Second attempt at knife making - this one was made out of an old railroad spike, as a few of the how-to’s and tutorials I found online mentioned that they make good practice material. They’re lower carbon steel, which isn’t as strong and doesn’t hold an edge as well as tool steel or a higher carbon alloy, so the pieces made with them are largely decorative, but are more or less functional.
By no means should this be considered a high quality or professional grade piece, but it looks good and is reasonably well forged. This time I took it a LOT slower than I did with the first piece, and concentrated more on hammer control than hammer power. The result is a blade with a substantially lower amount of variation, and a more intentionally shaped blade.
The shape of the blade was chosen by me based on the shape and weight distribution of the railroad spike. Since I wanted to leave the head in tact, that puts a LOT more of the weight in the palm and leads to a blade that doesn’t balance in the middle like my previous one did. As such, I incorporated this weight difference into the design itself - I made the curve of the blade very pronounced and pushed the back of the blade forward.
This uses the weight of the hilt as part of the downward/forward cutting action and makes for a -very- comfortable knife.
As I said, it’s largely a decorative piece and is more or less still just practice, but it does function and can more or less hold an edge (I wouldn’t enter it into any contests or trust it to put up with a lot of abuse, but it’ll go through a potato easily enough)
The twist in the hilt has nothing to do with nothing, I just thought it would be pretty and wanted to try it really badly, haha
http://businessofthefuture.tumblr.com/post/48345658047/ironwingedicarus-so-i-was-stuck-doing-nothing
So I was stuck doing nothing during one of my sculpture classes because I was waiting to be able to deliver some plywood for my project, and I decided to forge a knife. I’ve done a little bit of blacksmithing before, so I knew what to expect, but it was still hard as hell.
All in all, I think I did alright; it balances at roughly a 1/4 inch above the hilt, and the hilt is folded steel,
which makes it ridiculously strong. Mind you, it’s not remarkably well folded steel, as can be seen in the bottom picture, but nonetheless it was a cool learning experience.Next time I wanna make something a bit longer, a lot cleaner, and try my hand at something more complicated, like folding the blade.
[NOTE: if there are any blacksmiths out there with tips, critiques, questions, or, best of all, some how-to advice, please message me! I’m self-taught, so I’m sorely missing the knowledge of someone who knows what they’re doing]
One of your tumblr followers sent me a shout via twitter that you were interested in critique/advice/whatever. I’m no expert on anything, but I have a few years making knives under my belt and recently started selling them (via the horrific wasteland of etsy (https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellonasBeardForge PLZ PAY MY BILLZ INTERNET)). I work with a propane forge and what my associates back when I was acquainted with so-called “neo-tribal” metalwork called a “50/50” approach: I prefer hammer and fire and hand tools but, when it comes to it, I’m willing to save myself three hours of work with 20 minutes at the belt grinder. My aesthetic can run a bit rustic, a bit hammer-marks and forge scale, but I try to strike a certain balance in my work between precision/intent and Showing the Work. As I like to tell myself when I consider my earliest stuff: there’s a difference between a rustic finish and no finish at all.
I’m largely self-taught. I spent a few hours in a knifemaker’s shop that mostly consisted of him running his mouth, showing me the bowie knives from some edition of one of his books then sending me off with a spare motor I might finally swap into an old belt grinder soon, 12 years later. I once attended a mini “hammer in” with two other fellows where we stood around and jawed and somehow cracked a power hammer die. I read some books, I pieced a shop together, and I beat metal. Sometimes I showed what I made on message boards where I was usually too foolish to follow the other members’ kind advice. This was a bit pre-youtube, but I owned a Tim Lively instructional VHS (now available on Amazon Instant Video and worth a look).
I’m choosing to respond via reblog/addendum because, umm, this will be a lot of words. Also I’m opening with a response to a common fallacy you’ve expressed that I’d really like to address, that in so doing I hope to maybe help educate one or two other internet floaters. Also, if I’m way off base I’d like any public that know I’m way of base to tell me what a wrong and ignorant asshole I am. Either way someone learns!
Right?
I want to make sure this is said, to make sure that you know, in case no one else has told and you and there was nothing tongue-in-cheek about your description:
Folded steel ain’t shit.
To repeat:
FOLDED STEEL? AIN’T SHIT.
I grew up hearing a lot of the things a lot of people do. That katana were the best goddamn weapons of all time, that the secret to their superiority was in Folded Steel, because Folding It Makes It Better. Folding it *did* make it better. A Japanese swordsmith was dealing with materials that by modern standards would be considered a bit lacking. As one person described it to me Back in the Day (which for me was about a decade ago and I’m no expert so I might be off on a few fine details), they took mediocre iron to produce a steel so high in carbon it was practically cast iron (which is bad, since it’s brittle and crumbles/shears easily). The layering/welding/folding/rewelding/and so on process was a way of refining an inconsistent piece of material. Carbon migrated from higher to lower carbon areas of the steel, averaging the carbon content of the overall piece, while excess was also lost to decarb. Slag and other impurity/inclusions were slowly worked and burnt out.The net effect of this process was to bring the piece closer to a monosteel. It was a gradual refinement of materials to something that could be heat-treated and perform consistently as a piece.
We don’t have to do that anymore.
Have you heard of “damascus steel?” Probably. The term is often applied to what People Who Know Better Than Me would pedantically insist on calling “pattern welded” steels for marketing these days. Historically, “damascus” was probably a particular brand of wootz, a steel made of iron, a carburizing agent, and whatever else their recipe called for placed in a sealed crucible. They would get the crucible hot enough to melt the contents entirely, so the end product was a piece of steel with very few of the slag inclusions and other impurities of the iron/steels being produced through Europe, Asia, Japan that required the fold/weld/on and on to produce something reasonably homogeneous. “damascus” became well-regarded to the point of absurdity in legend compared to weapons made by the more common, lower-temperature slow refinement by hammer.
Basically every blade made before the widespread production of “crucible” steels in Europe was “folded”, much like Japanese blades. There were also examples of pattern-welded blades in Europe, by smiths seeking to combine the resilience of soft iron with the hardness of a steel edge.
These techniques were developed for very good reasons that don’t really matter anymore.
Modern steels are modern. Modern steels have a lot of science/engineering behind them to arrive at CONSISTENT SHIT WE CAN COUNT ON right off the block. Not every piece of steel made in the past hundred years has the potential to produce something that performs better than those old steels run through their traditional processes, but a modern high-carbon tool steel is made to perform.
If I took a piece of 5160 or 1094 and folded it over and over like they used to it wouldn’t do anything appreciable but maybe give me excess decarb and create the possibility of bad welds weakening the piece.
…this is a long-winded, digressive way of telling you that your statement that “the hilt is folded steel, which makes it ridiculously strong” is kind of less than accurate.
Unless you’re committed to recreating historical methods for historical/archeometallurgical or aesthetic reasons you’re not going to get much out of “folding” your steel but headaches. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful pattern-welded knives and swords that probably perform just fine, and that beauty is certainly worth a lot to some in itself. I really like wootz! It’s my favorite now-sort-of-useless bit if steel technology. I’d like to mess with it someday, time and budget and skills permitting, but I don’t expect more out of it than out of a piece of 5160. Or out of a car spring I think might be 5160. Or a file.
ALL THAT SAID:
The Beast Itself: I like the idea of your handle. I think it’s a novel way of filling out the grip, kind of obvious but labor intensive (forge welds, as I imagine you know, can be a pain) enough that many wouldn’t go for it. It’s just: the “folding” aspect does not = “strength”, full stop.
It seems very much a first knife, but the profile is clean and seems deliberate, not the “vaguely banana” a lot of us run into first. My first certainly wasn’t so handsome, and there was a belt grinder involved at some point. If you’re going for the forge-finish on your bevels I highly recommend the aforementioned video by Tim Lively (Knifemaking Unplugged), a great help to me years ago when I was a better/more idealistic person who dreamed the dream of gorgeous, clean bevels done only with the hammer, like his.
If you’re committed to forging, hammer control is everything. If it’s not there yet, don’t shy away from files/abrasives, because when it comes to the cut your edge geometry is all the rest. I learned a lot from forging as a close as I thought I could, then having to fix my fuck-ups by hand to make sure it really cuts.
It can be handy to practice on some mild steel: bang out a few KSOs (Knife Shaped Objects). Mild steel moves easier and if you fuck it up bad you haven’t ruined good blade steel. Which raises the question: what did you forge this out of?
Heat-treatment is the difference between a knife and a KSO. If your material won’t harden and take a temper then KSO it is. A lot of bladesmiths will tell you to work with known steels only (as in: new, so you know the exact alloy), because then you can follow exact heat-treatment procedures as laid out by the manufacturer. I can’t push this too hard, as I started with scrap. Most of the things I currently have up for sale? Scrap. 2 from coil springs, one from a leaf spring, two from files. One I can’t even remember, but it hardened and tempered and now it cuts.
I’ve made knives from:
-all of the above
-horseshoe rasps
-punches
-chisels
-circular saw blades
-that old standby the railroad spike
The last is usually rather low carbon and the results are considered novelties.
Other things I imagine I forgot I guess idk
If you really get into it, test what you make. See what you break. Learn from it.
Jim Hrisoulas’ “The Complete Bladesmith” (along with his other works) is kind of the standard text, and I’d recommend it, but I learned a lot more about compromise on the cheap and the nitty-gritty from Wayne Goddard’s “$50 Knife Shop” and “The Wonder of Knifemaking”.
iforgeiron.com has a nice “Knifemaking Classes” subforum stuffed full of great archived info. I *used* to know some of the people that post there and they’re solid folk as far as this stuff is concerned.
Above all: if you want to make knives, make more. Make the thing that cuts. Make the thing that cuts as well as you’d hoped, someday (soon?). Then maybe try to make it pretty, if that’s your thing.
Still want to “fold” blades, just for the fuck of it? Go nuts. Just know what it’s doing so you can be certain of why you’re doing it. I’ve been forging bronze brazing rod lately, which is a bit silly.
Bronze really likes to fall into pieces if it gets too hot.
It’s like this has never been a common method of working this material for a reason.
Like Vern tells us, Strive for Excellence.
Regards
-some dude on the internet, bulldozing his principles with a giant block of text on tumblr way too early in the goddamn morning so he’s probably just a huge dick above
^ This is in reply to my post about the first knife I made - I thought I’d reblog it so everyone can see.
His words are a bit less than polished in places, but he’s really knowledgable, it’s great read, and he points to a lot of good resources for those interested in smithing.As a correction to my post, folding the steel doesn’t necessarily make it stronger, and, in fact, with just about all modern steel, won’t really do anything to it except rearrange it a bit (this post outlines why very well, and I looked it up to make double sure; he’s spot on). As such, I struck that part out.
Thanks for the information, sir, it’s very, very much appreciated, even if I didn’t see it until just now, haha. I also want to say I did check out your shop, and your pieces are BEAUTIFULLY crafted, and I’m a huge fan of your hilts. (It’s funny you mention railroad spikes, I’m literally about to post one I made with a railroad spike now)
whoops, reblogged that to the wrong blog
So I was stuck doing nothing during one of my sculpture classes because I was waiting to be able to deliver some plywood for my project, and I decided to forge a knife. I’ve done a little bit of blacksmithing before, so I knew what to expect, but it was still hard as hell.
All in all, I think I did alright; it balances at roughly a 1/4 inch above the hilt, and the hilt is folded steel, which makes it ridiculously strong. Mind you, it’s not remarkably well folded steel, as can be seen in the bottom picture, but nonetheless it was a cool learning experience.
Next time I wanna make something a bit longer, a lot cleaner, and try my hand at something more complicated, like folding the blade.
[NOTE: if there are any blacksmiths out there with tips, critiques, questions, or, best of all, some how-to advice, please message me! I’m self-taught, so I’m sorely missing the knowledge of someone who knows what they’re doing]
If you would like a commission, please make a payment via the “BUY ART” button on my blog (*note, it’ll say ‘donation’, because that was the only way I knew how to let the buyer set their own price, but this is a purchase and you will receive a receipt for your piece unless you specify that you are just making a donation.) and email me, mrdelion at gmail, and we’ll handle any questions you have and/or finalize the order. You may also email me or send me an ask with any questions without making a purchase.
What you see above are some examples of my 2D work, but there are also sculpture and print commissions available on request - prices for those will be handled on an individual basis.
Please reblog to give more people a chance to see this! Reblogging helps and doesn’t cost anything. I’m also willing to make screencaps, screencaps with custom subtitles, and gifs of any movie/show in return for reblogs and/or optional donations!
The prices are as follows:
1. Doodle Heads, $3
2. Full Body Doodles, $5
3. Multi-Person Doodles, $6 + $3 for each character over 2
4. Detailed Head, $10
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Digital Paintings:
Digital paintings are going to be done on an hourly basis, as they take a LOT more time. It should also be noted that color pieces take significantly more time than grayscale because of the infinitely larger color palettes. Listed on the flier are a few example works and the amount of time spent on the piece to get it to that point.
Because these are done hourly, you pay for the number of hours of painting you would like. As you can see, depending on the piece, you get different levels of detail based on how much time is spent on it. It should also be noted that if I’m looking at your piece that you’ve put a budget at equal to 5 hours, and I think the 6th hour will do it a world of good, you will not be charged more. If I can get it done the way you want it in, say, 3 hours, you will only be charged for those 3 hours. You can choose to donate the extra money, or I can refund it back to you.
Digital painting is done at a rate of $10 an hour, which is incredibly low for artwork, but since this is the first time I’m doing any real painting commissions, I thought it best to start it low and go from there. This is subject to go up later, but not for this round of commissions.
There are also more detailed looks at all of the pieces on the flier featured on my art blog, if you’d like a closer look!
Please spread this around and encourage people to get commissions! I really appreciate your help!
Detailed looks at all of the pieces featured on my commissions flier, for anyone who wants a higher res demonstration of the options.
The Tinkertoy Boy: Currently Taking Commissions
I’m going to bed at the moment, but if you’d like to buy some art from me to help support my animated short/make my life better in general, hit me up in my ask box.
I’ll be doing a much more in-depth post about this tomorrow while I’m at work with a few basic suggestions on what to request and…
I had an old bed frame in my closet, which I decided to make into an all-steel, 2 foot square industrial side table.
Is it overkill? Perhaps
But it’s also awesome and looks great!
The top pick shows the frame with the mostly finished shelf, which was plied from some scrap lumber I had from a previous project. The second two show the texture and color of the paint job, which was done with truck bed liner! And the third is a prelim assembly, showing the piece mostly finished.
I just finished rubbing the shelf with canola oil, a process that moisturizes the wood and brings out the grain, to really show off the beauty of the blonde wood.
I’m still going to weld 1/8” steel rod around the outside of the table top so that people don’t cut themselves if they bump into the edges, and clear coat the table top to preserve the rust and make it easier to clean if it gets dirty.
Once those things are done, it’s good to go! I may or may not get to that tomorrow, at which point I’ll have to think about whether or not I’ll have issues getting it home.
concept art for the animated short I’m currently working on
My latest piece for my sculpture class; everything you see now started as either 5/8” steel rod or 1/4” thick perforated steel sheet.
I shaped, cut, and welded every piece myself, with much of the shaping done by hand with a hammer and anvil.
It took three weeks, but the result is a wonderfully industrial looking metal replica of a bacteriophage virus!
This piece stands roughly three feet (90cm) tall.
Part of a longer term project, a single page comic called “Jump”. VERY pleased with how physical the background looks, especially with how well it separates the hand from itself. The hand, on the other hand, I’m very pleased with for how smoothly done it is and how clean it looks.
Also rather pleased with how well the anatomy turned out on it and the fact that it displays depth rather well.
