different rate than the quenched areas. For a skid I don't think this matters - for a tool or blade - it may matter a lot.
Hope that helps
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