General

[wolf13]

Haven't done any in a few years, but first lesson I was taught, don't wear gloves. sounds odd, but it works. if its too hot to handle, then you don't need to be handling it direct, use your tongs or leave a shank. you learn fast on what to use tongs on, but I never took even a moderate burn after ditching the gloves. Centaur forge has a great catlog, I loved looking through them. One option to really pick up some hints and even a tutor is to look for rendevous (sp?) 1840's camping and living events. lots of old style blacksmiths there who really know the old tricks. if your anywhere rural, in the winter theres farm auctions, and theres always old tools on them if you keep an eye out.

[Walking_Target]

Actually, it's all about how and where you place your blower fan, far enough from the flame with a one way flow valve and it won't ever be a problem. I've found that hard galvanized air ducting works well to give it considerable separation.

[Sly1]

wow, I totally do blacksmith!!

I have a gas forge, a coal forge, a charcoal forge, and soon to come... a waste veggie oil furnace capable of melting and casting steel

I hope to use it to create a new alloy.. but that is more metalurgy..

I'm more into bladesmithing in the euro and japanese style.. and usually in a hybrid form of the two.. Like the temperline characteristic of katana's on a primitive Viking Seax form. cool stuff

[VVulfe]

Originally Posted by Sly1

wow, I totally do blacksmith!!

I have a gas forge, a coal forge, a charcoal forge, and soon to come... a waste veggie oil furnace capable of melting and casting steel

I hope to use it to create a new alloy.. but that is more metalurgy..

I'm more into bladesmithing in the euro and japanese style.. and usually in a hybrid form of the two.. Like the temperline characteristic of katana's on a primitive Viking Seax form. cool stuff

There's a later class in watered steel I'm very much interested in taking - but basics first.

[Sly1]

its really pretty cool, and fairly easy

all you have to do is purchase a refractory clay or cement.. satanite is my favorite, and is really easy to apply.. Mix it to a slip like consistancy, and coat it on in the shape that you want the line to show up as.

you can do it as an oil quench too.. just bring it up to critical temp and quench it in the prefered medium for the steel.. I like to use 1080 and 1060 steels mostly, both are fast oil quenches I believe, but I use veggie oil which works fine.

heres what my coat looks like on a simple tanto with a basic wavy line


and heres what it looked like post quench


heres another one too that I made out of mystery alloy railroad steel


I don't know a whole lot of other high-school juniors who are into this stuff though.. so I'm sort of a pioneer in my own right.
I'll post up some pictures

[VVulfe]

As I understand it, the clay keeps the "back" of the blade cool while the edge is tempered, allowing the blade's spine to flex, while increasing the hardness of the edge.

[Sly1]

yep, it slows the cooling of the spine of the blade just enough so that it doesn't convert totally to pearlite or martensite.. cant remember which. Its all about grain structure, and the quicker the steel is cooled, the harder the edge will be (in phases).

The reason behind it is traditionally, japanese blades were made from tamehagani which was smelted in a tartari furnace from iron sand.. THere was silica in the steel, and the skilled smiths were adept at controlling the structure of the steel, and getting it fairly homogenous, but their only quenching medium was water (for the most part) and they tried to get the hardest possible edge.. which involved sacraficing much of its resilience.. so they began claycoating to keep a soft steel back, so even if the blade did crack it would be held together and be serviceable anyway.. but hopefully it would be strong enough so that it doesn't end up cracking anyway.

and btw.. something interesting... the blades never ever touched another sword unless accidently.. Samuri were proud of their blades, and a nick was the equivilant of a major wound..

wow, got a little bit off topic I do it because its pretty..

[VVulfe]

Originally Posted by Sly1

and btw.. something interesting... the blades never ever touched another sword unless accidently.. Samuri were proud of their blades, and a nick was the equivilant of a major wound..

Furthermore, it's my understanding that unlike western blades (and contrary to the image in popular culture) blade-on-blade contact would quickly result in broken Katanas.

Originally Posted by wolf13

Haven't done any in a few years, but first lesson I was taught, don't wear gloves. sounds odd, but it works. if its too hot to handle, then you don't need to be handling it direct, use your tongs or leave a shank.

Actually, you're the not first person to say this - I've also heard it suggested as a way to discourage the habit of picking hot things up, so you don't accidentally do it the day you're not wearing gloves out of habit.

[Sly1]

Originally Posted by VVulfe

Furthermore, it's my understanding that unlike western blades (and contrary to the image in popular culture) blade-on-blade contact would quickly result in broken Katanas.

yes exactly, or at the very least.. a maleable spine holding together a bunch of razorblade shards...

I guess rapiers and barbarian blades were the only ones that ever touched often.. rapiers because they were primiraily a stabbing weapon, so the blade never acutally did much cutting, and barbarians because... well, they're barbarians..

[VVulfe]

Well, after a few long days of work over the forge in 95* heat, and I've left with a novice's understanding of the art and a hunger to keep learning.

A few of the smaller things I made - nothing spectacular, but all functional. Keep in mind, I'm a rank novice, and this was the first time I did any sort of metal working:

Functional Calipers (Mild Steel)



Centerpunch (Annealed, Hardened, and Tempered Tool Steel)




Bottle Opener. (Mild Steel.) Because Beer = Better Forging.



Bottle Opener Detail:



So, armed now with a copy of Jack Andrews' New Edge of the Anvil and some contact info off ABANA, I'm going to try to find my way into someone's forge (work trade, maybe?) to keep practicing.