Getting started in Blademaking/smithing

[Scott Byler]

Mike, I have no idea if your stove would hold up to the heat or not... You'll be wanting to get a fire, for knives and general forging, that is between 1400 and 1800 or so, anyway. If you were to try welding steel you would need something that wouldn't fail at 2000 degrees...

I do know that I probably would suggest finding a new anvil type rather than the stove top. It might be plenty strong but if nothing else, working away from the heat of a forge fire is more comfortable. For an anvil almost anything with a good flat surface and a little weight behind it will work. Probably even a cheapy anvil from Harbor Freight if need be...

The thing is you will (as I'm sure you already know, but I'll mention it anyway) want to have a lot of air movement, a good flameproof environment to work in.... Burning the house down ruins the fun real fast. In fact, a smith I know of very recently lost his barn to a fire and so fire safety has been heavy on my mind lately. Since I work outside, I have to be sure to get all the deal leaves and wood and such cleaned up regularly or else am looking for trouble. It is the fire hazard outside that has kept me from doing pattern welding. The flux flying around out there would be sure to start a fire (you can ask me how I know that, if you need to...).

I actually don't use an apron, though that doesn't seem to be all that bright to me sometimes... lol If I were welding you'd never catch me without one, though.... If you do any sort of metal work it really is a good idea to invest in one, though. I have just been cheaping out and inviting problems, I know....

Not sure if any of this helps you but if I can advise you in any way, then feel free to pm me and I'll discuss it with you....

[Bruce Blackistone]

Do not use a stove as an anvil! It's meant to cook or to heat, not to be beaten upon. That's like using your car's engine block as an anvil- you might bend some metal on it, but the car's going to be wrecked. If it's a cast iron wood stove, the cast iron is brittle, and a few good whacks could crack the top, or break one of the feet and dump a hot woodstove on you or spill its contents across the basement. Unpleasant circumstances will then ensue. Sheet metal stoves will just crumple.

I have used woodstoves to anneal metal, and even to get metal to a "bendable" red heat so I could work it on a "field expedient" I-beam anvil. But I don't think your "Plan A" will be either successful or safe.

Try the beginners pages at www.anvilfire.com and build yourself any one of a variety of simple, workable forges, some as simple as a hole in the ground and a couple of small bellows, and a steel block for an anvil.

Save the woodstove!

[M J Austwick]

There is an article explaining how to forge a medieval eating knife here.

Also for people based in the UK, I'm in the Surrey Hampshire area and would be happy for someone to come down to the forge and we can go through the basics.

Oz

[J.C. Mitchell]

I was wondering if there is a good school to attend in the U.S. (preferably somewhere in texas) for metalurgy/bladesmithing/blacksmithing? as i would rather be instructed and told what im doing wrong, rather than reading a book and doing something wrong for years and finnaly being told what im doing wrong
Thanks

J.C. Mitchell

[Scott Byler]

Originally posted by J.C. Mitchell
I was wondering if there is a good school to attend in the U.S. (preferably somewhere in texas) for metalurgy/bladesmithing/blacksmithing? as i would rather be instructed and told what im doing wrong, rather than reading a book and doing something wrong for years and finnaly being told what im doing wrong
Thanks

J.C. Mitchell

Try looking here: http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ABS_School1.htm

There may be more but this is one I am aware of without doing any searching... Too busy at the moment, I fear....

[J.C. Mitchell]

Thanks a bunch, Just what i was loooking for

J.C. Mitchell

[Dirk Wickline]

I have heard several ways to instal fullers in a blade but I was wondering if anyone could go into some of the problems and benefits of each method. Such as forged fullers vs ground. and what tools would be required for each.

[Scott Byler]

Originally posted by Dirk Wickline
I have heard several ways to instal fullers in a blade but I was wondering if anyone could go into some of the problems and benefits of each method. Such as forged fullers vs ground. and what tools would be required for each.

For the most part you have stock removal or forging to choose from, as you note. Forging involves the use of fuller tools, basically a top and bottom die that when the top is struck by the hammer forces the fuller top and bottom fuller to form, making the channel. It is a good method for making the most of the materials at hand since as the fuller forms it will push the metal a bit wider around the fuller. Some tools used for this kind of require more than one set of hands and some jigs will allow you to work alone. The method works well but it requires some care in keeping your fuller straight as you work and it will still be requiring cleaning up via either power tools or hand shaping after the forging.

Stock removal on fullers can be done any number of ways from free hand chisel work to power grinders. They can be scraped in, using a tool similar to the one illustrated on Don Fogg's site, http://www.dfoggknives.com/Shoptips4.htm ...

There have been several threads over time dedicated to fullering techniques and ideas, and I think a search for 'fuller tool' and similar ideas will turn up some good resources...

The way you do it then is up to what you have available or are comfortable with.

For smallish grooves, I use a similar tool to the Fogg scraper. For bigger wider things I've used an angle grinder at times, but now kind of like the feel of forging them in. All these methods still leave the grooves needing various levels of cleanup using either stones or sandpaper and form fitting blocks or rounds.... And I expect that probably at first fullers cut in will be more perfect in form than forged fullering. But, practice could change that....