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Happy Tuesday, everyone!

I just wanted to thank any of you that take the time to read my ramblings and babblings, it is much appreciated! I Hope you'll continue to read some of the things I write here and maybe even be convinced to pick up a hammer, fire up a forge, and start swinging.

I stripped the handle off of my first knife (which can be found further back in my posts) and put a new, slimmer handle on it. I used black walnut and tung oil instead of red oak and Tru Oil. It's not a masterpiece, but I consider it an improvement. Enjoy!

Oh... So THAT'S what a bad forge weld looks like...

Transcribing ideas from conception to the forge and anvil is never an easy thing. Constructing these ideas and having them go awry is even more difficult to deal with. However, like many other things in life, you live and you learn. Recently I had forged a folded tomahawk in which I had forged a carbon steel insert for the edge. Forge-welding is something that is still elusive to me. It is not the easiest of techniques and I still need a lot of practice. Luckily I got a weld, or I thought I did, on the second try. 

By looking at the images above, one can see a few "questionable" spots. I had seen these, but in my ignorance I assumed they would be fine. I was pretty excited for this project, as it was a bit bigger of a head than I had forged previously. I bought some more oak for my handles, and spent an evening carving and shaping my handle. Once mounted and wedged, I decided it was time to give it a test. I grabbed some wood from our woodpile that had yet to be split, and started plugging it in the log repeatedly. I was also testing the edge, too, to make sure I got the right hardness (I'm ashamed to say I cannot remember tempering this piece or not). After about a dozen or two times, I noticed some fragmented wood stuck towards the tip. I came to realize that part of my edge had not properly welded and the metal literally started to peel back like an orange peel. Of course, I was instantly upset that my work had not held up to the test. I had yet to suffer a catastrophe like this. Once the mild steel started to separate from the hard steel, I came to realize that my bad weld was a bit larger than I thought, and that there was literally a gap between the steels. The second picture below shows a bit of the spots. The bad weld can be seen up towards the top of the edge where matter can be seen. 

So, I'll hang on to this piece and use it as a throw around ax whenever I need a bit more splitting power than my railroad ax will provide. I definitely learned my lesson on "assuming" a forge-weld held. My next project I'll be starting soon will be a traditional style woodsman ax with a drawn eye. I'm excited because there will be no folding. I've managed to acquire a pretty large concrete jackhammer bit that I can square up, maybe upset a bit, and shape it from there. I'm drawing my inspiration for my next ax from Autine. Check them out, absolutely breath-taking axes. 

Ramblings, Forgings, and a Tanto

My friend told me this week "You have so many hobbies and projects, you don't have enough time to finish any of them". In reality, he was not wrong.

I have this horrible, yet wonderful problem of having so many ideas floating around in my head that I never know where to stop... or end. Recently I found a traditional style Japanese tanto on Etsy and decided to do some research on the smith of such a beautiful work of art. (Go ahead, check it out. It's beautiful and can be found here)

Other than the sheer beauty of this tanto, there are other reasons I am highlighting this piece. Slide over to this smiths website and you will understand why. Dave is the living representation of ideologies of modern blacksmithing that I did hours worth of research for my final independent study project. Dave uses entirely reclaimed materials and resources for all of his pieces. One of the arguments for today's revival of what was seeming to be the dying art of blacksmithing is the idea of using old things and turning them into something new. Many state that there is something appealing about holding something old in your hand, such as a railroad spike, and after a few hours at the forge, holding the same bulk of material in your hand only to be gazing upon something totally different whether it be a wall hook, ax, knife, or some sort of mounting bracket. Walk into your living room right now and turn on HGTV, History, TLC, or DIY. On all of those networks one can find at least five shows that are about some form of salvaging things off of or out of old buildings and establishments. Such a trend is a major driving factor in numerous ways of life right now. Second hand stores and yard sales are followed by a large representation of seriously devoted people, occupying neighborhoods or entire towns to hold an extravaganza of changing hands.

It seems that all things old are involved in this endless cycle of when they are wanted, not wanted, and ultimately discarded or destroyed. Say for instance: A man goes through his parents barn and finds a chair that was his as a child and has not been used since. The man then cleans the chair up, repairs if need be, and puts it in his house for his kids or grandchildren. Without a doubt, there is an immense feeling of satisfaction felt by the man, seeing younger generations get use out of something he used so much as a child and then repaired by his own hands. The same concept and cycle applies with smiths. Finding something old and turning in to something that other people use and receive satisfaction from is a driving factor in many smiths' work. This is what is sparking a revival of not entirely traditional blacksmithing, but a form of what I label as "neo-blacksmithing". This atmosphere is pulling in large numbers of young smiths, not unlike myself, that are drawn to this idea of finding, re-working, and re-using.

In closing, after scanning nearly every inch of Dave's site, having a conversation with him via email, and reflecting on all of this, I've decided to try my hand at my own tanto from reclaimed materials. I'll be happy if this blade is a fraction of the caliber of Dave's work, but we all have to start somewhere, right? The blade, pictured below in its rough, raw, early shape is forged from a tool steel jackhammer bit. The handle and sheath, or tsuka and the saya, will carved from some planed wood leftover from a cabinet (walnut), and fittings from an old copper pipe (if I can properly solder everything). So, that currently adds to the list of: 1 unfinished hatchet/tomahawk, 1 dagger, 1 work knife, and one decorative knife as a gift.

So much excitement, not enough time!
Cheers!

Sharing the Knowledge

I would like to touch on the topic of "sharing the knowledge".

There are a lot of people who will say that blacksmithing, bladesmithing, or any other kind of metal smithing is a dying trade that will so be lost. That is so, so utterly wrong.

Why do I make this claim, you might ask? It is quite simple, really. I make this claim because the smithing community is so adamant about sharing knowledge with our fellow smiths, regardless of their skill level. Concepts, techniques, and even ideologies are passed down through generations of smiths much like what is passed down through generations of martial artists and warriors. Some of these things are retained and some are lost, as is the cycle of many traditions in an ever-changing society.

There are some smiths that when contacted, they are not willing to help and share what they know, or even answer even the slightest, most broad questions. There may be some people out there (and there probably are) that inherently disagree with me, but I think this is not the mentality to have in this trade and lifestyle that we so diligently practice. Granted, there are some things that people may not be inclined to share, for it may give their product a special niche within their market. (For example, some knife smiths will tell you that their quenching liquid for hardening is a brine, animal fat, or used motor oil mixture... but may not tell you what exactly that mixture is).

You may be wondering what has spurred this latest rant of mine. It isn't because I asked someone something and they gave me a curt reply, it is actually due to the opposite. There have been a few recent conversations I've had with some smiths asking of material, technique, and general information that were responded to with the utmost detail and helpfulness. What better source of information is there for a beginner smith like myself than to receive first hand, interpersonal help and information from people who produce awe-inspiring show quality work?

Social media has opened up an entirely new realm for sharing the knowledge of trades. For example, the blacksmithing, bladesmithing, and blacksmith guild Google+ communities I'm involved in has flourished to a roster of smiths from all across the globe that are always willing to offer advice, constructive criticism (NOT SLANDERING OF WORK), and ideas to help each other further their skill. These are some of the nicest people I've come to know in my life. It's frequent to have someone join the community, state that they're interested in getting started in smithing, only to be responded to by multiple posts that are saturated with experience, knowledge, and great links to other sites. It's all about involvement, folks. There's a reason why seminars and rendezvous are such a great place to pick up tricks of the trade and establish contacts.

On a side note, here's my latest little blade that I forged out of a section of high carbon concrete drill bit. The lines that look like cracks are actually weld lines from the twist of the drill bit.

So, I felt like making a dagger!

A good while back I had started a project that I left to linger next to the forge for a few months, staring at me every time I would work out in the shop saying "I'm still here, you know". We had acquired an abnormally long jackhammer bit, so at one point I had flattened and drawn it out in the shape of what I would consider a "leafed" dagger blade. I thought it would be really cool to make a fully functional, semi decorative dagger that could hold a pretty keen edge. The other week, I dug this blade in the making back out again, only to lay it down for another few weeks. Finally, last night, I decided its time to knock this out and get it finished. Part of the reason I have yet to make a lot more progress on this knife is simply because of the roadblock I have seem to crash face first into. I can't decide where I'd like to take this dagger. Half of me would like to polish it up, make it really pretty, and put nice fixtures on it. The other part of me wants to leave it raw, have it look old, like it just came out of a medieval grave from under a London parking lot (see what I did there?).

Whether I know where I am going with this project or not, I started working on the blade, handle, and scabbard last night. Previously I had thinned the tang, forged and split the eye for the cross guard, and formed a slight bevel. However, last night I realized that entirely the blade is still too thick. In response to this problem, I fired up the forge last night to thin the blade a bit.

I had a few different routes I could take for this task. I could thin the blade and move the metal in the shape of my bevel by using a regular cross peen hammer, or I could use a rounding hammer and possibly move the metal with more speed and control. The only thing I don't like about the rounding hammer is when polishing, it can be quite a pain to get the texture from the blows to come out of the metal. I ended up using the rounder to thin the blade. I made quite a bit of progress, too. I then moved to the handle, in which I measured to my desired length, cut down, and then took to the drill press. Once the pilot hole was drilled, I hit it with a bit bigger drill bit, and from there was just work with a rather aggressive round file. Still have some more to do, as I don't quite have my fit I want yet. I would really like to re-do the cross guard out of bronze or brass, mainly because I want to work with materials that I haven't worked with before, but I'd have to order most of those materials in (except for the brass, I could get that here in Evansville). I still have much to finish on the the blade, though. More filing, more shaping. Many hours left, but that's the price you pay for doing all by hand... I'm okay with that, though. 

But really, let's cut to the chase. What I'm most excited about is the scabbard. I saw a technique online that I really liked, and I hope I can produce something that is 10% as effective as this guy did. I started with two cuts of black walnut. I've traced the blade, and now I'm working with relatively dull wood chisels and relief carving tools to carve out the shape of the blade. Then, glue and press, and finally move on to shaping the exterior of the sheath. I'm very, very excited about this. I just need some sharper tools! 

Sharing the Trade

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz within the blacksmithing community concerning drawing the line between "traditional blacksmithing" and metalworking/fabrication. One could argue this topic until they're blue in the face, but let's face it... it all comes down to perspective.

The allure to a more traditional style of blacksmithing for myself is the mentality that I have had a majority of my life: doing things that people have done in the past and thinking "I wonder if this is how [insert person of interest here] did it so many years ago?"

I enjoy doing things the old way, especially blacksmithing. That is not to say that I never use a power tool, I do because there are many procedures and techniques in the blacksmithing world that I don't yet have the skill for. I definitely practice towards those skills, though. I like using old things. I like using things that were passed down to me, and use them just as my dad, step dad, or grandfather used them. It gives me a sense of pride, accomplishment, and comfort to know that the hammer I'm swinging to make something was the same hammer that my great grandfather used at his forge on the Frisse farm. I get these senses, or feelings, when hammering out a knife (in a coal forge), filiing, polishing, and sharpening the blade by hand, and cutting the handle out all by hand. The railroad spike ax I previously posted about, for example. Other than using a gas forge, that baby was crafted entirely by hand. There was no power tools involved. Hammer, tongs, anvil, hardy, file, stones, wood, and a draw knife. For me, its the coolest sensation when I'm hammering and I think "I wonder if a Scandinavian smith was making a bearded small ax this same way so many years ago?" Granted, he probably wasn't using a railroad spike as stock.

I believe that many of these traditional values are what help facilitate the growth of this... this... whatever you wish to call it, trade, art, skill, lifestyle, etc. I've had many inquiries from friends asking me about how I do things, and many of them say the same thing. "I've always wanted to smith, but I don't have the space, time, or the utilities". This is a common problem, and one can get their start in this trade without having access to all of the old style equipment. One can obtain that old world, old style feel of blacksmithing with some simple things that can be found relatively easy if one looks in the right places.

Let us look at it from this stand point - someone is interested in getting started in smithing, but doesn't want to dump a bunch of money into procuring everything in case they don't enjoy it as they thought they might. Harbor Freight is pretty hard to beat when looking at starting from that angle. They have most of the things needed to start out on a budget. You can get two sizes of hammers and a 55lb caste iron anvil for under $60. Forges... those are a little more complicated to come across, which is why many make their own. Seriously, people, you can make a forge from an old grill, or even push mower body. Check out my friend Terran Marks great article on making your own forge found here. His blog can give you insights to do-it-yourself blacksmithing better than most you can find on the internet.

It is easier than most think to share this trade and share the knowledge that accompanies it. A 200lb anvil from 1862, a Buffalo coal forge, and a rack full of hammers aren't needed to get started in this community. Lastly, one can still obtain that old world feel of "traditional blacksmithing" in the back yard with a Harbor Freight arsenal and a forge made from a lawnmower that fried when you hit that concrete garden gnome of your neighbors two summers ago.

Railroad Spike Axe - Round 1

A Saturday spent forging is a good day. Many days throughout the week, I look forward to being able to wake up, enjoy a hot cup of coffee, stroll out to the shop, and fire up our gas forge. Most mornings, dragging myself out of bed takes no less than a tow truck, but on Saturday mornings, I'll spring right out of bed.

This weekend, I had my mind set on a project I had found on anvilfire.com. As one can tell from most of my recent posts, I've contracted a mild to moderate form of ax-forging fever. I can assure you, it is one of the best illnesses one can contract. Previously I had tried to make a few knives out of spikes that did not work out. I had heard of people making hatchets and tomahawks out of railroad spikes from my good friend Heath, but that was the extent of the matter.

I stumbled across a step by step guide to forging an ax out of a railroad spike, written by Bill Epps. It can be found here. I had meant to take pictures of this process step by step... but my phone was dead and so I will post a step by step process supplemented by photos later on.

I was really excited to do this project, because it was going to require Wayne and I to use tools that I had never used before. I had split metal, but never split an eye on something before, nor had I really used a drawing block on an anvil. I usually used the horn or some other fashion of drawing. So, we started the process by, like Mr. Epps states in his walkthrough, upsetting the tip of the spike. Upsetting is a nifty technique, being able to thicken the metal where you need to, especially if you know how to control your heat. I should note here: before you start this, forage around and find some good tongs to hold onto spikes with. None of ours really fit well nor were we able to make some this weekend. Luckily, we had some that worked, but one person had to hold the tongs and spike while the other hammered.

Once you have the spike upset to a little shy of 1'x1' inch square, it's time to move on to the punching and drawing of the eye for the handle. We used this set of punches: Big Blu - we punched most of the way through on one side, then moved to the other side, finding our hole by the "black dot" that forms when punching through something. High heat seems to be key, here. You're just going to wear yourself out if you do not have a high heat on your spike (or you'll wear your punch out and dull your tip). Once we were able to get that through on both sides, we then moved on to widening the hole. As mentioned by Mr. Epps, the key is to open the eye ALMOST to the perfect size, then shape the blade portion, and once your blade shape is done, then finish the eye. Your eye will distort (as we found out, quite considerably) as you shape the blade.

Now, on to the blade portion of the project. The guide states that thin is not a bad thing. If a tomahawk blade is being forged, this is true. A thicker blade won't still in much. My last ax I forged, intended to be a little kindling/forging ax (as can been seen through previous posts) is pretty well utterly useless, as it is too thick to do anything with, despite the decent edge I put on it. I started with a fullering hardy, the one shaped like a Pringles can cut in half longways. I widened it out a bit on both sides, and then moved to the crosspeen side of my hammer to fan it out and thin it more. Now, here's where the variation of our project turns away from Mr. Epps. Once I had the blade fanned out a bit, I hammered the top of the blade down, to where the ax started to take on a bearded look. I then moved on to a rounding hammer because I wanted to really thin the blade and have the rounded hammer blow texture to the blade. I thinned the ax blade quite considerably, I'd say down to a little less than 1/4'', and that really seemed to be needed in order to get the length and shape needed for the head. I think it's really important to mention the working of the metal with the rounding hammer, here. With the 36oz Diamond Rounding hammer, I was focusing on drawing the blade in the shape I needed. I was drawing the blade toward me with glancing blows. I wasn't killing it, I was taking my time and care in my hammer blows.

After the blade was shaped, I finished shaping the eye with a handle mounted mandrel, and then let it cool. I left this rough, I did not want to polish the whole thing because I like a rough look on my work. This thing was hand made, I want it to represent being hand made (besides, it's an ax. It will be slammed into tree stumps... and zombies if that ever comes to pass). Mildly sharpen it by file and thin the edge a bit more, and you're ready to harden, temper, and hone. I heated the cutting edge up to cherry red and then quenched into used motor oil. I then cleaned it up with some emery cloth so the edge was relatively clean of the oil residue and slag. That's important, the clean up, because you have to see your color for tempering.  I held the edge on the outside of the forge, where some of the fire, or "dragons breath" was coming out of the ports, and watched the colors dance across the ax edge. I watched it turn yellow, gold, blue, purple, and then between a purple and peacock blue, yanked it away and quench back in oil. Many will quench in water for the second quench... but I'm scared to for fear of cracking. So I'll hit it in oil again. Clean it up, sharpen it, whittle or buy your handle, mount it, and wedge it and you're ready to go. I carved the handle on this the same as I did Kindling (see previous posts) out of a 1.5in sq board of red oak with a draw knife. If you get the hardening and tempering right (which I think I did. Time will tell) along with thinning your blade enough, this baby will take an edge quick and hold it.

Here's some pictures. Happy hammering!