Quote:
Originally Posted by Crex
I have heard the "grain" pattern referred to as carbide banding (not totally sold on this, but may be). See it a lot in forged O1. Do not believe it has anything to do with scale, but you should get in the practice of wiring off scale between heats anyway.
Soak the blade in warm white vinegar for several hours then wire brush off the scale. You will then be able to determine just how deep the dings are and go from there.
Got to learn when to stop with the bigger hammer and go with a smaller flatter faced hammer and concentrate on flat controlled strikes when you get closer to your final forge bevels/tapers and plunge lines. Work your plunge lines on the edge of the anvil (cleanest most defined edge), again with lighter flatter faced hammer and focused control. Yeah easier said than done, but gets much easier with practice.
Not a bad shape, however if you plan to put a guard on it you need to start your tang a little lower from the spine. I teach my students to forge in the tang first and get it positioned, before forging the blade. Lot harder to chase it back to where you want it once the blade is formed.
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Thanks, good stuff! Didn't know white vinegar would remove forging scale. Good tip. I drew out that tang from the last inch or so of bar stock. I need to move it a bit down or define better from the top from the start of the drawing process. Mostly focused on the bottom curvature. By the time I got to this point, it was too late. I DO have a bit of extra material there I can grind away when filing for a guard or spacer, so as to have a bit more room at the top. Good advice to start with the tang and go from there.
Thanks again for the info Carl and thanks to everyone else as well!
As a PS, I need to go over to Candler to the Blacksmith Depot and check out their hammers. I'm currently working with a couple of flea market finds but most are in the 2-3 lb range like that little 2 1/4 pound sledge in the first photo. I could use something lighter for the final refining of the shape and bevel.