The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need. |
08-31-2015, 08:40 PM
|
Enthusiast
|
|
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Bryan Ohio
Posts: 74
|
|
My dumbest question yet.
So I am considering building either the trash can forge or the coffee can forge, and the only thing i dont get, since it will run on propane or mapp gas torch is how am i suppose to know when i have the metal hot enough? I wont have any computer controls.
|
08-31-2015, 09:34 PM
|
Skilled
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: NE Tennessee
Posts: 409
|
|
ray has a forge building dvd thatll answer a lot of questions about what/how to build. (just don't make mistake of eating peanuts while watching it)
http://www.rayrogers.com/books.htm
are you going to be forging, or heat treating?
big reason everyone has been suggesting the materials to start using is you DONT NEED computer controls to work with the simpler steels while building experience and working knowledge. they forge easier, heat treat easier.... and produce just as good of a blade.
|
08-31-2015, 09:49 PM
|
|
Founding Member / Moderator
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
Posts: 9,840
|
|
Magnet, magnet, magnet, magnet . Not sparkly lights, not subjective colors...a magnet is all you need. Providing, of course, that you are using one of the simple steels that work well with a magnet. If not, then you need a much more advanced shop than most beginners would have and none of that 'advanced' part need include a computer as any part of the knife making process.
The bottom line is that we try to support any method of knife making that a person wants to use but I think most of us favor thinking about knife making as a more or less manual skill, i.e., hand tools and hand controlled power tools. I spent 40 years with computers and manufacturing processes and from my point of view computers or CAD only make sense for knife making if you are a manufacturer. If you want to be a knife maker in the sense that most of us practice then computers and automated machinery are completely unnecessary....
|
09-01-2015, 12:01 AM
|
Hall of Famer
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Decatur, IL
Posts: 2,612
|
|
If you are talking about forging steel then your hammer will tell you if you have the steel hot enough. If you are also talking about heat treating then use a magnet as Ray said. Use a simple steel, like 1080 or 1084, that you don't have to worry about putting too much carbon into solution. You then bring the steel up to where it won't stick to the magnet and then get it just a little hotter (brighter) to assure that it has changed phases. Later on you can learn to spot decalesance.
Another steel you could look at is 5160.
If you get into higher carbon or higher alloy steels then you will be looking at using a regulated oven or molten salt pots to austinize the steel for heat treating to get the most out of the alloy.
Doug
__________________
If you're not making mistakes then you're not trying hard enough
Last edited by Doug Lester; 09-01-2015 at 12:04 AM.
|
Tags
|
art, bee, blade, books, building, forge, forging, hammer, hand, heat, hot, how to, htm, knife, knife making, lights, make, making, materials, metal, shop, simple, steel, tools |
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is On
|
|
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:02 AM.
|