Lamination

It's been a long time since I wanted to try a forge weld, and that first attempt proved ok. However the blade is not heat treated so I can't say it was successful.

I have used mild steel or some kind of iron from a metallic fence in a farm, and the steel that makes the edge is from a leaf spring steel that I got from an old useless animal trap.


Applying leaf steel on the mild steel, with borax as flux

















On the picture you can see also my railroad anvil, on a bloc of hard acacia wood. I think that I've been too generous with the borax, it spilled everywhere.

I have just met a blacksmith who shows how to build a nice gaz forge, a visit to his web site is worth:
http://softorchestra.com/smithy/forge_build/index.html


The weld, after hitting hard... (facing up is the leaf steel)

marking knife

Thanks to Jens' remote assistance, I have etched my first blade (a marking knife) with vinegar.


Etching in vinegar (note the black oxide layer)














Finished marking knife














Flatten part of the marking knife detail: cable damascus (provided by Jens)












Marking knife and unfinished knife (note the yellow color after temper)

My forge

I here describe how is my little forge made. Hopefully this will help my friends from the IForgeIron forum to help me improve it. Each picture is clickable.

I've bought a small aluminum BBQ, wich looked good to me to make my first small forge.
Jens (Oakwoodforge) provided me the blower, and I assembled a system of pipe, as shown below.
The air admission configuration. Modified since then: 2 pipes added to the flexible (more air volume than air pressure)











While it was providing enough air for burning charcoal, I have since then modified the air admission: I have no more central pipe with small holes in it, but added pipes to the 2 flexibles. The pipes have a 90degree opening so the air flow is directed directly under the fire. Doing so, the air flow is bigger, to the detriment of air pressure.

On top of the air admission comes a metallic grill, and I finished the forge by isolating its forge with some clay, the one used to make brics.


Forge ready to fire: clay isolation and note the iron grill that goes on top of the air admission (with no contact).
















I have been using my forge for the 4th time, burning charcoal mainly but I quickly ran out of it so I used coal (or I think it is coal). I've bought the coal from a local blacksmith, he had 100s of pounds of it. The coal is imported from China I think.



Coal burning, note the new air admission pipes (the other one is hidden by the brick).










My latest modification, that I used 2 days ago, was to make a wall of bricks, with a top. That would further isolate, and also give some shade, thus helping to see the color of hot steel.

Latest configuration: bricks isolation, and top acts as a stove to heat the oil for quenching.

3rd sunday

Yesterday was my 3rd blacksmith session. I struggled with maintaining a good fire with cole, while charcoal was a pleasure to work with.

I re-heat treated my first blade, a marking knife, following Jens' instruction. Jens is a really nice guy from Iowa, USA, that I can call a friend though we never met. He's helping me to "crawl"! I mean he his helping me in my first moves in blacksmithing and hopefully I'll be able to walk on my own someday.
I invite you to visit his blog and see for yourself what he does:
www.oakwoodforge.blogspot.com

First forged object, a marking knife. Here after temper.












I also tried some forge welding of... coins. I stacked 5 coins and tided them up with some wire, brought to a good heat and hammered the whole thing down.

Here is what I've got:
Flattened stack of 5 coins. Remains to grind and see if the weld has taken.













And then, I also started a small knife:

Small knife rough shape, at the very begining.

New blog

You might know my other blog, okanna.blogspot.com, about Japanese tools and hand woodworking. I've decided to create another blog, specifically dedicated to blacksmithing. Here we are, you will follow my first steps in the art, my successes and failures. I hope to introduce you to some talented friends or refer you to some interesting forums and websites.

If you are interested in blacksmithing, you can just start gathering elements to make yourself a forge.

You'll need 3 main elements for the forge:

• an area to burn the combustible (a BBQ, a small metal tub, ...)
• a blower and some piping (metal pipe, avoid zinc covered pipes (to be confirmed))
• combustible (coal, charcoal)

You'll need some tools:

• hammers
• tongs

You'll need material to work with:

• steel!