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Deviator

Modern Day Knife Forging

9 posts in this topic

I've done this in real life with an old file. I wish I had some of the (relatively) gucci kit this guy does. Me and my mate have to use a big pair of pliers and a whole lot of nads to get that shit done, he has actual tongs (albeit not the right ones for the job he was doing)

He also quenched the knife in water I think. The horror ! T.T .. And then he sharpened it using a high speed tool *after* quenching it ? There were sparks coming off it T.T

/Rant over :P

I feel I've earned the right to say these things, primarily because if someone turns around and calls me out with "you go and do a better job then, I can assure them that I have :P

Edit: Sorry for being so critical on your post :( It was the criticism of one amatuer blacksmith from another, but I don't want to detract from the spirit that made you post this, I understand that without knowledge of these things there was no way you could tell from watching the video :P

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I'm a blacksmith by trade and my impression was "Wow younger people are finally trying to pickup on real skills." Let's focus more on encouraging them and showing them how they can do it better. BTW, his anvil looks so much better then my old rusty one. I just cann't bear to replace it so many memories.

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This thread made me research blacksmith evening classes in my local area. Thanks :)

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I'm a blacksmith by trade and my impression was "Wow younger people are finally trying to pickup on real skills." Let's focus more on encouraging them and showing them how they can do it better. BTW, his anvil looks so much better then my old rusty one. I just cann't bear to replace it so many memories.

That's awesome ! Do you do mainly decorative work or are you one of the few who still supplies us reenactors ? :P

Yes to be fair I was being a douche ¬.¬

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I shoe horses, make decorations, swords, and armor. I mostly work with horses and make decorations as they have steady work.

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I shoe horses, make decorations, swords, and armor. I mostly work with horses and make decorations as they have steady work.

I can't blame you, there just isn't the money in traditional arms and armor, not enough for a full time smith anyway.

Sorry to keep pestering you about your work but....

Do you white or black smith your armor ?

I'd always heard it was better to white smith armor from low carbon steel because it is easier to repair and work hardens as you shape it, whereas black smithed pieces can be too brittle and hard.

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Whitesmithing is always with nonferrous metals (metal that doesn't have iron), while blacksmithing is always with ferrous metals. A modern-day blacksmith works with eiter iron or steel and sometimes tinkers with ferrous alloys. A modern-day whitesmith works exclusively with jewelry. A farrier is a blacksmith that also does horses (I'm a farrier because I work with horses too.) More or less the title that smiths have gives away what they specialize in. Anyhow, I don't think that answered the heart of your question. The answer is I forge mine because what makes or breaks the piece you're working on is the temper. Temper all comes down to this question, "How are the molecules aligned?" How do you get the molecules to align or not? Heat. It all comes from heat. When you heat up a metal the molecules are given the chance to align. This takes stress of off the metals bonds. Could this be a bad thing? It can, but that depends on what you are trying to do with your metal. If you are making anything to keep an edge then you want a hard metal (like tool-steel, tempered steel, or hot rolled.) If you are making something that can survive do damage then you want soft metal (like anything with high carbon count, worked cold, or cold rolled.) Is there an art to tempering (heating and then cooling) metal? Yes, if you are working with white metals you must be very carefull of it melting in your forge. I.E. alluminum horseshoes take ten seconds to heat to a workable heat, but twenty seconds to melt completely. Second you must understand that the kinetic energy from swinging you three-pounder (common smithing hammer) heats up the metal it hit. I have heated alluminum to a temperature hot enough to warm you in cold weather just by striking it. Grinding also heats up metal. What you were seeing in the video was him work the metal (each hits loosens the molecules) then quench it (sets the molecules in place, it does have a tendancy to warp metal if done too quickly) then it brought it to his finer grade shaping tools (this tear metal off, it does cause heat though) then he heated it up one last time to get the temper he wanted (he "set his temper" by basically heating it and then rapidly quenching it) afterwards he did one last polish and although he didn't so it I'm sure he used a whetstone to finish the edge. When you grind or sharpen with a tool that uses water it's near impossible to ruin your temper as the water stops it from getting too hot. Keep this point in mind as well, hard metal cann't bend as well so it breaks instead while soft metal bends which avoids breaking but may not be usefull for things that need to keep their shape. [soft armor can dent, soft knives can have the edge dull quickly, hard armor can shatter, hard knives might break if they drop and hit the floor] Smithing is all about the balance between too soft and too hard. Sadly only experience can tell you the right answer to that question. So go forge and find out! :)

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-snip-

Thanks for the comprehensive response ! :)

I am very familiar with metal treatment theory, grain formation and the chemical and physical processes that must be applied to metals to achieve the proper material properties (That is what I study at university :D), but wanted the opinion of an experienced blacksmith regarding something as specialised as armor. As I am a reenactor and I study metallurgy at university, I really felt I should know the answer but couldn't decide whether the hardness or toughness of the armor was more important :P

You gave me easily the best answer I have ever seen to a question of that nature, and while I knew a good part of it already, it was beautifully explained, so that even the most basic of laymen could understand it.

In summary, I salute you, and your full and non patronising answer :)

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