Saturday a week ago I forged a big bowie to a design I prepared on the Friday. It was on paper, which does not go well with hot steel, so I transfered it to a sheet of galvanised stock and cut the design out. By the end of the day the paper was burnt off the template.

I've been told a number of times, once by an ABS Journeyman smith, that one can't forge to a design, that the steel goes where it wants to. I've been blacksmithing on and off over the past year, and every time I make something I have to get the steel to the size and shape it must be, so I decided that it works the same with knives.

I had to approach the forging slightly differently. The blade had to be smaller than the template up to the very last moments of forging. I had to do the distall taper from the tip, backwards towards the handle. I mean I had to work from tip to ricasso! This was to keep the blade from becoming too long or too short...

In the end I had to grind off approximately 1/16" along the cutting edge and the spine of the blade, and about 1/4" along the clip. The handle was about 1/8" oversize all round, which did not bother me too much, as the steel structure of the blade is much more important.

The blade thickness was 1/4" on the spine and 1/16" on the edge after the first cleanup grind.

It is quite an interesting exercise, especially if you have been "letting the steel go".

You will find that you use more heats than normal as you correct mistakes. Keep a clean fire and only use the neutral part of the fire, and you won't have too much of a problem with scaling or decarburization.

Hope I challenged someone..

Tiaan

This is what seperates a true bladesmith from those who want to call their work forged! In the standards of the ABS Journeymand and Mastersmith testing, the option is there for the testing Mastersmith to have the person who is testing forge a blade to the Mastersmith's satisfaction. Many times this can be accomplished through a questions and answer session, but if I am in doubt about someone's capability, I will have them forge a blade to a specifc design.
Some grinding is inevitable, but on a blade that is well forged, grinding (at least the profile) should be at a minimum.
It's kind of funny that this subject was brought up, as I was discussing this issue with someone a few days ago. The real telltale is when a blade is etched. If the grain pattern in the blade follows the contours, you can bet that the individual forged it to shape. On some blades that have been etched you will notice that the grain (or pattern for damascus) looks "cut off". This is a sure sign that the blade was more ground out, than forged.

Tiaan, another good tip is to memorise the dimensions of different parts of your anvil. This allows you to keep a blade in the proportions you need as you work without having to continually go to a template or drawing.

I have finallly posted the pictures I took while forging the knife onto my website. Here's the link:
www.anvil.co.za/forging_a_bowie.htm (http://www.anvil.co.za/forging_a_bowie.htm)

Peace

Tiaan
www.anvil.co.za (http://www.anvil.co.za)

Very nice job, Tiaan!

Outstanding job Tiaan.

You might want to consider breaking the tutorial into several pages though, so that folks don't have to wait for 60 images to load.

Good work Tiaan, :D

A tip for straighting those banna curves on long blades, I've found that a large wood malet or 3/3" chunk of wood works better than a hammer for me, it straightens the curve without swelling the edge. Also, once you figure out the preform for the knife, when you form the bevels the blade will just about profile itself.

Terry, will do when I do my next big website update, thanks.

William
I must have PSI'd your post because I was thinking the same thing today...preforming the blade so I will come out straight when I do the bevels.

I will certainly try the wood hammer trick the next time I have to straighten a blade. I had some thick edges to smooth out today, after straightening a medium sized kitchen/ utility/camp blade. Will pine work fine, or do you use something harder such as oak, beech or redwood?

Tiaan

you need something hard and heavy, I dout pine would work, but have not tried it. I use a 3x3x24" piece of walnut fire wood and just beat the crap out of the edge, it won't thiken the edge but will stretch the back out straight. You can also let the edge get a little cooler than the back, but the wood works beter, at least for me.

Thanks,

William

Tiaan,
Regarding the wooden hammer or mallet for straightening, I have a wood mallet, and a rawhide mallet. I also have used a baseball bat (wooden), and in a pinch have used a piece of 2x4 (pine board).

Man you made some serious sparks Tiaan! That is a very detailed tutorial. And the balance is outstanding!

Thanks for sharing!

I can just see you hitting that blade right out of the park! LOL. I've got a piece of rock hard African Leadwood somewhere. I'll put it on the shelf with my hammers as a eminder for the next time.

Paul, balance is something that just happens to me. I think it comes from years of designing furniture, which is in some ways more complicated than knife design.
Knife design is just as challenging becuse there isn't any room for errors. (It is easier to hide a design flaw on a large wardrobe!)
I have found that if a knife is visiually (spelling!!) balanced it usually balances in the hand as well. When forging a large knife the distall taper also helps a lot to reduce weight in front, making the knife much "quicker" in the hand.

I think one has to develop a "feel" for the materials. How it looks as well as it's weight distribution.

I'm rambling...

Tiaan