Forging a knife out of....

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Forging a knife out of....

Post by Marcus » Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:40 pm

Anybody else watch knife forging videos? You know, the make a knife out of__________?

Some are lame, some are works of art, some are ridiculous and some are all but professional. I always wonder about the quality of steel, the durability, the hardness or brittleness and the ability to hold a sharp edge.

Saw this one today with a guy using a steel cable. End result is cool, almost like Damascus.

Watch "Forging a Knife From Cable" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/FmvcX1do0Iw
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Gunsmokin » Sat Aug 29, 2015 10:52 pm

Yeah, have seen cable used to forge a knife blank. They supposedly make a pretty decent blade.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by ssracer » Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:23 pm

After watching forged in fire I started watching YouTube videos on DIY forges...

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Re: Forging a knife out of.....

Post by bigelowe » Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:41 pm

Been giving thought to making a knife out of an old file.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by guncrank1 » Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:00 am

Done that

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by son of liberty » Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:06 am

I have done cable a few times, its a pain really and in the end makes an inferior knife compared to say a bar of 52100. People dont make them for there superior steel, they make them to look good and so they can.

You want to see some crazy shit, check out canister steel.

Files depending on the make are good steel , but you may as well just buy some steel, its cheaper.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Whootsinator » Sun Aug 30, 2015 1:42 am

son of liberty wrote:You want to see some crazy shit, check out canister steel.
I dig it...

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by jackalo626 » Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:42 am

Cool thread.

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by PDM » Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:57 pm

I imagine you could get cable very sharp but it wouldn't last long.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by son of liberty » Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:43 pm

PDM wrote:I imagine you could get cable very sharp but it wouldn't last long.

well.......
The carbon content of quality cable is well capable a getting and holding an edge like any other carbon steel. The weakness comes in the forge welding process. Cable has a bunch of small voids that allow more slag to build in the layers , its weakness is actually in the prying/bending aspect of the blade. Of course with all that said its still a plenty capable blade given that the smith did his job well, though most often its used in decorative knives rather then knives used as tools. The canister steel that Whoots has posted some pictures of has little to no voids and is made in a neutral atmosphere where the forming of slag is much less likely. Its a harder process but makes for a stronger bond.


Ya whoots , you would post J's work, he is a heck of a smith and a master at canister steel. He is a heck of a nice guy as well!
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by kokopelli » Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:15 pm

son of liberty wrote:
PDM wrote:I imagine you could get cable very sharp but it wouldn't last long.

well.......
The carbon content of quality cable is well capable a getting and holding an edge like any other carbon steel. The weakness comes in the forge welding process. Cable has a bunch of small voids that allow more slag to build in the layers , its weakness is actually in the prying/bending aspect of the blade. Of course with all that said its still a plenty capable blade given that the smith did his job well, though most often its used in decorative knives rather then knives used as tools. The canister steel that Whoots has posted some pictures of has little to no voids and is made in a neutral atmosphere where the forming of slag is much less likely. Its a harder process but makes for a stronger bond.


Ya whoots , you would post J's work, he is a heck of a smith and a master at canister steel. He is a heck of a nice guy as well!

nerd...

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by son of liberty » Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:16 pm

kokopelli wrote:
son of liberty wrote:
PDM wrote:I imagine you could get cable very sharp but it wouldn't last long.

well.......
The carbon content of quality cable is well capable a getting and holding an edge like any other carbon steel. The weakness comes in the forge welding process. Cable has a bunch of small voids that allow more slag to build in the layers , its weakness is actually in the prying/bending aspect of the blade. Of course with all that said its still a plenty capable blade given that the smith did his job well, though most often its used in decorative knives rather then knives used as tools. The canister steel that Whoots has posted some pictures of has little to no voids and is made in a neutral atmosphere where the forming of slag is much less likely. Its a harder process but makes for a stronger bond.


Ya whoots , you would post J's work, he is a heck of a smith and a master at canister steel. He is a heck of a nice guy as well!

nerd...

not so much in the last few years , but with any luck ill be pounding out some steel next spring.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by justang1997 » Tue Sep 01, 2015 5:23 am

I made a file knife from a nicholson file. It was a made in usa Nicholson. All the ones i see now are mexico coo. I have a few more new usa made files i was going to use for knives but i dont want to now since i cant find them any more. I used a bigger file to file my knife so that i didnt have to use heat and change the temper.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by son of liberty » Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:59 pm

justang1997 wrote:I made a file knife from a nicholson file. It was a made in usa Nicholson. All the ones i see now are mexico coo. I have a few more new usa made files i was going to use for knives but i dont want to now since i cant find them any more. I used a bigger file to file my knife so that i didnt have to use heat and change the temper.

Let me nerd out again.

A file is good steel , but its far to hard for a knife. If you have not tempered it down some, my guess is that you will have some edge chipping and or shatter the file when you start beating on it. For fine cutting im sure it fine, but start beating on it and it may fail. Of course all of this is speculation , as I had no part in the construction, but figured I would throw it out there.
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by ssracer » Wed Sep 02, 2015 1:23 pm

I've got a railroad spike I thought about using. Then I watched a YouTube video of a guy making one into a tomahawk head and he forge welded another steel in for just the blade edge. Don't know if the smoke is too soft to hold a good edge or what.

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by guncrank1 » Wed Sep 02, 2015 2:17 pm

ssracer wrote:I've got a railroad spike I thought about using. Then I watched a YouTube video of a guy making one into a tomahawk head and he forge welded another steel in for just the blade edge. Don't know if the smoke is too soft to hold a good edge or what.

Yes smoke is too soft to hold a edge, very hard to hold onto as well.

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Marcus » Wed Sep 02, 2015 2:44 pm

guncrank1 wrote:
ssracer wrote:I've got a railroad spike I thought about using. Then I watched a YouTube video of a guy making one into a tomahawk head and he forge welded another steel in for just the blade edge. Don't know if the smoke is too soft to hold a good edge or what.

Yes smoke is too soft to hold a edge, very hard to hold onto as well.
Good answer.lol
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by ssracer » Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:41 pm

Lol

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by kyswede » Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:51 pm

guncrank1 wrote:
ssracer wrote:I've got a railroad spike I thought about using. Then I watched a YouTube video of a guy making one into a tomahawk head and he forge welded another steel in for just the blade edge. Don't know if the smoke is too soft to hold a good edge or what.

Yes smoke is too soft to hold a edge, very hard to hold onto as well.
Good one Cranky lol
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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Kephale » Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:51 pm

Do any of you hip cats know a good place to buy coal? I've just started tinkering with this stuff but the charcoal i have been using burns up too fast.


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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Kephale » Mon Nov 23, 2015 9:59 am

Found it at tractor supply.


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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Rodah » Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:00 pm

[quote="justang1997"]I made a file knife from a nicholson file. It was a made in usa Nicholson. All the ones i see now are mexico coo. I have a few more new usa made files i was going to use for knives but i dont want to now since i cant find them any more. I used a bigger file to file my knife so that i didnt have to use heat and change the temper.[/qoute]

Could it be possible to use alternate file aside from using Nicholdon file. Because I am curious if ever that particular brand is longer exist?

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Re: Forging a knife out of....

Post by Whootsinator » Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:09 pm

Rodah wrote:
justang1997 wrote:I made a file knife from a nicholson file. It was a made in usa Nicholson. All the ones i see now are mexico coo. I have a few more new usa made files i was going to use for knives but i dont want to now since i cant find them any more. I used a bigger file to file my knife so that i didnt have to use heat and change the temper.[/qoute]

Could it be possible to use alternate file aside from using Nicholdon file. Because I am curious if ever that particular brand is longer exist?
The type of steel is what matters, not the brand. You can test samples of steel to see if they can be hardened. Even if you do have steel capable of being hardened you'll be guessing at the particular steel you have and won't know how to best heat treat it.

If you want to make a high quality knife, spend a few bucks and buy a small piece of good steel. If you want to make a cool looking knife, attempt to harden your rasp/file and if successful heat treat as you would for 1080 or 1095.
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